'Optimod' the monthly media magazine

A programme rather than a radio station, presented by me, Jim Douglas Salmon. 'Optimod' was a monthly media magazine which ran from June 1993 to April 1994, & then intermittently until July 1995.

I was fortunate enough to know the management team of B.I.R.S. - the Belgian International Relay Service, who were happy to air my monthly 2 hour programmes via their short wave transmission services. The programme mainly consisted of media news read out from magazines & newspapers together with audio items, & covered all aspects of radio & television. I think it would be fair to say that this was greatly inspired by the excellent 'Radiofax', Britain's number two shortwave station.

The whole project was great fun & I was very pleased with the marvellous response with reception reports sent in & articles for inclusion in the programme. Letters came in from all over Europe including UK, Germany, Eire, France, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Czech Republic, Channel Isles, & Holland. The programme was also regularly listed in the 'Alternative Airwaves' section of the BDXC magazine Communication !

QSL sheets & letters were sent out, & I also received tapes of 'off air' recordings of the programme from across Europe. Here's an example of reception of Optimod via B.I.R.S. on short wave...

And here's a couple of our listings in Communication magazine - the first pages I looked for at the time !

I still have the original programme recordings together with the letters received, & to give a reminder of the programme, here's a selection of extracts from Optimod number 7 for December 1993 (this audio is approximately 9 minutes long).

Following the unfortunate closedown of the Belgian International Relay Service in April 1994, Optimod was left temporarily without a home. In August 1994, Optimod returned thanks to friends at Angel Radio International, & was heard until November 1994. Again, a good response was received from across Europe. Here's 6 minutes of extracts from the November 1994 broadcast.

All good things come to an end, & apart from a brief return in July 1995 via Radio Zodiac, Optimod faded away into the ether never to be heard again...

Looking back (13 years on !) this was a very enjoyable project & if anyone reading this remembers listening, then hello to you, & if you were one of the people who wrote in, then a big 'thank you' !