Snow, sleet, and freezing rain about 50 miles away and approaching. Luckily no high winds predicted.
When ever KDX finds itself in weather situations we kick ourselves for not having backup power to not only to keep the station on the air but to protect our own personal safety, especially in below freezing conditions.
At least we stocked up on plenty of food and are watching storm trackers live streaming from their vehicles on nearby state roads.
None of our programming reports on weather but we do carry up to date news about circumstances in the world. Our radio service is free because we are very nice and look forward to making the world a better place, even if by only a little bitty bit.
Carl said....When ever KDX finds itself in weather situations we kick ourselves for not having backup power to not only to keep the station on the air but to protect our own personal safety, especially in below freezing conditions.
Time to consider a power station. I have a Bluetti AC2A which is an entry level power station but for my whole station...small entry level laptop, Schlockwood and Decade MS-100 in total use just under 10 watts of power. The power station functions as a UPS also and will run that power load for the better part of a day. Most power outages last for a few minutes to a few hours. Only 1 1/2 hours is needed when plugged into A/C for a full charge when the power comes back and the batteries are good for 3500 charge/discharge cycles and you still have 80% original capacity. Most of the time it is charging from 50% or 60% so not ever full cycles.
Careful if freezing rain. No snow at all here in Toronto. I don't want to see it.
https://www.bluettipower.com/collections/power-stations?srsltid=AfmBOorBhbZsvBJTfwgehJhYR_2GbPKKX9maqDYdtzzmY6cZVxQS4FHM
Signing On for Sunday Winter Storm Report from St. Louis, Missouri, Area.
The storm trackers just started today's YouTube Live coverage at this link:
Mr. Cuff is departing St. Joseph, Missouri, planning to enter Kansas.
As for conditions so far as of the moment, we have a light dusting of whiteness outside the Internet Building, home of KDX Worldround Radio, but the more intense winter storm is due throughout today.
Watch this thread for further reports.
@mark I guess your talking about that 1800W unit for just under $500, it's been years since I have priced them, that price really surprised me. I had bought my Yeti about 8 years ago for around $1500, and it's only 1250watts!. It kind of shocks me you got yours for less than a third of that price
Lately it's not been charging very well because not only has there been less sun, but it's been cold a lot and these lead acid batteries performance really suffers from the cold, it's harder to charge them. Does the cold affect the lithium battery in the same way?
While we're waiting for Mark's answer to Rich's question, here is a quick storm update.
The major storm making its way across the middle United States has been named "Winter Storm Blair" by the Weather Channel. If they are referring to me they've got the spelling wrong.
Conditions around the Kansas-Missouri border are drastic. All kinds of cars and trucks are have slid off the highways and are stuck. There are many more storm spotters live streaming besides Connor Cuff. But here in mid-eastern Missouri there's maybe an inch of snow with nothing else fluttering down.
Does anyone know a way of connecting the audio portion of a YouTube Live Stream into the Zara Player in real time? KDX would love to simulcast the audio part of storm spotting. It would feel like we were somehow helping.
@mark Upon reading your post again I realize you were talking about a much smaller unit. When I went to your link it started with the $479 sale unit and then went up from there.. but if you scroll long enough I got to yours.
CNET actually rates the Bluetti AC70 as the best budget unit, currently on sale for $479. That is an incredible price! If I could afford it I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
"..This 1,000-watt generator is the best budget portable power station in our opinion, and it's currently got a terrific $300 discount available from the manufacturer itself. It has a 768-watt-hour capacity, 950-watt turbocharging that can get devices up to 80% in 45 minutes, seven outlets, a smart remote control via the Bluetti app and a 500-watt fast solar intake as an alternative charging source.
I had just bought an open-box Marbero M270 last week for $52 (They are currently on sale for $89 usually $109). I bought it because I've hardly been able to charge my phone lately because I've been abusing my big solar generator by continuing to use it before allowing it to recharge to at least a proper level (had this problem last winter too) so I bought the little one because it so small and light to just carry to shore. I'm using it to allow time for my 1200watt unit to recover.
.Does anyone know a way of connecting the audio portion of a YouTube Live Stream into the Zara Player in real time? KDX would love to simulcast the audio part of storm spotting. It would feel like we were somehow helping.
Seems like all you'd have to do is port the audio from your pc thru butt or something same as you do the audio from Zara. No?
How does live streaming work? Connor Cuff is able to select between a forward view from a dash cam, or an inward view putting himself in view as he narrates. That means there are two cameras and a switcher. The next step is getting the audio and video to the internet. On top of all that he is able to see comments from viewers that get typed to the website.
@richardpowers Rich replied
Seems like all you'd have to do is port the audio from your pc thru butt or something same as you do the audio from Zara.
Ya, but that's the question. It's what we want to do. But where is the YouTube audio port? The only port I know about is the overall video+audio port.
And BUTT is already in the audio chain that streams KDX.
@carl-blare I guess I'm not understanding.. The audio from youtube is already coming out of your computers speakers right? What's stopping you from just redirecting that audio?
Unless I'm misunderstanding you, maybe this will help:
https://www.cloudrad.io/broadcast-audio
Are you trying to broadcast audio from your PC?
Did you install a free encoder such as BUTT or Altacast but can't get it to capture all sounds?
Well, if you also installed a DJ or radio automation software that doesn't have an integrated encoder like Radio DJ, the tricks covered in this guide are useful.
Learn how to broadcast audio from pc apps such as Skype, Chrome, Firefox, etc.
Two methods are presented below:
- Enabling Stereo Mix —a virtual input that combines all audio outputs into one signal.
- Using VoiceMeeter— if Stereo Mix is not available in your machine.
Is your computer running the Windows OS? Well, that's all you need....
@richardpowers Admittedly there are things I don't know about audio routing, so I will experiment with the suggestions that have been made. I think I'll even look to see any YouTube videos about the subject.
Now past noon we have steady snow, not too heavy, no sleet, rain, nor wind. Here is a webcam about 7-miles from our radio station and just south of the famous Gateway Arch.
Well that above link indicates all you have to do is enable the stere-mix setting in Windows to output the same thing you hear on your speakers (ie YouTube audio) to your existing butt setup.. at least that's the way I interpret it. Check out the full tutorial that also has illustrations to guide you.
Myself I'm only making assumptions, but as of right now it seems to be pretty simple and straightforward thing to accomplish. Keep us informed!
@richardpowers Yes, I will keep you informed. I may not try any audio routing experiments today as I am resting after starting earlier than usual this morning.
It's beginning to look like we'll end up with a standard variety snow fall, as the brunt of the storm appears to be north of here. And since there is no wind I doubt we will have power outage.
After the Storm -
Here from the executive desk we look out and estimate about 4" snow on the ground, temperature 26-F, no wind, slightly cloudy. A few people out shoveling, grid power has remained steady, no interruptions to our radio signals or stream. Many places hit much harder by this massive winter storm. In the foreseeable future the temperature will not go above freezing, no more snow until the end of the week about five days out.
Global warming has not kept us from having a normal old fashioned snowy cold spell.