Ideal Alarm Clocks

DAB Alarm Clock Radio

DAB alarm clock radios are fast becoming the popular choice for people looking for an alarm clock with a built in radio receiver so they can play their favourite music and listen to their favourite radio stations. The DAB alarm clock radio will have all the usual alarm clocks features found in normal alarm clocks however it will have all the benefits of DAB radio built in as well. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe and over 10 Million DAB radios have been sold in the UK so far.

Benefits of DAB Radio Alarm Clocks

Current AM and FM terrestrial broadcast technology is well established, compatible, and cheap to manufacture. Benefits of DAB over analogue systems are explained below.
Improved features for users

DAB radios automatically tune to all the available stations, offering a list for the user to select from.

DAB can carry "radio text" (in DAB terminology, Dynamic Label Segment, or DLS) from the station giving real-time information such as song titles, music type and news or traffic updates. Advance programme guides can also be transmitted. A similar feature also exists on FM in the form of the RDS. (However, not all FM receivers allow radio stations to be stored by name.)

DAB receivers can display time of day as encoded into transmissions, so is automatically corrected when travelling between time zones and when changing to or from Daylight Saving. This is not implemented on all receivers, and some display time only when in "Standby" mode.

More stations

DAB is not more bandwidth efficient than analogue measured in programmes per MHz of a specific transmitter (the so called link spectral efficiency). However, it is less susceptible to co-channel interference (cross talk), which makes it possible to reduce the reuse distance, i.e. use the same radio frequency channel more densely. The system spectral efficiency (the average number of radio programmes per MHz and transmitter) is a factor three more efficient than analog FM for local radio stations, as can be seen in the above numerical example. For national and regional radio networks, the efficiency is improved by more than an order of magnitude due to the use of SFNs. In that case, adjacent transmitters use the same frequency.

Reception quality

The DAB standard integrates features to reduce the negative consequences of multipath fading and signal noise, which afflict existing analogue systems. Also, as DAB transmits digital audio, there is no hiss with a weak signal, which can happen on FM. However, radios in the fringe of a DAB signal, can experience a "bubbling mud" sound interrupting the audio and/or the audio cutting out altogether.

DAB Radio Clocks

The range of DAB radio clocks is growing month by month, and many leading electronics and alarm clock manufacturers have produced a wide range of DAB clock alarms with radio for consumers to choose from and prices range from £30 to over £150 for the top of the range radio alarm. As always the clocks are available in a wide range of colours, styles and designs to suit your home and bedroom.