I have decided to close down free radio london in favor of podcasting.
I have decided to close down free radio london in favor of podcasting.
We have had a good run for 2 years on 95.7 fm /1630 am but the cost of running the station full time has set us back a bit on our budget here at home. The on-air computer has developed problems with the soundcard.
Stuttering sound coming from mp3’s, wav files lead me to believe the soundcard has been overworked. It was probably never meant to run continously. I will probably put the transmitters in storage for awhile until things improve.
As always, your helpful insights will always be appreciated and never forgotten. I will remain a member of Part15.us as this is almost like a second home for me.
Thanks again from
Free Radio London
95.7 fm & am 1630
London,Ky
Darkest before the Light
Sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope you can turn the lights back on soon.
With regard to the PC audio stuttering, that’s usually associated with lack of hard drive performance or to many processes running, using up processor time and/or physical memory.
Have you changed or added any applications lately? Do you defrag the hard drive occasionally? Open the “Task Manager” and see whats going on. It’ll show how much load is on the processor and how much memory is being used.
If it is the sound card, I ran mine on a $15 sound card for a long time and it worked just fine.
Good luck with that and hope you can start burnin’ a hole in the clouds again soon.
SSStuttering Audio
Mram,
I checked the Task Manager and almost 99% resources were being used, the odd thing is there really isnt alot on this computer to bog it down.
Basically this is what i have installed on a Dell Optiplex GX200:
WinXP Pro ,Internet Explorer,Firefox, Winamp, ZaraRadio, Audio files.
The windows accesories like games and other things that have nothing to do with playing/recording audio were not installed when i put Win XP Pro on this computer. Utility programs are still there, i just wanted the bare minimum.
Now the odd thing i mentioned, one process i didnt expect to take alot of resources is the network card. When it is enabled i get the stuttering and trashy sound , when it is disabled the audio is clear and stutter free. ???
With the nic disabled, cpu resources come back up or read at 1 to 3%.
Ive never had this problem before, and this computer is networked but without internet. I just needed to be able to transfer files from one computer to the next.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Nix the Nic
Is this problem recent even though nothing new has been installed on the PC?
Without disabling the NIC, if you unplug the patch cord do you still show the NIC as using 99% of the resources? If so, sounds like maybe the NIC has a problem. If the resource use drops with the patch cord unplugged, what’s going on at the other end of the connection?
How is your network set up? Are you connected directly to one other PC or going through a hub or switch? Is there more than one other PC connected to the network? If so, any of them connect to the Internet?
Lot’s of variables. Do some snoopin’ and see what you find. In the mean time, light up the ether again!!
Don’t Give Up
Don’t give it up, yet. I’m sure you can track down the problem with your computer. Maybe you could clean up the temp files and defrag your disc. That might help, too.
NIC stopped working altogether
Well that solved one problem but created another, the sound card is fine but the NIC is dead. lol
I cleaned, defraged, re-installed drivers, I did everything short of re-installing windows and nothing. This nic is integrated into the motherboard. That is one thing about some of the Dell products that annoy me the most, sound cards and nic’s are integrated into some of the motherboards, sometimes you can disable or even uninstall completely but they can at times become active again.
Im thinking about replacing the nic with one that goes into a pci slot and probably re-install windows again just to start out with a clean machine.
In the meantime, i may fire up the station again for a few hours each day using the machine im on now, i dont want to tie this one up 24/7 playing radio.
Also im thinking about moving up the band on fm to 97.7 mhz and down the band on am to 800 khz. Both are exceptionally quiet around here. Although at night 800 khz does get busy, i would probably go with a sunrise to sunset schedule for both bands.
This would extend the life of the dell optiplex considerably.
97.7 fm was one of the channels i used back in the day when i worked commercial radio and *cough* my community station. 🙂
Ill keep you posted.
Edit: I forgot to answer some questions above, the on-air computer wasnt meant to have an internet connection, i set it up just to network with two other computers that do have internet.
“So i could download material on my personal computer and transfer it to the on-air comp.”
The two other computers, one is mine a dell 3000 and the other belongs to my wife, also a dell 3000. All three are networked using a Linksys hub. At one point we had all three computers networked and online. We had to buy a second cable connection for the kids comps. they are using a router.
http://stonehinge.radiodizzy.com/images/frl_network.JPG
You should be able to disable
You should be able to disable the NIC in the BIOS.
It sounds like an interrupt issue to me.
While you are in the BIOS, see if it is sharing an interrupt channel with the sound card. If it is, change that.. make the sound card have its own interrupt, if you are able. Some BIOSes dont let you change that stuff anymore.
also, to do this, you may need to set “plug and play os” to NO first.
good luck!
🙂
NIC knows netting
OK, your “on air” computer, your Dell 3000 and your wifes Dell 3000 are networked through a Linksys hub. That network is not connected to the internet. I’m assumming the Linksys hub is wired, not wireless as WiFi security is another issue.
You say you had to buy a second cable connection for the kids. Where is the first one connected since your three computer network isn’t connected to the internet?
Did you try leaving your NIC enabled with the network cable unplugged? I was currious to see if the resource hog was the NIC itself or is it from being connected to the other computers.
Good point on the BIOS setting. I have a Dell laptop and the PCMCIA NIC will not work unless I disable the SoundBlaster setting in BIOS. The sound card will still work, just not the SoundBlaster features. Not the same problem as yours but an example of how one affects the other.
The odd thing here is the fact that everything was in harmony up to a point. Something has changed.
EDIT: Looking at your diagram you indicate that the cable connection I questioned IS connected to your three computer network. So, I’m not quite sure what you mean when you say your computer is not connected to the internet. It will be by virture of the fact that it is plugged into the network unless your Linksys allows you to exclude the “on air” IP address from internet access.
On-air with no internet
The two dell 3000’s have internet and are part of the network using the linksys hub. The on-air is also connected to the linksys hub and is networked but did not have internet access.
I set up the on-air comp. this way so that it would not take away from the 2 dell 3000’s my wife and i use to play online games together wich take alot of bandwidth. (we both play world of warcraft)
And i just needed the on-air comp. to be networked so i can transfer files from my dell 3000 to the on-air comp.
But now im just beating a dead horse. The on-air computer (dell optiplex gx200) is dead. Suddenly it has no operating system and a file needed to load windows xp pro is missing. I am going to buy a battery later today and see if i can salvage the operating system, if not then i will attempt to re-install windows.
If that doesnt work, i fear the motherboard is toast if that is the case i will use the dell 3000 until i can get a replacement for the on-air computer. My wife reminded me i have a birthday coming up next month.
UGH not another one! lol
Edit: 2 dell 3000’s online w/networking
dell optiplex not online but networked with the dell 3000’s
Lots of good advice
There has been a lot of good advice offered here re your problem.
Three times when my computer and my wife’s computer became “flaky” it was the power supply which was at fault.
The symptoms were that there was no consistency to the problems observed. One minute this wouldn’t work and the next something else wouldn’t work.
The only good way to test the power supply is to replace it but this can lead to throwing money at the problem and not gaining anything but a thin wallet and frustration. Therefore, this is just a suggestion.
My systems are completely home brew from components and they are composed of standard off the shelf stuff so when something goes TU it is pretty straightforward to fix it. Unfortunately with proprietary systems you are many times at the mercy of the purveyor.
Hope you get it resolved.
Neil
Everyones been a big help except..
The Dell! lol
But sometimes you can restart a machine and it will either work or not.
I bought the Dell optiplex from Ebay for cheap and theirs no telling how long the previous owner had the machine before me or what they used it for. Your taking a chance when buying anything that is used.
Then again sometimes used gear can outlast the new.
Even if this machine isnt worth saving, i feel i got my moneys worth and then some considering it has been running nearly non-stop for almost 2 years.
The two dell 3000’s were bought as rentals, 3 years ago and get a pretty good workout with games, email, downloads and website creations. You know how rentals are, even rental cars get abused so when the next renter plunks their money down and uses that car for the next week or so, they are at the mercy of the rental company and the 18 year old who drove it before you . 🙂
I am looking at this as just a minor setback, lucky for me i saved everything on cd-rom before it crashed on me so not all is lost yet.
thanks
Light em’ up !
Ok so the on-air computer bit the dust, but the better dell 3000 still works and has alot of storage. 300 GB!
Im firing up the SSTran and re-tuning it for 800 khz!
My wife and I discussed buying another computer for the station so I am going to use the dell 3000 until we replace the dead dell.
The only thing I need to remember is to turn this stuff off at night since 800 khz will get noisy at night, it only makes sense to me to go with a sunrise/sunset schedule.
At this point im not sure if i will fire up the FM 25b, im going for legal distance here and you all know that will be impossible with the 25b.
While the 25b is more than capable of covering a good mile or so, it wouldnt be legal and if im going to get a knock on the door or a letter in the mail, id rather have something in line that is compliant.
I may just limit the fm to the confines of my home with a short antenna. Im really not pleased with the sound quality of the 25b.
It seriously lacks bass response.
But for now, we are back on the air with a nice sounding signal on 800 khz. Now to get started on the semi-permanent antenna.
Btw the dell 3000 sounds pretty good on the sstran.
🙂
Computers Can Be A Nightmare!
Here at the radio campus, we have a allot of computers around here for music playout etc.. Our computer based studios gives us the most problems, and cost the most to operate. We got our electric bill after setting up and operating an all PC (4) based studio for the month; our bill jumped $90 with just 20 days of service.
To save money, we went back to basics and saving a bunch of money in the process. Overnight programming now comes off C & KU Band satellite receivers for a couple stations; they use only 20watts each. The audio monitors are changed to lower current drawing boom boxes and good quality computer speakers; power consumption 20-30 watts vs. 175 – 300 watts. We have also burned music blocks on to mp3 CD’s, and now use cheap consumer DVD players as a music source; power draw only 18watts instead of a couple of hundred for each computer. Old Shure M67-M675 Broadcast Production Masters combos & Audio Masters are now in use at the mono stations; power draw is about 4 watts.
In just 10 days since the changes, we have already shaved $45 off the electric bill and that is after a rate increase. In these very difficult times, we have to save every dime we can. We also found the LED screen monitors were using more power than our old tube monitors; 180 watts for the LED vs. 75 watts for the old tube and the color is better. Our monitors now serve two PC’s each, saving space and power. We are now programming three stations on a single five-foot table; reducing space also saves heating and cooling cost. A single 11×12 room has three radio stations including; a News desk and a rack with five video monitors, three VHS Hi-Fi VCR’s, three DVD players and three satellite receivers.
With Part 15 stations unlike their bigger brothers, the transmitters are not the big power draw, the studio equipment is! We have found computer based studios can suck your wallet dry with all the problems they bring if you are not careful. For our live studios, we save money using older bare bones boxes, most are running old reliable 98se, ME on a few and XP Pro on one; 98se & ME can be reloaded without dealing with Microsoft; XP Pro came with the homeless computer. Zara Radio is now on all of our computers, Creative SoundBlaster cards provide the audio on all the boxes. Zara Radio, will run on older computers down to 350mhz and 128mb without a glitch or skipping. We only use our newer computers for downloading audio files and live audio feeds; the on air studio computers are never connected to the Internet, we found years ago, spyware etc would find its way onto the computers, causing skipping on the audio files and endless freeze ups. We still get the occasional freeze ups all computers are famous for, but we always have a back up cassette or CD player ready to go.
I’m glad Radio Free London is back on the air; the FM25b may not have much bass, but it does not have enough power to get you in any trouble, even if you used a Ramsey dipole. Most FM25b’s only make about 10 milliwatts; running 50 feet of cable would eat half of that, leaving about 5 milliwatts at the antenna; enough to cover a block with a fair signal. In the future, look for older homeless computers that when they die, you won’t be out that much cash.
By the way, we get allot of traffic from http://www.radiodizzy.com you must have a nearby fan base.
Steve
http://www.radiobrandy.com
nightmares can be conquered!
Hi Steve,
We actually ordered yet another computer from ebay for just under $90 and should see it in a few days. As far as the Ramsey FM25B, I think somewhere around here is a cd-rom with simple instructions to modify a capacitor that was too small, limiting the bass response.
But as far as getting back on the air I am using my Dell 3000 until the other computer arrives. As for the AM, it is coming along slow.
I prefer FM over AM when it comes to building a station.
It’s nearly Plug and Play with FM. The AMt3000 is giving me a headache.
I chose 1630 AM because it was far enough away from 1600 khz and there is a nearby station that just opened up on that channel, although i have to question their signal. I Cant Hear It!! And I am right here in town!! 1630 is not without it’s challenges, KCJJ AM is now interfering with us during the daylight hours, it used to bother us only at night. Propagation has changed i guess.
I was testing on 800 khz, this channel is clear in the daytime and has CKLW at night so if i can tune it there and get a usable signal out of it i will leave it on 800 khz and only broadcast during the daytime.
Computers can be handy and a headache as well, but i cant imagine running a station without it. The Fan Base? I dont know about that.
I havent heard anyone locally mention they even listen to my station.
I am glad to offer your website some traffic as well as part15.us, had your banner on the front page and will probably add it again once i find another theme for the template i am using now.(e107)
I’ll have to look at the logs on my server to see where they (the visitors) are coming from.
If you want me to, Steve I’ll send you a new station button with the new call sign and freqeuncies so you can update it on radiobrandy.com.
In fact anyone wanting a button or banner for their website let me know, ill see if i can get my wife to create a new one.
Thanks
The Fan Base
I use to think nobody listened to my first AM station either; nobody ever called the request line. Then I got the wild ideal to have party at the station, when the large crowd showed up within an hour I soon realized just how popular we were. I still have fans from that station finding me on the internet and that was from way back in the mid 70’s & 80’s.
Your are right “Computers can be handy and a headache” I could not imagine life without them. But since I’m an old school broadcaster, I managed to do radio without them for decades. I am just learning to put them in their place in the studio without breaking the bank. With a computer, I can now build a five hour show in a matter of minutes, instead of the five hours like it use to take to record the show on tape.
A power glitch yesterday proved the value of having traditional broadcast gear in the studio. Some of computers took a few minutes to reboot after crawling through scan disk, the CD player was ready in seconds to fill the void while the computers and satellite receivers rebooted.
Regarding the 25b; there are few changes that users have made to boost the bass on the 25b. The EDM LED using the same basic chip is able to deliver deep bass, our stations using it and a Behringer DSP 1425P processor have a loud big bottom sound. I will have to get another 25b or try it on our old FM10A to see how it handles the DSP 1425P.
“It’s nearly Plug and Play with FM. The AMt3000 is giving me a headache” Now that’s an understatement, and it’s not just the AMT3000, getting the antenna system just right; which includes the ground system in AM can be a real chore. I can take an FM just about anywhere and get predictable results, but with AM the results will very dramatically depending on your soil content and other unpredictable factors like power lines and other electrical noise generators. And that does not even begin to address other unpredictable factors like seasonal changes.
E-mail me your new button as soon as your wife creates it, I will also add it to the FM section and a few of our other sites too.
Steve
http://www.outlawradio.us
Im old school too
I was trained at WJVS 88.3 fm , student run radio station for the Scarlet Oaks Joint Vocational School district. We had BE Turntables, BE Cart Machines, BE Mixing Console, Cant remember the what the mics were, Tascam Reel-to-Reels and i think the first transmitter was a collins not sure what the newer one is tho. But one thing i do remember is we had 175 watts but no processor?! I thought that was odd.
Back then we had to read the meters and was included on the test for our restricted radiotelephone license. I ran most of my home brew stations manually and used vcrs or auto reverse cassette decks for cheap automation. Up until a few years ago, some things changed and i didnt have room for all the gear i collected. So when i started to put this station together i went with a computer, a mic and the transmitters.
I would still rather do things the old way, but not until we get into our own place with our own rules. lol Where we are now is pretty crowded with this big family of ours. Hopefully that will all change this summer.
BTW, i should get the new/used computer in this thursday, then ill see about getting back into the swing of things. 97.7 fm seems to be a queiter channel and i may just have to put the dipole back up this spring.
Join The Club
“I would still rather do things the old way, but not until we get into our own place with our own rules. lol Where we are now is pretty crowded with this big family of ours. Hopefully that will all change this summer.”
With the massive economic meltdown, homes are starting to get really crowded with family members you forgot you had start moving in with you. It’s going to be like it was back during the great depression, only worse. Despite what our so called government leaders keep telling us, a great depression is exactly where we are headed and soon! We are hearing from folks around the country, who are losing everything they own; including their radio gear. In Central California, unemployment is between 14 & 35% and getting worse and there is no end in sight.
Unlike the last great depression, at least most our stuff was still made or going to made in the USA back then; now not only is everything now made in China; but we are in dept up to our eyeballs with them too. They pretty much now own the USA.
I did learn one thing from previous recessions; Not to sell my radio gear; I do not to sell any of my radio gear or tools period, I did that back in the 80’s, not only was my radio equipment gone but the money too with little to show for it.
After the recession was over it cost to much to replace. The only things I sell now are things purchased for the purpose of reselling: transmitters, antennas etc.
Our policy at Radio Brandy and my own studios; is that equipment donated to us or me never gets sold period! For us, our Procaster or Rangemaster transmitters can always be used to generate revenue from broadcasting high school sports, horse shows or special events. If we were to sell them, not only would be out some great transmitters, but a potential revenue generator is gone forever.
For your own sanity in a crowded house, it’s good to have your radio station up and running. And make it an early season for planting a dipole, you’ll be glad you did when the insanity of a crowded house gets to you. Trust me, been there done that! And may be in that boat again the way things are going around here. I can almost hear the U-Hauls headed our way!
Having a talk format on the AXE is good ideal, talk programming is musically neutral, therefore you end up with a greater audience share; very important when your coverage area is limited to just a few blocks. Leo Laporte the tech guy & Rolleye James are very friendly towards Part 15 broadcasters using their streams and podcast. If you have access to a KU band satellite (cheap to buy) Access America has programming around the clock and it’s free. Old time radio shows are also good for overnights, our listeners love them! We burn a bunch of shows onto an Mp3 disc and run them on a cheap DVD player; it’s easy on the electric bill, error free and takes up little space parked on the nightstand just in case I feel like sleeping in, there is a show ready to go into the DVD player. The nightstand studio has come in real handy a few times, when I get a chance I will snap off some pictures of it. There is so much talk programming out there, you will need to program the AM separately!
“Back then we had to read the meters and was included on the test for our restricted radiotelephone license”
That was back in the days when you actually needed to know something about broadcasting. I’m amazed at how many so called radio people don’t even know where the transmitter is, let alone what it’s used for.
The http://www.radiodizzy.com website is looking good! With the new Axe.
Enter your website into Google and you will find a bunch of things pointing towards it, Extreme tracker shows a few hits coming from your site. And thanks for the banner to us, it does get used!
Steve
http://www.radiobrandy.com
Crowded House
HEHE ,
Ill drop a bomb here before i close this thread.
We have five kids! lol seriously! and this place we live in is just too small.
Its a mobile home so no room for much of anything.(we rent) We are looking for a bigger place that hopefully we can move into this summer. A house with a building or garage would be great for the studios. So we are on the hunt for a house in the area or at least in the Bluegrass State.
But yeah, no ones going anywhere just yet. lol
http://www.part15.us/node/1911