[NFCB] hardware for Live Remotes

[Simon Frech]

Although I haven't used Skype for broadcast yet I have listened to a  
lot of podcasts where a number of participants connect via Skype. The  
quality varies, sometimes it sounds excellent, sometimes there are  
stutters and dropouts.
I recently found and watched this little video explaining how to set  
up Skype for the best quality, and how to record both sides of an  
interview.
http://www.blogarithms.com/index.php/archives/2007/12/23/skype-for- 
interviews/

Re: Streambox, twice I started a download but it never finished.  
Don't know what that's about. It was a couple of months ago.

A few times we've used a Comrex Matrix setup (Plain Old Telephone  
Service connection) and apart from it being very sensitive to input  
overdrive it's quite reliable. Not perfect for music but listenable.  
I used the Matrix for a temporary STL recently when the other  
connection was being worked on.

We've also used Nicecast, and it's very friendly and easy to set up  
and can sound great if you make the mp3 bitrate high enough. Also,  
the higher the bitrate, the lower the delay.

I'd like to get my hands on a Barix Instreamer/Exstreamer pair to try  
it out.

Simon

On Mar 3, 2008, at 8:09 AM, Norman Stockwell wrote:

> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> 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.
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---------------------------------------------------
Simon Frech, Technical Director
KMUD-FM  Redwood Community Radio
PO Box 135, Redway, CA 95560
(707) 923-2513    simonf at kmud.org