This explains how to setup a live feed

There are many ways of setting up a live scanner feed. There are as many websites out there describing how to set one up as well.

This is my take on it. I have tried many methods, and this one was the easiest for me to setup. Actually, there are two flavors running the live feeds on this site. All involve ICECAST, but the encoding is done differently. I will take you through the easier, and cheaper of the two.

There are quite a few steps in setting up a live feed, and I will explain how each one is important, and which ones can be skipped and why. Lets start off with the programs being used, and how they work.

Icecast:	I use Icecast to serve the live feed. Icecast is a free utility that the encoders connect to. When a user wants to listen to a live feed, it is Icecast that bridges the encoder to the user.
Simplecast:	I am using Simplecast to run the NCFD feed. Simplecast encodes in many formats, but I am just using it for MP3. Simplecast is a great program, which does many different things, but is quiet and overkill for a live feed. This used to be the only way to get the station info into the live stream. The only problem with Simplecast is that it costs $60. On the bright side, it makes archiving the audio a breeze, and it cuts it up hourly.
Oddcast:	Oddcast, like Simplecast, is an encoder. Oddcast currently supports encoding in numerous forms, but not as many as Simplecast. Unlike Simplecast, Oddcast is free. I use Oddcast on my SCFD and Specialty feeds. Oddcast only archives the feed as a whole, so its one big file per day.
Serproxy:	A free utility that allows the alpha tagging tool to connect to the scanner. It basically maps out your com ports.
Monitor:	Monitor is the program that listens to your com port, and sends the station info to Simplecast. In the newer version, the info can be sent directly so Icecast, so there is no need to buy Simplecast anymore.
No-IP.com	No-Ip.com is an internet company that lets you map your IP address to a web friendly url. The benefits of this are great. You can run a little program on your pc, and if your IP address ever changes, your web friendly url automatically changes. You won?t have to update any links, or tell people to connect to a new number. Your address always stays the same.
Winamp:	Winamp is needed for the Oddcast client. Even with the stand alone version of Oddcast, it still needs to know where Winamp is installed, so it can grab the Lame_enc.dll (we?ll get to this

Ok, Hopefully your all still with me here?.

As far as hardware, you?re going to need a Uniden Scanner with a Com port on the back of it. The radio needs to be in Remote mode to pass the alpha tag data. If you?re not looking at passing alpha tags, any radio will do. Your also going to need a 1/8? male to 1/8? male jumper to connect the audio of your scanner to the Line In port of your soundcard.

And the software works like this:

o The Client

Let?s start with the client, and work our way backwards from there.
If you want to serve your own audio on your own PC, you?re going to need Icecast.
If you do not want to run Icecast, you can relay your feed through me. This will be much easier, if you do not want to learn to use Icecast, or just want to supply the feed, and not bother with the server side of things. If you would like me to host your stream for you, just shoot me a PM, or click Contact Us. You can skip this section and move ahead to the Oddcast install.

If you?re up for the challenge of setting your live feed up, set aside a few nights to get it right. If you?re lucky, the feed will come up for you right away, but there is always fine tuning, and some tweaking that is needed to make it right.

Download the latest Icecast client at www.icecast.org Save, and install per instructions. When it comes time to setup your configuration file, I?ve cut mine down to just the nitty-gritty. You can edit your config file by starting Icecast, and clicking configure.
?



---I'll add the Icecast config back into this document shortly---




Everything else is pretty much standard. Click Start server, and everything should go green, and populate


o The Encoder

Next, let?s set up our encoders I am going to be explaining Oddcast, since its free, and probably the method that you will go with. There are two programs your going to need besides Oddcast. That is Winamp, and the Lame_Enc.dll file. You can download Winamp for www.winamp.com The Lame_Enc.dll file will be saved in your ODDCAST Installation directory. It should be c:\Program Files\Oddcast (or the example below). Always save the dll file in each Oddcast installation folder. You will be redirected to the web page do download the dll when you install Oddcast. Your looking for the stand alone version of Oddcast, located here.?? Lets walk through the install:


You agree? or you can?t install ;) Don?t you love that)



Be sure you clicked on the LAME Encoder dll, or you won?t be redirected to the page at the end of the install. (Click Next)



I install my Encoders for the Com port the scanner will be connected on.



Follow the directions, and save the lame_enc.dll into your Winamp Directory, and I like to save a copy into the Oddcast install directory. When you click YES, a new webpage should open, where you can save the dll.

o Putting together the Client and Encoder


Lets launch Oddcast, and configureit.
It helps if you have Icecast running, so we can be sure that the install is good.
(If you?re not going to be running an Icecast server, supply the info I give directly to you for the info)



Set the Encoder to Auto Connect, Pick your Soundcard, and your Source.
In this example I?ve picked the ESS 1969 and it?s the Line In jack. Next click Add Encoder, Right click, and hit configure. That will bring up the next screen.



You know you?ve installed the MP3 encoder correctly when you can pull it from the drop down list. Here are my settings

Now, if you weren?t setting up an Icecast stream, the Server IP, Port, Password, and Mountpoint will be different.
Also, remember to check the YP settings.. I like to modify them, and then disable the public server:



When you click ok, and connect, your Oddcast will show:


And your Icecast will show:

?

We are now streaming !!!


o Alpha Tagging

Lets setup the fun parts, alpha tagging.

Your going to need Monitor and Serproxy to grab the alpha tags.
This will only work on a Uniden scanner. You can download these two programs from the Scan Gwinnett website, in their downloads section
I make life easy on myself and save Serproxy to C:\Serproxy and Monitor to C:\Monitor\Com_x (x being the com port to sniff)

Configuring these two programs are about as easy as its going to get. Just follow the simple readme, or just copy the following:
Serproxy config file sets up Com ports 1 ? 4. You can hash out the ports you don?t need. I also changed the time out timer to -1. The default is 300. -1 basically disables the timer.

# Config file for serproxy
# See serproxy's README file for documentation
# Comm ports used
comm_ports=1,2,3,4
# Default settings
comm_baud=19200
comm_databits=8
comm_stopbits=1
comm_parity=none
# Idle time out in seconds
timeout=-1
# Port 1 settings (ttyS0)
net_port1=5331
# Port 2 settings (ttyS1)
net_port2=5332
# Port 3 settings (ttyS2)
net_port3=5333
# Port 4 settings (ttyS3)
net_port4=5334


Now, setup Monitor.
There are two files to configure. The first is the monitor.cfg, and the other is the titles.txt. The titles file contains the info for alpha tagging. The monitor.cfg file tells Monitor how to work.
Here is my file:

SCANNER_HOST=127.0.0 .1
SCANNER_PORT=5331
#
# Sample Icecast configuration
#
ENCODER_HOST=127.0.0 .1
ENCODER_PORT=8000 ENCODER_URI=/admin/ metadata.xsl? mount=/ ncfd&mode=updinfo&so ng=%s ENCODER_USERNAME=adm in ENCODER_PASSWORD=hac kme ENCODER_RESPONSE=HTT P/1.0 200 OK

o Scanner Host and Port are defined from SerProxy.
o The Icecast info is setup from Icecast. - Notice port 8000, the / mount is /ncfd.
o Your username and password is needed, as well as an IP.
o If your not running Icecast, and I am feeding your stream, you will use the info I provided.

The Titles file is pretty self explanatory.
Launch SerProxy.exe first, then launch Monitor.exe

o Making things pretty

Now to clean things up, and make connection easier, lets open an account from No-Ip.com.
Setting it up is pretty easy. When you get your account, set it up as follows:
o Host Type: DNS Host (A)
o IP Address: your Ip address
And save.
You may want to visit the downloads section, and download their free tool, that will modify your IP address, should it ever change.

The last part, and maybe the hardest part, is setting up your router, and opening up your port for redirection.
You can visit www.portforward.com and they explain how to set up your router.

But, more importantly, you should set up your online computer to a dedicated IP address. I can accomplish this in my Netgear router by clicking LAN IP setup, and reserving an address for my Radio PC. This may save a lot of headaches later.

For example, lets say my Radio PC is 192.168.1.10. It will forever be that IP address. So, when I do my port forwarding, I can forward port 8000 to 192.168.1.10, and anyone coming into my Cablemodem IP address, on Port 8000 will be forwarded to my Radio PC on 192.168.1.10.

Now, how does some one connect to your live feed??? Easy? -http://your-ip- address:8000/ feed.m3u
or
-http://your-no-ip- address:8000/ feed.m3u
or
as an example (this is an example, this address does not exist)
-http:// www.w2lie.net:8000/ ncfd.m3u

o Wrap Up

I hope I did not confuse anyone along the way. Like I said earlier, there are several write ups on how to configure a live feed, and this is the hybrid method that I use, and it seems to work.
Thanks to they guys as ScanCapeCod.us for showing me the light, and ScanGwinnett for writing the programs needed to rip the alpha tags. And lastly, a big Thank You to the Live Scanner Audio Yahoo Group, for those real life hints and tricks to getting the feeds running...