Live scanner feed

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Andy128

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1. A scanner with an external speaker jack.

2. mono ext cord with 1/8 inch stereo jack on both ends- avaliable at radio shack.
One end goes to scanner and the other to the line in of your computer
aduio card.

3. windows media encoder 7 or 9

4. and DSL or Broadband connection.

Depending on your avaliable upload bandwidth (typically 256 with DSL and as high
as 784 with Cable) you would be able to provide listening pleasure for between 5 and 30
persons. There are other avenues such as Shoutcast that host your live feed and usually have a cap of about 50 listeners at a time. Pirate Radio is another one. Windows media encoder is quick and easy to set up.

Windows media encoder, Shoutcast and Pirate Radio are good places to start your journey.
I provide a live feed of my area and do so with windows media encoder with no problems.
Let us know a little about your set up- (what type of computer, processor speed, OS, ram
memory) and the type of scanner you have. With this info there may be possibilities or restrictions to you options. Let us know and we'll be happy to lend a hand.

Andy
 

traperjeff

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Thanks Andy and Idle, I will get all the info together and list it also should i use a dedicated computer for this.. Thanks Jeff
 

CSL126

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A dedicated computer would be best, I used Shoutcast to get mine online. It didn't use many system resources at all, but when i wanted to play a game or something, it would sometimes interfere. If you're not the gaming type, then go for it!
 

Al42

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traperjeff said:
Thanks Andy and Idle, I will get all the info together and list it also should i use a dedicated computer for this.. Thanks Jeff
You might also want to look into Winamp/Icecast/Oddcast. If you want to stream text from a Uniden 246 or 396 scanner, this is the free way to do it.
 

Andy128

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traperjeff-
Yes- I would use (and do use) a dedicated computer. If using windows media encoder- the number of listeners is depenent on your upload bandwidth as stated earlier. To explain further, take my situation. I have three computer in the house connected by a router. I have 384kbs upload bandwith. I subtract about 112kbs from the 384kbs to allow for surfing of the net with the other computers and communication usage between windows media encoder, modem, net etc. This leaves me with 272 kbs for the third dedicated machine to provide the feed. If I steam at 19kbs it would allow 14 users to sign on and listen to the broadcast (272kbs / 19kbs = 14) So I have set my limit at 12- just to be safe. At the end of this summer, Comcast is supposed to upgrade our upload bandwidth to 726 (? I believe that number is correct). Doing the math- I would now be able to safely have 32 listeners.

I have not tried winamp Icecast but it does sound interesting.

As to the dedicated unit- if you plan to broadcast at a time when you are extensively using the computer for gaming or some other cpu intensive tasks- then a dedicated unit is the way to go. However, if you only plan to broadcast and surf the net- with windows media encoder this would be no problem whatsoever with a single computer (depending on your processor speed, ram etc.) Google windows media encoder 9 series and check out their recommendations as to minimum requirements. I use a 1.4ghz Dell P4 with 256 ram and a soundblaster live 5.1 soundcard with no problem. Before that (in the testing stage) I used a 800mhz AMD with 256ram and a built in sound card with no problems.

Just a little extra info.

Andy
 

traperjeff

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ok i'm trying to set up Icast withe the help of scan mass. it calls for a host name what is that . I don't want to sound stupid but I don't understand...... do i need a host site for the feed??? I have broadband cable and it says it is running at about 950kbs I have the cord and simplecast what elese do I need
thanks,
 

Andy128

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traperjeff,
Can't help with ice cast- hopefully someone else will chime in. If you want to try the
windows media encoder, there is a another recent thread just prior to yours where it was
discussed in detail. Good luck.

Andy
 

motomeso

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traperjeff said:
ok i'm trying to set up Icast withe the help of scan mass. it calls for a host name what is that . I don't want to sound stupid but I don't understand...... do i need a host site for the feed??? I have broadband cable and it says it is running at about 950kbs I have the cord and simplecast what elese do I need
thanks,

Host name is the public address that your stream will resolve to, for instance mine is ve3nsv.no-ip.org. If you have a domain or one of those free redirecting DNS services just put that in there.
 

traperjeff

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ve3nsv said:
Host name is the public address that your stream will resolve to, for instance mine is ve3nsv.no-ip.org. If you have a domain or one of those free redirecting DNS services just put that in there.
I do not have a domain. Do I need one or do I use my ip for my computer on road runner. I'm sorry I don't want to sound dumb. I am just new to the live feed thing....
 

tspainiv

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I know alot of people like Winamp and SHOUTcast. I do too but I use Windows Media Encoder for my stream. It's soo much easier to setup and use. It's one program, not 2 like simplecast and icecast. or Shoutcast and winamp etc. etc. etc. Not to mention, the feed is not delayed but like 30 seconds as apposed to shoutcast is like 2 or more minutes. It has a live broadcast setup wizard that walks you through it. VERY simple to use. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx

There's the link to the software. It's free too. Just give it a try. Also don't use the ip address it says to use. The address it says to use is not out outside IP address. Go to http://www.whatismyip.com to check you ip. Use that number in this format. mms://your.ip.here: port number The port number you choose in the setup wizard. Give it a try to start out until you get it down, then start experimenting with the other tools (SHOUTcast, Icecast, Simplecast)
 

Al42

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traperjeff said:
ok i'm trying to set up Icast withe the help of scan mass. it calls for a host name what is that .
What Icecast wants there (I assume you're talking about in icecast.xml) is localhost if winamp is running on the same computer, or the internal IP (192.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x) of the computer Winamp is running on.

do i need a host site for the feed?
Not for the feed, no.

I have the cord and simplecast what elese do I need
If you want to sent text tags, I'd suggest oddcast, not simplecast, if you're running a 246 or a 396. The software on scancapecod that's used for text tags will work (if you get the 246 version - the 396 talks the same protocol), but simplecast isn't free - oddcast and metagenerator are, and metagenerator lets you key on text, not tgid or frequency, so you can have the same id (or the same frequency with a different pl) come up as a different service..
 

traperjeff

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Alright I have encoder 9 installed and followed the instructions on the other post and still nothing. I know it is working somewhat because I see the audio in the bar moving....
But there is nothing in the url's for client. port magic is saying one url and whatismyip says another...

My wife says I'm to dumb to do this...LOL She might be right....
 

Andy128

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Write down what - "whatsmyipaddres" says your IP address is.

Your connection via windows media encoder will be like so;
http://192.168.123.23:1163 (1163 being what ever free port you used)

For someone to connect they need to do the following;

Be connected to the internet
Open windows media player. Click on File (upper most Left of player or
on right side click on down arrow if Windows Media Player 10). Now click on Open Url...

This will open a window where they must type in the above (EXACTLY AS SHOWN
using the IP address you wrote down)

This should work. If you are behind a router, you must forward a port to the inside
computer. If you need additional-PM me and I will either call you or vice versa and we'll
see if we can't get it worked out. Sounds as if it is something easy to fix.

Andy
 
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traperjeff

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Ok I Got it working with the help of Andy128..... Let me know what you think.

http://172.157.28.114:8080

Manatee County Sheriff's Office
This is just the west side dispatch...the most active.....
for people around here it is Group 11

Thanks, Jeff
 

Andy128

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traperjeff-
Sounds good! Glad it is working for ya. Give me a buzz tomorrow or an e-mail.

tspainiv-
Never seen that little trick before mms://
Thanks.

Cheers to all

Andy
 
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