Raspberry Pi STL

If I understand what can be done with this raspberry pi method, is that a stream can be wirelessly wi-fi'ed from a base station out to a transmitter location where a small, inexpensive, rPi can receive the stream, convert it to analog audio and feed the transmitter.

That is very interesting.

I may spend some time to make it more "part15" friendly.. but yes, that is the idea. And to be clear - you can play analog audio via the mini-phono jack, but the rPi does not (currently) have an audio input.  So the only way to get audio TO the rPi is via streaming either across a network connection (of near any kind) or by local file based (ogg, mp3, aac, etc)

I want to try this, because I am installing a transmitter way out in the yard and the rPi could be a slick way to get audio out there.

BUT, my base station is 100% wired, with no wi-fi. I have avoided wi-fi for two reasons: I doubt that micro-waves from wi-fi are "safe" for human exposure, and I avoid having a wi-fi presence for hackers to "DX" and try to break the security.

Is there a way of putting ONLY the audio stream on a wi-fi antenna mounted on the OUTSIDE of a window aimed directionally toward the remote transmitter, without having my whole internet and computer exposed?

Just buy another wifi access point and don't connect it to your internet service.

You'll still be able to stream wirelessly between the two as they will both be connected to the same wifi access point.

"Just buy another wi-fi access point."

What is a wi-fi access point? Is it a piece of equipment, or a service from an "access point supplier?"

Well, for starters you said you don't have wifi so you wouldn't be buying another one.

A wifi access point is also called a wifi router in most consumer circles.  They are available from a variety of stores from the corner Rite Aid to the Big Box stores like Best Buy, etc.

The wifi router is the common point that connects multiple wifi devices.  In your case, a wifi adapter connected to the Pi and one to your PC or other player communicate with each other through the wifi router.

So now you're buying a wifi router and two wifi adapters.

The wifi router can be connected to the internet provider by plugging into the WAN port of the router.  But, in your case you don't want to do that.  You just want to wirelessly connect two devices to stream audio between them.

Wifi routers can cost anywhere from a few bucks to over a hundred depending upon speed and other options.  Wifi adapter prices go the same way.

Say, didn't you buy a wireless USB audio adapter a while back to do this?

So Carl, or anyone, have you used a Pi yet for this purpose or any other station or studio use yet?

The man to see about Raspberry Pi projects is Neil Radio8Z.

For STL (Studio Transmitter Link) I use a Ramsey FM30b Transmitter and a Panasonic Stereo Tuner feeding into an AMT5000.

I also have a last-of-a-kind Wi-Fi stereo USB Transmitter Audio Transmitter Receiver once sold by MCM Electronics, and although it does do the job I was disappointed to learn that it does not support more than one receiver, so it can't be used to reach multiple transmitters.

MCM now has some better point-to-point wireless audio transmitter receivers.

Also very popular for amateur radio projects.

Try an A/V sender/receiver pair such as the Signstek PAT-630 or SainSonic PAT-330 or others available on-line (e.g. Amazon).

So you take your audio and send it over the air via the Ramsey FM unit to a Panasonic reciever, then feed it into your SSTRAN transmitter?

I used to use a C Crane Transmitter as my STL for an SSTran, most recently I've used Nyrus A/V senders. (Excluding the Marti STLs I love at the big AM)

Both methods work well but are prone to multipath interference. My Rangemaster has always had a direct connection to the studio, which has the best results by far. (No STL interference!)

The question:  "So you take your audio and send it over the air via the Ramsey FM unit to a Panasonic reciever, then feed it into your SSTRAN transmitter?"

Yes. That's exactly what I am doing right now.

However Mighty 1650 reminds me that for a long time I went insane with multipath and whenever I'd solve it on Tuesday it would come back on Friday. In other words the multipath never seemed to be reliably gone.

Then random chance entered the picture. For weeks now the placement of the FM transmitter and Panasonic receiving antenna are working 100% multipath free.

I cannot take credit for knowing why it works well now but hasn't in the past with different setups.

At the moment all my transmitters are indoors. When I move to outdoor transmitters there will be a whole new set of questions to ask, just as you are doing now.

Thinking over previous experience with using the FM band for studio-transmitter-link (STL) I believe using directional antennas for transmit and receive would do a lot to optimize such a system and eliminate the interference of multi-path.

In a directional system it would be wise to back the power way down as far as possible so that you only generate as much field strength as needed to get the job done.