Listening to Radio 4 this morning they did an item on (I think) Norway
and their switch to Digital radio - it appears that by the end of 2017
FM radio switch off in that country will be complete.

Anyway the bloke said that approximately 48% of UK radio listening was
now digital and when this reaches 50% a date will be set for UK FM
switch off.

When DAB first came out it was reported that all sets consumed batteries
like it was going out of fashion and as they all used basically the same
chip they were all as bad as one another.

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.

--
Chris B (News)

Chris B wrote:
Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.

There's bespoke rechargeable, as in a wierd battery pack that fits in the
C/D slot, and bespoke as in a lithium battery that fits inside. Those can
be a bog standard 3-wire lithium pouch cell - find one about the right size
and you're done.

That kind of radio can charge from a phone charger, so it makes charging
less of a hassle. I'm thinking of things like this:
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/dab-radios/xdr-p1dbp
(15-20 hours battery life) which have a battery pack that looks like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rechargeab...-/182382582414

A lot of the DAB radios are stuck in 1960s as regards their battery
arrangements, not just their styling.

Theo

If you love radio don't buy a DAB

On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

On 2017-01-11 16:48, Lee wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

4G on phone, Bluetooth to car/speaker*, wouldn't that be better in a car
anyway?

*Could be hacked up, if not built-in.

In article ,
WeeBob wrote:
On 2017-01-11 16:48, Lee wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

4G on phone, Bluetooth to car/speaker*, wouldn't that be better in a car
anyway?

*Could be hacked up, if not built-in.

1. 4 G has a long way to go to get decent coverage
2. Radio has always been free. 4G costs

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

In article ,
Lee wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

and, as have said before, it wasn't until DAB arrived that I could get a
reliable signal on my bedside radio.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 11/01/2017 16:59, charles wrote:
In article ,
Lee wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

and, as have said before, it wasn't until DAB arrived that I could get a
reliable signal on my bedside radio.

I still cannot get a reliable DAB signal downstairs, only upstairs
in the rooms facing North.

Listening to DAB is the radio equivalent of all those nasty
synthetic visual artefacts that seem to be part of 4K tv's.

In article ,
Andrew wrote:
and, as have said before, it wasn't until DAB arrived that I could get a
reliable signal on my bedside radio.

I still cannot get a reliable DAB signal downstairs, only upstairs
in the rooms facing North.

I still can't get a reliable FM signal indoors on a portable radio in this
part of S London. It will come and go as you walk round the room. But that
is nothing new with FM.

--
*I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wednesday, 11 January 2017 16:48:32 UTC, Lee wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Fair enough, but I don't listen to (FM) radio at home and DAB is far
superior for Automotive use - maybe that's where the 48% figures are from?

Yeah the 48% are remoaners ;-)

On 11/01/2017 16:41, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Yes, I know. But sooner or later.......needs must.

--
Chris B (News)

On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

And depends on which DAB station you're listening to. And how the
transmission processor (like Optimod) is set up - as they are often
different between them. And, of course how much multipath problems you
have with FM.

Be very interesting to see if these DAB haters could always tell which is
which in a properly conducted blind test. One where you couldn't just use
the delay to tell which is which.

--
*Toilet stolen from police station. Cops have nothing to go on.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 12/01/2017 01:02, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

And depends on which DAB station you're listening to. And how the
transmission processor (like Optimod) is set up - as they are often
different between them. And, of course how much multipath problems you
have with FM.

Be very interesting to see if these DAB haters could always tell which is
which in a properly conducted blind test. One where you couldn't just use
the delay to tell which is which.

The fact that in boiling mud the announcers frequently sound like the
Aquaphibians off Stingray (even with a decent areal) and the absence of
signal on parts of the A1 not that far outside London for starters.

If you really enjoy the silent bits between programme material then DAB
is definitely for you but if you listen to music it is hopeless.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

And depends on which DAB station you're listening to. And how the
transmission processor (like Optimod) is set up - as they are often
different between them. And, of course how much multipath problems you
have with FM.

Be very interesting to see if these DAB haters could always tell which is
which in a properly conducted blind test. One where you couldn't just use
the delay to tell which is which.

souns to me like the digital haters who complained when then BBC started
playing CDs. When it was pointed out the the feeds to the transmitters had
been digital for years the got quite confused.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
scribeth thus
In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

And depends on which DAB station you're listening to. And how the
transmission processor (like Optimod) is set up - as they are often
different between them. And, of course how much multipath problems you
have with FM.

Be very interesting to see if these DAB haters could always tell which is
which in a properly conducted blind test. One where you couldn't just use
the delay to tell which is which.


Your on....
--
Tony Sayer

On Thu, 12 Jan 2017 01:02:50 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 1/11/2017 6:47 PM, Me wrote:
On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

Depends on where you are.

And depends on which DAB station you're listening to. And how the
transmission processor (like Optimod) is set up - as they are often
different between them. And, of course how much multipath problems you
have with FM.

Be very interesting to see if these DAB haters could always tell which is
which in a properly conducted blind test. One where you couldn't just use
the delay to tell which is which.

I think the 'digital haters' might well be able to tell the difference
between the 192 kbps 'CD quality sound' that DAB offered at the start
and 80 kbps (or even 64 kbps) mono now on offer. Come to think of it,
maybe they are not digital haters at all but reasonably object to the
return to pre-1950s audio quality.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 18:47:29 +0000, Me wrote:

On 1/11/2017 4:41 PM, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
If you love radio don't buy a DAB


Hear hear. FM quality is far better and more reliable in my experience.

It certainly won't be if the government turns off the transmitters :-)

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:41:51 -0000, "Jim GM4DHJ ..."
wrote:

If you love radio don't buy a DAB

I think OP is asking about the situation if (when?) FM is switched
off. Are you suggesting satellite or Internet, or are you saying just
to stop listening?

On 15/01/2017 21:41, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:41:51 -0000, "Jim GM4DHJ ..."
wrote:

If you love radio don't buy a DAB

I think OP is asking about the situation if (when?) FM is switched
off. Are you suggesting satellite or Internet, or are you saying just
to stop listening?

Internet radio works fine and the bitrate for music quality is OK too.
There is a fair bit more time lag behind satellite, DAB or TDTV.

Ranking of audio quality with decent kit in my estimation is roughly

Internet Satellite TDTV FM DAB AM LW

TDTV and FM are roughly on a par but TDTV has less obvious quiet time
noise. You can also listen to a very wide selection of channels from
round the world on an Internet radio.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 15/01/2017 21:41, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:41:51 -0000, "Jim GM4DHJ ..."
wrote:

If you love radio don't buy a DAB

I think OP is asking about the situation if (when?) FM is switched
off. Are you suggesting satellite or Internet, or are you saying just
to stop listening?

Internet radio works fine and the bitrate for music quality is OK too.
There is a fair bit more time lag behind satellite, DAB or TDTV.

Ranking of audio quality with decent kit in my estimation is roughly

Internet Satellite TDTV FM DAB AM LW

TDTV and FM are roughly on a par but TDTV has less obvious quiet time
noise. You can also listen to a very wide selection of channels from
round the world on an Internet radio.

I do have pretty well all the formats available at the main system - but
this thread seemed to be more about 'what do I use for the kitchen (etc)
radio'.

--
*Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 11/01/2017 16:19, Chris B wrote:
Listening to Radio 4 this morning they did an item on (I think) Norway
and their switch to Digital radio - it appears that by the end of 2017
FM radio switch off in that country will be complete.

Anyway the bloke said that approximately 48% of UK radio listening was
now digital and when this reaches 50% a date will be set for UK FM
switch off.

When DAB first came out it was reported that all sets consumed batteries
like it was going out of fashion and as they all used basically the same
chip they were all as bad as one another.

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.


Yes it was Norway. DAB has various problems, it takes a lot of
processing power to decode hence short battery life, it is expensive to
transmit and generally of low quality because better quality uses more
bandwidth and therefore costs more. Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.


--
Michael Chare

In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:
On 11/01/2017 16:19, Chris B wrote:
Listening to Radio 4 this morning they did an item on (I think) Norway
and their switch to Digital radio - it appears that by the end of 2017
FM radio switch off in that country will be complete.

Anyway the bloke said that approximately 48% of UK radio listening was
now digital and when this reaches 50% a date will be set for UK FM
switch off.

When DAB first came out it was reported that all sets consumed batteries
like it was going out of fashion and as they all used basically the same
chip they were all as bad as one another.

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.


Yes it was Norway. DAB has various problems, it takes a lot of
processing power to decode hence short battery life, it is expensive to
transmit and generally of low quality because better quality uses more
bandwidth and therefore costs more. Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

can't get those in my car

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 11/01/2017 17:00, charles wrote:
In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

can't get those in my car

Yes you can. Smart phone and bluetooth to the in car system - it might
cost you if you don't have all you can eat data but for audio streaming
it gives a fair amount of listening time.

My DAB tuners at home spend all their time on internet radio these days
since they are hopeless as decoding DAB codecs lock up too often.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 11/01/2017 17:00, charles wrote:
In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

can't get those in my car

Yes you can. Smart phone and bluetooth to the in car system - it might
cost you if you don't have all you can eat data but for audio streaming
it gives a fair amount of listening time.

You complain about poor DAB reception on the move - but think a phone is
going to be better?

My DAB tuners at home spend all their time on internet radio these days
since they are hopeless as decoding DAB codecs lock up too often.

How do you get internet radio with a DAB tuner?

--
*HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 11/01/2017 17:00, charles wrote:
In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

can't get those in my car

Yes you can. Smart phone and bluetooth to the in car system - it might
cost you if you don't have all you can eat data but for audio streaming
it gives a fair amount of listening time.

You complain about poor DAB reception on the move - but think a phone is
going to be better?

It is, because there are a lot more mobile bases than DAB transmitters.

My DAB tuners at home spend all their time on internet radio these days
since they are hopeless as decoding DAB codecs lock up too often.

How do you get internet radio with a DAB tuner?

Plenty of radios do all 3, DAB, FM, internet radio.

Same with TVs, plenty do broadcast TV and internet too.

--
*HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:
Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync with
analogue.

--
*Change is inevitable ... except from vending machines *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) was thinking very hard :
The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync with
analogue.

Analogue is also often sent over digital links, to the transmitters.

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) was thinking very hard :
The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync with
analogue.

Analogue is also often sent over digital links, to the transmitters.

and has been since the 1970s

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 20:43:02 +0000 (GMT), charles
wrote:
In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) was thinking very hard :

The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync
with
analogue.

Analogue is also often sent over digital links, to the
transmitters.

and has been since the 1970s

I thought they used NICAM.

--
Max Demian

On 11/01/2017 18:55, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:
Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync with
analogue.

Yes but at least it decodes correctly and has a Hifi bitrate.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 11/01/2017 18:55, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:
Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

The internet - and anything digital - will also be out of sync with
analogue.

Yes but at least it decodes correctly and has a Hifi bitrate.

Describe the 'Hi-Fi' you are using to listen on? You seem to be jumping
from in car to to bedroom to whatever.

--
*I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:52:50 +0000, Michael Chare
wrote:

On 11/01/2017 16:19, Chris B wrote:
Listening to Radio 4 this morning they did an item on (I think) Norway
and their switch to Digital radio - it appears that by the end of 2017
FM radio switch off in that country will be complete.

Anyway the bloke said that approximately 48% of UK radio listening was
now digital and when this reaches 50% a date will be set for UK FM
switch off.

When DAB first came out it was reported that all sets consumed batteries
like it was going out of fashion and as they all used basically the same
chip they were all as bad as one another.

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.


Yes it was Norway. DAB has various problems, it takes a lot of
processing power to decode hence short battery life, it is expensive to
transmit and generally of low quality because better quality uses more
bandwidth and therefore costs more. Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

As a matter of interest, do higher bitrates use more power to decode?

On 15/01/2017 21:50, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:52:50 +0000, Michael Chare
wrote:

Yes it was Norway. DAB has various problems, it takes a lot of
processing power to decode hence short battery life, it is expensive to
transmit and generally of low quality because better quality uses more
bandwidth and therefore costs more. Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

As a matter of interest, do higher bitrates use more power to decode?

A bit more but the big jump is in going from a classic few transistor
analogue radio design where listening volume determines battery life to
a power hungry digital processor with many thousands of transistors in.
The chipsets have improved a bit from the early days when they were only
"battery powered" with D cells and then only for a very short time.

The faster you clock a CPU the more power it uses but the speeds needed
for digital audio are quite low eg. two channels @ 44.1kHz sample rate.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 16/01/17 11:19, Martin Brown wrote:
On 15/01/2017 21:50, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:52:50 +0000, Michael Chare
wrote:

Yes it was Norway. DAB has various problems, it takes a lot of
processing power to decode hence short battery life, it is expensive to
transmit and generally of low quality because better quality uses more
bandwidth and therefore costs more. Two dab radios tuned to the same
station will not be in sync unlike two FM radios

There are some good quality stations on the Internet.

As a matter of interest, do higher bitrates use more power to decode?

A bit more but the big jump is in going from a classic few transistor
analogue radio design where listening volume determines battery life to
a power hungry digital processor with many thousands of transistors in.
The chipsets have improved a bit from the early days when they were only
"battery powered" with D cells and then only for a very short time.

The faster you clock a CPU the more power it uses but the speeds needed
for digital audio are quite low eg. two channels @ 44.1kHz sample rate.

That all depends.
If you want to do audio processing in digital, you need a far far higher
rate.

If you want to do RF or IF processing or decoding, you need a far far
higher rate.


--
"What do you think about Gay Marriage?"
"I don't."
"Don't what?"
"Think about Gay Marriage."

Chris B wrote:

When DAB first came out it was reported that all sets consumed batteries
like it was going out of fashion and as they all used basically the same
chip they were all as bad as one another.

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.

I have had one of these for a few years:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roberts-DAB-Digital-Solar-Radio/dp/B003GM4S48/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1484153120&sr =1-1&keywords=solar+dab

It comes with a couple of rechargeable AA batteries, though I
have since replaced them with higher capacity cells I had in
stock.

It sits on a south facing windowsill, with the top angled towards
the sun.

During the summer months it manages about an hour a day without
problems, unless there is a prolonged dull spell.

It performs less well in the winter, and as I can get a charging
feed, it tends to stay connected.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On 11/01/2017 16:19, Chris B wrote:
snip

I have an FM radio that sits in the bathroom and gets used for about 30
mins a day. 4 rechargeable C cells last about 3 months or thereabouts.
Direct connection to the mains is not an option.

Has the design of DAB radios moved on such that it is now possible to
get acceptable performance from disposable or rechargeable C/D
batteries. I'm not keen on bespoke rechargeable as the replacement cost
(even if available in 5/10/15 years time) will doubtless be astronomic.


I have 2 table top DAB radios that run on batteries:

http://amzn.eu/5mECL37
http://amzn.eu/8UHF20O

(Bought them both from Sainsburys. They seem to be quite regularly
discounted to £40ish. I prefer the sound/build/use of the Sony)

I think they both advise against rechargeable batteries in the
instructions, but they both run fine. About 2 months I'd guess, used
maybe 20 minutes each day, using Aldi rechargeable C batteries.

--
Cheers, Rob

In message , RJH writes

I have 2 table top DAB radios that run on batteries:

http://amzn.eu/5mECL37
http://amzn.eu/8UHF20O

(Bought them both from Sainsburys. They seem to be quite regularly
discounted to £40ish. I prefer the sound/build/use of the Sony)

I think they both advise against rechargeable batteries in the
instructions, but they both run fine. About 2 months I'd guess, used
maybe 20 minutes each day, using Aldi rechargeable C batteries.

Probably a stupid question, but I see that the Panasonic one's
description says "Whip aerial (FM)".
Does this mean that it/they have some sort of internal aerial for DAB?

SHMBO has an awful Pure DAB radio in the kitchen and has to extend and
adjust the telescopic aerial constantly to hear any music amongst the
squawking choppiness of the output.
--
Bill

On 12/01/2017 11:51, Bill wrote:
In message , RJH writes

I have 2 table top DAB radios that run on batteries:

http://amzn.eu/5mECL37
http://amzn.eu/8UHF20O

(Bought them both from Sainsburys. They seem to be quite regularly
discounted to £40ish. I prefer the sound/build/use of the Sony)

I think they both advise against rechargeable batteries in the
instructions, but they both run fine. About 2 months I'd guess, used
maybe 20 minutes each day, using Aldi rechargeable C batteries.

Probably a stupid question, but I see that the Panasonic one's
description says "Whip aerial (FM)".
Does this mean that it/they have some sort of internal aerial for DAB?

No it means the whip aerial is long enough for FM. DAB is at a somewhat
higher VHF band III ~ 200MHz so about half the FM whip length is needed.

SHMBO has an awful Pure DAB radio in the kitchen and has to extend and
adjust the telescopic aerial constantly to hear any music amongst the
squawking choppiness of the output.

That is normal for DAB. You can make a dedicated aerial for it from some
coax (simplest type) or a dipole loop which will improve things a bit
but it still dissolves into boiling mud when it rains.

In the spirit of DIY. This describes the simplest method that works OK

http://motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/thre...antenna.34914/

Still only as good as the broadcast bitrate though

--
Regards,
Martin Brown