Possibly My Last Blog on this, but I'll keep the keys.

What I have always liked about radio streaming is that the prices are continually going down. An old smart phone can be purchased at a pawn shop or on a black Friday. I have a Microsoft phone I got for 5 dollars at a pawn shop and an new android a purchased at Christmas for 10 dollars. With the Tune in app, I heart app and a web link to vtuner I can pull in the world and quite a lot of faith based radio. This does posit I have a wifi signal to use them with, as they are not on cell service. I have always gone at this hobby on the "cheap." Lately the little Amazon Alexei is the easiest tool to listen to the web with.  I bought my last early version of this for about 19 dollars. Since a lot of stations are on Iheart radio you can simply ask about a station by its call letters and if I heart does not have it, tune in might. I believe this little hockey puck sized item might have more people listening and streaming radio at home. As my favorite stations are on those two outlets most of my listening around the house is on this little guy. Sound is pretty good. Apparently she can also be trained to get to other stations with a few commands. Now this is a wifi device and the user will need unlimited wifi or just monitor there usage. Sadly this is the last bridge for us to cross in radio. While streaming is great and you can listen to virtually any station on an android phone or this device, you have to have the internet. This is why I am a huge proponent of FM in cell phones and radio in general. Yep I know there are music purest out there that have sworn off radio, but, hey its free and cheap. I urge everyone to explore their local FM and AM dial wherever they find themselves. Neat thing, if you find a station that is a little messy you can go and call up call signs or a frequency on Google and find a stream of it. I have monitored some great stations that way.
Honestly I am amazed where this hobby has taken me too. Back in the day (yep I've used this blog for 8 years.) you had to have a computer with a good sound program to stream. That was challenging with dial up in some places going very slow. Any one remember 56,000 baud and slower speeds. We would find big quick setups and marvel at live radio coming through the speakers, ok maybe it was just me. As connections sped up internet radios appeared. As usual I went bargain basement and got Aluretek streaming tuner. I was great sounding when hooked up to speakers or my stereo. It ended up paired with one of the first portable HD radios I still have. I was digital on wifi and net right next to my bed where I listen when sleep escapes me.
This little unit is still alive and tunes stations found on V-tuner page.Lots of stations still list on this. As this was coming together cell phones with blue tooth or just a corded hookup to a vehicle began to be very common and prices like, most electronic fell. Eventually I had an old android and no problem loading I Hear Media and Tune In, or stations individual jump off to a stream. A few years ago any one with a decent cell phone could listen to the world with the right cell phone plan. As I write this a cheap Samsung (lower than 40) bucks is pushing a pair of cheapy plug up speakers and I am listening to an internet station from Houston. Later I would try this theory out and buy a Windows phone for 5 dollars that would not work on a cell network to use as my internet receiver for a vintage stereo set up in my home office. It works fine with a chip of music and still can be used to pick up a few streams.             Also streaming has exploded on TV. Personally I am a ROKU fan. This little box is availiable for under 50 dollars and if you do not subscribe to anything, there is a world of radio that can be streamed to your TV. I have mine hooked to an old stereo and stations sound pretty good.

         When I set out to unite my too favorite interest of Christians broadcasting and Radio there was a bit to say about technology and some favorite Christians stations. If you are a believer or looking into Jesus Christian radio is alive with beautiful music and ministry.  For music I have always pointed people to KSBJ.org for teaching KHCB.org is a good place. If you have bothered to read this far I would urge you too read the earlier post and see how streaming and this genre of Christian broadcasting has developed over this last decade.
               As I sit here at the start of 2020, I am not sure this is my last article. Cell phones have become pretty standard, blue tooth is pretty much on any audio device and consumers tend to understand this world better than playing an old CD or a vinyl record, which I do from time to time. If I do post again I will update social media. If you have questions or comments please reach out to me at scotttalbert1963@gmail.com.

Scott Talbert, happy streaming and blessings.

PS To all my audio-file and High end streamers. I really am not worried about streaming quality. It has gotten way better over the years. Enjoy.

Linux Machine for Scott, your brother blogger.

Linux, that is a name that is not heard too much among basic computer users. Well I always heard I could take an old PC and put a different, non-Microsoft operating system on it. I heard this system now had a graphical interface. I also read that most install of this could run a browser, email, view web media and play my media files. I also heard that most came out of the “box” with a word processor, vis calc look alike and and presentation program, that was compatible to big bad MS Office. And I heard that most slowing machines worked a little better because the Linux system was not small compared to many MS operating system.

I cautiously entered the game. I found a very old machine that was locked up as Windows XP with a lost user password. Yes I know this can be worked around, but the machine was a Pentium 4 with very little memory. I had blown it back to MS 98se and it moved pretty good, but continued to have hassles. I pounced. I got a Linux Ubuntu disk on Amazon for 10 USD. It would boot. I tried the install it took a long time and never really looked right. Later I found out they had lighter versions and I tried that and had some success with that box.

I had just upgraded my junk, play machine (different than above) up to Windows Vista and it had quite a few issues, but I could use it to email, browse with Firefox and get frustrated at about every thing. Linux disk still on the desk, I put them in and pretty much did a boot-able install of Linux. Unit still had to work off DVD and that caused hassles. “Why not?” I said. Lets go full on a machine that does not have to work perfectly or could fail any moment. Install went well. One issue was hard to get around. My machine, and old compact AMD, and Linux did not want to find a modem to reach the WIFI. Yeah, this was a big deal. I would like this machine for Facebook, web browsing, and occasional streaming. Apparently after some hit or miss research this Linux “distro” does not like Netgear dongles. Matter of fact my very popular dongle is not supported. (Ok settle down, Linux, “I can solve anything” crowd.) “Ok, find one that is supported.” I did an Amazon search and a particular chip set is easly used by my Xenial Xerus 16.04 distro. Oh and I had that little WIFI receiver. It was a Edimax (less than 10 bucks) It is a small as a USB plug in with a plastic cap. Tiny. I plugged it in and Linux recognized it. No problem, full, not speedy access.

Now I had to put a few programs on that machine. I went to net. That was not too great. Very confusing instructions about how to install programs. In Linux you really do not want to go to programing screen and start punching around. My distro came with a “Ubuntu Software” app. Use that. It has a few browsers, games, tools, several media programs and a host of other higher level stuff. Your distro it seems, comes with a lot of programs on it. It is a DVD and they fill it. Also when you can access the net the Ubuntu Software app will allow workable programs to be downloaded from them. Most are free that I can tell.

OK, what did I end up with. I found Firefox gives me pretty much full access to the Google word of Email and services. You could use Linux to just build a Google machine I think. I use gmail, and found a widget that I can touch to go to email if Firefox is going. The distro put on a unity desktop that is pretty simple, and it came with file access, Firefox, Libre Writer, Libre Office Calc, and Libre Office empress. So far the word-processor seams fine. I added VLC to handle music and video. I also just played and open GL game called Super Tux Cart that ran fine.

This is not my first walk outside the gate. I have used free ware to do a lot of things MS wants to charge for. Some are very good programs. But now I have a machine that big computer does not really own. And I think I’ll keep it, if it turns on next time.

Scott.

I guess I wrote this because when I started listening to radio no streaming was available.  We guessed it would happen. Then you had to have an expensive computer with expensive soft ware to listen to streams. Then progress took over and we could stream on phones, wifi radios and all kinds of browser enable stuff. Even a game machine or two. I wrote this to celebrate leaving the MS world on one machine I own. I have gotten streams to work. You will need a Flash plugin in at least a Linux Firefox setup. I also feel the Lord could use this technology to allow older machines to be put in the hands of poorer families. I have not worked that out yet, but I am playing with Linux and learning. Still Blogging about Jesus and Radio. SWT

Still Streaming, Still believing In Jesus.

Still Streaming, Still believing in Jesus

Just an update. I have not gone silently into the night. Those who know me, know that wherever I am there will be sound. As I have alluded to in this blog, I have moved to Lolita, Texas to Pastor first Baptist Church in Lolita, Texas. That happened over a year ago. Since then we have gone through a hurricane and I started collecting older CCM pretty heavy. I came to CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) at about 15 or 16. That allowed me to hear the grandmothers and grandfathers of the genre before some past on or were at the height of their careers. I did see Larry Norman, of "I wish we had all been ready" fame, back in the day, before and after his head trauma that changed him a bit. He would die later in life of heart complications. I also saw Rich Mullins and Keith Green before they died way too early. Mullins wrote huge pre Praise Music like "Mighty God" and Keith also wrote some great music that is still played today. I sadly believe I saw them on their last tours. I also love Amy Grant, DC Talk, the Newsboys, Micheal W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Petra, Daniel Amos, and many other CCM acts. If all that shot by you, Google some. Some say CCM had a golden era back in the 70s and 80s. Their was more diversity, as simple people of faith sang songs about God and their experiences. Much of the music is deeply evangelical and tends to be much more in your face than stuff that now is on the radio. After this music most CCM went to what I call "Mommy Van Praise Music." Producers understood that women with mothers bought and listened to CCM. They liked songs that would eventually be sung in Church. Christian Rock has pretty much gone underground, except some Rap and Hip Hop acts that are very popular. I like praise music, but I also crave artist that show inventiveness in verse or music. Also the channel for this music has shrunk. In the good ole days many independent labels published lots of music. When CCM got hot the big Guys bought out almost everyone. Then producers trimmed back acts that did not sell into very narrow playlist at CCM stations dominated by the MVPM. Ouch. So what to do? STREAM, the music still exist, I have cds and albums to prove it. Many good streaming stations feature older CCM. I have listed a few in previous articles. The best in my small world is http://www.classicchristian247.com/ they have a morning DJ and electronically announce who is singing to you. They are listener supported, so give them a gift if you can spare it or at least tell someone else to listen too. Oh this station is pretty eclectic. They will play soft rock and the next song may be a Christian Hair band along the lines of Styper. WWW.classicccm.com, it is a Salem commercial station that plays pretty much the ccm hits of 70s to 90s. As for present stations that I still like, try klove.org, ksbj.org, or Klty.com, if you listen to these stations you will about the same music. One is a network station that has outlets in most areas, on is a non com, public station and one is the largest commercial CCM station in the US.  I let you listen and figure out which one is which. I would love to pray or read reactions to the blog. You can contact me at scotttalbert1963@gmail.com.
Pray, believe, listen, and enjoy. SWT

Small side note: If you really like older CCM, there are fine facebook groups that you can join, discuss and also reap a lot of streaming material from.

The Future of Streaming Radio

 

What I have always liked about the world of radio streaming is that it is getting less expensive by the day. One can get an old smart phone and stream better than any previous rig. I have a Microsoft phone from a pawnshop that cost 5 dollars and works well with a nearby stereo. I acquired a new android phone for l0 dollars that I can also use. With the tune in app, i heart radio app and a few others i have a world of radio at my fingertips. On my 50 dollar Microsoft phone that i carry service on, I can also stream in my car. But alas you have to touch stuff to make it work. Streaming does have re-connection problems that can only be solved by a touch or two.
               Enter wireless smart speakers. I found the Amazon Echo Dot for 49.99 on Amazon and have been impressed with its voice command only abilities. It comes able to interface with Tune in Radio, I heart radio, Pandora and amazon's audio books and music. As I write this, it is gaining new abilities every day. In most cases I can say the name of a station and Alexa will tell me she is tuning it. "Alexa play KSBJ" I say. "Playing KSBJ by way of the Tune in app." she reacts. The station is even using this in their adds. KSBJ is a large non profit CCM station in Houston. Alexa has some other basic abilities that are fun to play with too. She will need to be on your WiFi system to work. She has a big sister with better sound, but the little dot is capable of filling a mid sized room with sound and fine for an office.

As always feel free to write me.
Pastor Scott Talbert
scotttalbert1963@gmail.com

Ngen the little HD Station that could

In 1982 a public supported radio station rumbled on to the air in Houston. KSBJ was born on 88.1 fm, later she would move to 89.3fm. She grew to own the CCM market on the Texas coast. Buddy Holiday, its founder wanted a 100,000 watt fm station to stand tall for his savior. At first the station had some talk. Later it moved to 95% music. They still have some talk on Sunday nights. From the early days of the station they would play Christian Rock late on Saturday nights. This segment carried several names, Rock of Love and Light Force come to mind. The kids loved that music, but mainstream CCM with Amy Grant and Micheal Smith paid the bills. The station developed a lock on Christian concert promotion that still holds today. HD radio arrived in 2010. Most public stations jumped in, as they got a good deal on the medium.

KSBJ realized their music played well with the “Mommy Van” crowd but not the rock, rap and next generation. In 2010 they put up NGEN on their HD2 signal. HD2 signals allow radios with HD to receive secondary digital signal with great clarity of sound. This signal runs under the analog big brother. The signal is also weaker than the big brother. KSBJ also put the station online with its website and a host of phone apps. Ngenradio.com is available on most platforms. (Tune In is good)

August 8^th, 2016, at 6am NGEN went live on 91.7fm KXNG (analog) and became a major player in the crowded Houston Radio landscape. 50,000 watts of Hip Hop and Rock to reach a new generation. This represents a Digital and HD success story of sorts. This station birthed online, nurtured in HD and some low power fm analogs has come into its own. It will be an expensive baby for KSBJ. KSBJ has been run well a long time and will see the station become a titan like KSBJ, whose PPMs typically rank her 4^th in Houston – Galveston's radio market.

There is a flip side to this story. KUHA (now KXNG) was previously Rice University's radio station. The station was sold to UH and Rice's station ended up a HD2 and then just digital. UH wanted to use 91.7 fm to be their classical outlet. Classical music had shared the airwaves with KUHT. In )))) that station decided to go all news and put classical on HD2. NPR program left classical music playing at night. Now at least classical music could be heard all day. They also purchased 91.7fm from Rice with the intention of having a free standing classical music station that was analog. The station tanked from lack of support, then most of the on air personalities where fired. UH decided that 10 million being offered by KSBJ was too much to pass up.

Interestingly enough, the classical station is not dead. She is alive on HD2 under the Public Radio of UH, a great NPR affiliate. She also has a robust online presence and the greatest tutorial about streaming I have seen any station use. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/classical/ways-to-listen/ She also has a presence on on digital tv as an audio only channel 8.5. How she will survive is a good question. UH can keep the format alive, but it will lack any real connection to Houston if it is simply a network outlet. Sadly classical music has been in full retreat to internet streaming for a few years.

I really hope both stations do well. As a Christian we need more than tightly programmed CCM. NGEN and her team will give Houston some alternatives, that even this 50 plus guy likes to hear. Classical music is just important. In that format world history has a chance to sing and play in our heads. It will be up to a very dedicated group of donors to keep it alive.

Programming note: I have moved back to Texas. I am still a pastor. I still have too many radios and not enough time to listen to everything.

Web Reference:

http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/07/15/160454/houston-public-media-completes-sale-of-classical-station-kuha-91-7-fm-to-ksbj/

Some Christian Rock to stream

Some Christian Rock Stations on the Web.

I volunteered to write about some selections of streaming Christian Rock stations. This is a basic list. You can google Christian Rock and find many more. You can also search for stations on various apps. One of my favorite list is at www.vtuner.com.  
Ngenradio.com is one of my favorite stations for Christian Rock and Rap. They are an HD2 of KSBJ.org in Houston. They are a better urban station than a rock station, but still good.

http://www.theblast.fm/wp/ These guys are loud and they are rock. They also have a 320k stream they consider cd quality. They are also on Roku players with the high speed being one of the best audio test for that streaming device.

http://www.christianhardrock.net/ This is a good network of power praise, rock, hard rock and classic rock stations. They have updated their look and I did not recognize them the first time I revisited this site. Their site is cool because you can jump off to their other offerings. They also have a pretty good selection of ways to connect to their feeds.

www.air1.com You can't go wrong with Klove's little louder brother. When they started this, it was a rock station. It has gotten calmer over the years.

http://www.fuelradio.fm/ This one caught my eye in a search but I do not have a lot of time listening to these guys.

http://radiou.com/ this is a station from Ohio that has a great online presence. They are very outreach oriented, but eventually you figure out your listening to a Christian stations. They also have a live tv and music video channel on Roku.

http://star88.fm/ This is our NM station from Albuquerque. They really are a good alt worship stations. This is not Rock but it is pretty progressive.

Streaming Radio in Cars

Last time I posted, I simply gave an over view of streaming and discussed how the hobby (?) has grown from computer to internet radios to set top TV streaming devices like a ROKU. I have also spoke about using a simple cell phone to stream on a data plan or getting a phone that can pick a internet signal from your home router or a public hot-spot like a library with a public signal. When you use set top boxes or your choice of smart phones you need apps. Apps provide access to various stations. Also some stations provide their signals and cell phones and computers can stream them.

We have also have said many good Christian ministries are into streaming. KLOVE comes to mind. They have a great FM presence in many towns. They are more prevalent in towns where the locals can not support a Christian music station like KSBJ(public) in Houston or KLTY (for profit) in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. KLOVE puts there signal on apps like Tune In and I Heart Radio. They also put most of their sister stations signals out on the net at vtuner.com. You can also download a separate KLOVE and their sister format AIR1 app for most types of cell phones and boxes like ROKU.

As I have explored this on-line world of noise, I have also noticed that many people are now using cell phone for in car entertainment. Most just used to store music files on a phone and plug it into a car stereo's jack for what looks like a headphone. The cable for that has a plug on each end that looks like a headphone plug and your phones audio is transferred to the car stereo. It works pretty good because it is a solid connection for tablets, mp3 players and most phones, even very inexpensive ones. Surprisingly you can also use this as real cheap hands free option on most phones. The voice comes out the speakers and the cell phones mike picks up voice because it thinks it is playing into headphones. But you do have to control the phone from the phone.

Now us really old car owners might have a stereo before they mounted AUX jacks in them. How can I get signal from a device, streaming or not to that? Well for years they have made in car FM transmitters for older vehicles. This is my least preferred system I have discussed. This device that usually cost over 30 bucks will plug into any headphone enabled device and transmit a very low powered signal to your car radio. OK this is where it gets interesting. The old transmitters would only use about 4 public bands like 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7. Before everyone found the public bands, in most town you could find one of those frequencies empty and tune your car radio to one and the device would broadcast your mp3 player, phone, or any device with a headphone jack to your car stereo. The problem would be what you heard. Usually it included a huge amount of hiss and sometimes just no signal. Having dealt with this in two vehicles we found removing the external car antenna helped. Then you could place the transmitter (usually small) in front or near the radio. In cities this was just a hard setup. Out in the country with less stations, a person could find a setup that worked fine. My son would DJ from a computer, Ipad or Iphone as we rolled down the road. Newer rigs can transmit on all the bands I believe. They can still be purchased for older cars or classic cars where tech upgrades are frowned on.

Ok I left out the infamous cassette adapter. I saw one at a dollar store recently. If you had an old tape deck you dropped it in and played signal through it. This device worked great if your tape deck heads where positioned right. I had a Ford Arrow-star van that could not use one. Most other vehicles could and a lot of people hooked up portable CD players to cars that way. Just dump the CD player and replace it with a Iphone streaming KLOVE and your on your way retro guy.

Lately I have been using a technology that has been around a long time but, is now coming into its maturity. Bluetooth is the particular technology I am thinking and using. Recently I retro fitted my 2006 Toyota Corolla with a sub 200.00 dollar car radio with Bluetooth. Best streaming car audio money I have spent. I can stream my one of my favorite web broadcasters on Tune In app like CCM Rewound and when I enter the car and set the radio to Bluetooth audio it plays through the speakers and on the road. Even in the El Paso area I can listen to streaming radio all over town on my ATT family cell plan with out doing too much damage. I am also able to answer and talk on the phone hands free when calls come.

The last little idea I want to stick in your head is the smart phone choice. I know Iphones are not for everyone. They cost a small fortunes. They are good audio machines. I am paying for my wife's and my boys have older versions they have got used. I used to use an old HTC android phone that streamed pretty good with apps and ok straight from the web. Lately I have discovered Windows Phones. They are a good work phone, but the app selection is pretty awful. I was able to get a Windows phone running Windows 8 at Christmas for less than fifty dollars. With a I Heart Radio, Tune In, and British Radio tuner app you can listen to a lot of English streaming radio. Those apps will also pick up a lot of Christian Talk, music and teaching too. I have also managed to use the vtuner.com web site in conjunction with a sound app to further enhance my channel choices witch should be in the 1000s.

That phone with a Bluetooth car stereo allows me to stream about anything I want while driving between El Paso, Texas and Las Cruses, New Mexico. I can tell you that audio streaming is way less costly on your data plan than video based steaming and I have not broke my 15 meg a month plan with this setup and my families phones. If you live in a bad cell phone area, the Bluetooth upgrade is worth it in terms of hands free cell use in the car with a fine MP3 library. With the Windows phone I can even handle incoming text messages without touching the phone.

I write this stuff for a few reasons. As a Christian, Christian music, teaching and talk enhance my faith. As a fan of older Christian Rock, I have to use MP3s or streaming to hear bands like Petra or Rez Band. I also just love radio around the world, that I started listening to as a child late at night with a portable AM radio or an old Army Jeep shortwave radio. The world is huge and a lot of it speaks language we can listen to, learn from and pray over.

Listening, Scott Talbert

scottttalbert1963@gmail.com

Random Thoughts: Just added scanner app to phone. So now I can cruse around and listen to local fire and ems. Bluetooth and phones sometimes have problems with getting out of car and coming back and resuming signal. Have fun, you will need to work with apps and phone to see if you have issues. The night I wrote this post I listened to BBC1 (London, UK)show live from Hollywood (USA) while driving in Anthony, New Mexico. How cool is that.