The lights go out over parts of Europe tonight…

…Or rather the audio, as medium wave (mw) bids adieu to the Radio France channels (Bleu, Info, Inter etc.) and Deutschlandfunk.

Luxy, good old Radio Luxembourg 208, or these days 1440kHz on mw. The transmitter at Marnach closes as this year ends. A special broadcast of the last Radio Luxembourg show -from the early 1990s- was aired again last night (0000 UTC 30 December). It was great to hear the Ovalteenies advert, a history of the proud old broadcaster that commenced its English programming back in the 1930s, rock and pop from the 1970s- which was when I used to listen under the bedclothes just like every other early radio-fan-soon-to-become- DXer!.

I even enjoyed China Radio International, also  on 1440kHz, making the most of its pop and rock music show on their German language service. I normally avoid the ubiquitous CRI but there was a novelty factor late last night.

I’ve been making the most of France Inter from Lille throughout the month and Deutschlandfunk too; an “as live” concert of US blues singer Carolyn Wonderland over Christmas was great.

With certain frequencies devoid of French and German from tomorrow, it will be a chance to see what we can hear instead- maybe signals from eastern Europe and north Africa from stations using those frequencies will be heard instead, and we can usher in a new age of exciting mw DXing. (See Herman Boel's European and North African MW Guide for details- it's not being updated from now on but much of the info will be relevant for a few more months at least).

I certainly liked Kossuth Radio from Salt in Hungary on 540kHz earlier this month when it was booming in with news and sport and an enchanting children’s programme- the strongest signal from the Hungarian station that I’ve ever heard. That’s a good sign.

So, thanks to DLF and Radio France, and welcome to new mw DX adventures!

Slovakia's backia

2015 celebrates the 30th birthday of the iconic Slovak Radio building. To commemorate this occasion, the striking "upside down pyramid" building was illuminated in dazzling coluors and captured on their newest QSL card design. Tune in to Radio Slovakia International's return to shortwave in English this B-15 season, via Kall in Germany.

9560kHz from 1300 to 1330 UTC
7310kHz from 1530 to 1600 UTC 

and
3985Khz from 2000 to 2030 UTC

DSWCI 6th International DX contest, now on

The Danish Shortwave Club International contest is held from Friday 2 October 2015, 0000 UTC to Sunday 25 October 2015, 0000 UTC. It is open to all shortwave listeners regardless to their membership in any DX club. For more details see this EDXC link and the DSWCI website.

XLVIII EDXC Conference St. Petersburg,18-22 September

XLVIII (48th) EDXC Conference 2015 

European DX Council (EDXC) and St. Petersburg DX Club are 
kindly inviting European DXers to take part in the 48th EDXC 
Conference 2015 to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 18-22 
September 2015. Guests from countries outside Europe are also heartly 
welcomed. Conference venue: RUSS Hotel, Artilleriyskaya ul, 1, St. Petersburg
http://www.hotelruss.spb.ru  or 
http://www.hotelruss.spb.ru/index.php?lang=eng 

The preliminary conference agenda (updates and changes are possible): 

Friday 18 September 16.00 – 22.00
Arrival, registration, informal contacts at the conference venue hotel

Saturday 19 September 10.00 – 14.00
Conference opening. Greetings from the St.Petersburg DX Club and Conference Organizing Committee by Mr Alexander Beryozkin. Greetings from EDXC by Mr Kari Kivekäs
Lectures and reports
1. “Pages of history of foreign broadcasting in Russian” by Mr Andrey Fyodorov
2. “DXing in Costa del Sol: July 2015” by Mr Alexander Beryozkin
3. “EDXC matters” by Mr Kari Kivekäs
4. “News and prospects of Christian broadcasting on the example of Protestant radio stations of St. Petersburg” by Mr Mikhail Nevolin

Saturday 19 September 15.00 – 18.00
Sightseeing city tour by bus. Excursion to the National Show Museum “Grand Maket Rossiya” (“Grand Model Russia”)

Sunday 20 September 10.00 – 14.00
Lectures and reports
5. “Modern SDR techniques in amateur radio and DXing” by Mr Alexander Gromov
6. “Receiving antenna: electric or magnetic?” by Dr Anatoly Bobkov
7. “RTRN St.Petersburg Regional Centre: broadcasting development plans” by Mr Mikhail Timofeyev
8. “EDXC 2016 Conference, proposed city: Manchester” by Ms Chrissy Brand

Sunday 20 September 15.00 – 18.30
Visiting the studio of St.Petersburg FM station “Dorozhnoye Radio” (“Road Radio”). Excursion to Prof. A.S. Popov’s Laboratory and Apartment Museums in the St.Petersburg Electrotechnical University, including report:
9. ”Historical significance of Prof. A.S. Popov’s scientific works in the field of radio” by  Ms.Larisa Zolotinkina

Sunday 20 September 19.00 – 22.00
Banquet dinner at the hotel restaurant

Monday 21 September 10.00 – 13.00
Exit session of the conference, part 1. Venue: St.Petersburg DX Club Headquarters in Bolshiye Porogi including report:
10. “Collecting Soviet and Russian vintage broadcasting receivers” by Mr Omar Cheishvili

Monday 21 September 14.00 – 18.00
Exit session of the conference, part 2. Venue: St.Petersburg Bonch-Bruyevich State University of Telecommunications
Lectures and reports
Excursion to the University Media Centre
Special broadcast of Radio Bonch students’ radio station devoted to the conference
Conference closing

Tuesday 22 September 10.00 – 14.00

Departure, informal contacts

More information at 
https://edxcnews.wordpress.com

British DX Club’s Broadcasts in English

All of the summer shortwave schedules appear in the British DX Club’s Broadcasts in English publication and I keep a copy by my radio to remind me of when to tune to some of my favourite regular broadcasters, such as the Voice of Turkey and Voice Vietnam by following the schedules. 

For those who are more adventurous it offers tantalising glimpses of ever more exotic sounding stations. Just taking some of the 35 options that are in the English during the 1300 to 1400 late lunchtime slot, you may be tempted to seek out signals from Ovozi Tojik, the Voice of Tajik in Dushanbe who target the Middle East on 7245kHz. 

Or maybe Pyongyang’s latest proclamations will liven up your lunch on 9435, 11710, 13760 and 15245kHz. Radio Tunis Chaine International’s domestic service is on 963kHz medium wave in English for an hour while, on Tuesdays, domestic station Radio Nikkei 1 from Tokyo offers the intriguing prospect on 3935, 6055 and 9595kHz of “Let’s Read the Nikkei” (Japan’s stock market) in English and Japanese. 

If you want to order a copy of Broadcasts in English then send a cheque for £3 made payable to British DX Club to  British DX Club, 10 Hemdean Hill, Caversham, Reading, RG4 7SB. A pdf version is also available as well as the paper one for the same price (email bdxc@bdxc.org.uk ). More details including overseas rates are at http://bdxc.org.uk/bie.html

So much radio, so little time…

Extract from my columns in Radio User July 2015

There is so much radio to choose from and never enough time to hear everything I would like to, but you just have to make the most of every spare moment. I have found a new radio station by accident when I was at Live 365 looking for some acid and fusion jazz. http://www.live365.com/genres/jazz

The new station I refer to is KSBR 88.5 at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California which I have added to my long list of favourites. http://www.ksbr.net/ It was a breezy Saturday afternoon in the UK but a bright morning in California and I was transfixed by wonderfully gentle and moving jazz-chill out music such as an unreleased track called Orange Sky by John Luttrell (https://soundcloud.com/john-luttrell ); New Day from David Arkenstone’s Sketches From an American Journey album (www.davidarkenstone.com) and Santa Fe by Deuter, from the Land of Enchantment album. (http://www.newearthrecords.com/artists-items/deuter/)

If I ever gave it all up to live in the USA I think, having been to 25 states in my five visits, the Californian coast would have to be where I make my home. Elsewhere in the USA, Eargasm in Texas is another online station I have enjoyed with a mix of jazz fusion, art rock and indie. Give it a whirl at www.live365.com/stations/fuzoid

With the return of Radio France Internationale to shortwave I have been grateful for online information about the station. There is a series of English programmes on their Soundcloud channel which will supplement your shortwave listening and which includes programmes you won’t be able to catch during their one hour of English each day on shortwave. https://soundcloud.com/radiofranceinternationale/sets/rfi-english 

These include features on the Nelson Mandela memorial and an interview with D’Banj who is a Nigerian rapper, entertainer and cocoa farmer. While with RFI there is a You Tube channel, that of one Yohann Chauvin, which includes old RFI identifications and also a range of other French radio stations, news and old. See https://www.youtube.com/user/joggeli78 The official RFI You Tube channel meanwhile is always full of engrossing excerpts, at https://www.youtube.com/user/rfivideos.

A voyage to Vietnam

The Voice of Vietnam is holding a competition and entries must be sent by 30 June 2015 (email to vovworld@vov.org.vn). As well as the station’s 70th anniversary the contest marks
other occasions including the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day, the 85th
anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the 125th birthday of President Ho Chi
Minh and the 40th anniversary of the liberation of southern Vietnam and national
reunification.

The contest’s theme is “What do you know about Vietnam?” and it’s a proper competition which needs some careful thought (unlike the simple phone-in quizzes so beloved of UK domestic television). The prizes are worthwhile, with a free week-long trip to Vietnam for first place and runners up prizes of a five day trip, a four day trip and ten consolation prizes



You have to answer the following questions, if you are struggling then a short amount of research online should set you straight: 

(1) What were Vietnam’s most outstanding achievements in economics, external relations, social welfare, society, and poverty reduction in 2014?; 

(2) Vietnam is a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2014-2016 term. What have been Vietnam’s contributions and activities during the first year of its two year term?; 

(3) In 2014 UNESCO recognised two relic sites and/or art forms in Vietnam as tangible or intangible cultural heritages of humanity. What are they? How many tangible and intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO does Vietnam have? What are they?; 

(4) What do you know about Vietnam’s 2015 National Tourism Year themed “Connecting world heritages”? Name the most prominent cultural and tourism events during the year. 

(5) The Voice of Vietnam will be 70 years old on 7 September 2015. What have been the major developments at the station over the last five years? 

(6) How many people will participate in this contest?

School of Oriental and African Studies

Extract from my columns in Radio User May 2015

I attended a UNESCO World Radio Day event on 13 February at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) at the University of London. It was an interesting occasion and one of many taking place all over the world. I recommend you put the date in your diary for next year. At SOAS there were seminars and a trade fair showcasing the latest research and innovations in the field of radio and development communication and, as you would hope, coverage from a great radio station, in this case the in-house SOAS Radio. SOAS Radio has been on air for a decade now, providing education and training to its students, many of whom have gone on to pursue careers in media.

This year’s World Radio Day theme was youth and radio and there were four presentations at SOAS from academics and professionals working in the field of radio in Africa: Kevin Perkins of Farm Radio International which is a Canadian non-profit organisation which for 35 years has working in partnership with more than 500 radio partners across Africa to fight poverty and food insecurity. Dr Sharath Srinivasan from Cambridge University, Will Snell of Development Media International and Daniel Bruce from Internews Europe.

See http://soasradio.org/ for regular podcasts from the station including their World Radio Day output. Elsewhere, Vatican Radio and Radio Romania International were among shortwave stations taking part in the day and audio can be found at many places online including https://soundcloud.com/world-radio-day

Good Friday on the Cam and on 6070kHz

Photo from Facebook

There is a relay of community station Cambridge 105 on shortwave over Easter (one day only, Friday 3 April). In a special broadcast the station takes over the river boat Georgina and broadcasts from the River Cam in an attempt to recreate offshore radio days. It is supported by a local record store, Lost in Vinyl. Ex-BBC presenters including Trevor Dann and Mandy Morton joined former pirates Julian Clover and Steve Potter.

The Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club (DARC) are relaying this on 6070kHz. Keep tuning to that shortwave frequency as Radio DARC also transmits (via Channel 292) programmes in English about amateur radio, hosted by Ed Durrant, DD5LP G8GLM, from 1400-1500 UTC on Mondays on 6070kHz. You can email Ed at eddd5lp@gmail.com.


With thanks to the BDXC for the alert to this fascinating broadcast.

Radio stations: archives and angels

Extracts below from Radio Websites by Chrissy Brand, for Radio User, 2015. 

In the past few weeks I have finally listened to some of the online output of Radio Sputnik. The former Voice of Russia now only has a handful of programmes in its canon. It is a far cry from the culture of Russian history, folk music, tales of great composers and classical musicians at the Moscow and St Petersburg conservatoires that once graced the airwaves. However, at least From Moscow With Love is still in the schedule, hosted by Vasily and Nataly. The pair cover similar topics to the Moscow Mailbag show of old, answering for instance questions such as what do average Muscovites look like and what do they wear? How hard is it to get a Russian visa? Who needs doctors when we have folk medicine? An item on classic Soviet radio shows for kids on cable radio in the USSR may quieten some of the station’s critics. http://sputniknews.com/radio_from_moscow_with_love STOP PRESS Inexplicably this was taken off air and offline for good in March Shame on you Sputnik!


Other programmes which I have yet to download or listen online to are Agree or Disagree (http://sputniknews.com/radio_agree_or_disagree ) Red Line (http://sputniknews.com/radio_red_line) Living Room (http://sputniknews.com/radio_living_room ) and Looking Forward. The latter is a positive programme in that it looks at emotional intelligence and how to avoid getting more bogged down in negativity.


Another Sputnik programme I have enjoyed is called Brave New World, presented by John Harrison, a Brit with many decades of living in Russia it seems. And, yes, the show is named after Aldous Huxley’s Magnus opus. It looks at the dehumanising aspects of the world today and in many ways reminds me of the much-missed award-winning Radio Netherlands’ programme The State We’re In.


One of the presenters of The State We’re In was Jonathan Groubert and there is a very readable article from 2013 which details the history and background to that show at http://transom.org/2013/jonathan-groubert-the-talkumentary/ It includes a masterclass for programme makers and links to previous shows, both good and bad. I spent a happy evening enthralled by this page and investigating its links.


In a moment of bad judgement in January the management team of Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep) removed the entire audio archive (of shows which included The State We’re In), taking it all offline. A campaign was quickly launched to get the archive reinstated, as it was a public resource with an audience of loyal listeners as well as current researchers, not to mention as yet unidentifiable future users. Bert van Riel is one of those who has set up a Facebook group to campaign for the restoration. He writes: “The internet archive of former broadcaster Radio Netherlands Worldwide is put offline. Tens of thousands of journalistic texts are now untraceable, years of work by many, hard-working and honest journalists. Archives are a part of history and have historical value. Therefore the Wereldomroep internet archive should be saved. Please join this public group to join forces. The archives of Radio Netherlands Worldwide belong to everyone!” https://www.facebook.com/groups/redhetarchiefvanradionederlandwereldomroep/



Such campaigns can work, as we have discovered in recent months, with RTE longwave getting a temporary reprieve whilst a public consultation takes place. See the excellent campaign to save the frequency website at http://savertelongwaveradio.com which gives updates, a blog, audio and video, technical details, a history and even RTE on DRM. There is also a Facebook page protesting against the proposed closure. https://www.facebook.com/enda.okane


There is also an article of support for the Dutch archive at an Arts and Culture website. http://www.cultureelpersbureau.nl/2015/01/archief-wereldomroep-volgend-slachtoffer-van-bezuinigingen/ It is in Dutch but worth translating. Meanwhile the bland face of what Radio Netherlands has become, merely a dull media company working in developing countries, is at www.rnw.org 

SEE also the unofficial archives at https://rnwarchive.wordpress.com and Media Network archive at PCJ Radio plus at http://jonathanmarks.libsyn.com 

Long Medium and Shortwave Broadcast Matters, Radio User

Extracts below from Long Medium and Shortwave Broadcast Matters  by Chrissy Brand, for Radio User, March 2015. 

We cover a lot of ground this month, including Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean, Thailand and Turkey on shortwave before an intriguing look at what two Radio User readers in Ireland and South Africa have been hearing on medium wave.

From Bournemouth Andrew Kirby has a query regarding a station on 3946kHz which he has heard open at 2000 UTC and thinks may be Radio Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. He has not been able to identify it in the brief 30 second window before the signal is obliterated by a transmission coming on air on nearby 3955kHz. If it is Radio Vanuatu they broadcast mostly in the vernacular of Bislama but also in the colonially-imposed languages of English and French (the country only gained independence in 1980). They broadcast with 1kW on 3945kHz from 1830 to 1230 UTC and on 7260kHz for 24 hours a day.

Owned by the state-run Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, Radio Vanuatu started life as Radio Vila, then became Radio New Hebrides. It now broadcasts 16 hours a day of news, information programmes, music and entertainment. The station’s email is technical@vbtc.com.vu with a postal address of Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, PMB 9049 Port-Vila, Republic of Vanuatu.

The Voice of Turkey broadcasts in several languages, many of which reflect its neighbouring countries, for example Arabic, Azeri, Persian Tatar, Uyghur and Uzbek. Among the languages more familiar to most of us it also transmits in Spanish to South America, Spanish to southern Europe (at 1730 UTC on 9495kHz), Italian to south east Europe (the latter is on 6185kHz at 1500 UTC) and German to Europe on 7205kHz at 1830 UTC.

If you want to try listening to Turkish then get up early for the 0500 to 0655 UTC broadcast on 9700kHz or at 0700 to 0855 UTC on 15350kHz. These emanate from the Emirler transmitter in the town of Gölbaşı (which is in the province of Ankara) and are aimed to Western Europe. Turkish is then aired to Europe at 1300 UTC on 15350kHz but you will doubtless be tuned to TRT The Voice of Turkey in English by then, on 12035kHz from 1330 to 1425 UTC. You have another chance to hear them at 1930 UTC for 55 minutes on 6050kHz followed by French at 2030 UTC on the same frequency and also on 5970kHz. English programmes to South East Asia are on air at 2130 UTC on 9610kHz and later to North America at 2300 UTC on 5960kHz.

Radio Thailand to Western Europe is still on its usual frequency of 9390kHz aimed at western Europe. English can be heard at 0530 to 0600 UTC (which is beamed to Africa as well as Europe) and from 1900 to 2000 UTC. German is on at 2000 UTC; English again for 15 minutes at 2030 UTC and then it’s in Thai from 2045 until 2115 UTC.

Radio Exterior de Espana’s return to shortwave is sadly only in the Spanish language with relays of Radio National de Espana. They have been logged on 9620kHz at 2200 UTC and 11940kHz at 2100 UTC.

Reader Steve Nichols G0KYA notes that WRMI in Florida now broadcast on a whole range of frequencies. This includes a relay of Radio Slovakia International in English at 0030-0100 UTC on 5850 kHz to North America. WRMI also relay the weekly Sputnik Radio (formerly Voice of Russia) show "From Moscow With Love" with Vasily Strelnikov and Natalia Stefanova. Aimed at North America it’s on at 0400 UTC on 9955 kHz; at 1000 UTC on 5850 kHz; 2100 and 2130 UTC on 7570 kHz and 15770 kHz. Radio Scotland International is a Dutch station which was logged by Bradley Allen on 6290kHz at 0830 UTC with a brief test transmission. He also heard mention of what I presumably another free radio station called Radio Columbia and wonders who they are? Free stations logged on the 6290kHz frequency so far this year include Radio Rode Adelaar in German and Dutch, Radio NMD, Radio Hitmix, Radio Powerliner and Radio Quadzilla and Radio Caroline Rainbow.

International Radio Serbia’s programme content is usually too dry and dull for my tastes but at least they are always there on 6100kHz for those that choose to listen. There are seven languages beamed to western Europe every evening from a transmitter at Bijelina in the neighbouring country of Bosnia-Hercegovina. If you sit by your radio at 1830 UTC and tune to 6100kHz you will hear Italian followed by Russian at 1900 UTC, English at 1930 and 2200 UTC, Spanish at 2000 UTC; Serbian at 2030 and 2230 UTC, German at 2100 UTC and French at 2130 UTC.

The BBC World Service has done well to maintain shortwave services after the crippling cuts by the coalition government. You will recall that for decades (82 years of existence in fact) their entire funding was through a grant-in-aid from the Foreign Office Department. But since last year all World Service funding now has to come from the BBC television licence fee. It’s hard to fathom how this can work without major cuts to many other BBC services but it is sadly true. However, as you see from the logs, BBC World Service in English is still a regular catch (and, of course, if you just want to hear the station for the programme content there’s a national DAB channel). Special programmes on Ebola have been aired for several months now, aimed at the countries and regions affected most by the disease. English programmes have included a BBC public health broadcast on Ebola and regular updates on local, regional and international efforts to contain and combat Ebola. There is a dedicated Ebola information webpage at the World Service too, along with a Facebook page and Twitter feed http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02749tj

Another way is which the BBC World Service is maintaining an international reputation as a provider of vital news and information is in its Afghan Service. This has recently been expanded with three new audience participation programmes in the Dari and Pashto languages: Word of the Day in the morning and News and Views in the evening; and Global Newsbeat bulletins in Dari and Pashto.  News and Views is a daily programme at 1600 UTC split into two half-hour Dari and Pashto sections. Popular presenters, Abdullah Shadan and Mohebullah Mudessir (Dari) and Spin Tanay and Saeeda Mahmood (Pashto), bring their own unique style to the programme, making a smooth transition from one language to the other.  The morning live interactive show, Word of the Day which started in December connects the global with the local, listeners to share the news closer to home.  Younger audiences are at the heart of the Global Newsbeat bulletins launched in late December. 

Meena Baktash, Editor of the BBC Afghan service, says:  “With the Global Newsbeat bulletins we are reaching out to young people – those who will make up our audience base in the years to come – while also retaining the core standards and values of the BBC that have made us such a trusted news source in Afghanistan. We want our listeners to live the news with us.” Research suggests that the BBC’s international news services reach 6.5 million people (about 42% of the adult population) in Afghanistan on radio, TV and online each week (2013).

World Radio Day Friday 13 February 2015

The 4th UNESCO World Radio Day is Friday 13 February. This year it focuses on radio for, by and with youth (i.e. people under 30 years old).

There are various events around the world and hopefully the day will engage with radio stations large and small too. I never understand why UK commercial stations and most BBC stations seem to ignore it. Considering the amount of air time they have to fill and judging by the mediocre content that many produce, you would think a chance like this would be a golden opportunity: Interviewing young people, hooking up with other stations, playing music from around the world suggested by young people and other stations, giving a show or two across to people under 30 to produce and present- the potential is great.

PCJ Radio International’s Media Network Plus show of 31 January was ahead of the pack as usual. It interviewed UNESCO Chief of Section, Communication and Information Sector, Mirta Lourenco. She emphasised a need for greater social inclusion of the young generation. A speech from and BBC World Service Director Peter Horrocks stated his commitment to youth radio but I can see and hear nothing to back this up in actual content- it sounded like he was reading a script and giving empty platitudes but I look forward to being corrected.

Broadcasters from around the world will be on air live from UNESCO HQ in Paris on Friday, 13 February. These include MC Doualiya (ar) | Radio Orient (fr) | Radio VL (fr) | RFI (fr) | and Vivre FM (fr).   The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and UNESCO are also hosting a joint live broadcast all day, which will be streamed online. Visit the ITU website for more details.

There are also other events going on all over the world - see what's happening near you by visiting the World Radio Day Crowdmap. I am attending an event in London. Radio Romania International as always, will be hoisting a special programme for its shortwave and online audiences.

Check out the World Radio Day Soundcloud page too, now, on the 13th and after.

Happy World Radio Day for the 13th February, fellow listeners!

A plea to UK commercial and community radio stations

My message to CAT Radio in Cheshire on their launch.

Good luck with the launch of CAT Radio- Hope you follow the example of quality community stations such as Salford City Radio, ALL FM Manchester and Resonance FM in London, and produce diverse, informative, interesting programmes. Please don’t be tempted down the route of most commercial radio stations and many community radio stations and end up relying on playing jaded old singles from the past. You have a chance to open your audiences’ (and sponsors’) ears to exciting new (and old) music and intelligent speech programming. 

These opinions are my personal views and not necessarily those of any publishers, music organisations or clubs that I work with. 

Sunday, Lounge Masters

Extracts below from Radio Websites by Chrissy Brand, for Radio User, 2015. 

I have time in the afternoon to catch up with emails while listening to a Japan-based station called Oasis Radio. It has a Sunday chillout programme, (recent and archives) presented by Tim Angrave at http://www.oasis-radio.net/radio-shows/chillout-lounge-mix-tim-angrave/ 

Another laid-back musical option is to explore the Lounge Masters download which started at the end of October at http://www.loungemasters.org/  but which has been established on social media, including YouTube, for a few years. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/ODFrancia

On Sunday evenings The Prog Mill from the windmill which is home to Stafford Radio is a must-listen for me. Presenter Shaun Geraghty’s two hour show features new melodic progressive rock music, with a few old classics thrown into. 

It has gone from strength to strength and clocked up a three year anniversary in the autumn. If you miss it live on Sundays at 2200 UTC, then you can hear it again thanks to the Stafford Radio Rewind facility. Have a look at http://www.staffordradio.com/index.htm and http://www.staffordradio.com/presenters/shaungeraghty.htm If you use Facebook then the show has its very own page, full of track listings, competitions and band news. https://www.facebook.com/theprogmill

Friday, shortwave podcasts

Extracts below from Radio Websites by Chrissy Brand, for Radio User, 2015. 

The working week is over for most of us and I am on the tram to Cheshire to see family. I block out the noise of the commuters around me by listening to the last of the podcasts which I loaded onto my mp3 player at the weekend. Views, news and features from the English services of Radio Sweden (http://sverigesradio.se/sida/default.aspx?programid=2054 ), Radio Prague (http://www.radio.cz/en/static/about-radio-prague/how-to-listen-to-radio-prague ), Radio Slovakia International (http://en.rsi.rtvs.sk/ ) and Radio Bulgaria. See http://bnr.bg/en and the wonderful 80 years feature at http://bnr.bg/en/80years/list . 

Although Sweden and Bulgaria are no longer available on shortwave, I am still as entranced and informed by these countries as I was when first encountering them decades ago on the radio dial.

Just before meeting some friends for dinner there’s time for me to explore Soundcloud and hear a few new offerings in my feed. These include DJ Zed’s glorious six minute dark and mysterious track called “Mystery”, which reminded me a little of radio interference and ionospheric noises at https://soundcloud.com/di_zed/mystery Other aural ambience that may well lift you include tracks called Ravel, Ether and The Symbols. Check out https://soundcloud.com/di_zed. 

I also catch up with the latest podcasts from The Mouth, a UK magazine which has regular interviews with established and up and coming bands. https://soundcloud.com/themouthmagazine