Hello everyone,

This is my first post to the Forum, so please forgive me if I am asking the very obvious.

I am most certainly moving to Basel towards the end of the year.

Will my DAB Radio be able to pick up BBC Radio 4 at all? I am not sure how the radio system works within CH.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You might be interested in this thread.

( http://www.englishforum.ch/tags/dab/ )

You will need an internet radio to receive BBC Radio 4, they're very easy to operate and pretty cheap too. We discussed the subject in this thread.

The points to watch out for are that you will need one that can decode Real audio streams since the BBC are pretty funny about accessing their material outside of the UK. My recommendation would be to buy an internet radio with a Reciva chipset or something like a Pure Flow.. I have both and can confirm they work with the Beeb stations.

Will you have accommodation fixed up when you arrive, or will you be in a hotel for the first few weeks?

If the answer is hotel, then you probably won't have the internet option, at least at an affordable price. Even if moving straight into an apartment, it can take time to get your internet sorted. Due to the hilly nature of this land, radio reception can be pretty dire if you are in the lee of a hill - I can only get one station with satisfactory reception over the airwaves at home, and it's a station I detest.

Now the good news Most properties here have cable TV and radio plumbed in, and I would expect that any decent hotel will have that. Budget hotels might not, so beware, and when searching for an apartment a key question to ask is whether a place is connected to the cable network.

Now even better news. I've just looked up the analogue cable radio stations provided by Cablecom in central Basel (post code 4000), and I see they do BBC Radio 4 (scroll down to see it).

My advice would be to not rely on your DAB radio and get an ordinary FM one with a cable socket. The January sales are a good time to shop for electrical goods here in Switzerland, and remember that VAT is only 7.6% (if I were in your shoes, I'd sell my DAB radio in the UK and buy new or even second hand over here until you get settled in).

Are you sure about the Real Player bit Castro? With the new iPlayer set up it looks like the Beeb are leaving it behind, although I haven't yet come across a date for it being discontinued.

Edit:Currently listening to Radio 2 via Real Player - Satchmo and Ella Fitzgerald doing Summertime

Further edit now I have found the thread:
Please follow the link in Telandy's post here