DAB radio - is anyone pleased with theirs and how much power do they use?

Question

We have 7 radios at home that are used a lot and 2 car radios that are fantastic on long joruneys and in traffic jams.

So far we have one DAB radio and it has been nothing but trouble, also it uses a lot of power. The latter is rarely mentioned in radio programmes about how DAB radio is the best thing since.... (?) sliced bread.

What are your experiences with DAB radio(s)?

Answer 1

Don't rate them, they're totally overpriced for what you get, ie not much different to a normal radio.

Answer 2

the best names are.... you must live where I do we have exactly the same problems, I have analogue radios all over the house and  Dab in the loft bedroom which is the only place to get reception if its pointing the right way. I didn't know about the power use thanks for that info!I find digital car radios hopeless and not nearly so easy to tune .We cannot get freeview here either, { not missing much ] but it is annoying when one has to listen to adverts all the time harassing us to "go digital " when  there is no chance of doing so!

Answer 3

DAB radio does not seem to be in a healthy state, if Gcap's latest actions reflect the situation.

DAB radios are more power hungry because of the demultiplexing and other processing needed to give you the stations and associated text and programme guides.  I read somewhere that the extra power used by DAB radio sets is offset by lower signal powers.  The arguement is that DAB radios will be looking for streams '0's and '1's and so signal powers are lower.

Answer 4

my bush radio is fine when it works. it's only a little portable one. but DAB radio is over hyped. the sound quality is no different to ordinary FM. the only difference i can see is that stations can broadcast information with the audio signal such as traffic news and or song information.

ok it may be that my area is not broadcasting properly at an adequate power to make the tuner pick up the signals correctly. (I get the same problem with TV signals analog and DVB-T).

not only that at home there is only a couple of stategic locations in my home where the signal can be picked up by the tuner.

this results in if i want to listen to DAB in my kitchen or garden I have to connect up the FM radio transmitter of the wireless headphones to the tuner and then tune in my headphones. which uses yet more power.

the only good thing is on the powere use at least if i use rechargable batteries its not costing a fortune to replace batteries every couple of hours.

I'm hoping that in 2012 when my area goes fully digital that the problems are resolved.

I also hate the fact that before digital was switched on in my area I could get a pretty great analog signal on my TV since the DVB-T was switched on the quality of the analog signal is so poor and there is so much interference that my analog tuners can't get a good signal.

My Problem could be that i'm in a sort of nomans land between two transmitters which means I pick up half the signals from one transmitter and the rest from the other.

Not good for a tourist town when any visitors to the town may not be able to pick up their favourite tv or radio from those that broadcast nationally.

the sooner the signal is boosted at the transmitters the less power home users will need to use to pick up the signal and thus amplify that weak signal to an aceptable level.

until the signal problems are resolved I can't use the DAB radio much.

I agree that DAB radios are overpriced for what they are. My DAB radio has to be one of the worst purchases of my life.

Nowonder a company decided to pull out of DAB radio due to poor listener numbers.

if i'm right then the reason they couldn't get the listeners they needed was due to poor signal strength and poor quality on the areas that there key listener groups are located. so if they had increased signal strength in those areas then perhaps the advertisers in those areas would have invested and the listeners would have been able to tune in.

given that digital signals typically per frequency broadcast closer together (such as on DVB-T where around ten or eleven channels are available on a single frequency) these signals require more power to the transmitter so that the signals can be correctly seperated by the end users equipment.

the signal strength in my area is typically less than 50% on my DVB-T signals. this weak signal results in the EPG not working correctly and intermittent problems with the picture pixelating.

so when broadcsters fix the power at the transmitters (original at source and regional relay transmitters) we may get better radio and tv signals making tv and radio more entertaining than the trouble it currently is.

it seems that the broadcasters stick to boosting signals in the cities and forgetting about the towns and villages.

Answer 5

sorry i dont really know but best of luck an god bless