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Hardware for a Low-Powered Talk Radio Stations?
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."
I can't advise on hardware, but hire the movie "Pump Up The Volume" before you do anything.
--Giving to trolls for the benefit of us all
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.
It's better to burn out than to fade away
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.
a Mr. Microphone? $3.00 on eBay.
The dogcow says "Moof!"
... 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' 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...
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
...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.
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.
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
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 $$$.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
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.
Kid-proof tablet..
Check out the Flow Studio to Transmitter Link project. It is being developed by the Philadelphia Independent Media Center and Radio Volta 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. 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.
That's not the country being more lenient. Drug control laws still include marijuana.
The leniency is in the execution, not the theory. There are also laws against jay-walking, yet most cities don't enforce them. Could they? Yes. Do they? No. So are we lenient on jay-walkers? Yes.
That's the local law enforcement being ignorant and lazy.
Law enforcement has been instructed by the justice system to not fill up the courts with thousands of minor posession charges when more serious crimes need resources applied to them. It has nothing to do with ignorance and laziness. They are following orders as a result of limited funding. Perhaps this is a taxpayer issue if funding is insufficient.
A similar effect has been seen in Vancouver as it relates to theft-from-auto charges. They're simply not laid anymore because the courts are full of minor cases and can't take any more. It is not ignorance; everyone is aware of the laws. It is not laziness; there are simply not enough bodies to do the overtime to process these cases. It is a lack of funding. Again, a taxpayer issue. Is this leniency towards thieves? Yes. (Is it a good thing, no, probably not. But it's leniency.)
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!
You can run but you can't hide, except, apparently, along the Afghan-Pakistani border.