Does a DAB radio consume more battery power than a standard AM/FM radio?”
Current portable radio receivers have 1/6th to 1/12th battery-life in DAB mode compared to FM mode. Keeping in mind that AM radio can be received with a “battery less” crystal radio receiver, which only uses the power from the radio signals in the air. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio_receiver “Digital Audio Broadcasting” requires more electronics to do the conversion from the digitally-encoded radio broadcast signal in the air to a useful audio one than typical FM radio receiver circuits, also most current DAB radio signals are also relatively low-power compared to current AM & FM broadcasts, so they require more amplification & power at each stage of a portable radio receiver. These two factors consume more power and put more of a drain on battery life per charge. Over time, DAB radio receiver circuitry and battery technologies will improve, and DAB radio signals may become higher power, which
