| Re: Okay, now what???? |
Rogers Cable Inc. |
| Mark S. (vo1one@gee-mail.com) |
2004/10/28 13:02 |
Path: news.nzbot.com!not-for-mail
From: "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.uncle-davey
Subject: Re: Okay, now what????
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 16:32:24 -0230
Organization: Rogers Cable Inc.
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"Uncle Davey" <noway@jose.com> wrote in message
news:clr5rk$nm9$0@pita.alt.net...
> news:417fb810_4@127.0.0.1...
> > I have a Pansat 330a, which I think has a European equivalent that has
> SCART
> > jacks on it. I can't think of the brand or model of it right now, but
> it's
> > basically identical, except for different software burnt into it. Many
> now
> > are going with the Pansat 2300's or 2500's because of their software
based
> > decoding capabilities, but I like the 330a for it's superb FTA
> > functionality. It is capable of radio, too, of course. I have run into
a
> > stand alone satellite radio decoder come to think of it, at the FM radio
> > station I used to work for. It was used with a 1.2m Ku dish to pick up
> the
> > Associated Press aural feed, along with a data feed. At the time when
it
> > was originally installed, the internet wasn't quite so widespread so
this
> > was THE way to get the latest news fast. Nowadays, it's easier to just
> pull
> > up news articles on the internet as they show up on Google News just as
> > quick. I think the advantages of a standalone decoder would be the
size,
> > and the ability to read the display without a TV. I'm thinking that
> without
> > seeing the price for it, it might not be costworthy to trade in the
video
> > features for size and standalone display. If by making this cutbacks
you
> > ended up with a receiver that cost say $50, then I might think about
> getting
> > one! ;-)
> >
>
> I understand the point about internet radio but I've never fancied sitting
> in front of the computer to listen to the radio.
>
> Also I have found that my home hi-speed connection is very prone to
getting
> spy warez and viral attacks and hack attacks and everything, so I use dial
> up at home, and obviously that's no good for the radio...
The point about the internet wasn't about radio, but about news. You see,
our news department at the radio station I worked for receives a data via
satellite news feed. The decoder box has not only audio outputs but a
serial data connection which hooks up to a computer loaded with software
from AP that organizes the incoming news feeds. However, with the internet
it is easier and cheaper to just look up news articles on that. At the
station they have a T3 so speed is not a problem. While we didn't find much
use for the data via satellite anymore, the audio for AP network news and AP
network sports is still very much useful, and we set up the system to
automatically record the program when it's broadcast on the top of the hour,
or quarter 'til, whatever the case may be, and it was recorded onto the
computerized music system in AC3 like the song library. You can cue it up
automatically to play after the song you are playing finishes and after you
play the legal ID at the top of the hour. We used to have to pick songs
based on their length and I had my watch set to CHU, WWV, the atomic clock
time stations and do some quick math so I could have the song and legal ID
faded out by the time the news would broadcast on satellite. They got it
easy there now! Heck, they have it easy anyways with touch screen Dad32
audio library storage systems, no hunting around for carts anymore, the
station could run itself with some quick programming.
I agree with you about listening to internet radio. We're lucky to have
high speed cable internet at the house, and I got a wireless router, too. I
got an old P166MMX thinkpad laptop hooked up to a stereo receiver to listen
to internet radio on, when I find a high enough bitrate stream to make it
worthwhile, so I don't have to sit in front of the computer to listen. I
find Radio X in Iceland to be rather nice, I think it is 96k/sec stereo.
Not bad for free! As part of my Sirius subscription, I have access to all
of their in house produced streams (the music streams and a couple of the
other channels) however their bitrate is 32k/sec so the audio quality isn't
great, and having your computer hooked up to a home theatre system makes
that low bitrate artifacting that much more noticable. XM's streaming
service goes as high as 64k/sec but still has much to be desired if you ask
me, particularly so because it is not included in the standard satellite
radio subscription fee; you have to pay extra for it. On the flip side of
that comment, however, you can subscribe to just the online radio service,
but once again you'd think they'd have a decent bitrate to make it worth
paying for. Both satellite radio services online streams have a one hour
time out timer which is super annoying. I like to close my laptop lid and
enjoy the music but I have to come by every hour and press play again
because of that stupid timer. Oh well.
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