Does anyone know for a fact if a European Car radio both AM/FM bands will work in the USA ??? I was told that the USA model will not work in Europe but there is a possibility that the European model will work in the USA. Thank you for reading and any info or experience given. God Bless !!!

40 years ago I bought a second-hand Blaupunkt car radio and installed it in my old VW. I had assumed it was AM/FM. It turned out to be AM with some other band that picked up weather info broadcast from the local airport. I wish I still had that dandy old VW van and the radio.

So I don’t know.

Sorry for the thread drift

How old is the car radio?

Most older European car radios were analog tuning and for export sales which provided no problems for USA users.

I bought a Blaupunkt Derby car radio in 1966 made for VW/Porsche. it worked fine on 6 D batteries, power adapter or in car.

Most German car radios were made for export sales.

I would check on the Crutchfield site, they may have some info?

I was always impressed with Euro car radios, I recall sitting in one in Germany in 1992 or 1993 and the song name and station were scrolling on a readout on a screen on the radio. We had nothing like that in the USA and only seem to very lately?

They are not compatible. Something to do with the frequencies (I used to know however, cannot remember the exact reason).

However, the Alpine HU I installed into the GTO does have the capability, through the internal settings, to change from North America to European.

1977 & 1978 I worked on a project in Barcelona.

I ordered a Mercedes 240D, U.S. specifications, with a Blaupunkt radio.

The radio worked just fine in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Andorra, Switzerland, every place that I traveled in Europe, and continued to work just fine when I returned to the U.S. with the car.

Took a bit of digging, but: Why my radio bought from USA does not work well in Europe? (and vice-versa)

European car makers have offered a discount for customers to come make their purchase at their factory, drive it around a bit, then bring it back to have it shipped home to the States.

I don't recall anybody who took advantage of such a deal, having issues with their radio or, components getting swapped-out.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
They are not compatible. Something to do with the frequencies (I used to know however, cannot remember the exact reason).

However, the Alpine HU I installed into the GTO does have the capability, through the internal settings, to change from North America to European.

European radios have LW/MW/SW/FM settings.

Long wave isn't used in the USA, Medium wave, or Broadcast band, is and so it shortwave. MUCH older FM radios used a shorter FM band.

You should have no problems with an Analog tuning European radio.

However, a Digital tuning radio for European use only will present an issue do to tuning spread between stations. 9kHz (European), vs 10KHZ (USA). Most export radios contain a switch.

BTW, what brand is the radio?

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:

You should have no problems with an Analog tuning European radio.

However, a Digital tuning radio for European use only will present an issue do to tuning spread between stations. 9kHz (European), vs 10KHZ (USA). Most export radios contain a switch.

This, Exactly.

One other point to add is that if you decide to swap radios, the antenna wire will likely be different. The US connector will be more of a barrel shape and the Euro plug will closely resemble an elongated RCA connector

I think fm is ok am is a little different. The spacing between channels is different

You guys are making me miss Atlantic 252 which I listened to while driving around Wales some 20 years ago.

The link ensigmatic posted nailed it. Freq step differences. The more advanced radios let you program the steps, etc., and of course the old analog tuners didn't have that issue.

As for the pre-emphasis of North America vs EU, 75 and 50 microseconds, I wouldn't worry about it unless you really care about the details of sound reproduction, which I don't care about in a car radio.