« Minister tells CBC to rein in spending | Main | CBC cuts loom, opposition says »
If You’d Like to Hear Good Radio Broadcasting All Day Long
By Bill Bruneau | November 21, 2008
At Your Computer, or Everywhere in Your Home
EDITOR’S NOTE: this piece is the opinion of William Bruneau and the links below should in no way imply the endorsement of the Stand On Guard for CBC Coalition for the products listed.
The decline and fall of CBC Radio 2 has meant that thousands (no, tens of thousands) of Canadians are without intelligent musical broadcasting at home. What to do? Well, read on.
There are at least three solutions to your/our problem:
A. COMPUTER WITH EARPHONES
One straightforward solution is to click on one of the web-sites listed below (see “Reliable Sources of Classical Music on the Net”), plug good earphones into the listening jack on the side of your laptop or desktop, and enjoy the resulting sound.
B. COMPUTER WITH GOOD SPEAKERS
Another solution is to buy reasonably good computer speakers and plug them to your computer, in just the same way you would a pair of earphones. For suggested speaker systems, see below à “Speakers That Make Computer-Based Music Sound Tolerably Good.”
C. COMPUTER TRANSMITS TO EVERY RADIO IN THE HOUSE
And then…the most intriguing solution of all: buy one of the little boxes that I’ve listed in the section called “If You Want to Broadcast Music…” All you do is connect one of these boxes to a USB slot in your computer. The little box turns that computer-generated sound into a weak FM signal that can be picked up anywhere in your house on an ordinary FM radio. Pick a frequency that isn’t in use in your neighbourhood or city (for me, that’s 107.0 FM) and set that frequency on the little dial built into the “little black box.” That’s just about all there is to it.
As I write this I have Radio Nederlands 4 (Klassieke Radio) on my computer. It is coming through the computer speakers next to the machine where I’m writing this note. And…it is ALSO going into my little black box and being re-transmitted through my house. So my kitchen radio is receiving Radio Nederlands, just as if I were in Rotterdam at this instant (and believe me, I’m not-I’m in rainy Vancouver).
Reliable Sources of Classical Music on the Net
[these are in descending order of musical interest, but that's just me talking...]
Konzertzender Klassieke Muziek
http://www.concertzender.eu/swfplayer.php?cid=1&mode=theme
BBC Radio 3/Classical
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/
France Musique
http://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/liste/
Jefferson Public Radio (Ashland, Oregon)
http://www.ijpr.org/
Minnesota Public Radio (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/nis/streams.shtml
Nord-Deutsche Rundfunk Kultur (Hannover)
http://www.ndrkultur.de/service/livestream20.html
Classical Station (Wake Forest, North Carolina)
http://theclassicalstation.org/internet.shtml
Shoutcast: collects several dozen 24-hour/day classical music URL/stations, worldwide
http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/search_results.jsp?rel=no&mode=listeners&sgen=Classical&searchCrit=advanced&s=&numresult=20
Speakers that Make Computer Music Sound Tolerably Good
For comparative pricing of computer speakers, visit:
http://www.nextag.com/computer-speakers/shop-html
Altec Speakers (2 needed, with bass treble control) + 1 bass “woofer” speaker = about $35 with shipping and PST (from an American supplier, of course!)
Logitech (2+1 = 3 speakers-also with bass/treble control) – up to $70
Cyberacoustic (2+1 = 3 speakers-also with bass/treble control) – up to $75
If You Want to Broadcast Music on Your Own FM
Transmitter Throughout Your House
Most of these work on a USB slot on your computer (desktop or laptop), getting power from the computer rather than from a separate power supply. They produce 200-250 ma in most cases.
Most come with a built-in telescoping antenna, but it’s important that no major wiring systems, or your furnace are physically in the way of the signal-it is not all THAT strong a signal, after all.
I set mine to 107.0 FM, and can listen to France-Musique, for example, on my kitchen FM radio-merely by tuning it to 107.0-even though my computer is in my basement.
http://www.mobileblackbox.com/content/view/40/75/ ($100+) [this is the one I use]
Has separate power supply option (which I do use).
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/fm-transmitters/fm-transmitter.aspx ($69.95+)
Has fewer controls over strength of signal, precise FM frequency. Not recommended (although it IS cheaper than the Mobile Black Box)
http://www.canakit.com/direct-access-synthesized-pll-stereo-fm-transmitter-export-only-kit-ux100-ex.html ($199)
More expensive, but not more powerful-not recommended
http://www.hobbytron.com/1-watt-fm-transmitter.html
$400 but worth the money-I didn’t want to pay this kind of money-but maybe I was penny-wise and pound foolish! You may want the help of a boy or girl in late adolescence who’s used to fiddling around with electronic gizmos if you buy and install this one. Special aerial required (sold at same time as transmitter)
http://www.canakit.com/usb-fm-transmitter-kit-ux300-ux300-ca-ux300-ex.html ($120+)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Another option to explore is the “web radio” device. Here’s one article that describes it.
Topics: StandOnGuardforCBC Publications | No Comments »
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.