Sansa e200 FM receiver frequency limited by hardware or software?

[gurbymurble]

Hi Group.  

I have a Sansa e200 and rockbox makes this device amazing.  I will never understand why the manufacturer limits the hardware so much when they could offer so much more for the price.

Anyway I was wondering about the FM receiver in the e200.  Does anyone know if the frequency range is limited by the hardware, or if it is limited to the FM broadcast band by the software?   It would be nice to be able to go higher and lower in frequency.   It might be possible to receive police broadcasts above 108mhz and TV below 88mhz.  Ham radio 2 meter band is 144mhz.   I don't know if squelch would be possible but that would be a plus if the receiver could be used out of the broadcast band.

Thanks!

Mike

[saratoga]

The datasheet says 76 to 108 MHz.  Its in the wiki if you want to take a look.

[gurbymurble]

Hi

Thanks for the quick response.

Ok I see that in the data sheet.   Has anyone tried to go beyond anyway?  These specifications may be "supported" values.  There is a possibility that the chip could be told to go beyond supported values.  It is common for ham radios to be modified to receive frequencies that are not "supported" by changing programming limiting what can be tuned.   Sometimes performance degrades when going beyond specs but it may still go there and work for strong signals.

Thanks again

[terrence1019]

what you're saying is definitely interesting.... but more focus should be placed on getting clearer reception first. then it should be attempted