What can I use to record radio programmes?

QIn the old days, it was easy to record radio shows to tape, but there doesn’t seem to be any obvious modern method. Is there a tool I can use to record radio stations to MP3 on my computer, so that I can listen to them on my phone at a later time? Andy Drayton

AThere a number of options. If, for example, you want to listen to BBC radio programmes, you could use the free BBC iplayer Radio app (Android www. snipca.com/25683; IOS www.snipca.com/25682), which lets you download programmes and keep them for up to 30 days. Browse for a programme and look for the download icon. To record non-bbc stations, and keep recordings for longer, you could use Tunein Radio Pro. Bear in mind, the PC version doesn’t let you record radio shows, while the IOS (£10 from www.snipca.com/25681) and Android (£7.69 from www.snipca.com/25680) apps that do aren’t free.

If you want to use your PC to record programmes, then transfer them to your phone, you could try the free tool ‘Radio? Sure!’ ( www.snipca.com/25684). Install it or run it as a portable tool. Select your station from the list, then click the red Record button. It is a little unreliable, however – it froze a couple of times when we tried it and sound quality wasn’t great.

Another option is to use sound-recording software, such as Audacity (free from www.audacityteam.org/download). In most cases, you can simply record whatever your PC is playing at the time – including internet radio – by selecting Stereo Mix or What U Hear from the Input Device dropdown menu. Some PCS don’t support this, though, in which case you may need to connect the headphone out socket of a real radio to your PC’S audio input (usually via a 3.5mm jack cable) and use Audacity to record that way.