Feed Reliability

[jr3792]

Hello all,
First of all let me start by saying I didn't know if I should post this here or the Streaming / Broadcasting / Audio Recording section. So if its wrong please feel free to move.

I have been having trouble with my feed reliability lately.

I started by using a intel computestick with RadioFeed it ran great for a couple months then crashed. So I did and adhoc setup on my PC.

I then started using a raspi. Worked well but then we got hit with a power outage. I thought it was automatic restart after powerloss but I guess not. So I had to connect a monitor restart it twice to get it up and running.

Repeat this process two more times and I figured i should probably buy a UPS. So about a week ago I install it works no issue.

Then I get the dreaded offline email again. I cant do anything at work so when I get home....crap no internet everything else is running fine. Get ISP issues fixed then yesterday I get the email again. hook up the screen to the raspi. card error I guess all the harsh shutdowns caught up to it. So right now another adhoc setup using radio feed. Until today, we had a utility pole fail and flicker power. Took down my feed AGAIN. Its back up and running now but this is getting old and it always seems to conencide with major incidents.

So my question. How does everyone make their setups more reliable? I can say the RELM scanner I'm using never failed its always been something else.

Thank you

 

[ChrisABQ]

I use scannercast running alpha tags and a windows 7 laptop, never had issues, been online reliably for almost 2 years with modem and feed computer restarts every 2 weeks to empty caches and reset things. Only hiccups have been on Broadcastify's end.

 

[ProScan]

Hello all,
First of all let me start by saying I didn't know if I should post this here or the Streaming / Broadcasting / Audio Recording section. So if its wrong please feel free to move.

I have been having trouble with my feed reliability lately.

I started by using a intel computestick with RadioFeed it ran great for a couple months then crashed. So I did and adhoc setup on my PC.

I then started using a raspi. Worked well but then we got hit with a power outage. I thought it was automatic restart after powerloss but I guess not. So I had to connect a monitor restart it twice to get it up and running.

Repeat this process two more times and I figured i should probably buy a UPS. So about a week ago I install it works no issue.

Then I get the dreaded offline email again. I cant do anything at work so when I get home....crap no internet everything else is running fine. Get ISP issues fixed then yesterday I get the email again. hook up the screen to the raspi. card error I guess all the harsh shutdowns caught up to it. So right now another adhoc setup using radio feed. Until today, we had a utility pole fail and flicker power. Took down my feed AGAIN. Its back up and running now but this is getting old and it always seems to conencide with major incidents.

So my question. How does everyone make their setups more reliable? I can say the RELM scanner I'm using never failed its always been something else.

Thank you

Regarding power sources: UPS's do fail occasionally. The absolute reliable method is a battery & charger config. provided your scanner has a DC jack. As far as software, I believe my RadioFeed latest version is the most reliable.

 

[n0nhp]

Many years ago, If I remember right, probably about 1997 or 8 I set up a feed on ScanAmerica, soon to become RadioReference.
I set up an old at that time, probably 3-4 year old Windows XP-pro box that I put a fresh spin on, killed all updates and virus scans. Removed all non-necessary processes, under-clocked the CPU, and set up to run headless.
The board was from before the bad Chinese Caps started limiting life of the boards.

I try to remember to take it off-line once a year and take it out to the air compressor and blow it out. Have not always remembered to do so but (knock on wood) have never had a power supply fan or cpu fan failure.

The feed computer, router, modem and the scanner power supplies are on a 1750 W/H UPS that runs 24 volts. The battery leads have been pulled from the back of the case and attached to 4 6v deep cycle golf cart batteries. Those need the water topped up about once a year.

The power has failed here up to 8 hours and the UPS was still running strong.

Yes the old machine uses more power than a pi, takes up a lot of space, is noisy etc. but it is all housed downstairs in the basement with the wood shop and canning jars.

I run a VPN so can remotely administer the machine including power cycling everything if the internet is up at all but have not had to do so very often.

Most of my outages are either ISP or Broadcastify problems, very seldom is it my hardware.

Bruce

 

[flythunderbird]

I use two UPSs - one for my cable modem, router, and network switch, and a second one for my feed computer/scanners and outboard audio compressor/limiter. The UPSs are small - 350VA - and I have them only to keep everything up until my whole-house standby generator takes over during a power outage (about 30 seconds). In almost four years of use, the UPSs have never given me an issue. 99% of the problems I have with the feed dropping is either the ISP or Broadcastify - almost always the ISP, but even then it's infrequent and it picks right back up. One of my feeds will be five years old in October (how time does fly!).

I've been wanting to experiment with solar power for radios, so I'm considering replacing the UPS on the feed setup with a solar panel/battery/inverter setup to power everything. I will never recoup the cost, but saving money isn't the point.

All of that being said, my feed PC is starting to show signs of age. It's an older HP thin client with an Intel Atom processor running Windows 7 Embedded that I modified for use as a feed PC. Recently, there have been a couple of times when the Ethernet port bounces up and down like a basketball, but a reboot fixes it - for a while. I manually reboot it once per month to avoid the problem. The thin client only cost $15, so I can't complain! Like Bruce, I've killed all updates and antivirus programs. It will be replaced soon, probably with a small laptop I'm thinking about upgrading.