Other location talk shows

[BlueTights]

Without using an expensive codec, what is another good way to run a talkshow from an external location? We are a small ethnic radio station. Would using Skype for something like this work? Any other ideas? We just don't want the show to sound like it's coming in from a phone call, which is how we have been doing it for years.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Skype works pretty good. I have done a live event bringing in a live guest via Skype for interactive discussion over a wireless mic and PA. I only had one time that it got a bit funky, and that didn't last but a minute or less. I'd make sure you have one person in the station to sort of 'cover' if the connection got lousy and go for it. You have little to loose because your standard has always been just using the phone line. You can always go to break and grab a phone line to complete the show. Good luck!!

 

[TomT]

If your remote site is on the same telco central office, you can equalize the pots line--and get the same results every time it is used. Providing you have a copper path from that location to the studio. Years ago in Toledo, we used that technique to get 5 k response on a regular dial-up line from a news bureau at city hall to the station's news room. Of course, once it is set up, you would want some kind of mixer and a good mike to feed the line.

The secret behind the magic is that the call took the same path each time from city hall to the telco central office, then from the central office to the news room line the reporter called in on. An equalizer could then be used to smooth out the peaks and valleys in the audio response, and the equalization would hold because the path would be the same each time. If you have to cross different exchanges, you van't count on having the same path each time, and this technique would not work. Way back then we used a Urei EQ; presently I have one of these inexpensive ART eq's on the lines I use for sports broadcasts, it's listed for only $115:

http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=351ART

 

[RolfTaylor]

Tom, you are 100% correct if, and only if, the CO is not digital.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the good old days so the odds are better than 99% it digital. In that case you are limited to the filters on the line cards which typically pass 300 to 3.3K (8 kHz sample rate, 8 bits resolution mu-law companding.

Rolf

If your remote site is on the same telco central office, you can equalize the pots line--and get the same results every time it is used. Providing you have a copper path from that location to the studio.
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=351ART

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Yeah... These days even an "equalized loop" from the phone company around here isn't normal copper anymore. It's two digital cards trained on each other running Aptex digital compression. Within the same CO a guy MIGHT be able to get them to hook up an "burger alarm dry pair loop" and eq it himself but it's getting very hard to find someone to actually understand how to do it at ATT.

 

[BlueTights]

Any other way to do this? Is there any other type of software that we can use. Where the host downloads something on his laptop, and the studio downloads the software on the computer there?

 

[ChiefOperator]

If you want a program to load onto both a remote computer and studio computer, have a look at the Audio Compass program. I used it with mixed results: the audio quality and latency was very good, but at times the audio garbled and dropped.

www.audiocompass.com

Good luck....

 

[stephend2]

we are using a barix instreamer and exstreamer 100 pair to bring a remote show into our station, works quite well. we run the show 5 days a week and run the connection over a cable internet connection. BRTP protocol handles small glitches really well.

http://shoutcast.com/shoutcast_player?stationid=277972&Genre=talk&ContentFlag=1

check it out there from 7:35-10:00 central.

 

[ChiefOperator]

stephend2-

I'd like to check out that in/exstreamer pair in action. Are you airing the show 7:35am or pm?

Also, how does the host monitor off-air? How does the host get the studio feed? I'm wondering whether an additional in/exstreamer pair could be used for the studio feed but also wonder about latency issues...

thanks....

 

[stephend2]

he only monitors off air for his start cue - total latency is on the order of 2/10 sec or so using brtp, if you use http its around 40 seconds. bitrate does matter - we are using it at 44.1, high quality which makes for an average bitrate around 160kb/sec. we are also using another barix pair for stl on the station, going over the t1 to the fm tx site then hopping 4.5 miles over 900mhz wireless to the am tx.

The show is at 7:35 am m-f listen for "live from the klondyke"