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Setting up your own live scanner audio feed is a great way to share information and the hobby of scanning with other enthusiasts.
It used to be, setting up an Internet audio stream meant configuring text files and installing server software and audio encoding software.
Luckily, things have gotten much easier than when I first wrote my tutorial on getting started using Winamp and Shoutcast.
While this is still a viable and robust way to go, other software exists now that makes the task of setting up a feed so much easier.
The first thing to decide is how you plan to use/share the stream. If you would like to make the stream available to anyone on
the Internet to listen to, I would highly recommend heading over to RadioReference.com and signing up to be a live
feed broadcaster ( http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Become_a_Feed_Provider ).
It is free and easy to set up. Once your feed is approved, you can download software already configured for your stream!
All you do is install and run it - it is that easy! Plus, being on RadioReference.com, your
feed will be displayed to hundreds or even thousands of visitors every day!
Now, if you plan to run an audio feed just for yourself or a couple people and don't want to make it public, that is still
easy to do and certainly easier than it used to be. There are two pieces of software that I can highly recommend for
setting up your feed: K1PGV's ScannerCast
(which is also the default software of RadioReference.com's feed providers) and RadioFeed from Proscan.org:
http://www.proscan.org/. Both of these software packages have both the server and
encoder functionality built in to a single program to run. No more having to configure two programs and getting them to
communicate. K1PGV's ScannerCast is somewhat easier to set up and has a nice tutorial section on how to get
started: http://www.k1pgv.com/ScannerCast.html RadioFeed is not as critical
about things like having the Microsoft .NET Framework installed but is not quite as intuitive to configure. Besides their own websites,
both software package
authors' monitor the forums at RadioReference.com, especially the "Streaming / Broadcasting / Audio Recording"
forum at http://forums.radioreference.com/streaming-broadcasting-audio-recording/
Now, setting up a live scanner feed no longer requires you to be a bit of a computer nerd. Anyone can do it with the simple
tools listed above. White quite dated, my original Live Scanner Tutorial using Winamp and Shoutcast is still available in a
single page format at the following URL: http://www.alabamarailfan.com/feed-tutorial-legacy.php.
Please drop me an email and let me know if this information has been helpful! Also, if you decide to set up a feed, send me the details - I
would love to give it a listen!
::john
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