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Domain: wrek.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to wrek.org.

Comments · 7

  1. Some alternate alternatives by doom · · Score: 3, Informative · on Clear Channel Goes Private and Streamlined
    computertheque wrote:
    Does this mean that we'll get some decent radio stations back? Clear Channel effectively ruined the radio for me, NPR being the only remaining reason to turn it on.

    Well, for me that would be Democracy Now!, which you can may be able to hear broadcast somewhere, depending on where you live, e.g. KPFA, in the SF Bay Area, and WBAI in the New York area. In general, the Pacifica stations do a decent job of "alternative" broadcasting, provided you don't mind the almost exclusively left-wing focus.

    Also, there are many, many small college stations (and other non-coms) scattered around, usually located at the bottom of the dial. They also all have internet streams these days:

  2. Non-commercial radio exists by doom · · Score: 1 · on USB Dongle Records Web, FM Radio
    yourexhalekiss wrote:
    For me, it's not the AM/FM limitations so much... It's just the suckiness of the music. If you set this thing up to record each unique song played in a 24 hour period on one particular station, you'd have just 20 different songs. Radio plays the same songs over and over again. Once you've recorded one days' worth of broadcasting, you'd be set for the next month... or whenever the radio station refreshes their playlist.

    Your only exaggerating a little bit, but you're essentially describing only commercial radio. In many places around the country there are alternatives to that, college radio stations and non-profits like the Pacifica stations, and you'll hear a wide variety of stuff broadcast there.

    Of course, they also all tend to have some form of internet streaming going, so this by itself would not be a reason to do capture of FM signals (possibly you might like to do this to get higher audio quality and to reduce bandwith usage).

    It is, by the way, an odd peculiarity about all the buzz about "podcasting" making radio broadcasting more democratic: when I actually listen to amateurs playing DJ, it seems really unimpressive... college stations on the other hand, have something of a tradition of exploration of new music to fall back on, they're pros at the business of being amateurs.

    A quick list of stations that might be worth a listen:

  3. The "true" streaming pioneers (circa 1994) by gashalot · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Streaming Audio 10 Years Old

    To be truthful, the first stream wasn't in 1996. It was way back in 1994, when WXYC started streaming using CuSeeMe. WREK (Georgia Tech's student radio) also started streaming with their own in-house software the same day WXYC went live, but it was not officially advertised until a later date.

    More information at: http://wxyc.org/about/first/ and http://www.wrek.org/wreknet-first.html.

  4. Re:Hope you've got ecclectic taste... by Ikester8 · · Score: 1 · on PC Mag Reviews Mercora P2P Radio

    Sounds like WREK, 91.1 FM, Atlanta! On automation, anyway...

  5. The real radio stations by Gestahl · · Score: 1 · on Who Needs Radio?

    If you want a real radio station that plays music that I gaurantee 90% of you have never heard, tune in WREK, Georgia Tech's radio station here (they also have a 7-day archive). The stuff it plays is so out there that, at least for me, I *have* to listen to it because it is so different. This is what all radio stations should aspire to, since it fulfills I think what the real purpose of radio stations should be these days... exposing people to new music (and I mean *new*). It demonstrates just how much music is out there that no one gets to hear.

  6. Living near high output sources by Zathrus · · Score: 1 · on Real Life EMF Experiences?

    I seriously doubt you'll have any problems with satellite reception, TVs, or anything else. The power drops off squared with respect to distance. Others have pointed out more realistic issues with buying such a house though -- the biggest is easements and easement access (I once considered a home that had many easements on it, and they were a major reason for why I didn't purchase. That and the fact that cutting a 12" hole into an engineered wood I-beam violates the manufacturer's guarantees), one of the others is that while it may not be an issue to you, it is to many people -- that will affect your future sales price, and is probably affecting the current sale price. If it isn't, then it certainly should (check comparables).

    In a similar, but not identical vein, when I was in college I lived in a dorm constructed adjacent to the college radio station broadcast tower (40 KW). The tower was 100 feet from the nearest section of the dorm, and I was in a room that was opposite the nearest dorm room. We had absolutely no problems as things go. The people across the hall (in the closest dorm room) eventually gave up on an answering machine -- their tape kept on getting overwritten by whatever was playing from the broadcast tower. They also had problems with cordless phones. Very odd.

  7. only one radio signal at a time by ChrisCampbell47 · · Score: 1 · on TiVo For Radio?
    Other capabilities ... ability to record several tracks at once, enabling recording of mmore than one frequency.

    Nope. Typically a radio will have single receive stage with a single tuner (i.e. a single local oscillator) and so it can only be tuned into one station at a time. Of course, in the TV market there are now sets that have dual tuners so you can watch one show and PIP another (I looove this) but it doesn't exist for radio AFAIK. For one, there is no audio equivalent of PIP :) For two, recording radio hasn't been an option up to now.

    Which brings up a head-scratcher for me: why haven't there been radio VCRs on the market before now? I've been dying for one for years -- a tuner, a tape deck, a clock -- how hard can it be?

    Just as there are plenty of people who listen to NPR, the local Oi Oi Oi show and whatever other *scheduled* programming is out there left of 92.0 MHz, there are plenty of people who would have loved this product. Why did we have to wait until the mp3 revolution for it to happen? The technology has been in place since the late 70's.

    The non-comm FM station I chief-engineered for several years started doing a running 7-day mp3 archive years ago and I can't imagine living without it ...