INBOX:THERE MIGHT be nothing wrong with that faded old FM radio sitting in the corner of your kitchen, or the office canteen, but it could be missing out on stations it can't even reach, writes Mike Butcher.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland is drawing up a policy for the introduction of Digital Audio Broadcasting, and though there is no end in sight for FM radio, most observers think the newer technology will prevail.
Dublin has been trialling Dab stations since 2007 and most are duplicates of existing FM radio stations, including Radio 1, Radio Kerry, Newstalk and Today FM. But there are eight stations exclusive to Dab, including RTÉ's rolling news bulletins and 24/7 stations dedicated to golden oldies, rock and dance music. There is also the All 80s station and Mocha, which broadcasts RB and soul music.
So to take in some of these new stations what could be better than a radio that doesn't even need batteries?
Admittedly the Roberts solarDAB radio (about €100, see Robertsradio.co.uk) has just a single, small 80mm speaker with just 1W of power to call upon, so don't expect sound to be booming. But speech radio is good, as is music, while the volume will go pretty high. It also has a detachable aerial for convenience.
The solarDAB's display is clear enough and will display not just the station you are on but the next one in sequence. Its has 10 slots for preset stations and is available in five different flavours. A line-in socket for MP3 gadget playback and a headphone port make for very useful features. One problem though - no FM tuner. This is probably to conserve the unit's energy and enable the solar charging to take place.
The solarDAB uses batteries which are charged by the radio's top-mounted solar panel. A sliding scale that appears on the display when the product is exposed to usable sunlight shows the amount of power being delivered by the unit's solar panel. If more than half the bars are lit up then you're using mostly sunlight to power the radio and there's some juice left over to recharge the batteries too. So outdoors is where the radio really comes into its own.
Admittedly digital radio seems a long way off from becoming a mainstream reality, even though it would create more space on the airwaves for more stations and more choice. At least we'll gradually have more and more options to listen to it in an environmentally friendly manner.
