Free BC246T Audio Recording Software for Windows Available

[brianfoy]

Hey all,

I have recently released my Free 246T (works with SC230 as well) Audio Recording software for Windows (98/2k/XP) over at Scannerbase.com.

A quick Screen Cap page for those interested in seeing what it looks like before digging into the details:

http://www.scannerbase.com/246T_Audio_Recorder.html

More Info and Link to the Free Download is available here:

http://www.scannerbase.com/archives/2005/04/246t_scanner_au_1.html

Future Updates and other software releases will be listed first on the home page of Scannerbase.com:

http://www.scannerbase.com/

Enjoy, please email me at software@scannerbase.com let me know how it works for you.

Brian Foy

 

[FKar01]

Hi, your software works well with my Uniden SC230 race scanner.
It is intereting to log the activity and record the audio

Regards
FKar

 

[br0adband]

HOLY COW!!! :shock:

I was just talking with a friend of mine that owns a 246T as I now do and we were thinking about creating some software that not only logged the activity like ARC246 does but timestamping the audio recordings we were going to make... and here you beat us to the audio recording part.

COOL!!!

I still hope that someday I'll find software that can do WAV recording and then add timestamps onto the WAV itself - there is an offshoot file format from WAV called BWF (Broadcast WAV File) and it allows for timecode to be embedded in the WAV file. During playback you get accurate timestamping in but so far I've not been able to find anything that can do it.

I might have to find someone to write it for me I guess.

Congrats on this software though, it's amazing.

Paul

 

[Butelsoftware]

There will soon be a ARC246 PRO version with build in WAV file audio recorder.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[br0adband]

Would you folks at Butel consider trying to implement that BWF format so it can do timestamping? There is file format info available online, and although I'm not a programmer I bet it wouldn't be that difficult to incorporate.

A BWF recorder that can not only tag the timestamps but also what TG was recorded, as well as integrating a player for those files that would interpret the timestamp/tag info.

That would make ARC246 the best damned scanning software ever made, guaranteed.



Good luck with it!

Paul

 

[Butelsoftware]

The audio format is WAV, but the filename contains all information, freq/id and timestamps.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[bonus1331]

WIN98

FYI,
Runs on Windows98.
Thanks for the freeware!

 

[Pro-95]

There will soon be a ARC246 PRO version with build in WAV file audio recorder.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

Sign me up!

Keep us posted on the delivery date.

 

[brianfoy]

Hi, your software works well with my Uniden SC230 race scanner.
It is intereting to log the activity and record the audio

Regards
FKar

Perfect!

Thank you very much for the confirmation FKar

Brian

 

[brianfoy]

HOLY COW!!! :shock:

I was just talking with a friend of mine that owns a 246T as I now do and we were thinking about creating some software that not only logged the activity like ARC246 does but timestamping the audio recordings we were going to make... and here you beat us to the audio recording part.

COOL!!!

ARC246 should have WAV audio recording in the Pro version, last I hear though, it will come at an additional cost.

For those that don't want to pay the extra cash, you can always use ARC for text logging and my program for audio (though if you think about it, the fact that the WAV files from my program are named so specifically with all the needed info: system name, group name, channel name ect... a directory listing in windows already acts like the equivalent of a text log).

I still hope that someday I'll find software that can do WAV recording and then add timestamps onto the WAV itself - there is an offshoot file format from WAV called BWF (Broadcast WAV File) and it allows for timecode to be embedded in the WAV file. During playback you get accurate timestamping in but so far I've not been able to find anything that can do it.

I might have to find someone to write it for me I guess.

I'm not going to outright say no, that would be silly. I promises I will take a look into adding the BWF format to my future software releases. The problem with a format like that, from a technical programming standpoint, is that unless there is already a module out there that can record to that version of the WAV file format, then it would be very difficult to implement from scratch. That said, know that if there isn't, and you paid someone privately to do it, it will probably cost you an arm and a leg

Congrats on this software though, it's amazing.

Well thank you very much Paul.

I figured with all the discussion recently about audio logging for the 246T, and the best guess we had on a time frame for ARC246 PRO was "please do not ask price/release date" I figured I would go ahead and make one myself.

Brian Foy

 

[brianfoy]

There will soon be a ARC246 PRO version with build in WAV file audio recorder.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

Hey Gommert, nice to see you posting in the thread for my software

Can I post on the ARC246 Yahoo group and announce my free software there? (said sarcastically)

If you have something to say specifically about my software please do, I would love to hear your opinion.

Brian

 

[brianfoy]

Re: WIN98

FYI,
Runs on Windows98.
Thanks for the freeware!

Also excellent to know, thank you David.
Your more then welcome.

Brian

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

I've tried this app and like it except for one thing: it needs an option to record input from something other than the Microphone, like Line In. I already use my Mic input for a mic, so it limits my use of this app (and any other that forces use of the Mic input).

 

[br0adband]

Here's a little primer for the Windows crowd since this is a common problem and it shouldn't be.

Windows has two mixers for audio purposes.

One is the Playback mixer (aka Master Volume) and is most commonly accessed by double clicking the Speaker icon in the System Tray (the area next to the clock on the Taskbar).

The other is the Recording mixer and it's used specifically for selecting the audio input you wish to record and adjusting the levels. It's a bit of a chore to reach it, but here's the process.

Double click the Speaker icon to bring up the Playback mixer. When it appears, click Options then click Properties on the menu that appears.

You'll get a dialogue box that pops up called Properties. You'll see three radio buttons at the top: Playback, Recording and Other. Below this you see a list of available mixer 'plugins' (for lack of a better word). If there is a checkbox beside the specific item, that mixer will appear on the Playback mixer.

The important part here is to select the Recording mixer in the top section, just click in the radio button. You'll notice the listing down below changes briefly because the Recording mixer IS NOT THE SAME as the Playback mixer; they have different purposes and different settings.

So, now that you have the Recording mixer selected, look at the list below and make sure the items you want are selected so you'll have the ability to control them as mixers - you can also delete anything you don't want, it makes no difference as long as you keep at least the one you're actually using as input. That can be the Line In or the Mic, it all depends on your setup.

Ok, so you've selected the items you want to have control over on the Recording mixer, now click OK. After a moment or two you'll now be looking at the Recording mixer. No, it's not the Playback mixer although it may look like it - that's why it says Recording Control at the top.

Here is the most important thing you'll ever learn about the Windows audio Recording Control mixer:

You can only record from one input at a time unless you set up a Stereo Mix (another mixer you can have on the Recording Control).

Sorry, but those are the cold hard facts of Windows and audio recording.

You'll note that the mixers on the Recording Control have checkboxes at the bottom of each labeled Select. That's because you can only select one of these mixers as the recording audio source. It's either Line In, Mic, Stereo Mix, etc etc depending on the mixers you have on the Recording Control.

So, in a nutshell, if you wish to record using the free audio recording software (or any audio software actually), you must determine the type of source input beforehand (Line In, Mic, Stereo Mix, etc) and make use of that by adjusting the Recording Control mixer of your choice and then Selecting it with the checkbox.

So for MarkEagleUSA you'd do the following:

Plug in your audio cable to the Line In jack, adjust the volume on the scanner, open the Recording Control mixer, adjust the levels, Select the Line In input, run the free recording software and wham, you're done.

Got it? Hope this helps as it's a major problem for the majority of Windows users. Microsoft should have created a simpler way of working with the audio subsystem but unfortunately they didn't.

Paul

EDIT
Thought it best to inform you that if you do other recording using the Mic jack (you said you had a mic plugged into it), whenever you're not using the Line In for recording you have to go back into the Recording Control mixer and re-select Mic or... yep, you guessed it: trying to record Mic audio with the mixer set to Line In will give you nothing at all.

So remember to change the Recording Control input selection each time.

Cheers...

 

[brianfoy]

Here's a little primer for the Windows crowd

br0adband, thank you for posting this and especially in here

This will go a long way toward helping out those who are experiencing audio issues while using the 246T audio recorder.

Brian

 

[br0adband]

No problem. I actually considered making a nice instructional posting related to Windows and audio recording similar to this post and asking it to be stickied or at least added to a FAQ around here, but I'll let that sit on the back burner for now.

This should be enough for people considering the topic of the thread - that alone should be the drawing point and then they'll see my info.

Paul

 

[scanfan03]

I actually considered making a nice instructional posting related to Windows and audio recording similar to this post and asking it to be stickied or at least added to a FAQ around here, but I'll let that sit on the back burner for now.

Submit it to the RR Wiki

 

[br0adband]

Never done that before, but I suppose that would be a good idea...

Thanks for the suggestion,

Paul

 

[pro92b]

I was able to get the Audio Recorder working in Windows 2000 but had problems as noted below.

In Windows 2000 the program installer indicates that files on the computer are 
out of date and the computer needs to reboot after processing the files. After 
rebooting and rerunning SETUP, the same message appears again and no files have 
been updated. This is fortunate since many of the files in the program CAB file 
are older than those on the computer, especially if Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 
is installed. Most installers compare file dates and ask if you want to keep 
the newer file already on the computer, but not so with this installer. The 
files in the CAB file are listed below.

ASYCFILT.DLL    77,824 bytes   3.50.5014.0   Thursday, August 29, 2002, 6:00:00 AM
COMCAT.DLL      22,288 bytes   4.71.1460.1   Sunday, May 31, 1998, 12:00:00 AM
MCI32.OCX      198,848 bytes   6.0.84.18     Monday, May 22, 2000, 2:00:00 AM
MSCOMM32.OCX   162,816 bytes   6.0.88.77     Tuesday, October 10, 2000, 11:01:06 AM
MSVBVM60.DLL 1,386,496 bytes   6.0.97.82     Monday, February 23, 2004, 12:00:00 AM
OLEAUT32.DLL   569,344 bytes   3.50.5016.0   Thursday, August 29, 2002, 6:00:00 AM
OLEPRO32.DLL   106,496 bytes   5.0.5014.0    Thursday, August 29, 2002, 6:00:00 AM
STDOLE2.TLB     17,920 bytes   3.50.5014.0   Thursday, August 29, 2002, 6:00:00 AM
VB6STKIT.DLL   101,888 bytes   6.0.84.50     Saturday, July 15, 2000, 2:00:00 AM

It is possible to run the program without installing it by simply copying any files 
not already in the system32 folder. MCI32.OCX is one file that may not already be 
in the system32 folder. Then just double click on the EXE and the program should run.

Audio is recorded to a new wav file for each transmission. There are occasional 
clicks in the recording that are not present when using other recording programs 
like ScanRec and ID Tracker. Chaining wav files for a given frequency or talkgroup
like ID Tracker does is much more convenient for playback but ID Tracker does not
support the BC246T.

Connecting both the BC246T PC cable and headphone jack to a computer may ground the 
headphone jack and result in high DC circulating current. It did so here, causing 
a hum in the recorded audio and also causing the battery low indicator to turn on.
An audio isolation transformer was required to break the DC ground path to the
headphone jack. That cured the hum and the battery low indicator turned off as well.

 

[br0adband]

Those files listed are all related to Visual Basic 6 runtimes. No worries, what you experienced was typical for a Windows 2000 machine when first installing that software. The OS needs to reboot to make the changes to the system files effective.

Paul