A lot of people arrive looking for one specific thing: how to actually tune in. If you have heard Subjam mentioned alongside a frequency and want to get it working on your radio or in your car, this is the practical guide.
You can find Subjam on your DAB radios across Beds,Bucks & Herts (Channel 10D) as well as across London (Channel 9A)
Finding Subjam On DAB
DAB does not work like FM. You do not dial in a frequency by hand and hunt for a clear signal. Instead your radio scans for everything available in your area and lists stations by name.
So the process is:
- Switch your radio to DAB mode, not FM.
- Run a scan or autotune. On most sets this is a dedicated button, or it sits under Menu, then Scan, Autotune or Full Scan.
- Wait for it to finish. It usually takes 30 to 90 seconds.
- Scroll the station list to Subjam and select it.
- Save it as a preset so you never have to scan again.
You select the name, not the number. The frequency figure you may have seen is how the transmission is identified technically, not something you type in.
If Subjam Does Not Appear
Almost always one of four things:
You are in FM mode. Easily done, and the most common cause. Check the display says DAB or DAB+.
You have not rescanned recently. DAB station lists are not live. Your radio only knows what it found the last time it scanned, so a station added since then will be missing. Run a fresh full scan. If your set offers both a quick scan and a full scan, choose full.
Your radio does not support DAB+. This matters. Older sets, roughly pre-2013, sometimes handle original DAB but not the newer, more efficient DAB+ standard. A DAB-only radio simply will not list DAB+ stations, and there is no fix beyond replacing the radio. If a lot of stations others can receive are missing from your list, this is likely why.
You are outside coverage. DAB does not fade like FM, it stops. See below.
Coverage: Why It Either Works Or It Does Not
The single most useful thing to understand about DAB is that it has no gradual decline. FM weakens into hiss and you can keep listening. DAB is decoded or it is not: clear audio, then bubbling and stuttering, then nothing.
That means marginal reception is not really a thing. If you are getting intermittent dropouts you are on the edge of coverage, and small changes help more than you would expect:
- Extend the aerial fully. On portable sets, telescopic aerials should be all the way out and ideally vertical.
- Move the radio. Near a window, away from a wall, higher up. Thick walls and metal-framed buildings absorb the signal badly.
- Away from other electronics. Laptops, chargers and LED lighting all generate interference at these frequencies.
In The Car
Cars are where DAB genuinely shines, and where most people listen to us.
Most vehicles sold in the UK over the past decade have DAB fitted as standard. The process is the same: switch the head unit to DAB, run a scan, find Subjam by name, save as a preset.
The advantage over FM is that you do not retune. A DAB station stays selected as you drive, where an FM station would need a new frequency every hour or so. The trade-off is tunnels and signal gaps cut out entirely rather than fading.
Two practical notes:
- Rescan occasionally. If you drive between regions, your list can go stale. A monthly scan keeps it current.
- If your car has no DAB, a Bluetooth or aux connection to your phone running the online stream works perfectly well, and often sounds better.
Every Other Way To Listen
DAB is one route in, not the only one. Depending on where you are and what you are doing, another may suit you better:
- Online stream - no coverage limits, usually the best sound quality, works anywhere with a connection
- Smart speakers - hands-free at home
- Mobile - the practical option away from a radio
Our ways to listen page has the full set with direct links, and listen live starts the stream immediately in your browser.
Knowing What Is On
Once you are tuned in, the schedule lists every show across the week, so you can find the residents and the sounds you actually want rather than catching whatever happens to be on. We run 24/7 across the full garage spectrum, from old school and vocal through to underground and new school.
Still Stuck?
If you have run a full DAB scan, confirmed you are in DAB mode, and Subjam still is not listed, the most likely explanations are a DAB-only radio that cannot receive DAB+, or being outside the coverage area. In both cases the online stream is the answer and costs nothing to try.
Want to know more about the technology? Our explainers on what DAB radio is and how it works and DAB versus FM go deeper.
