Radio

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 gimmergimmer 25 Nov 2020

My old old fashioned radio for the house is  on the blip. Do I buy digital, (live in big northern city), a bluetooth device, use a computer, an old fashioned radio  or what? Would be nice to get more channels and easy to use. Compact and reasonable to look at. Thanks.

Post edited at 17:19
 tjdodd 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Living in a northern city surely the next step up in technology from a radio is a black and white tv.  Anything more would be ostentatious.

1
OP gimmergimmer 25 Nov 2020
In reply to tjdodd:

There was me thinking I'd done well not to call it a wireless.(like my dad did). Seriously though when I lived in a northern town(not city) I wasted money on digital because the Pennines wouldn't let the digit things through.

Post edited at 18:01
 Dax H 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Get a DAB that also does FM. 

 balmybaldwin 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Is this a permanently located radio e.g. in the study - in which case I would go for an internet radio (in my case I use Echo Dots), Or is it a walk around with you while you do jobs portable?  In which case I would go for a DAB&FM.

Personally I use my mobile phone a lot as a radio (radio player app) with or without headphones

Post edited at 18:15
 Blue Straggler 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I would at least look at the Pure Move T4 (DAB, FM and also works as a Bluetooth receiver/speaker so you could play music etc from your phone, through the Pure unit). Compact and (I think) nice looking. 

Alternatively Pure Siesta Rise S which is designed and sold as an alarm clock radio. Again, FM and DAB but I think it lacks Bluetooth. 

I was very close to getting myself the Pure Move T4 earlier this year and may yet still do so maybe as a Christmas treat. 

The thing I don't like about using a phone as a music source, is that the music is interrupted if somebody rings you. 

 plyometrics 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

We recently bought this from John Lewis that does DAB, internet, FM, Bluetooth etc and it comes with a remote, which is increasingly rare these days. We love it. 

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-octave-dab-dab-fm-internet-ra...

OP gimmergimmer 25 Nov 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler: Thank you.I think the Pure Move T4 would be just the job. Reasonable price. Don't really want to use phone as a bit of a fiddle and problem of calls. John Lewis one looked good but being an old wireless man am best without a remote. Thanks everyone.

 Blue Straggler 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Please let me know how you get on. Please note I don't have one so I am not recommending it from experience! But I did go through a bit of research in the summer (slightly different "requirements" to you, but similar enough!) and settled on it IF I were to get such a thing. 

 rockcatch 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Apple recently release a HomePod mini. The sound quality is fine (I use it in my kitchen) and it’s a lot cheaper than the full size HomePod. The only thing is to make the most of it you really need an Apple Music subscription. I used an iPhone to set it up. I’ve no idea if it’s possible to configure without one. So all in all it’s probably a good choice if you use other Apple stuff, but perhaps not otherwise. 
https://www.apple.com/uk/homepod-mini/?afid=p238%7CsUX4Fh2dh-dc_mtid_20925z...

Post edited at 19:26
 afx22 25 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I use my phone to stream digital radio stations, over WiFi.  The phone output is connected to some quality computer speakers using an audio cable but that could easily be done via Bluetooth, using a Bluetooth receiver.  The Amazon Alexa, Apple HomePod, Bluetooth speaker would be how I’d go if I was starting from scratch.

 wercat 27 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I've gone back to Long Wave on a radio made in the mid 1960s for RTE 1

 Flinticus 28 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Does look good. Wonder how it does in thr outdoors. Interested myself now.

 Blue Straggler 28 Nov 2020
In reply to Flinticus:

I'm not sure that it is "designated" as a particularly "outdoors" thing. Not rugged or splash proof if that is what you were after. Off on a tangent, if you don't mind streaming, I have a lovely little splash proof Sony Bluetooth speaker, I got lucky and found it in Lidl for a tenner but you can usually get it for £15-20. SRS XB01 apparently. 

 TobyA 28 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I bought a little digital radio for not too much in Aldi a few years ago and it has been great. I've got various old battery ones in other places around the house, but virtually never use them anymore and just use my phone - the one in the bathroom never was particularly good at staying on station anyway, so if I want Today on when having a shower in the morning I just use my phone.

Maybe 6 months ago, one radio that I've had for going on 25 years packed in. It was a SW "world band" one that I think I bought in Boots, of all places, just before I moved to Finland. I used to listen to World Service a fair amount back then. It's strange how things have changed in major ways in what doesn't actually feel that long a period of time! I wonder how long before all "radio" will be streamed via the internet only?

 Flinticus 28 Nov 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

I've  a Creative bluetooth speaker with memory card which is great. 

Not worried about splashpoof as I keep my speaker etc. in a small Ortlieb bag. 

 Rog Wilko 28 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

Some years ago I invested in several portable radios which were stationed around the house so I or Mrs Wilko could listen while moving around doing stuff. Reception was often a pain. More lately we bought a couple of DAB sets which didn't make much of an improvement. Since being connected to fibre and installing a wi-fi mesh we barely use a normal radio. Instead we use a tablet or phone and the BBC Sounds app and small portable Bluetooth players - I could recommend JBL. The speaker can be easily carried in pocket or hand. The unexpected bonus is that the sound quality from a thirty quid Bluetooth speaker is much much better than any portable radio we have ever had, so can listen at much lower volumes than our malfunctioning auditory equipment demanded when using even the much overpraised DAB radios. Also means you have catch up or podcasts with you all the time. Anyone want to buy a job lot of portable radios?

 Blue Straggler 28 Nov 2020
In reply to Rog Wilko:

>  Anyone want to buy a job lot of portable radios?

I might take a DAB or two off your hands depending on model! I live in a tall skinny house (four floors in use!) so multiple devices can serve a purpose. I do somewhat do as you are doing (Bluetooth speakers and stream from phone or tablet) but sometimes the simplicity of just turning on a radio, is appealing. And could do with one for my office. 

In reply to gimmergimmer:

Given that our FM coverage is poor and DAB non existent but we do have high speed fibre, we use an Amazon Alexa. It has the added advantage of allowing me to walk into the kitchen and say "Alexa, radio 4!". Or any other station or any music of your choice or any audio book and with good sound quality too.

 wercat 29 Nov 2020
In reply to blackmountainbiker:

Alexa is sometimes mentioned by name on R4 - what happens then?

In reply to wercat:

Ahhh, Alexa doesn't respond to 'her' own voice. 

 Neil Williams 29 Nov 2020
In reply to blackmountainbiker:

Actually she does!  You can link 2 devices to get stereo, but if you do you need to mute one of them otherwise they end up "bouncing off" each other!

 Neil Williams 29 Nov 2020
In reply to blackmountainbiker:

Agreed with getting an Echo Dot (or more than one).  They're far cheaper than they should be for the sound quality, because Amazon wants you to consume Amazon services with them and make money that way.

Yes, a full house Sonos system would be great, but a full house's worth of Echo Dots costs under a hundred quid.

In reply to Neil Williams:

But when Alexa says 'Say Alexa what can I buy...' it doesn't cause a vortex in the space time continuum to open up or anything else tricky.

 wercat 30 Nov 2020
In reply to blackmountainbiker:

the only way to resolve such a situation involves The hand of Omega

 steve taylor 30 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I've got a Bose SoundTouch 20 - you can pre-programme 6 internet radio stations, as well as using it as a bluetooth/wifi speaker. The sound quality is excellent and it's not too ugly to have on show.

Sadly their software is bloody terrible, otherwise I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.

In reply to wercat:

I believe the Omega device was a stellar manipulation machine whereas we're looking for something along the lines of a temporal controller though I'm happy to be corrected. I think I might have one in the shed actually.

 summo 30 Nov 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I think digital through the air will go the way of mini discs. It'll have a brief window then be entirely superceded, in this case by streaming. 

Why have a device with an antenna that does only one job. A phone or laptop and speaker can stream your radio, TV, movies etc.. You can then stream uk wide, or global. You aren't tied at all. 

 wercat 01 Dec 2020
In reply to summo:

except to a paid ISP?

That's why I love radio as a technology as compared to tinternet.  It is wireless without any power hungry sprawling infrastructure and it only takes a few milliamps to receive a signal and you can build your own,

Even young kids could do it and experience magic, as evidence a Ladybird book by the late Rev Dobbs

https://archive.org/details/MakingATransistorRadio/page/n5/mode/2up

Post edited at 10:13
 Doug 01 Dec 2020
In reply to wercat:

do kids still make crystal sets ?

 wercat 01 Dec 2020
In reply to Doug:

ours did - that is one reason why I think Analogue should not be "switched off"   OK it may be crackly sometimes (when DAB would totally disappear!) but in the atmospheric noise you are listening in to the universe, something intimate about that.  Not to mention that radio technology would be put beyond the level where any adult could build a receiver given the time and attention to getting the skill. 

In the event of a meltdown or major infrastructural catastrophe analogue radio would be much more resilient and easier to reestablish as well as requiring far less stringent power supply.

Post edited at 10:33
 nniff 01 Dec 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

We've got a Sony one that has been a PITA from the outset. It loses the stations every time it is switched off.  It also munches batteries so it has to be plugged into the mains all the time.

On my phone and computer I use Radio Garden which is a great little app.

 summo 01 Dec 2020
In reply to wercat:

I agree with all you say. But the 4 or 5g structure will exist anyway, so it's not additional. 

 Pbob 01 Dec 2020
In reply to gimmergimmer:

The Institute of Environmental Sciences hosted a talk today by a lady at the BBC who had researched the environmental footprint of  radio listening. The smallest footprint was by DAB. Higher were FM and over t'internet then AM. Highest of all (unsurprisingly) was via a TV.

The research considered the production, broadcasting a reception of the broadcasts. Unfortunately it didn't consider the footprint of manufacturing the consumer electronics. It did say that the for DAB, the standby consumption was a significant part of the footprint. 

Buy a DAB with a proper on/off switch.

 Neil Williams 01 Dec 2020
In reply to Pbob:

I think you're getting onto diminishing returns when considering the sustainability of something that uses an utterly negligible amount of electricity.  You'd gain more by turning the heating down a degree.

 Phil1919 01 Dec 2020
In reply to Neil Williams:

Do that as well 

 Blue Straggler 01 Dec 2020
In reply to Phil1919:

What's the environmental footprint of your numerous posts urging people to become more environmentally friendly? 

1
 Blue Straggler 01 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

(that question potentially reads as very snarky, which is the opposite of what I’d intended. Sorry for not phrasing it more carefully) 

 summo 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> What's the environmental footprint of your numerous posts urging people to become more environmentally friendly? 

A fraction of a bit coin? 

 Blue Straggler 02 Dec 2020
In reply to summo:

> A fraction of a bit coin? 

Is that a clever answer or a funny one, or both? I am a bit backward, and I don’t get it 😃 I am sure it is very smart though 

 Phil1919 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

That's an old chestnut! Less than all the posts encouraging others to carry on as normal which has a limited lifetime.

 summo 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> Is that a clever answer or a funny one, or both? I am a bit backward, and I don’t get it 😃 I am sure it is very smart though 

Because of the way bit coins are encrypted using whole networks of computers they have very high power use. 

They do say even the pointless reply to billions of emails daily has an impact. If someone posted another person some physical documents, they'd never write a separate letter just saying 'thanks'. 

 wercat 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Pbob:

> a talk today by a lady at the BBC who had researched the environmental footprint of  radio listening. The smallest footprint was by DAB. Higher were FM and over t'internet then AM. Highest of all (unsurprisingly) was via a TV.


I simply don't believe this.  Of the AM broadcast radios I use daily the newest was made in the mid 1970s (Sony ICF5500) - you can completely write off the manufacturing cost - they run on rechargeable batteries and have negligible power consumption, unless you take advantage of the superb sound quality at high volume, with crystal clarity. 

We have to remember the BBC is pushing DAB and will tell any amount of propaganda lies about DAB as it is keen on switching off analogue radio.   Don't forget the total fib about "Crackly Analogue"  in their adverts for DAB when FM is a great listening experience.

There are not many digital devices from 1959 (my oldest transistor car/portable) that are compatible with current software while my radio is still more than capable of receiving current AM 1.0

And that with only 6 active semiconductor devices of which 4 draw only a handful of milliamps each and two use a little more as they drive the speaker.

If she was a member of the "More or Less" Team I might put more weight on her speech

Post edited at 09:00
 Blue Straggler 02 Dec 2020
In reply to summo:

> they'd never write a separate letter just saying 'thanks'. 

thanks

 Blue Straggler 02 Dec 2020
In reply to wercat:

I interpreted Pbob's post as being about more than the home device. Maybe I was wrong. 

 summo 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> thanks

You're welcome. 

 wercat 02 Dec 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think you are right.   But there may be organisational inefficiencies included in the calculation when older transmission modes are considered against DAB.   There is nothing wrong with delivering digitally generated/produced programmes over AM or FM.  

I really don't think the BBC can be trusted over this assessment and it smells of the DAB pushers claiming green justification for their cause.  I wonder if they take into account the scrapping of all the existing equipment and the ramifications of built in obsolescence with digital technology rendering it necessary to "upgrade" constantly to continue to receive a service?

They refer now to programmes as "content" and I think they want more control over who can listen to them, possibly pay per listen, which is not possible with unencrypted radio traffic.

Post edited at 09:23
 Doug 02 Dec 2020
In reply to wercat:

I never hear/read anything about DAB here in France, out of interest I've just searched for some info & it seems <10% of French households have DAB recievers & its only avialable in a few large cities/towns.  Why the difference with the UK ?

 Blue Straggler 02 Dec 2020
In reply to summo:

> You're welcome. 

This reminds of a mildly baffling note left for our company one Christmas by the cleaner:

”Thanks for the card and gift [probably some chocolates or a shopping voucher]. Merry Christmas! Val (cleaner)

PS Thanks again!”

That PS slayed me 

 wercat 03 Dec 2020
In reply to Doug:

I don't know the nature of state broadcasting in France but in the UK the BBC seems to be able to generate and propagate its own internal agendas fpr its own benefit.   Those can be beneficial when they pertain to the ideals of broadcasting and news gathering, good programme making and entertainment but I think they have gone too far with their pursuit of digital dominance and preachiness and DAB replacing analogue radio I think (as a long term BBC listener - though they label us as consumers of content now) is such an agenda.

Post edited at 09:18
 wercat 03 Dec 2020
In reply to Doug:

The BBC website has gone heavily into video over text reporting so they are a bit pot and kettle with this report which does make an important point

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55164410

In reply to SandraWL:

Im going to go out on a limb here........

 Pbob 06 Dec 2020
In reply to wercat:

From memory, the high footprint of AM radio was due to the requirement much higher broadcast strength to carry the signal. As I said, the research didn't include the footprint of listening equipment manufacture, so the fact that an FM/AM radio goes on forever does not get accounted for. 

Agreed that some of the research into most green methods of whatever are flawed from the start. I remember the Environment Agency commissioned a report into whether disposable nappies or washable nappies were greener. The report assumed that all washable nappies were washed at 90 degrees and tumble dried. Not 40 degrees and on the washing line. Neither did it take into account that washable could be handed down to younger children. Needless to say that disposables came out on top.

The EA also published research which said that rainwater harvesting wasn't worth the money paid. It assumed a custom rainwater tank and initial layout of about £3k. I'm in the process of installing a system based on a second hand 2.5 tonne water tank and shower pump from ebay. < £300 all in.

 Neil Williams 06 Dec 2020
In reply to Pbob:

> The EA also published research which said that rainwater harvesting wasn't worth the money paid. It assumed a custom rainwater tank and initial layout of about £3k. I'm in the process of installing a system based on a second hand 2.5 tonne water tank and shower pump from ebay. < £300 all in.

That applies to lots of things.  I might decide I'll forego a new kitchen or bathroom because it'll cost me £10,000 to have a decent one fitted, but as I'm a skilled DIYer it costing £5,000 influences the decision somewhat.


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