1. A feed uses a scanner that sends radio traffic to Broadcastify. Because it is a scanner, if one person talking on one frequency where the scanner has stopped and another person on another frequency is talking at the same time, the second person will not be heard and radio traffic will be missed. On the Broadcastify side, the feed is "always on" so Broadcastify is saving everything on its servers from the feed whether there is radio traffic or not. So there could be 10 minutes of actual radio traffic but 20 minutes of dead air. It is not very efficient.
The Calls program uses a Software Defined Radio dongle that can "see" XX amount of spectrum (depending on the dongle) at the same time. So if 2 different people are talking at the same time on different frequencies/talkgroups, the SDR can "see" that both frequencies/talkgroups are talking at the same time and the computer software with record both radio transmissions. No radio traffic is missed because of this. The computer software that is being used can then convert the radio traffic to a sound file and it is uploaded to the Broadcastify Calls platform where it can then be heard. The Calls platform is better for Broadcastify as it only has to save radio traffic and not the dead air like the feed platform provides. If you haven't already done so, check out an example of how the Calls platform works.
1801 Group Calls Live
www.broadcastify.com
2. The feed platform is easier to set up and get going. The cons are that you will likely miss radio traffic if you are in a busier system. The cost of a scanner ($150 or more unless used) is more than a dongle ($35ish). Depending on what you are trying to cover (spectrum), more that one dongle may be needed. You lose out on the use of a scanner with the feed platform.
The pros of th Calls platform is that you do not miss any radio traffic even if they are talking at the same time. You can listen to one frequency/talkgroup at a time or more if you want. You are not subject to listening to, for example, police and fire on the feed platform. You can choose to only listen to police if you want. Or fire if you want. Or both. It's up to you. You can make a playlist and chose which frequencies/talkgroups you want to listen to. You can make playlists.
Broadcastify Calls Playlists
The cons are that generally, it costs less to get started depending on your situation but can be more. If you already have and want to use your own computer, it will be less. I decided on a Raspberry Pi X2 as they use less electricity but more importantly for me, less heat output. So the cost for me is probably around the cost of a low end digital scanner. It is a little more difficult to set up but with help from the community, I think most people can do it. I provide both conventional analog feed and Calls platform so this is my experience. Both use the same antenna. The SDR is not as sensitive as the scanner. In the fringe areas, my scanner can pick up radio traffic with some static while my SDR doesn't pick up the same traffic.
3. I think as a listener, most would pick Calls. It means you don't miss any radio traffic. That's the bottom line in most cases. Another thing I just remembered. It is easier to find what you want in the archive vs the feed. You are not listening to dead air for 20 minutes before you find what you want.
All this is off the top of my head and I feel like I could have phrased everything better but I think I got my point across.
