GUEST,erbert - my point exactly!!

I've had a very quick reply back from Ofcom, and they say:

Thank you for your email. A map showing the rough locations of the community radio stations can be found on Ofcom's website at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/coverage/communitycommunity-map.pdf.

There is one station in Derby, Radio Ikhlas and a couple of others in Derbyshire itself, Erewash Sound and Amber Sound FM. The contact details for stations currently broadcasting can be found by clicking on an individual station's name in the list at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/Community/community-main.html(end of quote)

I've left the URLs as the text for the clickies to make it easy for copy and paste, should anyone wish to.

Having checked out Radio Ikhlas, it's primarily aimed at the Asian community, so is probably not appropriate. Erewash Sound and Amber Sound FM, however, both seem suitable.

Whilst not ideal, a pre-recorded version of the programme on CD could be posted to a few community stations as an alternative to ISDN links, etc. This would expand the coverage, and give the stations flexibility of broadcast times.

At Oldham Community Radio we are working on an idea to start using an FTP site for uploading programmes not recorded at the studios. Handy for me for the occasional pre-recs that we do, as I usually prepare them at home.

My method for pre-recs (which I first used when we had a slot on Radio Britfolk) is to record Ali's voice links in my studio, then stitch the programme together with the CD tracks afterwards.

Whilst more time-consuming than recording the three segments of the programme in one go (we have 'ad breaks' at twenty-past and twenty-to the hour), it does mean that I can tweak the timings more readily. This is particularly important because we use P-Squared's 'Myriad' auto playback system which can massage the timings automatically...

As different stations will have differing schedules, it's important to understand what they need, and to build each programme to fit in with their pattern.

No, I'm not trying to teach granny to suck eggs, I'm passing on my experience to any novices out there who are thinking of having a go.

The BBC's loss is everyone else's gain!!