DAB radios in the UK

[charliecoutas]

Nothing to do with PIC's I'm afraid.

I need a DAB radio to go at my bedside. I need a headphone socket and the ability to change preset stations easily without having to turn a light on. Can anyone recommend a brand/model please?

Charlie

[CPR]

Nothing to do with PIC's I'm afraid.

I need a DAB radio to go at my bedside. I need a headphone socket and the ability to change preset stations easily without having to turn a light on. Can anyone recommend a brand/model please?

Charlie

Just for fun, I copied your question into Google AI: It said

"For easy-to-use presets and a headphone socket, the Roberts Play 10 is an excellent choice for a bedside DAB radio. The VQ Retro Mini is another strong option, offering tactile preset buttons and a clear display. For a budget-friendly pick, consider the Majority Little Shelford." <rest of answer truncated for space>

I've no idea whether any of those radios fit your needs, but maybe ask it for some recommendations and refine your search? :-)

Edit: The link I used is - https://google.com/aimode

[Stephen Moss]

This has the features you want, although a quick look at the manual selecting preset channels is not as simple as you may want it to be in the dark (i.e., one button forward/one backward).
If the reason for not wanting to turn the light on is to avoid disturbing another person, perhaps you could use the USB phone charging output to power a small PCB with a switch that produces just enough illumination to see the buttons but not enough to wake the other party. 

[charliecoutas]

Stephen, CPR

Thanks for your input. I looked at the reviews of these radios and the worst ones were terrible. That's why I wondered if any of the forum actually had a decent DAB radio. Yes, the reason to change channels in the dark is to avoid waking Lynda, my wife.

The reason for this is as follows: I noticed that my smart meter said I was using 6.8 pence per hour, last thing at night when all the lights and most other things were off. What remained was all the stuff on standby - 2xTV, 2xFridge plus a whole load of plug-in wall psu's 5/12V. Now 6.8p/hour equates to £595.68 per year, which seems excessive.

So the bedside radio will replace a link to a Humax TV/Sat box which I listen to during the night. I can change channels easily with the remote, Radio4 or Radio5Live or Radio4 Extra. That means the Humax box can be turned off.

This is an ongoing task; just now I turned off the main big switch and the smart meter said I was still using 63.9 somethings, the cost of which is 18.18 something elses.

The 5/12V plug-ins are all my home automation, security thingies. I'm sure some ogf you have lots of this already.

Thanks again, check your "idle" usage, it will interesting to see.....

Charlie

[RGV250]

Hi Charlie,
This is why I am resisting a smart meter but will be forced to have one soon I think.
Have you tried turning off the Humax box and see what difference it makes as it is probably negligible especially as it still said you were still using when the main switch is off.

Bob

[See_Mos]

I have a Roberts Revival Petite 2 which is very good but maybe not the best for station changing in the dark.  Preset stations are selected on the rotary dial and the result shown on the screen which is quite small but once you get to grips with the operation it's not too bad.

It is very compact. When charging on USB C it shows the current time and the battery gives over eight hours play when not on charge.  It feels heavy for its size and has soft feet so it does not slide about on the bedside table and the shape makes it hard to knock over.

Be sure to get DAB+ as there are a lot of the older DAB sets still available that cannot receive some of the newer stations like Boom Radio, Boom Light and Boom Rock. 

Boom is great for us oldies. Unlike most commercial stations that play a limited selection of music on repeat day in and day out the music is mostly selected by the the DJ's themselves and they play a vast variety from the 50's right up to some new stuff.  The DJ's are all 'of a certain age' and very knowledgeable and they also work alone from their own homes so no inane chatter. As well as DAB+ is is also available online or via the Boom app.

Free promotion over! Unfortunately like any commercial station the advertisements become very annoying.

[See_Mos]

This is an ongoing task; just now I turned off the main big switch and the smart meter said I was still using 63.9 somethings, the cost of which is 18.18 something elses.

 I think this is the standing charge?

[charliecoutas]

Thanks. I've sorted one thing out: the "Using now" and "Cost now" on the smart (?) meter means "This is your usage and cost so far, since the last meter reading", it is not, logically, what is happening now. If I press the "0" button four times it shows "LOAD" in KW, which is the actual current load and is a step forwards.

Yes, the Humax box uses a little bit, but then so do all the other items. I still can't believe that approx 300 watts is being burned while we sleep. I'm still on the case.

Bob, I thought not having a smart meter was a criminal offence?

That Roberts radio looks nice See_Mos, I might get one. The Humax box has started playing up, it knows that something is going on, spooky.

Charlie

[RGV250]

Bob, I thought not having a smart meter was a criminal offence?

No, if I didn't have a dual tariff I would not have one. I keep getting fed lies that I will have no heating etc. The government aren't trying to force people to have them for my benefit, I do not trust anything they tell me is for my good.

the "Using now" and "Cost now" on the smart (?) meter means "This is your usage and cost so far, since the last meter reading", it is not, logically, what is happening now.

Probably because the programmer was not old enough to actually pay a bill so gave what he thought you wanted rather than what you actually do need.

I have a base load of around 1kWH so when I do get one I will just throw the display in a drawer as it will just cause a lot of anxiety. Actually that might have changed now, I did a check when i went away for a few days and it was frightening.

Bob

[charliecoutas]

Bob, why is your "base load" 1KW? Are you distilling moonshine overnight? (Put me down for a quart.)

If that sort of figure is normal then I'm worrying about nothing. I've probably got around 12 wall-warts and a couple of TVs and two fridges but 1KW is going to be costly, surely?

Ah, if you have a swimming pool then that would explain it.

Charlie

(I've ordered a Roberts DAB+ radio)
 

[RGV250]

Hi Charlie,
I think it is a bit less now, I have 2 deep freezers, fridge and an industrial dehumidifier that is pretty much on all the time. I did have underfloor heating which I have turned off now as that was 400w. The dehumidifier is only on at night now (off peak).
They tried to tell me it would save me money knowing how much I am using, I already know that so all it would do is raise anxiety.

Bob 

[trastikata]

The government aren't trying to force people to have them for my benefit....
They tried to tell me it would save me money knowing how much I am using....

My first reaction, and often expressed in words, when somebody tells me "what is good for me" is to think "I know best what is good for me and who are you to tell me what to do and think!"

Long time ago I gave up on television, but when I had a TV the thing that irritated me often was the absolutely senseless phrases, like the one you mentioned about knowing and saving, but constantly repeated by people. I could have listened to the evening news and at the end I would have thought what a waste of time ... 99% of the words and sentences were meaningless with no information in them whatsoever.

I've been wondering for quite some time how people lost their common sense and how did they became so reliant on somebody's else opinion .... or it may have always been like that, just nowadays we can perceive the foolishness of the populace because of the ubiquitous sources of information we have now.

[See_Mos]

I only got a smart meter because I got a better price from my supplier for having one. Whether or not I am still getting a better deal is debatable.

I don't understand why the UK government are pushing for every home to have one installed the only real benefit is to the installers and those getting back handers.
 
I never believed the 'it will save you money' hype, I am not going to stop boiling the kettle just because I have a smart meter! Recently some suppliers here in the UK are offering better energy prices to heavy users who can move their heavy usage to 'off peak times' but the millions they spend on TV advertising would be better used lowering the base price!

[charliecoutas]

What worries me is who will pay for the massive upgrade that the National Grid needs in order to supply the large number of electric vehicle charging points needed? I'm all for going green and stopping the use of fossil fuels, but "cheaper bills" - from smart meters and government promises doesn't add up.

My ex-boss has lent me a power meter: it shows mA, volts, watts, power factor etc and is very accurate (Kikusui KPM1000). I'm stumbling round the house measuring standby values. I'll put the results here when I have them all. For example: My Alexa costs £5.61 a year to run (at 21.4p [per kW/hr).

Charlie

The little Roberts  radio has arrived, it looks and sounds promising.

[Fanie]

The little Roberts  radio has arrived, it looks and sounds promising.

All this because you are scared of the big Big BIG boss Lynda.
There was a joke about the guy who gets beaten up every time if he comes home too late, no matter how careful and quiet he tries to sneak in.
His friend then said his strategy is all wrong, when he gets home he roars the car engine, slam the gate, slam the doors and as soon as he is within hearing distance he starts singing out loud "I'm in the mood for loving".
Says when he gets to the bedroom the wife is always fast asleep !

What do you listen to in the dark ?  You didn't grab me as a Tita Lau fan... 

[Fanie]

We boil water daily off the solar and keep in hot flasks, the energy later on after sun un-set (civil twilight) to re-heat is a lot less.

[charliecoutas]

I listen to BBC Radio4, Radio5LIve and Radio 4 Extra. This is because I have tinnitus and it drives me crazy when there is "silence". I wake up knowing things that I didn't know earlier! My earphones are currently driven from a Set Top Box which I can change channels in the dark with a remote. But that box draws 22 watts day and night hence the replacement little radio by Roberts.

I am thinking of a solar panel with battery to drive all the 5/12v gubbins.

Charlie

[RGV250]

I don't understand why the UK government are pushing for every home to have one installed

Surge pricing, in a few years there will be no Christmas dinners as they will double the rate in the guise of lowering demand just as you put the turkey in.

Hi Charlie,
That is why I do not want a smart meter, if the set top box is using 22 watts a day and you are watching TV for half that the radio is going to cost more than you will be saving.

Also people were turning their routers off when they were not using them not realising that messes things up.

Bob

[Fanie]

I wake up knowing things that I didn't know earlier!

Wow !  I wish I can have this gift.
Half the time I wake up knowing I forgot something.  Luckily I have the wife to remind me.

Write them down, who knows who can benefit...

Warning, having solar power is contagious.  Lighting is the 2nd largest power consumption of a household, so think along the lines of replacing them too.

[trastikata]

Here's my 50c, energy is no longer a public utility — it has quietly become part of the public tax system.

As government administration keeps expanding, it produces little real wealth of its own and survives mainly on our taxes. To sustain this ever-growing machinery, the state must constantly find new ways to bring in more money.

But ordinary people are already overtaxed. Any obvious tax hike or the creation of new taxes would be met with public backlash. So instead, governments turn to indirect methods — new forms of taxation disguised as something else.

Energy is a perfect example. Its cost is built into every product we buy and everything we do each day. When the government raises energy prices, it automatically collects more in VAT. And who pays that? The end consumer — us. We end up paying more tax without even realizing it.