Ella’s little red radio worked perfectly once she remembered: aerial up, scan when moving rooms, and don’t lose the mains lead. It wasn’t a smart speaker – just a cheerful, simple DAB radio that needed a little human help. If you need the exact button labels or troubleshooting for a specific Red model (e.g., RED DAB-101), let me know and I can tailor the steps.

She unfolded the back aerial (critical!) and plugged the small power adapter into the wall. The screen flashed “Sainsbury’s” then “Welcome to DAB.” Note: This radio has no internal battery – it only works on mains power.

She used the < and > buttons (or a rotary dial) to scroll through stations like Heart, Capital, and Absolute. Press Select or OK to choose one.

Here’s a short, helpful “story” that walks through the instructions for a Sainsbury’s Red DAB radio—based on the typical model sold in the UK (often under the “Red” own-brand range, similar to an Alba or basic portable DAB).

The screen now said “Scanning…” automatically. That’s normal. It searches for all DAB stations in your area. Ella waited about 90 seconds. When finished, it played the first station found (BBC Radio 2). If it doesn’t scan, press the Scan button (often a magnifying glass or “Auto Tune”).

When Ella unwrapped her new Sainsbury’s Red DAB radio on a grey Sunday afternoon, the glossy crimson casing looked cheerful. But the tiny instruction booklet was missing. She remembered seeing the word “DAB” on the box and decided to figure it out.

Some local stations were still on FM. She pressed the DAB/FM button once – the display changed to an FM frequency. Then she pressed Scan again to auto-find FM stations, or held < / > to manually tune.