VPR does not operate local neighborhood radio stations. To do so would require too many transmitting towers. Instead we are licensed to operate higher power facilities from several strategically placed mountain top towers covering a wide area. That means that throughout much of the region our signal may not be received as a locally strong signal. Also, we do not compress our audio feed as much as some other stations so  you can enjoy the dynamics of the music as if you were playing the recordings at home. This results in our being perceived as softer than the other stations on the dial.

Some of our listeners are located very close to other radio station towers. Those stations can overload or desensitize your radio so it will have difficulty picking up a more distant signal such as VPR. The best solution is a large, rooftop, directional FM antenna. Called a Yagi or Beam, this antenna focuses your reception much like the reflector in a flashlight. Aiming it away from the "offending" local stations and toward one of VPR's transmitting sites should eliminate this problem.

The expansion of VPR Classical across the state is ongoing. In the last year VPR Classical transmitters have gone on the air in the Champlain Valley at 90.9 FM WOXR and in Bennington County at 95.1 FM WVTQ in Manchester. 93.3 FM, a new low-power booster translator, went on the air in Rupert.

The next steps include building a station that serves the Newport/Island Pond region at 101.9 FM this summer. VPR has also applied to the FCC for 10 new frequencies during a rare "open application" window. We don't know yet which (if any) licenses the FCC will grant VPR, but we're hopeful. Of course, we're also keeping an eye out for available stations and possible partnerships to bring VPR Classical to areas where its coverage is weak or non-existent, with special emphasis on the central Vermont, Rutland, and St. Johnsbury communities.

VPR Classical can also be heard anywhere you can hear VPR clearly using an HD radio. You can learn more about HD at our website. Learn more about HD radio here.

Growing VPR Classical may take several years to realize, but, since our first station in 2004, VPR Classical is now reaching nearly two-thirds of the population in the VPR listening region. We're doing everything possible to provide VPR Classical to all Vermonters as quickly as possible.

VPR now streams using only the MP3 format. Clicking the Windows link will open the stream in Windows Media Player. Selecting the MP3 link will open the stream in iTunes, Winamp, or other audio players depending on your computer’s settings. Unfortunately, AOL's Media Player does not support the MP3 format.

To listen to a stream, first select the appropriate format based on your player. Then select the desired audio quality - low or high , based upon your connection speed. If you use the high bandwidth stream and notice interruptions in the audio, you may want to try the low bandwidth stream.

If you’re using a stand alone internet radio (such as a Roku SoundBridge, Barix Exstreamer, or Reciva MagicBox), it may be necessary to enter the URL of the stream, rather than open the playlist files we link to on our homepage. The URLs for our streaming services are (Note: If your player requires a port number, use port 80.):

VPR Main, low (24 kbps): http://vpr.streamguys.net

VPR Main, high (96 kbps): http://vprhigh.streamguys.net

VPR Classical, low (24 kbps): http://vprclassical.streamguys.net

VPR Classical, high (128 kbps): http://vprclassicalhigh.streamguys.net

Download iTunes	Download WinAmp

All Windows computers come with Windows Media Player installed. To play MP3 streams in Windows Media Player, make sure you have version 9 or higher installed.

Download Windows Media Player

Transcripts and online audio of VPR news, commentaries, and select VPR Presents programs are available online, as is on-demand audio. You can download VPR's Vermont Edition programs individually or subscribe to the podcast, but the program is not transcribed; transcription is too labor-intensive for a daily program and VPR does not have the resources to handle it.

CDs of news stories and Vermont Edition are also available for $12 by contacting us online or by calling (800) 639-2192. VPR does not have the rights to distribute copies of programs produced by other organizations, such as NPR or American Public Media, but some of these programs are available as podcasts. You can find out if copies are available by visiting the program's website.

HD stands for "hybrid dgital" and it is very different from "high definition television - HD TV." Digital Radio - HD Radio - is a new technology that enables radio stations to broadcast programs digitally, alongside our existing analog broadcasts. With analog radio (radio as you know it), VPR can broadcast only one program service on a frequency. With HD Digital radio, VPR can offer more programs on the same frequency, or "mulitcast." That means one frequency can transmit up to THREE different services in HD Digital. In other words, you can hear VPR, VPR Classical and the BBC on the same HD Radio frequency. The analog broadcast is not affected.

Digital broadcasts provide these new "hidden" channels, as well as improved sound quality and new data services. And it's all free for listeners, just like today's analog FM radio. HD is not the same as satellite radio and does not have monthly subscription fees like XM or Sirius Radio.

You'll need to buy a new HD Radio reciever to be able to listen to HD Radio services. You also need to be in range of one of VPR's analog signals in order to receive the HD Radio signal. But don't worry about having to choose between analog or HD Radio services. HD Radio receivers allow you to listen to both analog and digital signals.

For some home locations, you may need a better external antenna to pull in the HD digital radio signal. We have other information on our website about getting good reception, which may help with your existing home radio.

VPR Classical, our 24-hour classical music service, is on a number of analog (traditional) FM stations across Vermont. Click here for a list of those frequencies. And it's also available as the second HD channel on every one of VPR's existing FM stations. VPR Classical is also available via the Internet on a high quality audio stream, and many hundreds of listeners access this service daily. We are committed to making VPR Classical more widely available, continuing to grow the service through new FM frequencies and booster stations.

If you live in an area where VPR Classical is not available on an analog frequency, you may want to try out VPR Classical as an HD service in your area (click here for list). Not every location can receive a strong HD digital signal, but if you can tune in a VPR frequency well, it is likely that you should be able to listen to VPR Classical with an HD radio receiver.

The best way to learn more about HD Radio is to try it out in the store. Many audio or electronic store, including Radio Shack, are offering an HD desktop or component radio. We have also seen HD receivers for sale in some communities' hardware stores. They are also available for your car.

Prices range from $100 to $500 depending on features. Manufacturers such as Radiosophy, Cambridge Soundworks, Sony, Boston Acoustic and Radio Shack all have HD models that receive multiple digital channels alongside analog signals.

Glenn Fleishman of the New York Times reviewed HD Radio receivers in his December 2006 column.

Here are several links about the various models available and for where to find and buy a digital radio, including the NPR Shop where your purchase benefits VPR

List of HD Radio Receivers available

List of HD Radio Receivers by manufacturer and type

HD Radio Receiver Buyers Guide

Additional rebate offers

NPR Shop

No, there are a handful of other HD digital stations available in Vermont, both commerical and non-commercial. However, Vermont Public Radio's WVPR 89.5 FM in the Upper Valley became the first radio station in Vermont to begin broadcasting in HD digital sound on July 19, 2006. Fitting, given WVPR was Vermont's first public radio station. WBTN 94.3 FM in Bennington was the next to go digital, followed in November 2006 by 107.9 FM WVPS from Mount Mansfield. WVPA 88.5 FM in St. Johnsbury was the next to go HD in September 2007, with WRVT 88.7 FM in Rutland going to HD in October 2007. VPR expects to continue converting to digital radio throughout 2008, adding multicasting HD capabilities to all of our frequencies. VPR's upgrade to HD digital radio is made possible by contributions from our loyal listeners and through a grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB).

When a radio station broadcasts in HD, the analog FM signal you've always listened to remains exactly the same. The advantage of this new digital technology is that it allows VPR to "multicast." That is, VPR can offer two or more additional programming services on a single frequency. These program offerings are "hidden" on standard radios. An HD digital radio receiver allows you to pick up these "hidden" services. NPR's Jim Zarolli recently reported on HD Radio.

VPR Classical is available statewide on digital channel 2 on every one of the VPR frequencies as we continue to grow the analog (radio as you know it) service through new frequencies and translators.

iBiquity Digital Corporation is the sole developer of HD Radio technology. With input from radio broadcasters, consumer electronics and broadcast equipment manufacturers, automakers, retailers, and consumers, the company has brought to market an idea that was conceived over a decade ago by scientists and engineers at Westinghouse, CBS, Gannet and Lucent/Bell Labs.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved HD Radio technology in 2002, and the commercial rollout of the technology began in 2003 when AM and FM stations around the country began digital broadcasts and continued with the launch of HD Radio receivers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2004.

For more information go to www.ibiquity.com.

To subscribe and listen to podcasts, you’ll first need to install a podcasting program like iTunes, Podcast Alley or podcast.net.

The fastest way to subscribe to a podcast is to copy the URL of the podcast you want (if you paste that URL into your web browser it will look like gibberish - don't worry, that's totally normal!), and paste it into the subscription field of your podcast software (in iTunes, go to the Advanced menu at the top and select "subscribe to podcast.").

The software checks the internetregularly and starts a download whenever it finds something new. Youcan listen to the programs you download on your computer, or you candownload them from your computer to a portable MP3 player (iPod orsimilar). That means you can listen to what you want anytime andanywhere you want.

There are thousands of podcasts on just about every topic imaginable. Podcasting lets you listen to some of your favorite radio programs on your own schedule, but podcasting also provides an audience to anyone with a home computer and something to say. Some are great, some are, well, less than great!

You can search for podcasts by genre at Podcast Alley or podcast.net or iTunes.

If you need help or have questions about podcasting, check out these resources:

iTunes podcast FAQ: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcastsfaq.html

Wikipedia Podcast FAQ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

RSS stands for Really Symple Syndication and it's an easy way to automatically get content from all over the web delivered to your computer. An RSS "feed" is simply a tiny file containing summaries of stories and news as they are updated throughout the day. When you subscribe to an RSS feed, that content is automatically delivered directly to your computer whenever it is updated, without your even visiting the website.

There are a number of ways to access RSS feeds. Most recent web browsers (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer) have RSS capability built in: you can view the RSS feed like a web page, or you can subscribe to it by bookmarking it.

If your browser does not have RSS capability built in, there are a number of Web-based news reader as well. For example, My Yahoo!, My AOL, and Google users can nowadd RSS feeds directly to their personal page.

The third option is to download an RSS Feed Reader, which is basically just a piece of software you install on your computer to process RSS Feeds. Some free RSS readers we have tried include Firefox (VPR's recommendation), Awasu for Windows, Newsfire for Mac OS X, and Bloglines.

Click here for a full list of VPR RSS Feeds.

RSS feeds and Podcasts are similar in that they rely on the same technology (XML) and they allow you to pull content onto your computer from various websites. The key difference is that RSS shows you a list of content items with links back to the originating site, while a Podcast downloads audio to your computer for listening.

The easiest way to illustrate is with an example. The VPR Commentaries Series is available as both an RSS feed and a Podcast. With the RSS feed of the Commentaries on your computer, you can see a list of all the recent commentary titles and summaries and, if you want to learn more, you can click the RSS link which directs you to that commentary on VPR.net. This allows you to see the most recent commentaries and you can click through to those commentaries you want read in full. Furthermore, you can add many different RSS feeds to your reader and, at a glance, see headlines from a variety of sources and websites.

With the Podcast of the VPR Commentaries Series, you subscribe using podcast software, such as iTunes, and the audio for the Commentaries is automatically downloaded to your computer every time you open iTunes and without ever having to visit VPR.net. From there, you can either listen to the audio on your computer or synch it with your MP3 player (e.g. an iPod).

So, in summary, the RSS feed shows you a list of content items and allows you to click through for the full page if you want. The Podcast automatically downloads the audio to your computer. In both cases, you are pulling content from a website onto your computer so you don't have to visit the website directly. For people who listen to a lot of online audio, or who monitor the headlines across many sites, RSS and Podcasts are an extremely convenient way to subscrive to content.