[NFCB] hardware for Live Remotes

[Norman Stockwell]

Chad Carrothers, WFHB wrote:
> Thanks to Jeff and please more stations give us all feedback on Arthur Davis' dilemma - we at WFHB have a trusted MARTI and recent storms disabled the receive antenna so we are looking at new options as well, and right now the Tieline Commander G3 seems the best option.
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I have used TieLine - they are very good, but as Ken points out quite 
pricey. The POTS sounds much better than a phone call. ISDN is, I 
believe, on its way out.  Some companies are developing IP solutions 
that are getting more dependable (lower latency) and cheaper (hardware).

We have had very good luck using a mac laptop and NiceCast from 
coffeehouses and other locations with decent broadband. There is a 
wonderful Linux LiveCD called "StreamBox" that I have used with AMARC 
projects <http://streambox.org/>. And finally, for voice only remotes, 
Skype has great functionality!  (cf. example below):

We covered the Governor's victory party in 2006. A reporter took his 
laptop, a small mixer, and a minidisk recorder. He gathered audio from 
people in the crowd with the MD, then plugged it into the mixer. Added 
in a live feed from the stage, and a mic.  Then dialed us up on Skype.  
With fairly little delay, he was able to do an interactive report with 
the hosts back at the station, adding in the Gov's speech live, and 
extra comments from the MD recordings.  All basically for free and with 
decent quality audio.

--Norm.