Archive for March, 2010

Why do police radios have such bad sound quality?

March 30, 2010 - 2:37 am 3 Comments

Why do police radios have such bad sound quality? You would think with the new technology that the sounds would at least be phone quality.

By the time I retired a few years ago, radios had improved far beyond what I started with in the early sixties. Sound quality now is pretty good. The problem now isn’t the quality, it is where you are trying to radio from (poor reception) and, more than likely, mush-mouthed cops and dispatchers that talk to fast, too low for the mike to pick up, or have some gawd-awful accent.

What is the difference between radio waves and TV waves?

March 28, 2010 - 4:25 am 2 Comments

Does the FM radio works similar to a TV? I mean the way it transmits signals. Do they have the same signals that they receive?

I am just a bit curious here. My Nokia 5310 XM has FM radio. I am just wondering If I can turn my cellphone into a TV by downloading some kind of java application that receives signals just like the built in FM radio.

TV waves are much more complex than radio waves,although they can use the same frequency. The entire FM radio band is actually located between TV channels 6 and 7! But it’s not possible to do what you suggest. As far as I know,cellphones that play video do so by decoding digital formats,like MPEG,from the Internet. However, technology is coming that will enable mobile TV reception since transmission went digital last year. Chrysler has a setup like this coming out in some of it’s minivans.

How do I publicize my internet radio show?

March 28, 2010 - 4:24 am 1 Comment

I have an internet radio show I do weekly. How do I attract more listeners? What can I do to get the word out in an effective manner?

JohnP007 Go to this site it will be a big help to you. How to Start a Radio Show on the Internet. Internet radio is exploding. Once thought a fad, … Publicize your show as often as you can to draw an audience. …

http://www.ehow.com/how_5337731_start-radio-show-internet.html

~ Don ~

How does a radio filter out waves of different frequencies?

March 26, 2010 - 7:28 am 3 Comments

How does a radio filter out waves of different frequencies?
With all the different frequencies of waves in the air, how does the sound out of a radio come out clear?What do I need to make one?

dear radio does not filter any waves!! let me explain..
Radio has a demodulator in it. it is a PLL. now the demodulator ics like MM74HC4046 are connected in a standard circuit. when you tune the radio for a frequency, which is actually changing the resistor values for the oscillator, you demodulate the frequencies one by one. supose your range is from 300 KHz to 10 MHZ then as you turn the knob, and your circuit has range 300KHz – 12 MHZ thn your starting freq is 300KHz. then as you turn the knob you increase or decrease the resistance and start tuning the circuit. then your first station is at 598khz. at that freq u hear the channel. then as you turn along it goes higher. at 3.9MHZ you listen to different channel. so thats no problem. also the PLL is there which gets locked at a frequency and so there is a conitnuous demodulation at this frequency. I’ve already told you one ic and there are many others. also another is 7046.
if you want ot make one then search FM demodulators by 4046 and use the MM74HC4046. it gives higher selection from short wave, medium wave and FM also.

How to make an online radio station?

March 20, 2010 - 11:30 am 9 Comments

I was wondering if there was anyway of making like a radio station online and having Dj’s play j-pop like a j-pop station except with like English dj’s to announce the music and stuff anyone know How I can get started?

Interesting question, one to which I wish I knew the answer. I know a method you could use… at least I think. The method Online Radio sites use is unknown to me, but it might quite probably be nothing more then a dynamic playlist. I believe it is a streamed playlist, and nothing more. One that may or may not be on shuffle.

If you look, many online radio stations do not in fact have much DJ talk at all and more like a few pertinent transitions. Example the one I listen to known as G93 Hard Rock, they have nothing but transitions every few songs. Now the way that two transitions never play one after another leave me to believe their playlist like stream is more of a constantly edited straightforward one and not one on shuffle.

So, how I see it you would need a web server of some sort. The web server would require some directory containing the tracks to be played. Next you would have some form of playlist (I have seen use of a .pls file used to stream on G93, though I believe it is more of a medium to play the real time tracks that are playing.) and well you would have to have that playlist updated daily to change the order of the tracks.

From there, you would have to play the playlist on the CPU or Web Server or whatever you are using and find a way to broadcast in real time the audio input (or sound card output? I’m not sure which… I’m no expert.) Through however you are doing this, you would have to find a way to stream it. There are many ways to do so, ether through an embedded Windows Media Player, or another form of embedded stream player on a website. If you go with .pls to stream it somehow, it can be played on iTunes through opening the stream.

Now you see there is a gap in all I have said, and that is I have no idea how they broadcast it in itself. Another way you could do one using that sort of stream idea would every day compile a .mp3 file in some Sony editor like "Vegas" or "Acid" or even a simpler editor, and then order all of your media files in the order you want on a single VERY VERY long timeline and then simply compile it as a single .mp3 file and play it on a stream. The problem with this is that it becomes very time consuming to edit since you need to order all the songs on the timeline every day and yea unless you don’t mind one that is just a playlist-like station on a loop that you will only update once a month, then it is not the best idea. Also this method doesn’t explain how some online station list the name and artist of "What’s playing" seemingly automatically, since if it was all one large file… well… it would be hard to tag the times correctly.

In the end using both methods would probably require a dedicated team to split the tasks. Also you said you wanted to DJ on the station. Now, I can’t see that happening with any of the forms on online radio I have listened to, but a method would be to merge the song with the talk on an editor before uploading the track to a media server. Adding a little intro to the song itself so that when the song plays it gets the intro. To add diversity you could add more then one intro to certain songs and have 5 versions of the song, and un-upload and re-upload the different versions so its not always the same intro to the songs.

In the end all this was probably not the best answer for its length because there remains many unanswered questions… but it is a good place to start. With a little research it could maybe help. You can always also go to people or sites that own a streaming online radio and see if you can mail then a formally ask them how they do it, and you never know maybe one of them will be glad to share their secrets with you.

Hope this helped,
-Max

What Radio communications do the Police use to respond to calls?

March 16, 2010 - 11:19 am 4 Comments

You know how you see the police talk into the radios they have clipped on to their belt or that sits in their car? Is that a CB or a Ham Radio? Or is it something else? I would appreciate it if you could answer if you have the law enforcement experience or are related to somebody who is law enforcement.

My county dispatch recently switched to 800Mhz. Other places I have worked transmitted on 400Mhz and although it’s a dinosaur by comparison, 150Mhz. These are all FM frequencies.

where can i listen to LIVE radio stations online?

March 16, 2010 - 11:18 am 1 Comment

Im trying to find where I can listen to dodger games online. Kabc 790 is the station. If you go to their website it says something Else is playing "live" which is BS because I get into my car and its dodger baseball. Where can I listen to LIVE broadcasts online?

You will have to pay for live baseball online…but it’s cheap. www.mlb.com

Is there a way to listen to archive radio recordings of Radio Moscow or Radio Berlin International?

March 12, 2010 - 4:39 pm 1 Comment

I’ve been doing some work on the cold war and have found small snip-its of the english (and for Radio Berlin, German) versions of these stations from the period – is anyone aware of a site where you can access these or any other cold war radio recordings (ie: Radio Prague, Bucharest..)
wow those links are very useful – my German isn’t excellent but I can’t seem to find anything on RBI on the archives website?

http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page467.htm

http://www.omen.com/rfm.html

http://www.dra.de/online/index.html
(This is the Offical Archive of Radio Berlin) They have a installer program to translate

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/3ZynKqxumBE/
Last broadcast of Radio Berlin

http://english.ruvr.ru/search.html?page=15&sort=rank&q=archive
Radio Moscow site above, but no archive.

I just created a streaming radio station online, is there any site or any way I can advertise it to get listen?

March 12, 2010 - 4:38 pm 2 Comments

I have created a radio station. I will play mostly electronic and hip hop music, and it will not be functional 24/7. Is there any place I can advertise it for free? or any kind of listing I can put up for it?
Hmm twitter and facebook seem like a no-no most of my friends don’t like electronic music.

This is an online classifieds site that I use:

http://www.backpage.com/59841052

It is similar to Craigslist and in many cases, BETTER. Good Luck.

How do I use Windows 7 music radio better?

March 12, 2010 - 4:38 pm 2 Comments

I have the Home Edition. I am trying to save music from the internet radio to my Library. Thanks for detailed instructions. I cant understand how.

Since the radio is streaming you cannot download the songs with your native Windows 7 programs.

Jeff
Windows Outreach Team