Listening to BBC while on the move, in Europe.

[jumar]

Good day everyone, myself and @jumartoo will be setting off for our annual trip, what options are available to be able to listen to BBC Radio while on the move, just how do you do it?
I have lots of house Gadgets, Firestick, Echo Dot, Mobile Data, but whats the best for sound and reception. My mobile phone has lots of data...lots that is, does the radio use much like the TV?
I have had great success whilst parked up, but what I need is something while driving. Cheers.

 

[Hollyberry]

I never found any way of listening to UK radio while driving ( but I’m not very technical ) All I can think of is downloading via iPlayer or BBC Sounds App.

 

[DBK]

You can use the BBC Sounds app to listen to live BBC stations. It works for me here in Italy with a UK procured sim card.

If you want to listen to other stations there are Internet radio websites and Internet radio apps though I haven't tried any of them.

A 30 minute download is around 25Mb but I'm not sure about live streaming, it might be more but compared to video it is negligible I think.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

We use the Tunein Radio app a lot to listen to BBC Radio2 as we live in France. It seems to be a little less data hungry than the new sounds app but that is subjective. When we were in Morocco a few years ago we used it while driving all the time but MorocTelecom has very good and very cheap data. I am also able to plug my phone into the cab radio so as to have good sound at adequate volume.
Steve

 

[Landy Andy]

Usb wire from phone to cab radio. Radio set to usb. On phone I have app called tunein, select which radio station I want to listen to. Then drive around listening to whichever stations I want. Can also do it via Bluetooth, but that uses battery up, so I tend to use usb wire as it charges phone at same time. Very very little data used for it.

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[Paul_Oxon]

TuneIn app is excellent and gives a huge variety of radio stations. You can change the quality of stream (and hence the data requirement) in the settings.

Increasing the buffer size will help if you are in and out of coverage.

The BBC iPlayer radio app (now called Sounds) lets you download programmes and podcasts for offline listening too.

Paul

 

[DavidG58]

Our radio is so hit and miss in our MH that all we do now is stream Radio on iPad or iPhone then blue tooth to Bose speaker

Data consumption is minimal whether home or abroad, a useful feature of this streaming is if we lose signal when it restarts it carries on from where lost

It took me a while to work out why the news was always a few minutes late

We , or more accurately Bev uses Spotify for this magic

 

[2657]

Depends on the auxiliary input to the van radio, I just connect smartphone to radio with speaker jack lead and listen on iplayer, doesn't use vast amounts of data but the tune in app looks good to reduce data useage and a larger choice.

 

[jollyrodger]

Have this one installed on firestick ,tablet and phone .
The cab radio is cr*p so like others tether to Bluetooth speaker on the go or parked up works EU or UK so far .

I use a Nord VPN when in the EU get all my local stations back home .wfm

And listen to all traffic reports back in the UK

 

[DangerMousy]

Another vote for TuneIn - great app with the vast majority of radio stations available.

And if you can't connect your phone directly to the radio via a USB or aux cable then there's always one of - they connect to your phone via Bluetooth, you choose a frequency to transmit on and then tune your radio into that frequency. Sound quality isn't as good as a hardwired connection, but is perfectly fine.

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[Ingwe]

Exactly what Landy Andy said above. Has worked really well in Spain, Portugal and France.

 

[Chockswahay]

We use BBC Sounds (very good for downloading stuff for offline use later) and Tune In. The only thing I have noticed with Tune In is that any other sound (message, alarm, etc) seems to reset the data rate back to at least 128K (we find 48k on Radio 4 is just fine and preserves data).

At first I didn't like BBC Sounds but I have got used to it now. As others have said ..... try them

 

[Stonemags76]

There’s also a TuneIn app for Firestick which I use when parked due to the ridiculous 20 minute radio limit on our cab radio!

 

[Burgo]

+1 For Tune In radio. If you use the 48mps stream it uses so little data it's not worth worrying about. We start it on a phone, then use Bluetooth to play it through the cab stereo and main speakers.

 

[jumar]

Thats it then, sorted, tried various methods as posted, looks like USB from phone to van radio, Tunin app or BBC Sounds will do it for me.

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[Anthea M]

Thanks for all the info ;
we will try on our next trip abroad.

 

[Paul_Oxon]

There’s also a TuneIn app for Firestick which I use when parked due to the ridiculous 20 minute radio limit on our cab radio!

The feed to my van radio has been modified to be fed via a remote controlled relay rather than from the ignition. This means that I can turn it on or off via the keyfob, and no 20 minute limit. The downside is that I have to remember to turn it off or the van battery will get flattened.

The remote relay is similar to this https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263918616520

In practice though, when stopped I use a Bluetooth speaker as it sounds better.

Paul