2008-11-27

M.R.S. Now With Channel Tags

The McLean Relay Station now has channel tags (or "alpha tags") so you can tell what you are hearing.

A few talkgroups are duplicated among several trunked systems so I chose the label most likely to be heard, but remember this if you see something that doesn't add up.

Let me know on the RadioReference streaming scanner forum how it works.

Thanks!

2008-11-17

New feed demo: McLean Relay Station

Yes, the McLean Relay Station is back online for a demonstration run.

This time around the focus is not railroad radio, but public safety. [Note 1]

Arlington County's digital trunked system comes in the best, with Fairfax County's a distant second. Both of these trunked systems give occasional fits to Uniden scanners, but for the most part they get the job done.

The focus of this new feed will be fire and rescue communications. Perhaps Arlington police will sneak on there when warranted. During this demo period you never know what you'll hear. Ya been tol'

If things work out well, I will make this feed permanent. You can listen with WinAmp, iTunes, Windows Media Player, and VLC. There might be existing Teamspeak feeds with this same traffic, but this feed allows just about anyone to hear it without requiring the installation of any new software.

If I can set up the talkgroup tags to fill in the Title field on your player, that will only make it that much better to monitor.

Enjoy!

da Bote Man


Note 1: I really like rail communications because they are pure and simple: FM high band simplex, no repeaters getting in the way, clean audio (mostly), and you know when a train is nearby based on signal strength. But these days the VHF band is getting even more polluted with noise generated by computerized devices of all kinds. Plus, the many various high powered transmitters around the receive site overload all but the best receivers. So the effort to receive railroad communications in McLean does not justify the results.

2008-11-11

Boca Box channel tags

Bote's Boca Box upgraded: now you can see who is talking with channel tags!

Thanks to Gordon of ScanAmerica, I installed his Talkgroup Monitor last night on the Boca Box feed to include the talkgroup or channel tags in the stream. You will see the name of the current channel while listening on WinAmp. I am not sure about iTunes or other players and clients.

If you go to the Shoutcast DNAS page that lists statistics about the feed and look at the Song History page, ignore the time of day listed next to each channel in the history list. The server's clock has never kept accurate time, varying by as much as several MINUTES each hour. Sorry about that.

Next up, I hope to try this on my Mixer Board feed out of Fort Lauderdale, but that uses a BC780 which might not work with Gordon's add-on. Stay tuned.

2008-11-04

Boca Box lineup change

A small change to the system lineup on Bote's Boca Box: Deerfield Beach fire is out, Boynton Beach public safety is in.

The indoor antenna simply can not hear Deerfield Beach's system very well, so I'll try it with Boynton Beach fire and see how it goes.

So now the lineup is:
Boca Raton public safety
Delray Beach public safety
Boynton Beach public safety
[ maybe FEC railway if there is something to hear, but lots of computer noise and poor reception make this unlikely ]

At least I have the 3 digital public safety trunked systems in there, so those of you who don't have digital scanners can partake.

Enjoy!

2008-11-03

Boca Box downgraded

Bote's Boca Box has been downgraded.

It will no longer have an antenna up on the roof, but it still hears Deerfield Beach surprisingly well. The railroad stuff has been greatly scaled back, leaving only the FEC road channel open; CSX road channel and FEC uplink to the dispatcher are both hit with computer birdies, so those are gone. This is with a crap antenna inside a 1st floor window, but it's better than nuttin.

Lemme know if weird stuff happens. At least I can put my hands on the equipment readily if something goes awry.