A few posts back we announced plans to add a second radio station to the Worldround Radio Group, Saturday might be the day for the inauguration of station KHZ.
Meanwhile, moments ago at Midnight KDX changed codecs from .mp3 to Ogg-Vorbis.
The Ogg format is the open source free codec from the same folks that provide the Icecast Server.
It puts KDX into a more exclusive category and departs from the "popular" .mp3 format used by the majority of streamers.
My unpopularity has just increased.
Previously we have run three streams from a single computer and know that it can be done, but returned to single streaming for awhile.
Now we've decided to operate two distinct radio stations, as already mentioned, and began testing new station KHZ last night by running a continuous test tone while analyzing the system using two different encoders operating in Ogg-Vorbis Audio format.
Station KDX is using a B.U.T.T. encoder, and station KHZ is running a Altacast Encoder. What is interesting at this stage of the test is that these two encoders treat Ogg-Vorbis in different ways. It remains to be learned whether one of the techniques is better than the other.
The B.U.T.T. encoder will not stream Ogg-Vorbis at bit rates lower than 48 kbps.
By contrast the Altacast Encoder does not accept user bit rate settings, but operates on "Quality" settings, i.e., Quality 0 translates to a low bit rate, Quality 1 slightly higher, Q2 higher, and so on.
There are numerous other indicators and observations still being sorted out, and as of the moment neither encoder seems to be performing entirely as expected, but it is not understood well enough to be described in words.
Here are your instructions.
You will be given a link to the KDX/KHZ Streaming Server Page.
Try all 4 of the links shown there, one at a time, and come back with a report of how well each one works.
The first two links of importance are to KDX and KHZ respectively. You will (if all goes well) notice some nice little players embedded in the Stream Server, one of the good things about using Ogg-Vorbis Audio. Try each player...
KDX has talk programming, KHZ has a tone.
Then try the remaining two links, to the Icecast Directory. Find out what you can about that, and come back here with your written report.
I had zero luck with any of the links. The first link froze, the second was a 404, the last two had players but could not get them to play.
Thank you Druid Hills for testing.
It seems like a coding error is hiding somewhere in my streaming setup.
It could be in the Icecast server config file or somehow part of B.U.T.T. Encoder and Altacast Encoder, involving the Ogg-Vorbis Codec.
In fact I can spot an error using the information viewing capability with VLC Player's Icecast Directory... an extra forward-slash (/) is being put between the server's URL and the port number, where there should only be a colon. Other Icecast stations are not exhibiting the same problem.
So far we have not identified the point of origin for that false slash.
I'm not bored as I am the best station on the radio! Just comes to a point where it's good and where else can you take it. Content or equiment wise.
Getting sound tracks of other DJs seems like a good idea....I could record/download some Wolfman Jack segments for example and get it on but not sure about the legality of that as programming has to originate with me(Canada rules).
A Motown Weekend, Beachboys saturday night sounds good, so does an all Elvis sunday! etc etc etc....Ya I could put that together. I'll think on that. I could also do a show every week for an evening of all Canadian content, call it the "all Canadian Friday night"
You got me thinking now.
Mark, it seems from what you report that you have your station grown to a maturity where everything is exactly like you want it. That is the best outcome from the growth period your station went through to become so satisfying.
I started this thread as a station that has ridiculous ambitions to build double and triple systems that go way beyond what is necessary.
Also there are many of our small radio stations that are still looking for the ideal combination of ingredients to get things the way they want it.
For everybody there is always the question of backups. Do you have a backup transmitter that can be switched on if your main transmitter goes off? A backup mixer? A backup computer?
All seems to be working this morning.
Many thanks Mister Hills.
Righto, I stayed up past midnight fiddling with server code and got both streams to do their job on down the line.
Well, there's one exception, which I'll describe.
A thing I have come to like in the Icecast-Ogg Vorbis combination is that it automatically generates a beautiful player right on the Server Webpage and at the Icecast Directory Listing.
The Altacast Encoder results in the Magic Players at both points along the way, but the B.U.T.T. Encoder fails to put a Player at the Directory, although the little M3U button does bring up the stream.
Here at my own website's server page you can tinker with all the choices.
What did you use to genrate the tone?
The tone presently running on the KHZ Test Stream was generated by Audacity, the free audio editing software.
The tone is 333 Hz, my favorite frequency, I do not recall what level it is set for, and it is 30-seconds in length.
It is placed in the 1st of the 4 Extra Playlist windows available within free Zara, is set to Repeat Continuously.
TNX.
The Worldround Radio Group, longtime operator of station KDX, has officially launched programming on new station KHZ Worldround Radio starting at 9 AM Wednesday, February 21, 2018.
This week's "Free Thought Radio" from The Freedom From Religion Foundation (ffrf.org) is running in a repeating loop with additional programs soon to be added. The FFRF works to keep church and state separate.
For the start KHZ is streaming on the internet under the banner "The Free Speech Zone" and will soon add KHZ AM 1640 from an AMT3000 transmitter, previously announced to be the "Indoor Antenna Experimental Project" which will file activity reports from time to time.