Radio interference

[swill453]

I did have a couple of Pure battery/mains operated radios but they didn't last long.

I've had a Pure Elan DAB radio as my kitchen radio for nearly 12 years and it's still going strong.

Scott.

[XFool]

How would I know if I can get solid DAB reception prior to buying one?

https://getdigitalradio.com/?slide=chec ... e-stations

[bungeejumper]

How would I know if I can get solid DAB reception prior to buying one?

https://getdigitalradio.com/?slide=chec ... e-stations

Well, sort of. That site says we can get 47 DAB stations in our postcode. In practice, we can get four on the western side of the house, and none at all on the east or the south side.

Read the small print:

Please note: The postcode checker provides predictive DAB coverage information, and allows you to check which digital stations should be available at your address. It doesn't allow for other factors that may affect reception, such as whether you live in a very built-up area, or in a basement flat, if the building has a steel frame or is made of reinforced concrete.

DAB, as far as I know, relies on a physical line of sight to the transmitter; there's a whole quarter of Bath (which lies in a hollow) which can't get anything useable. In our case, however, the signal is also blocked by our thick stone walls, which would necessitate a permanently cabled connection to an external aerial before we could get the claimed range of stations. It hardly feels like an advance on FM. Harrumph.

BJ

[Bouleversee]

I checked that site and it seemed to confirm (though I couldn't provide a house number as I only have a name) that I could get everything I would wish to listen to. However, I also live in a hollow, surrounded by tall oak trees (oh, those leaves to collect at this time of year!), though I don't have thick walls (I wish I did as in my previous house) but so far as I can gather single brick and plasterboard with a bit of insulation in between, so what am I likely to get with DAB? I am inclined to stick with my old radios for as long as they work and accommodate to their needs. Reverting to an old fashioned lightbulb which I already have and either charging my phone elsewhere or at a different time is infinitely cheaper than buying a DAB which may or may not work.

Thanks for your contributions, folks.

[AleisterCrowley]

The only way to really check is to borrow a DAB radio: coverage prediction are , well, just predictions.
You can say that in a strong signal area perhaps 98% of people can receive a certain service but if your address is
"Ye Olde Faraday Cage,
Valley Bottom Road."
you may be one of the 2%...

[Lanark]

I would steer clear of DAB, the sound quality is terrible and I would not be surprised if it gets ditched for something better in a few years time.

Then theres the unreliable hardware and the high power consumption
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wIlpwEVh0U

Theres been a lot of technical progress in the last 40 odd years but for radio really nothing has come along thats better than FM.

[AleisterCrowley]

DAB is fine as an easy to use replacement for a 'kitchen tranny' - R4 and local talk/music stations
My mum has had a Pure Evoke-1xt in the kitchen diner for 15? years. Works fine.
Not going to be as good as an FM tuner with external antenna, but 'horses for courses'
I wouldn't buy a portable/battery one though, unless the power consumption has improved.

[Bouleversee]

I note your last sentence, AC. The reason my two Pure didn't last long is that I wanted to use one for entertainment while gardening and one of them simply wasn't loud enough even when standing close to it and the telescopic aerial of the other wouldn't stay up so the youngster who helped me in the garden offered to swap the aerials for me but unfortunately having taken them apart couldn't remember how to put them together again so there the bits sit in a box, to be thrown out when I get round to it. I had considered sending them back to Pure to see if they could reassemble them but it would probably cost more than they are worth so out they will go unless somebody who does know what they are doing offers to put them together again which is not very likely.

Do I gather from Lanark's comment that it costs more to keep charging a battery than to run off the mains, which was what I was enquiring about earlier in the thread. I am still inclined to hang on to the oldies for as long as possible though I am still short of something for the garden which I need to keep my sanity.

[pochisoldi]

Thanks, Pochisoldi, but changing the lightbulb has solved the problem for the time being.
How would I know if I can get solid DAB reception prior to buying one? I did have a couple of Pure battery/mains operated radios but they didn't last long.

Find a DAB receiver you like from Argos, and then take it back within 14 days if the signal is crap or you've seen a better receiver...

[Bouleversee]

Good idea, P, esp. as my local Sainsbury's now has Argos so I could do that while doing my weekly shop.

[Lanark]

Do I gather from Lanark's comment that it costs more to keep charging a battery than to run off the mains, which was what I was enquiring about earlier in the thread.

That's an interesting question, if we assume the mains radio and the battery operated radio use the same amount of power, and are played for the same amount of time, then it comes down to the efficiency of the Battery which is usually something like 90% for NiCad rechargables.

So at first glance you might think the battery will be 10% less efficient, so thats worse right?

However consider if you listen to the radio for 10 hours and then do a fast charge of the battery for 1 hour, versus a mains radio playing for 10 hours.
For the mains radio playing at low/normal volume, the mains transformer will be at a low load.
At low load a transformer has low efficiency as hysteresis losses (magnetization and demagnetization of core of transformer ) and eddy current losses dominate over output power.

So in a typical scenario like that the battery radio with rechargables and a fast charger will be more efficient.
If you play the radio at full blast all the time and/or use a slow charger then the mains radio will be more efficient.

One last consideration is that rechargable batteries don't last forever, if you recharge the battery a lot they will eventually have to be replaced and that cost will probably be higher than the electricity cost savings.

So long story short - do what you want, it probably doesnt make a lot of difference!