Sansa Clip+ FM receiver frequency limited by hardware or software?

[touslyxid]

[Copy Paste of a previous 2008 thread but for the clip+]

Hi Group. 

I have a Sansa Clip+ 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 clip+. 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!

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To be more specific, has anyone tried different frequencies above or below indicated working ranges?

[saratoga]

I doubt it.  Feel free to check the data sheet.  There should be a link in the wiki. 

[bertrik]

The frequency ranges that basically all FM tuner chips have in common are the japanese (76-90MHz IIRC) band and the EU/US band (87-108 MHz IIRC). So in rockbox we allow these bands for FM radio. Some specific tuners can go lower or higher, others can't, you'll have to check the datasheet of the tuner chip in your player.

In the clip+, there can be one of two types of FM chip, either a SI4702 or an RDA5802.

Many FM tuner chips already have a basic squelch-like function built in, meaning that radio output is attenuated a lot if there is no carrier.