Congratulations Matt you're doing pretty good on your AM station as far as the range goes.
I am using Radioboss I played around with some different dsp and a vst plugins I got the audio to sound pretty dam good and add vinly dust sound to the shoutcast stream. Yesterday I played around with my wireless router settings computer running Radioboss is connected to interent with a wifi adapter. Speed TX is now 150mbps up from 72mbps and link quality is now 95 to 100.
We have been using RadioBoss 24/7 since 2015.
For me, live was only a few minutes delay as I did our Friday Nite Follies show with BJ the Blowup DJ. Had a few phone calls and texts even.
It was definately a lot a more work than me prerecording a few segments and inserting them at preset times. However, I really need the delay as I have a tendency to say innapropriate things as I ramble.
The feedback I received was acceptable and I was pushing the promo on Facebook tonight also. I gained a bunch of hits in just a few days by making a Facebook page and linking it to my stream..
As my Part 15 station ID was running during one of its scheduled plays, I wondered how many people listening to stream thought "what is he talking about?" But having the over the air broadcast adds legitimacy in my mind to being a real radio station.
BJ the Blowup DJ is now running the proverbial board. I got tired of playing DJ after a couple of drinks and cigars. Tomorrow I will have to go in and air out the studio and maybe nurse a hangover..
Indeed Mr. F understands the chemistry of broadcasting live: "Having the over the air broadcast adds legitimacy in my mind to being a real radio station."
Because being "live" on the air, whether broadcast or stream, most closely resembles the romantic period in radio history, it has always surprised me that so many stations take the easy way out by automating.
Look who's talking... I am automated... I only did a live stream on one occasion, otherwise, like Craig, I enjoy sitting back and hearing my own voice so I can truly admire how I sound.
Drinking while listening to a recording causes no difficulties and sweetens the enjoyment, but drinking on the air drops almost immediately into a "novacaine mouth" that sounds like I'm talking from a dental procedure after being "numbed".
If I had any ambition I'd do live shows from garage sales in the driveway every Saturday morning. It could be like Tim In Bovey's retail shop minus the storefront.
i was pre recording some sets for tonights Saturday Nite R&R Doowop Show. I won't get to do it live.. My Saturday evenings are generally tied up with family.
A friend of mine dropped by and always gets cracked up when I screw up an intro, but while he was there laughing at me. I came up with an idea for an upcoming theme. Most of the doowop songs can have me interjecting "bumbumbum bum" into them at various intervals. It almost always works.
When I put it together, it should be a fun filled show. I think he and another friend are coming by when I do it, which generally makes me more energetic and spontaneous. I feed off of laughter and having them cracking up in the background should make it entertaining... maybe!
Off to mow the grass.. yea spring has sprung. This will be mowing # 3 already this spring.
My Veronica Broadcasting 30 Watt FM Stereo transmitter has the highest specs of any FM squeaker I have owned. Unfortunately, I cannot get it to go under 1 Watt. It really shines at 30, but no WAY am I running this thing at a watt. I am not going to sell it though.
What I am thinking of, is a Veronica 100mW with a short antenna. Mounted inside, it should keep me close to legal. At least not attract unwanted attention, anyway. They have it here:
https://www.aareff.com/en/100mw-fm-transmitter/
An engineer and I were talking. He said he could set this up to be part 15 legal. The length of the antenna. An the mismatch won't hurt it. I'm thinking seriously about this. I absolutely LOVE that Veronica!
Doug
Paul Hollings is a top-notch guy to work with.....ALL the folks at AAREFF are amateur radio ops and/or broadcasters/engineers and really know their stuff!!
I have used their 1 watt transmitter and the 100 watt amp.....BOTH are built like tanks!! The amp uses a 10 pole low-pass filter, which does an excellent job of taking care of harmonic and spurious emission issues!! (NOTE: BOTH units were tested into a 200 watt dummy load.....NO ANTENNA, thank you........BUT the 100 watt "cooker" STILL could be "heard" for nearly a MILE....!!!)
It's a shame that AAREFF/ Veronica can't get FCC certification for their stuff...LPFM licensees could save some serious $$ using this equipment vs Armstrong, Nicom, BW, etc.
I decided to build on last weeks nearly live show and go live tonight. It went pretty well, only had one minor mishap about 5 mins into the show. Lost the right channel during the middle of a song. I thought my main mixer had quit, but I guess one of the new cables I was feeding it with from the live mix computer needed to be encouraged by slapping it. It promptly returned to normal and I went on.
Had a few texts and feedback. I am used to pre-recording segments and stringing them into the playlist to give the appearance of live. I get to proof things that way. Tonight, it was just what it was!!
Next week, I hear that I will be played live into one of the local restaurants. I will really have to be on my best behavior.
I did a price comparison of the 200 watt FM transmitter w/processing...The costs are very close to the 250 watt transmitter we use for our LPFM. I am sure once certified one would see any major savings in costs over existing FM transmitters in the same power class.
- Learning softwares
- Prepping an antenna build
- Drawing up plans for a 9 x 10 foot studio space
Today marked a seachange in the way KDX operates.
The most significant piece of the change is the closing of the KDX Icecast Stream which has sent daily programming to all 400 countries of the world for many years.
It is possible that KDX may stream again on a very limited schedule.
KDX AM and FM have also changed, being stations that supply quality programming to its owner and listener (me), by cutting the program day in half so as to free up the mind for concentration on creative projects of many kinds. We decided that highly interesting talk programming on KDX was, after a certain number of hours, a distraction.
A person can absorb information or produce constructive results, but cannot do both at the same time. It is not possible to be two people.
Here's an update from the files of Radio Free Connecticut.
Unfortunately, I have found that my station on 1650 khz interferes with the local TIS station, which broadcasts ten watts on 1670 khz. The station in question can usually be reliably received at my broadcast location. However, when I'm on the air, this is not so. As such, I have found it necessary to change frequencies.
Barring any unforeseen issues, Radio Free Connecticut will soon move to 1540 AM, which seems to be an open frequency. As an old regional phone message used to say, "please make a note of it". 🙂
Update from the CDL Team on the weekends projects:
Worked on the website, still in progress: http://www.compdecon.org
Preparing the documents to hang another pair of large format monitors monitors in the studio. Requires wiring in the wall, so it's a more complicated then driving a few lag bolts into the wall studs.
Figured out to get the Telos Two x 12 phone system to talk to the lab (test) PBX via ISDN. Now comes the real challenge to make it talk to the site PBX.
Have the Wheatstone R60 talking MODBUS. Sounds more impressive than it really is. All we are doing is lighting the "on the air" flag on our WallTime clocks. https://www.paravelsystems.com/walltime/
Mixed up a new frequency change announcement....if you haven't heard, Radio Free Connecticut will now be broadcasting on 1540 AM, instead of 1650 AM.
Here's my announcement, inspired by the old phone company tones. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1l8e4XayPkS3Qma1o76FgfDNvLaKd4aq-
Comments?
Oh, BTW, I plan to do a broadcast after I get home from the store. 🙂