Saturday 7 January 2017

Satellite v Internet.



I've been a serious insomniac for well over 40 years; I manage about 3-4 hours sleep per night, the rest of my in-bed non-sleeping time is usually spent listening to one of three UK Radio stations through an uncomfortable earpiece.

However, about two weeks ago, my orange Sky Gnome radio (above left) died; I believe they have a 6 year life-span with a very efficient built in obsolescence chip. I've owned two, and both have gone the same way.

The Sky Gnome received its signal from my satellite TV Sky Box; whatever I could view, or hear, on TV could also be listened to on my bedroom radio. It was a good system with easy to use pre-set controls (in the dark).

To replace it I recently bought an 'Ocean Digital Internet Radio WR220 WiFi Wlan Receiver Tuner' (above right). The effing thing didn't work! Even my genius friend Craig couldn't get the bugger working correctly. I may persevere later.

So, back to the drawing board, and instead I've plumped for what I should probably have bought in the first place; a simple Amazon Fire Tablet (as recommended by Craig). It has all I require; a power socket, an earpiece socket, and gawd knows how many radio stations at my finger tips. It was also reasonably cheap, and arrived in the post the following day (well done Amazon).


But this was not without it's own problems. Getting the bloody thing connected to my router was not easy, which is apparently quite common, and it took Craig's genius to sort things out.

It now works well, and if I wished, I could also read or write this whilst lying in bed!

In case you're interested, I listen to LBC, BBC World Service, and BBC Radio 4 Extra. News, Plays, Comedy, and Argument; with a smidgen of Politics thrown in just for fun. I don't listen to music.


47 comments:

  1. I feel badly for you, that you are unable to get more than three or four hours of sleep. My husband's father loved to listen to the radio in bed and had a speaker pillow! A cord attached it to a radio beside the bed. I doubt they make them anymore. -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My present earphone (in photo) tends to fall out; I'll buy another on Monday.

      Delete
    2. they are still made, I use one every night. I also only sleep 4 or 5hrs.

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  2. Cro, I notice that your radio replacement has an adaptor on the plug, so presumably a UK sourced item. Is it DAB based by any chance... because, if so, it won't work in France... they don't do DAB.

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    Replies
    1. I bought it through Amazon UK. I don't think it's a DAB radio, just internet linked. I'm just about to unpack it again, to see if I can get it to work. The Amazon Fire I bought through Amazon France.

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    2. I notice that the Sky unit has a separate transmitter and receiver.... you might have a signal strength problem with the new one... we can't use certain wiffy items if there is a French farmhouse wall in the way.... 'phone mainly. And torchi flooring is pretty good at blocking the signal, too!

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    3. I've just unpacked my Ocean radio, and amazingly it works. I think there must have been an internet problem when we were trying to set them up. Now I have two radios. Pre-setting stations is a nightmare, but I'll get there!

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    4. You can't have too many radios or clocks!

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  3. I use a tablet as a overnight radio (4 & 4Extra ) one prob is that the ear piece is too large and I get a sore ear. I often get twisted up in the wire though.

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    Replies
    1. The earpiece wire needs to be just a single wire, otherwise disaster is not far away. The best earpiece I had was a free one from British Airways.

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    2. I use a pillow speaker, it goes under your pillow and you can hear the radio through the pillow. No problems with it slipping out or getting sore ears. Just search Amazon or ebay and you will find loads.

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    3. My friend Craig has just been telling me about these. Are they comfortable?

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    4. Little Suzie, can you tell me which model you use?

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    5. I find them comfortable. I buy the XT-XINTE from Amazon. They are really cheap and but last for around a year. I've tried more expensive ones but they have not lasted more than 6 months.

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  4. I use the TuneIn app on my mobile phone for the radio, you can get thousands of stations worldwide on it, or even learn a language with it. I listen to LBC too when I can't get to sleep or if I wake up early, no music for me either, it gets stuck in my head!

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    Replies
    1. That's the app that I use too. I believe it carries 10,000 channels. I only listen to 3.

      Delete
  5. I only listen to music but that's when I work as it's impossible to listen to anything else due to the noise. I need far less sleep than my wife but at least 6 hours a night for me or I turn horrible. Have you been tested for sleep apnea? A friend wasnt sleeping and this turned out to be the problem.

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    Replies
    1. Music whilst working, and voice when trying to sleep. The former should keep you awake, and the latter hopefully make you sleep. At least that's the theory.

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    2. I find listening to a talking book puts me to sleep very quickly. I have to set it to turn off at the end of a chapter or I wake up later with it still going!

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  6. After 40 years I would say that 3 to 4 hours is your normal sleep pattern and all you need. You seem to function well on it all day working pretty hard from what you say here and without a midday nap.

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    Replies
    1. I often have a 15 min 'power nap' after lunch, but otherwise I don't seem to need any more, and I get-up in a good mood every morning without fail.

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  7. Thank goodness for Craig ..... we all need a Craig in our lives !!! My husband is the same as you Cro ..... me ? I can sleep for hours anytime, anyplace, anywhere !!!! XXXX

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    Replies
    1. Craig is a blessing when it comes to anything hi-tech.

      Your family sounds like ours!

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  8. You share your sleep pattern/radio listening with my husband Cro. I suggested getting him a special pillow also but he is happy enough with the earpieces.

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  9. I listen to LBC in the night when I can't sleep. My radio can be set to turn off after 15 /30 mins by which time they have usually bored me back to sleep! Last night there was a man talking about children taking time off school for holidays and he said his wife was a teacher. He could barely string a sentence together, and grammar was not his strong point! Perhaps his parents took him out of school for most of his time there!! I
    would have been shouting at the radio had it been in
    the daytime. I didn't think much of the presenter either....Matt somebody. He was one of those who talk with full stops after every word! What do you think of Steve Allen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some of the callers have IQ's of less than 12, and use mobile phones in train tunnels. Not a good combination.

      I love Steve Allen, at times he becomes a bit tedious, but when he's talking about 'celebs' he's great fun.

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  10. Maybe rubbish music would send you off to sleep???

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    Replies
    1. Reading sends me off, but I don't think Lady Magnon would be very happy.

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  11. You will enjoy your tablet, Cro. Earplugs work well, but I find that the earpiece that go over the head are better for me, they are stereo and a lot more comfortable.
    Greetings Maria x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lying in bed is more complicated. I need a single very small earpiece, with a long wire. Otherwise I'd certainly use the bigger stereo ones.

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  12. I can't function on 3 to 4 hours sleep. I must have my 7 or 8 hours, at least, to feel rested and normal. All that extra time to spare must be nice!

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    Replies
    1. It doesn't seem to affect me; I've lived like this for quite a long time.

      Delete
  13. Nice! It sounds like you have a good friend in Craig. I listen to a ton of music on YouTube--however it gets annoying with all the ads. Glad everything worked out!

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    Replies
    1. I listen to a lot of music too, but not at night. I use Spotify, which is very good; but again there are ads.

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  14. I was mainly an insomniac for 25 years until we moved to this wilderness. I now never (dogs and child permitting)sleep less than six hours, and often eight hours a night. Perhaps because of my past it never feels like enough. If you ever seek a replacement for the above may I recommend the Grace Internet Radio? Looks like a normal Radio unit but functions over the internet. Marvellous. While I'm here, I see the Dutch are switching off their traditional FM and AM broadcasting at the end of this year...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just had a quick look at the 'Grace', it looks rather like my Ocean Radio. I wouldn't be surprised if the innards are very similar.

      Does this mean I will no longer be able to hear Radio Holland? Disaster!

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  15. I was told that a person sleeps better if their bed head is against a west-facing wall where the sun sets.
    X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I sleep East/West with my head facing West. No wonder I'm an insomniac!

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  16. For Christmas I received a DAB/FM/Bluetooth/CD Playing radio from my son and his girlfriend. Very nice it is, but the DAB and fm reception is impossible.
    Another son connected the radio to bluetooth and the reception was perfect. However I couldn't fathom how to use the bluetooth -- until a couple of hours ago when I connected it to the radio via my little travel computer. Am listening to it now and very happy indeed -- and chuffed that I figured out how to do it myself!

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    Replies
    1. Things are so complicated (unless you're 13 years old). I've managed to work mine out now; it wasn't easy.

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  17. I asked Alexa on my Amazon Dot to play BBC and voila, a man who I can hardly understand, put me to sleep. So far, I can't get Radio 4, but I am sure it will be available soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BBC Radio 4 Extra is very good; plays, comedy, and general spoken radio.

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  18. I so pity you.....i go to bed late.. ( midnight) but i can sleep 10 hours if left!

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  19. Im waiting to read of your crushes!

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