Engineer's Log: Streaming Fixed. (Again.)

by Dan Houg

For those that listen to us via the 91.7 KAXE web stream, you may have experienced sporadic connection quality. I tried several approaches to resolving this and things greatly improved but we still experienced occasional lockups. In an effort to provide the most reliable streaming audio possible, we have installed a dedicated streaming appliance that does not use a Windows based PC. This should permanently fix our stream connection issues but the solution cost us over $400 for the hardware. Our pledge drive is coming up in June and this would be a perfect time the online listeners to express appreciation with the renewal of your membership or actually become a member!

Technically, we have installed the Barix Instreamer. A dedicated appliance about the size of a package of cream cheese, it uses a Linux kernal coded into non-volatile memory and does the job simply and well with no moving parts, fans, or Microsoft.

Engineer's Log: KAXE Upgrades

by Dan Houg

There have been several deep infrastructure improvements at 91.7 KAXE... a new office LAN and new audio server system. Along with the upgrades, we are working on restoring all previous services that were tied into our old system. You'll notice the on-demand retrievable audio archives are back working and the webcams are running once again. Those of you that audio stream and have been frustrated by the up and down status should find better stability as we hardened that system also.

You'll notice we no longer archive music shows. Several years ago, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in response to lobbying from the big label music recording industry that thought the only way to stem the loss of revenues from selling CDs make was to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to use other digital media. I'm paraphrasing a bit here but the end result is that it is illegal for us to present music shows online in a convenient format. We CAN present original recordings and material we generate, such as all Morning Show content, RealGoodWords, Centerstage MN, Phenology, Between You and Me, Green Cheese, and more. These archives are now presented to you in one hour blocks so you should be able to find what you are looking for easier. These 1 hour MP3 blocks run about 22MB in size.

Please let us know what think or if you have any questions and thanks for your patience while we made the upgrades.

Streaming KAXE on Android

by Chad Haadvedt, IT Connections

Do you have one of the cool Android based smart phones and want to be able to listen to KAXE on the go? If so, there is a cool, free and easy to install application in the Android market to get KAXE on your phone.

While there are several streaming applications in the Android Marketplace, I like the one called StreamFurious. It's pretty easy to install, just follow these steps....

1. Open the Android Marketplace application on your phone:

• you need a data connection of some type: (over the air, 3g or wifi)
• if you have never used the market place before, you will need to create a Google account before you can proceed
  

2. Use the "Search" on the Marketplace screen to find "StreamFurious". It may give a few results, and I recommend you try the "free" version of the program. (There are some additional nice features of the "Pro" version, but you can make that call after you have tried out the free one. )

You'll be presented with a screen showing some information about StreamFurious, along with user ratings and a button to install it.

3. Go ahead and tap the Install button to get it. When prompted, confirm that you want to proceed.

4. When the installation is complete, you can open your application list and start StreamFurious. Accept the user agreement, and when it finishes loading, it will present you with a listing of existing feeds. Tap the Menu button on your phone, and tap the "More Stations" option.

5. On the more stations screen, tap the icon that will take you to "Shoutcast.com" This will load the web browser on your phone, and take you to the Shoutcast home page. You can search for KAXE on this page, and Shoutcast will find two results: the first entry is a high quality stream and the second one is a low quality stream.

• choose the high quality stream if you want to listen via a 3G or wifi connection
• choose the low quality stream if you don't have 3G or wifi handy when you want to listen

6. Tap the button for the stream you want, and it will be loaded as the top most entry on your StreamFurious screen.

Sound Quality
I think the high bitrate feed sounds like an FM signal would on most portable devices. The low bitrate feed sounds just fine for voice content, but leaves a little to be desired for music. As long as you are in an area that has good cell service, the stream seems to keep clear and constant.

Battery Consumption
Streaming KAXE (or any audio feed) is going to suck the juice out of your battery. So, don't expect to listen to KAXE for hours on end. I can get a couple of hours on my battery, maybe a little more if I have a strong signal.

Stay In Touch
StreamFurious is the perfect way to listen to KAXE on the road when you are not in the Northland. If you have a car charger for your phone, or an AC charger in the hotel, you do not have to worry about battery life.

Streaming on the iPhone?
Do you stream KAXE on your iPhone? If so, can you give our readers some advice on a good application to use? Post your suggestions here.

Have a big day.
Chad