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Technology

Hardware for a Low-Powered Talk Radio Stations? 31

Posted by Cliff from the vocals-over-amplitude-modulation dept.
stevenso asks: "I would like to set up a low power radio station (on the cheap) that people could call up and discuss topics. To make it mostly hands-off (ie. I don't have to be there to pick up the phone) I was thinking of using a few voice modems and send the discussion via a sound card to a transmitter. Does anyone know if there is a software package that can handle multiple voice modems, setup a teleconference (mix the signals), and send it out as audio? Can you think of any other solution like using some sort of auto-answering/auto-conferencing system or VOIP or a way to conference cell phone signals? Please keep in mind this is a technical question not a question about FCC regulations."
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Hardware for a Low-Powered Talk Radio Stations? More

Hardware for a Low-Powered Talk Radio Stations?

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  • Ask Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)

    by Sandman1971 ( 516283 ) on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @06:57AM (#4460437) Homepage Journal
    Dear Slashdot, I would like to make my own hydroponics bay to grow pot (on the cheap) that people would smoke up and get a cheap buzz. I want to make it hands off (so I dont have to be there to watch them grow). I was thinking of using some old 15" monitors for lighting and a handful of CPUs for heat. Is there software packages that can control the local environment, add soil nutrients (and mix the soil) and send out a loud alarm if the cops show up? Please keep in mind this is a technical question not a question about DEA laws.

  • What about trolls (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Gerry Gleason ( 609985 ) <gerry@geraldgl[ ]on.com ['eas' in gap]> on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @07:58AM (#4460564)
    If it's 'hands off', how are you going to keep trolls from calling and using every banned word to try to get your license yanked? You know they will be there, so you have to have some kind of moderation to delete some messages.
    • The FCC seems to stop listening to the radio after 10:00 PM. . .
      • Or, more to the point, those that might complain to the FCC stop listening. Most enforcement agencies don't go looking for things to do, they work on problems where someone is actually complaining.

        The problem I'm thinking about is people who think it is funny to try to get as much profanity as they can into any communications channel for no reason. If it was really uncontrolled, someone could fill the entire channel with this crap making in unusable. Even if it isn't profanity that the FCC would shut you down for, it could make it useless for anyone else.

  • How about (Score:4, Funny)

    by fidget42 ( 538823 ) on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @08:12AM (#4460624)
    a Mr. Microphone [ebay.com]? $3.00 on eBay.
  • ... is there anybody else out there doing this? Err, no, not as far as I know. So will there be any software available to do it ....

    come on, join the dots, 2+2=...

    Avoiding the whole point of useless Ask Slashdot questions, I'm sure there will be lots of posts that pick that apart. What you want isn't something that alot of other people would do so you'll have to roll your own (BTW the pot growing question above is quality). You need a SoftSwitch architecture that can accept the calls (which needs an SCTP stack running MU3A ontop, very fuzzy memory of this so that might be the wrong protocol). That will take care of call setup / cleardown, on top of which you need to write something similar to an IVR system. The audio comes across VoIP networks in a fairly clear format, the compression used is G729 which gives about an 8:1 compression ratio but is easy to decode. If you can't work out how to mix the raw audio streams together by yourself then give up now (and don't try anything that complex in real life eg walking and chewing gum).

    Now, in the above paragraph are names, sometimes we call these keywords, if you put them into this piece of technology called a 'Search Engine' [google.com] then you will seek what you find grasshopper.

    I'm not sure whats worse, the people posting questions along the line of 'I really want to pick my own arse but my finger seems to get really smelly, are there any tools out there that will do this for me?' or the people who ok the submissions...

    • Gee... (Score:2)

      by uradu ( 10768 )
      ...I wonder what kind of diatribe you launch into when someone asks you to pass the salt. You must really be the life of the party.

      • Re:Gee... (Score:4, Funny)

        by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @10:06AM (#4461344) Homepage Journal
        "What kind of question is that, 'Would you please pass the salt?'! You obviously expect me to pass the salt and if I don't want to, too bad for me. Well, maybe I don't want to pass the salt, which is a compound of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl). My grandfather was a victim of chemical warfare in World War I, they used chlorine gas on him and he still has problems breathing. And my cousin Jim took a big chunk of sodium one day and threw it in a bucket of water, well, he blew up the garage and set his house on fire. Now he's confined to a wheelchair although he's doing pretty good in the wheelchair marathons.

        "So maybe you can go search Google and find out where you can buy both sodium and concentrated chlorine, and make your own salt. Just don't ask me to get involved. Questions like yours make me wonder about the future of this country, when it is filled with people so ignorant of what they want, no idea how to do it themselves, and expecting everyone to do it for them. All just because you think your mashed potatoes are a little too bland.

        "Would you like the pepper, too?"
        • ok,ok. Give in, I was feeling a bitty ratty before lunch when I posted it. yes it was a bitchy rant. point made. fair 'nuff, mumble mumble
        • Wow your grandfather is still alive and he was gased in WWI that is amazing.
        • > My grandfather was a victim of chemical warfare in World War I

          That was probably my grandfather who threw the canister, he was said to be very fond of throwing them, something about the ft-ft-ft sound they made flying through the air. So, from grandson to grandson, sorry about that, no hard feelings.
    • Actually, the people at the Prometheus Radio Project [prometheusradio.org] has developed what they call a studio transmitter link (available on SourceForge, imagine that!). Basically, the setup goes like this: there is one transmitter, and two studios. Each studio is alloted a certain amount of time in the day. The audio from the studios is streamed to the transmitter, which decides on what stream to use and broadcasts it over the airwaves.

      It is not the cleanest setup, but it gets the job done. I would post a link to SourceForge but I keep getting the following error:

      "We apologize, our search server is temporarily overloaded. Please wait and try your search again"

      While the stl might not be exactly what the original poster was hoping for, it could be a good starting point to see how to do it (or how not to!!) ;-)
    • Please respect others.

  • hmm (Score:2, Informative)

    by ReidMaynard ( 161608 )
    If I were to do this, I would look into an older, low end PBX, where yo can set a default confrence call mode; then just stream the output to a traditional radio transmitter.

    I can't wait for all the bathroom noises, slanderous statements, not to mention the "F*CK YOU" callers.

  • Transmitter equipment. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Andy Dodd ( 701 ) <atd7NO@SPAMcornell.edu> on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @10:42AM (#4461639) Homepage
    Stay FAR away from Broadcast Warehouse (http://www.broadcastwarehouse.com/)

    Note to self: Call these guys to figure out why the order we placed 2 months ago for some hardware to use for testing purposes hasn't arrived yet...

    Probably you're best off dealing with something built from a kit such as the Ramsey kits (I can't remember how good the Ramsey kits are though - I believe some of em' are subpar but have plenty of modifications that improve them drastically.) or other kit manufacturers.

    If you buy from one of the main players in the broadcast industry (BE, Harris, Nautel, etc.) you're going to be spending major $$$.

  • Huh? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adolf ( 21054 ) <flodadolf@gmail.com> on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @03:08PM (#4463669) Journal
    At what point did it become an obvious solution to use hideously complex computer hacks just to mix a couple of analog signals together?

    All you need is a few telephone interfaces that answer automatically, and a cheap DJ mixer or small PA console to plug them into.

    If you feel that you -must- use computer gear, the telephone interfaces can consist of external modems of any speed and ilk which have had the following command issued: ATS0=1&W. Things will be easier if the modem in question already has a headphone or speaker output, otherwise just wire its internal speaker to an (optional, and recommended) 1:1 transformer, and send the resultant signal to the mixer.

    If you also want the callers to be able to hear eachother over the phone instead of needing to listen over the radio, you'll also want to wire the mixer's output to the telephone device's input, with a potentiometer or suitable resister and possibly (if the device is meant to power a condenser microphone, as is often the case) a capacitor to block DC.

    Since you specifially mentioned that it wasn't a question about FCC regulations, I'll leave out the part about the stiff signal limiting and transmitter system performance. You'll find cheap transmitters at Ramsey Electronics. Be nice to your neighbors, though, and don't stomp on anyone else's frequencies.

    That all said: wouldn't it be simpler, cheaper, and perhaps better to just open a voice-enabled forum on Yahoo! Messenger, and advertise the fact in the local newspaper? This would appear to be a superior technical solution to the problem you're appearently trying to solve.

    • Re:Huh? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by stevenso ( 583038 )
      Great suggestions adolf. I started with the modems because I have them in hand. I thought I could hook them up with some conferencing software like asterisk [asteriskpbx.com] or Bayonne [sourceforge.net](It looks like they support mostly high-end hardware). Using a telephone interface to a mixer would be much easier. The computer is important because eventually I want to hook this thing up to our local wireless network so we can put transmitters at various points around the city (like a repeater system). Also, it would allow callers to upload sound bites (via a web interface) to the system. I could play MP3s or other audio when no one else was on. Now that you mention Yahoo, I guess I could hook up to that too.

      It sounds like a silly idea but there doesn't seem to be a forum for discussing local topics in my town. Besides, a local gossip channel on the radio seems at least as much fun as watching crossfire :)

  • flow (Score:4, Informative)

    by akb ( 39826 ) on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @06:30PM (#4465127)
    Check out the Flow Studio to Transmitter Link [sf.net] project. It is being developed by the Philadelphia Independent Media Center [phillyimc.org] and Radio Volta [radiovolta.org] who are using it to feed audio to WPEB 88.1FM, a low power station in West Philly.

    They have used modems, 802.11b, and the Internet to do the actual link, I'm not sure what they are using right now.

    I strongly suggest you get in touch with the Prometheus Radio Project [prometheusradio.org]. They work with the above groups on this project and they help out LPFM's with all aspects of their stations, from the FCC process, to transmitter tech, studio setup, community outreach. They travel around the country holding radio "barnraisings" with the new crop of LPFM licenses that have been granted, I've been to one and it was fabulous.
  • Since we're on the topic, and we've probably got a lot of phone/radio phreaks reading this thread, I must hiijack it for my own question, which is too lame to ever be posted on Ask Slashdot! (or rather, with the quality of the usual questions, perhaps it isn't) :)

    I've got an automatic-recording device that plugs into my phone line and into my computer's sound card. Basically, I use it to convert telephone audio into a headset-type jack. I have a program called RecAll running, that starts logging MP3's to the hard drive when the line noise breaks squelch.

    The problem is that the person on the other end of the line sounds hella quiet, my end of the line sounds hella loud.

    Is this a common problem, and if so, how can it be solved? Are there any other (cheap) devices for bridging telephone and traditional audio equipment?

    Thank you!

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