Question about USA tuner frequencies..

[Tehnoman]

Hello to ya' all!

Recently I decided to get a new head-unit for my car, but I can't decide whether to buy it form my local stores (so I get Europe product) or to order it from USA. I asked some questions to local specialist regarding to USA head-units, and he said, that USA head-units' FM tuner can recieve only odd frequency number (like 101.3 Mhz, 104.3 Mhz). I know that in USA FM broadcasting is only in this style, but It seems a little bit strage, that tuners can't recieve other frequencies. I'm asking this because in Latvia there are numbers of radio stations, that broadcasts even frequencies, like 105.2 Mhz or 107.2 Mhz.

So the question is - whether or not head-unit bought in USA will be able to recieve both, 104.3 Mhz and 107.2 Mhz radio stations?

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[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Hello to ya' all!
Recently I decided to get a new head-unit for my car, but I can't decide whether to buy it form my local stores (so I get Europe product) or to order it from USA. I asked some questions to local specialist regarding to USA head-units, and he said, that USA head-units' FM tuner can recieve only odd frequency number (like 101.3 Mhz, 104.3 Mhz). I know that in USA FM broadcasting is only in this style, but It seems a little bit strage, that tuners can't recieve other frequencies. I'm asking this because in Latvia there are numbers of radio stations, that broadcasts even frequencies, like 105.2 Mhz or 107.2 Mhz.

So the question is - whether or not head-unit bought in USA will be able to recieve both, 104.3 Mhz and 107.2 Mhz radio stations?

Doubt it...You might find a converter to go one way or the other but I don't think you can have them both at the same exact time...unless you had some kind of grundig style radio, but those are for use in the house.

 

[Tehnoman]

Hmm. That is strange. Because head-units sold in Latvia does that with no problems. I can tune to 105.3 Mhz an listen on radio station and as simple as that I can switch to 107.2 Mhz.

Does USA turners differ in their turner specification and their tuning step is only 0,2 Mhz?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

It will depend on the unit in question.

I know some of the Kenwoods used to offer an option for European tuning steps where you would have to turn the unit off, hold the #1 and #5 radio presets at the same time, then turn the unit back on while holding them and it would change the steps on the tuner from US-based broadcast format to European-based format.

It wasn't a feature that was ever advertised but rather something the end user would happen across while perusing the owner's manual.

I am not certain if any manufacturers are offering anything similar currently. Your best bet might be to contact the tech support division of whatever brand(s) you're considering and let them know what you're needing to find out and why.

 

[Tehnoman]

OK, Thanks!

I examined some manuals of the devices I'm considering, but nothing was written about tuning step nor broadcasting standart.. Only difference I saw was in FM tuner Frequency range:

USA: 87.9 MHz to 107.9 MHz

Europe: 87.5 MHz to 108.0 MHz

I guess that this trick (ordering head-unit in USA) won't work in this case, but oh well - I'll ask the support division to be sure..

Thanks again.

 

[sdmtnbiker420 10+ year member]

I've seen some that do - and some that don't. Depends on the head unit in question.

 

[Tehnoman]

Well - I'm intrested in Pioneer products, the specific model is DEH-P3900MP. In case if someone knows if this one supports Europe FM tuning...