DAB radio under £15. DAB Alarm clock under £20

gillez

micknmace wrote: »

4 15 pounds its top but batterywise i got 8 hours from cheap samsungs mist the second half of 5 live

Whilst I'm not usually one to criticise spelling and grammer on here (this is a money saving forum, not an English test) I had to read this post several times before I understood it. Is it really too much to ask that you make your posts understandable and cut out the txt spk? :cool:

Thanks <adorns flame proof jacket>

PrinceGaz

Milex wrote: »

It has a plug-in AC/DC adapter on the end of the power lead - like the one for a mobile phone. Output is 720mA @ 9v. You can instead use six UM2 1.5V batteries (the large cylindrical ones), which it evidently eats like nobody's business.

Yeah you'll be fine doing that, the 9V entering the bathroom where it is through the power-lead is basically harmless. About the only time you can feel the effect of 9V on your body is if you put a PP3 battery on your tongue-- you'll definitely feel it, but no one has been harmed by doing so (afaik).

It is telling that it not only needs 9V (six 1.5V 'C' size batteries as the UM2 are better known as) rather than the 3V or even 1.5V AM/FM radios even with digital tuners can run at now, but that the adapter is rated at a whopping 720mA. DAB radios still have a quite high constant power requirement regardless of listening volume (analogue radios consume very little power at low volume). DAB radios should always be powered by NiMH cells if you need to use batteries at all. You can get rechargeable C and D NiMH cells and suitable chargers at Maplins, possibly also at Dixons/Currys though I'm not sure if they do, and of course more cheaply online.

micknmace

sorry,but after drinking tesco,s wine bargains with the missus,i wrote this and thought it made sense. now nursing the mother of all hangovers i now know it,s utter nonsense,so again i apologize

pinkpig08

Not sure if this has been posted already, couldn't see it anywhere

Went to Tesco this morning and they've got Technika DAB radios half price at £14.97. They'd got 3 left and the SEL said offer ends 25th March.

pinkpig

at_home

It's available online via Tesco Direct too (search for DAB radio by price)

bonytony_2

Not sure i want to invest in dab after reading this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/06/dab_fail/ ...although it is a good price :undecided thanks for the heads up.

Dustangle

bonytony wrote: »

Not sure i want to invest in dab after reading this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/06/dab_fail/ ...although it is a good price :undecided thanks for the heads up.

You're not "investing in dab." You're buying a cheap transistor radio so you can hear BBC Radio 6 and Radio 7.
.

PrinceGaz

It's well known that DAB has been a failure, unlike Freeview, despite them both being based on outdated transmission codecs (modern digital-compression could provide the same quality in half the bandwidth, or alternatively allow DAB music stations to sound almost CD quality instead of a quality which is far surpassed by any pirate uploading an 128kbps MP3 on a file-sharing network).

It's no wonder most people stick with analogue. DAB requires battery-hungry radios when used on the move, unlike VHF FM radios which use very little power. At home, DAB sounds awful compared with VHF FM (assuming you have good reception); at moderate reception DAB might pull ahead if it can still extract the signal cleanly, but with poor reception there won't be any DAB reception whatsoever. About the only market where DAB stands a chance of competing is on a car-radio where quality doesn't matter and there is always plenty of power available to run the receiver.

If I were OFCOM, I'd run it down now as it has less future than the old VHF FM imo. Concentrate instead on an AAC/Ogg Vorbis quality codec which will actually allow high quality stereo in 128kbps (high enough to match the ancient VHF FM broadcasts at their best, anyway).

bhebbes

Surely there should be some mention of digital broadcasting OUTSIDE the UK - some people occasionally go abroad, with portable radios.

Dustangle

bhebbes wrote: »

Surely there should be some mention of digital broadcasting OUTSIDE the UK - some people occasionally go abroad, with portable radios.

And now you've mentioned it!