[Junk Box Nick]

For whatever reason FM has deteriorated at my house. I’m in an urban area that will in general be well-served by Sutton Colfield but the local terrain is very hilly.

For ‘regular use’ I have used the same sets for years, a couple of 1980s vintage Grundigs which are both sensitive, but with FM it’s now almost the same as finding the sweet spot with set and aerial position as it is with AM avoiding the hash. The problem with FM, unlike AM, is that the sweet spot varies from day to day, between transmitters and even between R3 and R4 which I assume are on the same mast.

I am now almost exclusively DAB as I am pretty much line of sight with Turner’s Hill for what comes from there (OTOH the Birmingham Mini-MUX which carries Caroline is impossible so I use 648kHz); and for Radio 4 listening on the Grundig set in the bedroom I use long wave. However, a couple of miles away down the hill and DAB can be bubbling mud or zip.

MW AM overcame these difficulties but has many things against it now; though probably its worst offence is that it is old-fashioned.