Solar Radio

As of Wednesday November 21st Solar Radio's London DAB service will be upgrading to DAB+

Listeners will need a DAB+ compatible radio - most receivers purchased over recent years will be. A retune or rescan will be necessary. Typically this can be done by either pressing a re-tune or auto-tune button or by going in to the menu and selecting scan, full scan or auto-tune.

This is to advise listeners that after May 31, 2019, Solar Radio will no longer be broadcasting on Sky channel 0129.

The decision was taken after much discussion and ‘soul-searching’

Solar Radio came on the Sky platform in September 2000 at a time when internet streaming was in its infancy. However with the station now being available to listeners on a range of  streaming platforms that have developed and become readily available to the popular market, we have arrived at the conclusion the time is right to take this step.

We have undertaken  surveys which have revealed that listeners have readily adopted alternative platforms through which to listen to the station, mainly via our free branded apps for iPhone and Android mobile devices, and similarly for the Echo Dot unit now available at competitive price from Amazon, as well as similar smart speaker systems and Internet Radios. Solar Radio is also readily available via  other apps including TuneIn Radio and RadioplayerUK, and directly from our website at www.solarradio.com.

In the past couple of years, Solar Radio has also been involved in the path-finding small-scale DAB experiment, and is currently available on DAB in the Inner London area (within the North and South Circular Roads), Birmingham, Brighton and Norwich.

Thus, after examining the costs of the Sky platform, for the EPG and the uplink, and with a mind to potential complex pan-European licencing requirements when the U.K. makes the planned exit from the European Union , the decision was taken to leave Sky at the conclusion of our existing contract on May 31 2019.

As all of our remaining boats for 2018 are sold out, it is timely to publish the dates for Solar Radio boats in the early part of 2019. Please note that our boat events during this year have usually sold out within a couple of weeks of going on sale, so do look out on our website and on social media for news stories advising of tickets going on sale - and book early to avoid disappointment!

DATES FOR 2019:

SUNDAY February 10 (Valentines) - Golden Flame, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SUNDAY March 31 (Spring)-  Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SUNDAY May 5 (May Day) - Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SATURDAY May 25 (Evening) -Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 6pm -11pm (NOT 7 - 12 as previous)

SUNDAY June 23 (Soul on the Solent)- Ocean Scene, Southampton, 1pm - 6pm

SUNDAY June 30 (Mid Summer) - Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SUNDAY July 28  (Summer Soul) - Dutch Master,  Tower Millennium Pier, 1pm - 6pm

SATURDAY August 24  (Soul on the Tyne) - Fortuna, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2pm - 5pm

A date for your diary is Sunday December 16, 2018, the day of the annual SOLAR RADIO DECEMBER SPECIAL, the seasonal soul cruise aboard the 600- capacity luxury of the DIXIE QUEEN, sailing from Tower Millennium Pier at 1.00pm and returning at 6.00pm, with Tower Bridge opening to allow passage for the vessel. Two floors of music from Solar Radio DJs plus guest P.A's  Food available to purchase.  For your information, tickets purchased are held for collection at the Pier on the day of the cruise, and ticketing information will be advised to customers via email.

Dixie Queen

With the ever-increasing number of people tuning to Solar Radio, we are happy to welcome new customers to our events including the ever-popular Soul Cruises, and it may be timely to advise new folk (and remind valued 'regulars'!) of our ticketing procedures. TICKETS ARE SOLD ON A 'FIRM SALE' BASIS. There is no automatic refund for cancellations unless we have published a 'Buy Back' message - any returns will be offered to any Waiting List customers for re-sale. We do not send out tickets for our river events, either by post or as e-tickets, but we do hold all tickets for collection on the day, just before the event. After the initial acknowledgement, the buyer will  later be sent another email, advising of collection time and boarding information. We hope this helps!

SOLAR RADIO now has a dedicated SKILL app on the ECHO DOT device to enable easy access.

Listening to Solar Radio on an Amazon Dot or Echo and Google Home device:

AMAZON DOT / ECHO:  If you have an Amazon Dot or Echo (or any other Amazon smart speaker device) you can listen to Solar Radio by enabling the Solar Radio Alexa Skill.  All you have to do is say “Alexa, Launch Solar Radio”.   You may need to repeat the sentence a couple of times before it responds but once enabled you can simply say  “Alexa, Play Solar Radio” to play the station.  You can also enable the Skill via the Amazon store HERE.

GOOGLE HOME:  For Google Home simply say “Okay Google, Play Solar Radio”.   You may need to add  “… on TuneIn”  at the end if it fails to respond

A reminder that the dedicated SOLAR RADIO app for Android devices is available NOW to download and install FOR FREE from the Google Play Store, featuring choice of 64k or 128k streams, schedule information, contact and social media links, available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SolarRadioAndroid  Also available from the Apple Store, is an UPGRADE to the SOLAR RADIO app for i-PHONE.

Beer & Banter - Check out the Video:

Solar Radio can be heard on DAB in Birmingham, Brighton, in the London area, with the boundary of the North and South Circular Roads,  and Norwich, all part of the Small Scale DAB trial as promoted by OfCom. If you are new to DAB radio receivers, it is worth noting that the most complete range of available stations will be found by doing a full scan near to a window and in the highest available location in your property.

Our Sunday morning 'In Orbit' man, CLIVE R, has written his autobiography - entitled SOUL CITIZEN- relating his memories and experiences over his fifty years as a soul fan, record-collector, music journalist, club and concert-goer, oh, and soul radio DJ! 

Following the excellent response to his set on the April Soul Cruise, Clive is now making the book available direct to Solar Radio listeners. Purchase the book HERE

There are several ways to access SOLAR RADIO on the move, via your Android, IPhone, Tablet or similar device and DAB, the latter to Birmingham, Brighton, London & Norwich.

From the Android Play Store, free downloads are available of apps for either Radioplayer UK, TuneIn Radio or Nobex Radio, which you can install on your device in seconds and a quick search will soon reveal SOLAR RADIO, which can then be saved as a 'favourite' or can be 'followed'.

The Nobex Radio app is also suitable for use on an I-Phone, while the dedicated SOLAR RADIO app is also available from the Apple Store.

Your device can usually be linked to a car audio system via Bluetooth for in-car entertainment. Please ensure you have an adequate data package with your provider.

SOLAR RADIO is part new Ofcom initiative of experimental Small-Scale DAB radio for London, within the area bounded by the North and South circular roads and for the city of Norwich.

Please re-scan your DAB receiver.