Dedicated listening appliance/device to listen to a Broadcastify stream 24/7?

[Thunderknight]

There is a feed (regular, not Calls) that I'd like to leave running 24/7 to listen to. It's not very active, but I'd like to hear anything that comes across it.
Right now I do it via the web on Windows, but the PC is used for other things, rebooted, etc.

I'd like to have a dedicated "box" that plays this stream. Either in a UI friendly format (looks like a scanner or streaming listening player or some other consumer type device), or I could dedicate a headless Raspberry Pi with an external speaker.

I'm a premium member so ideally it would be something that would let me use my credentials to avoid ads and time outs. Even better, it would auto-restart playing if the network/Broadcastify hiccupped.

Any ideas?

 

[ten13]

There was a "box" a while back which allowed for listening to "regular" radio stations who also broadcast on the Internet. They looked like regular desktop radios and had, I believe, push buttons to change stations. As I recall, there were a few of these units. Maybe I'm wrong but, for some reason, they seemed to disappear.

I often thought that they would be good for what you describe, but I never followed up on them.

 

[R8000]

I bought a used HP Eletedesk Win 10 mini PC for $100 (think the small PC's, like 6"x 6"). Threw a fresh load of Win 10 Pro on it and use it with a USB speaker to listen to my calls feeds. The cheap USB speaker does well since I don't need thunder bass and treble for radio use.
You could setup that PC to auto login on boot up, and auto launch Firefox (or similar) with a homepage going to the feed you want. I don't know if there's a way to autoplay the feed but that will get you super close. You can then configure the power button to shutdown when pressed once for a clean Windows shutdown.
I use mine with an old monitor next to my desktop, but you could maybe configure it they way you want, then not use a monitor unless you needed it
Just a thought.

 

[DC31]

Grab a retired iPhone/android with a charger. Connect to wifi, no need for cell service. Use your favorite app.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Alexa

 

[Thunderknight]

Thanks all. I tried the Alexa skill without no luck (posted over in that thread). I might try the RPi approach.

 

[DC31]

Thanks all. I tried the Alexa skill without no luck (posted over in that thread). I might try the RPi approach.

If you have a pi already, go for it. If not, they are nearly impossible to obtain.

a substitute is www.inovato.com

if you go that route:

1. the a/v jack does not output audio. You need to use a cheap usb sound card to get audio out. Or get the bluetooth adapter and use a bluetooth speaker.

2. Use the included VLC software to stream. a quick guide here:
Post in thread 'Using VLC to listen to broadcastify ?'
Using VLC to listen to broadcastify ?

3. Use pavucontrol (under Applications/Multimedia) to route the audio output from vlc to the usb card. (Built-in audio does not work).

good luck and have fun.

(I successfully tested this for about three minutes…)

 

[Thunderknight]

I setup a Pi over the weekend and got it working. Haven't long-term tested yet to see if the stream will stay live for long periods.
I first tried an old Pi B and found that Chromium is no longer supported on the older hardware (without using an old image). I repurposed a 3B and that worked fine. Nice thing about Pi's is it's so easy to swap purposes by just exchanging SD cards

 

[msuetti]

Here's what I used for a dedicated listing box for my feed. Years back I purchased a bunch of Logitech Squeezebox Radios. After Logitech shut the servers down and were not supporting them anymore the radios were sitting around the house collecting dust. Somebody eventually revived the Logitech mysqueezebox server and I discovered I was able to use them again so blew off the dust, put them around the house and programed the Links into the shortcut buttons for dedicated listening for Broadcastify stream channels. Took me awhile to figure out the specific URL format, I found it in one of the threads on this forum but don't remember which one to give it credit.
This is the format below I have been using for a while for the URL, works on pretty much any device, windows browsers, Google Nest home devices, Android, etc etc.
To get the node ID number I go into the Broadcastify Scanner listening page of choice, right click on the URL, copy the address and paste it into Notepad. The scanner/node ID should be at the end of the url.

https: //m.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/16904

You take the node ID plug into the URL format below put an .MP3 behind it with your username and password and it should work.
Obviously you don't want this url on a web page available to the public since it contains your password but should be good directly saved on the radio or on a private home server.

Outagamie Co Scanner https://username:password@audio.broadcastify.com/16904.mp3

Chicago PD Zone 10 https://username:password@audio.broadcastify.com/33922.mp3

Chicago PD ALL Zones https://username:password@audio.broadcastify.com/31652.mp3

For monitoring CALLS I have another dedicated computer that I use and just keep it up on the web page. I have also tried using Google Nest home devices, they work ok if I turn the screensaver off and disable the mic so they don't pick up on your voice and go off the web page.
I just verbally search for the Broadcastify Calls page, login and listen.

Hope this helps.

 

[Citywide173]

Look at used Squeezebox players on ebay

 

[skkeeter]

Something that I am playing with right now is an Anysecu W2 Pro. It is an Android Radio, essentially it runs Android and gives you a "radio" interface. I have not found an Android App that does not work well on it.

It is $239 on Amazon - Amazon.com so a bit more expensive than some of the other options described above but can run any Android app (can do other things like RDIO-Scanner or the Broadcastify App etc), can be permanently mounted and has a big volume knob.

 

[Citywide173]

Something that I am playing with right now is an Anysecu W2 Pro. It is an Android Radio, essentially it runs Android and gives you a "radio" interface. I have not found an Android App that does not work well on it.

It is $239 on Amazon - Amazon.com so a bit more expensive than some of the other options described above but can run any Android app (can do other things like RDIO-Scanner or the Broadcastify App etc), can be permanently mounted and has a big volume knob.

I use an Anysecu W2 plus at my desk for several Zello channels that I'm a member of. I have to agree that it is a great option. I was thinking players not 2-way units, but a purposed PoC radio makes perfect sense for this. The only thing is that you have to make sure you look at it regularly as it can sometimes shut off or reboot after an update is pushed out.