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12v Clock Radio


Mike Adams

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Does anyone know of a bedside clock/radio that works on 12v dc. I would like one that is am and fm and not DAB. All of the ones I can find use the 50Hz mains signal for timing the clock part and I don't want an inverter running all the time even if it did produce a accurate 50Hz?

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I suspect what you are looking for will be hard/impossible to find as a stand alone gadget, as the market for it is tiny. A bit of lateral thinking may be needed. . Many people use their mobile 'phones as their only time pieces, alarm clocks and sources of music/talk. AM and FM steam radio is going to go some day as the government will want to flog off the frequencies they use for other things.

I'd suggest separating it in to two gadgets. Either a 12V car radio and speakers, or a battery steam radio, which you can still buy new, or get second hand cheaply  for the radio bit and a battery powered alarm clock for the clock bit, which will use a quartz crystal oscillator for the time keeping. Some car radios can display time when not doing anything else, so covers everything except alarms, if that is a concern

I have a cheapo battery FM radio in the kitchen. Can gets months of use out of it on a set of four rechargable AA batteries, so it not being wired in to the boat 12V isn't a problem. FM is very light on power consumption, compared with DAB radios that use a lot of juice.

 

Jen

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Search eBay for ‘portable radio alarm’ will give you a selection, though none are 12v, so either run on it’s internal batteries, or replace the mains adapter with a 12v one.  But these all use a set top aerial which may not work well in a steel box (narrowboat)

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Thanks

I have thought about a car radio but then I have to fit speakers  etc. Also found that DAB doesn't work so well on a boat. I searched ebay and found this one secondhand that has a 12v input for power and sockets for an external antenna so I will give it a try. Not a name I had come across before.

image.png.8145bf56567511d342dc5fd5a19bdc87.png

em Description:

  • Compact Tabletop AM / FM Radio with Wooden Enclosure that is Tuned and Ported for its 3-inch Front-Firing Speaker
  • Acoustic Bass Compensation for a Richer Bass Response, Rotary Bass and Treble Controls, this system Delivers Warm Room-Filling Audio for its size
  • 10 Memory Preset Stations (5 AM, 5 FM) Clock and Alarm with HWS (Humane Wake System) (wake by Radio or Buzzer), Adjustable Sleep and Snooze Function
  •  Large Easy to Read Backlit LCD Display with Dimmer Adjustment
  • DC-Input, Aux-Input, REC-Out, Stereo Headphone Output, AM and FM External Antenna Connections Remote Control included
  • Item is used but in excellent condition
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Some thoughts to get the thinking juices working -

I have two 12v car radios on board.

One for 'normal - reasonable' use in the saloon and t'other so that the Management can listen to The Archers wils we are working the locks...

I believe this latter has a clock built in

 

Rather than a jangly alarm clock we have a small  mains alarm clock radio in the bedroom. Internally (throw away the 5V adaptor) I've purchased a 12V to 5V 'converter'  (about the size of two portions of posh chocolate).

 

Seemples.

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1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

Some thoughts to get the thinking juices working -

I have two 12v car radios on board.

One for 'normal - reasonable' use in the saloon and t'other so that the Management can listen to The Archers wils we are working the locks...

I believe this latter has a clock built in

 

Rather than a jangly alarm clock we have a small  mains alarm clock radio in the bedroom. Internally (throw away the 5V adaptor) I've purchased a 12V to 5V 'converter'  (about the size of two portions of posh chocolate).

 

Seemples.

Ahhhhhh at last. We now know the identities of both the people in the UK who listen to The Archers :D

  • Greenie 1
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1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Ahhhhhh at last. We now know the identities of both the people in the UK who listen to The Archers :D

Count me out - I'm only a passive listener.

Never forgiven the Beeb for replacing Dick Barton - Special Agent and it's signature tune

(I'm so worried about Jim - oh- that's Mrs Dales Diary...) 

  • Happy 1
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35 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Count me out - I'm only a passive listener.

Never forgiven the Beeb for replacing Dick Barton - Special Agent and it's signature tune

(I'm so worried about Jim - oh- that's Mrs Dales Diary...) 

 

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15 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Thanks WotEver and Flyboy - brings back memories of my crystal set (radio without any batteries) long, long ago.....     

 

Now how does the Archers tune go -

dumpty, dumpty, dumpty dum,

dumpty, dumpty, dumpty dah, dah,

dumpty, dumpty, diddly do, dumpty diddly dah

 

 

 

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55 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Just sat in my van listening right now :)

:o Blimey!! you as well!! That makes three then. Must be the highest number since its inception :D

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10 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

The age of innocence , deep joy.   ?

I’m told that the control room staff were peeing themselves while the presenter (who had written the piece) recorded it in the voice booth. Nobody had the heart to explain it to her so they just kept the recording in the archives (until it escaped). 

  • Greenie 1
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