FPGA Central

Hi all.

A few days ago I bought a Hitachi KH1150D Digital Radio. It's about
the
smallest, neatest DAB radio available that is *not* integrated with a
mobile phone or a MP3 player. The smallish size and portability (and
no requirement to use headphones with it) are the reasons why I
bought it.

But I am not happy with the thing. It is too large to bring on trips,
which
is what I intended to use it for (the thing is 31 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm
and has
two speakers -- supposedly 'stereo'). No one buys a radio that size
for the sound quality, so why not skip one speaker and reduce the
size?
The second hickup is a two-stage search procedure for finding the
available DAB radio stations, which I find more than a bit awkward.

Does anybody know if there exists a DAB + RDS FM radio of size similar
to the ancient Philips AE2402 out there? The Philips is the neatest,
easiest to use radio I have ever owned, but has no DAB and no RSD,
meaning it is not as easy yo use in unfamiliar areas, as one might
prefer these days.

Rune

On Feb 12, 3:00 am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> A few days ago I bought a Hitachi KH1150D Digital Radio. It's about
> the
> smallest, neatest DAB radio available that is *not* integrated with a
> mobile phone or a MP3 player. The smallish size and portability (and
> no requirement to use headphones with it) are the reasons why I
> bought it.
>
> But I am not happy with the thing. It is too large to bring on trips,
> which
> is what I intended to use it for (the thing is 31 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm
> and has
> two speakers -- supposedly 'stereo'). No one buys a radio that size
> for the sound quality, so why not skip one speaker and reduce the
> size?
> The second hickup is a two-stage search procedure for finding the
> available DAB radio stations, which I find more than a bit awkward.
>
> Does anybody know if there exists a DAB + RDS FM radio of size similar
> to the ancient Philips AE2402 out there? The Philips is the neatest,
> easiest to use radio I have ever owned, but has no DAB and no RSD,
> meaning it is not as easy yo use in unfamiliar areas, as one might
> prefer these days.
>
> Rune

I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.

On 11 Feb, 18:45, HardySpicer <gyansor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 12, 3:00 am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi all.
>
> > A few days ago I bought a Hitachi KH1150D Digital Radio. It's about
> > the
> > smallest, neatest DAB radio available that is *not* integrated with a
> > mobile phone or a MP3 player. The smallish size and portability (and
> > no requirement to use headphones with it) are the reasons why I
> > bought it.
>
> > But I am not happy with the thing. It is too large to bring on trips,
> > which
> > is what I intended to use it for (the thing is 31 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm
> > and has
> > two speakers -- supposedly 'stereo'). No one buys a radio that size
> > for the sound quality, so why not skip one speaker and reduce the
> > size?
> > The second hickup is a two-stage search procedure for finding the
> > available DAB radio stations, which I find more than a bit awkward.
>
> > Does anybody know if there exists a DAB + RDS FM radio of size similar
> > to the ancient Philips AE2402 out there? The Philips is the neatest,
> > easiest to use radio I have ever owned, but has no DAB and no RSD,
> > meaning it is not as easy yo use in unfamiliar areas, as one might
> > prefer these days.
>
> > Rune
>
> I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.

Well, the DAB format has not been appreciated by everybod,
but it's what's in use where I am. I don't have any strong
opinions either way, as long as the radios are of a practical
size and work.

Rune

Rune Allnor wrote:
> On 11 Feb, 18:45, HardySpicer <gyansor...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Feb 12, 3:00 am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Hi all.
>>
>>>A few days ago I bought a Hitachi KH1150D Digital Radio. It's about
>>>the
>>>smallest, neatest DAB radio available that is *not* integrated with a
>>>mobile phone or a MP3 player. The smallish size and portability (and
>>>no requirement to use headphones with it) are the reasons why I
>>>bought it.
>>
>>>But I am not happy with the thing. It is too large to bring on trips,
>>>which
>>>is what I intended to use it for (the thing is 31 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm
>>>and has
>>>two speakers -- supposedly 'stereo'). No one buys a radio that size
>>>for the sound quality, so why not skip one speaker and reduce the
>>>size?
>>>The second hickup is a two-stage search procedure for finding the
>>>available DAB radio stations, which I find more than a bit awkward.
>>
>>>Does anybody know if there exists a DAB + RDS FM radio of size similar
>>>to the ancient Philips AE2402 out there? The Philips is the neatest,
>>>easiest to use radio I have ever owned, but has no DAB and no RSD,
>>>meaning it is not as easy yo use in unfamiliar areas, as one might
>>>prefer these days.
>>
>>>Rune
>>
>>I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.
>
>
> Well, the DAB format has not been appreciated by everybod,
> but it's what's in use where I am. I don't have any strong
> opinions either way, as long as the radios are of a practical
> size and work.
>
> Rune

I noticed that when I Googled to find out what DAB was, all hits for
actual equipment were in Europe. One local FM mentions "digital" in some
promos. But the way they did it my me think thy were for some weird
reason hyping their use of CD instead of vinyl to tag on to TV's
conversion to digital.

On 11 Feb, 19:58, Richard Owlett <rowl...@atlascomm.net> wrote:
> Rune Allnor wrote:
> > On 11 Feb, 18:45, HardySpicer <gyansor...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>On Feb 12, 3:00 am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:
>
> >>>Hi all.
>
> >>>A few days ago I bought a Hitachi KH1150D Digital Radio. It's about
> >>>the
> >>>smallest, neatest DAB radio available that is *not* integrated with a
> >>>mobile phone or a MP3 player. The smallish size and portability (and
> >>>no requirement to use headphones with it) are the reasons why I
> >>>bought it.
>
> >>>But I am not happy with the thing. It is too large to bring on trips,
> >>>which
> >>>is what I intended to use it for (the thing is 31 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm
> >>>and has
> >>>two speakers -- supposedly 'stereo'). No one buys a radio that size
> >>>for the sound quality, so why not skip one speaker and reduce the
> >>>size?
> >>>The second hickup is a two-stage search procedure for finding the
> >>>available DAB radio stations, which I find more than a bit awkward.
>
> >>>Does anybody know if there exists a DAB + RDS FM radio of size similar
> >>>to the ancient Philips AE2402 out there? The Philips is the neatest,
> >>>easiest to use radio I have ever owned, but has no DAB and no RSD,
> >>>meaning it is not as easy yo use in unfamiliar areas, as one might
> >>>prefer these days.
>
> >>>Rune
>
> >>I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.
>
> > Well, the DAB format has not been appreciated by everybod,
> > but it's what's in use where I am. I don't have any strong
> > opinions either way, as long as the radios are of a practical
> > size and work.
>
> > Rune
>
> I noticed that when I Googled to find out what DAB was, all hits for
> actual equipment were in Europe. One local FM mentions "digital" in some
> promos. But the way they did it my me think thy were for some weird
> reason hyping their use of CD instead of vinyl to tag on to TV's
> conversion to digital.

I *believe* the acronym means "Digital Audio Broadcast".
It's a decade or so since I first heard about the test
transmissions, but transmission coverage has been
limited and equipment very expensive until recently.
I know some supposedly knowledgeable people have voiced
very strong opinions against the DAB format, but I don't
know for what reasons.

There are rumours that traditional FM transmitters will
be shut down in a not too distant future; the first
analog TV transmitters will be shut down next month.

As for myself, all I want is a small manageable radio
I can bring on my travels back and forth to the vessels,
so I can shorten the all too many insomniac hours
on far-away hotels. My old neat Philips FM radio still
works, but with no RDS I usually have to search a lot
to find the preferred stations.

Rune

Rune Allnor wrote:

>> I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.
>
> Well, the DAB format has not been appreciated by everybod,
> but it's what's in use where I am. I don't have any strong
> opinions either way, as long as the radios are of a practical
> size and work.
>
> Rune

Strange timing!

Coincidentally there was a piece on this mornings UK news - "Today" on
BBC Radio4 - about the possible demise of DAB broadcasting with one of
the main UK players threatening to pull out.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7238768.stm

My grouse about DAB is the huge current requirement compared to FM
radio, leading to very short battery life.

David

On Feb 12, 8:57 am, "David Lee"
<davidlee_malv...@dontusethisbit.hotmail.com> wrote:
> Rune Allnor wrote:
> >> I heard that DAB is all but dead - long live FM.
>
> > Well, the DAB format has not been appreciated by everybod,
> > but it's what's in use where I am. I don't have any strong
> > opinions either way, as long as the radios are of a practical
> > size and work.
>
> > Rune
>
> Strange timing!
>
> Coincidentally there was a piece on this mornings UK news - "Today" on
> BBC Radio4 - about the possible demise of DAB broadcasting with one of
> the main UK players threatening to pull out.
>
> Seehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7238768.stm
>
> My grouse about DAB is the huge current requirement compared to FM
> radio, leading to very short battery life.
>
> David

Trouble is that it's ok for in a house but in a car it suffers from
the sort of problems it was supposed to solve eg multipath. Also, they
have loads of channels and sacrifice bit rate so the quality is
actually worse than ordinary FM.

Hardy