Clock radios (1 Viewer)

[oldun]

Over the years we have had quite a few clock radios that have always performed just about adequately. usually the radio tuning and output was poor but OK for waking up to and catching up with the latest governmental disasters.

Not long ago we bought a Roberts CR9953 clock radio that has an automatically setting clock, FM and Medium Wave. The clock is excellent but the radio is very poor. The tuning is far too sensitive and it drifts off station very easily. The sound keeps dropping off and the radio has to be switched off and on to correct.

So far I have not delved into the digital radio sphere so I have absolutely no idea as to the UK wide quality of signal nor have I any idea as to the usability of the radio abroad. The one advantage of older radios with Long Wave was the ability to pick up Radio 4 way down into France and I have no idea what can be picked up on DAB abroad.

So what I am looking for is

(i) information on the "usability" of DAB radio home and abroad

(ii) a good quality clock radio with an automatically setting (atomic) clock.

All help offered gratefully appreciated.

 

[andyman]

DAB is the way to go. Personally I like the PURE range , we have 1 in home and 1 in the motorhome. The clock resets if needed when you turn it on.
Dont know if they use a diferent signal in France but I could not get any stations a few years ago. It maybe that you need to set the radio to search for new channels when out of the UK. The other problem in the M/H is the aerial needs to be near a window for a good signal.

 

[savantuk]

I have a Pure DAB radio, and it travels everywhere with us. Signal is excellent just about everywhere in the UK, and in Europe, you can use it as a normal AM/FM radio.

Clock setting is automatic, and alarm is easy to set.

I'm perfectly happy with the way it sounds, but then again, it's usually set to radio 4 and 5. I have read that Hi Fi 'snobs' say that the way it samples the signal to send it digitally leads to a 'flat' sound. Personally, I've always found the music exceptionally good, easily as good as the £300 Pioneer CD deck in the cab, though perhaps not as loud

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[Bulletguy]

So what I am looking for is

(i) information on the "usability" of DAB radio home and abroad

(ii) a good quality clock radio with an automatically setting (atomic) clock.

These clocks work from different transmitters on different frequencies. UK transmits on 60kHz commonly known as the Rugby Clock, as thats where the transmitter used to be....it's since relocated to Cumbria. The signal will reach into northern parts of europe but much beyond that you will need a clock working off the German DCF77 frequency of 77.5kHz.

The first 'atomic' clock I bought twenty years ago cost a crazy price of £75.....the second one I bought more recently cost just £10!

Never dabbled with DAB so cant comment on that except to say they can now be bought very cheap.

 

[hilldweller]

(ii) a good quality clock radio with an automatically setting (atomic) clock.

Difficult. First though, DAB has a self setting clock. Not sure what happens abroad, I guess you just get local time.

But earlier this year, after oversleeping on site, I went in every shop in Cumbernauld looking for a solution. I thought of DAB but could not find a portable one with alarm. So I ended up in Argos spending a whole tenner on an "atomic" alarm. This fell over big time in Morocco, it, obviously, could not get a signal so somehow reset it itself to UK time and that screwed up our alarm call.

Good luck with your hunt.

 

[madbluemad]

Whats an Atomic Clock

Jim

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[MrJinks]

It wakes you up in the morning with one helluva bang

 

[hilldweller]

Whats an Atomic Clock
Jim

The most accurate way we can keep time is by measuring the natural frequency of an atom, Caesium I think. So a small computer does this in many places all over the world and then they broadcast this for people to lock on to. It's got an accuracy of something like one second in ten million years.

So you don't buy the atomic clock, you buy a clock with a radio receiver that gets accurate time from one of them.