Top products from r/radio

Cool! Sounds like your'e making good progress.

​

I like to use a Barix Instreamer. The Barix units are very intuitive, and they recover well from network/power outages. Very much "set and forget"

​

You could alternatively use the shoutcast plugin for winamp on a Windows PC as you suggested.

​

Either way, I'd recommend using Icecast2 to actually serve your stream to the public. The easiest way to get a stream going is:

​

1. Use Digital Ocean to deploy an Ubuntu Linux "droplet"...these cost like $10/month but they're super easy to manage and really solid. You can really use any hosting provider you like, I just prefer DO's mix of easy/cheap/good.
   
   I know I just recommended CentOS for Rivendell and now I'm recommending Ubuntu for Icecast2. This is because Ubuntu has ready-made Icecast2 packages, while on CentOS you have to compile it from source. It's just easier.
   
   

2. Install Icecast2 on your Ubuntu server. Installation is basically:
   
   a) Install Icecast2 + dependencies:
   
   sudo apt-get install icecast2
   
   b) Edit the /etc/icecast/icecast2 file to suit your needs. Make sure you at least change the stream source & admin passwords. If you want to use shoutcast, uncomment the lines for the shoutcast-compat settings.
   
   c) Start icecast2:
   
   sudo systemctl icecast2 start
   
   d) Make it so icecast2 will start automatically on boot:
   
   sudo systemctl icecast2 enable
   
   Your Icecast2 server will now be running at http://your\_server\_ip:8000
   
   
3. Configure your stream source (Barix or Shoutcast) to feed your Icecast2 server
   
   ​
   
   That's it! At this point you will have a stream. Good luck!

I live out in the middle of absolute nowhere. I look for radios that have what's called a coaxial antenna connector. That way I can hook the big TV antenna that's on my roof to it, or they also work with smaller antennas that screw right on. If you don't have a big TV antenna you can still get decent reception with the right radio.

First of all, are you okay with buying used? I've had a little Tivoli model ONE that I bough used for $70 maybe 3 years ago. I love it. Its the perfect little table radio, and has a coaxial antenna connector. The tuner is really good at grabbing stations even if I have it hooked up to the smaller antenna it comes with. New ones go for close to $150, but here's a few eBay sellers with used ones below $100

[Tivoli 1] (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tivoli-Audio-Model-One-Henry-Kloss-AM-FM-Radio-Walnut-Beige-/142227322689?hash=item211d68b741:g:5mcAAOSwImRYZK9a)

[Tivoli 2] (http://www.ebay.com/itm/tivoli-audio-model-one-/172468966146?hash=item2827f39302:g:QF4AAOSwUKxYabJK)

Those are just the first two I found under $100. Do some shopping around and you might find a better deal. Some go for a lot more since some have bluetooth.

Not wanting to buy used? Thats totally fine! I haven't personally used one, but the Amazon reviews for [this Sangean radio] (https://www.amazon.com/SANGEAN-WR-11-Table-Top-Radio/dp/B001BGGD8A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483422727&sr=8-1&keywords=am+fm+table+radios) seem good. It looks like a nice little unit too.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, just ask!

The radio would be in a basement, so it looks like my best bet would be to get an antenna like this one and mount it somewhere in my garage upstairs for now, and eventually move it outside. Some of the reviews show improved reception with the antenna mounted inside. It seems to me like the extra $20 is worth it for something like this that I can keep higher up instead of down in the basement. I had no idea antennas like that could be so cheap and seem to be so well reviewed.

I appreciate the long answers. You're packing in a ton of useful information that's really helping me out.

Flat water is a great conductor of radio waves. Drive down to the water, late at night, and tune your AM radio to a station there. It will probably be coming in loud and clear.

105mi is a bit of a trip for during the day and especially on FM, but if you have a receiving antenna like a dipole you might be able to tune in. (Not affiliated with that Amazon seller, it was just the first link that came up for dipole. Super easy to make one of your own.)

Lastly, radio stations in Cuba are available on livestream. Unless the US government blocks it, of course.

/r/UpliftingNews - Subreddit dedicated to positive news stories. Many of these stories haven’t yet become national stories.

Chase’s Calendar of Events - Provides a summary for each day including obscure holidays “National Waffle Week” kinda stuff, birthdays of famous people, and historical events.

Drudge Report - A site frequently responsible for taking small or local stories and making them the center of national attention. The political content on this site is decidedly conservative.

TMZ - Breaking celebrity news and gossip.

Facebook Trending Sidebar - Nice summary of stories currently being shared and discussed the most on social media.

http://www.sangean.com/products/product.asp?mid=83
https://www.ccrane.com/item/rad_ccradio_cc_pckt/100104/cc_pocket_am_fm_noaa_weather_radio__alert_with_clock_and_sleep_timer

These two don't have a telescopic antenna; they use your headphone cable as an antenna. They come with a wire antenna that plugs into the headphone jack if you want to listen from the built-in speaker, and you can use your headphones as an antenna and still use the built-in speakers if you like.

https://www.ccrane.com/item/rad_ccradio_skywave/100104/cc_skywave_am_fm_shortwave_weather__alert_and_airband_portable_travel_radio

This one is a little more money but has the telescopic antenna. As a bonus it also does longwave and shortwave.

None of the three have stereo speakers built-in but are stereo if you are using headphones, and the FM stereo signal is sufficiently strong.

https://www.amazon.com/SPARC-SHD-TX2-Portable-Speaker-Emergency/dp/B00VIVD7ZU

This one is slightly more awkward in form factor, but has the advantage of having HD radio reception, if you live in the US or Canada (Canada has few HD radio stations yet so it's more of a benefit in the US). Unlike the other radios, it has a speaking mode which will speak frequencies and settings, which can be very handy for the blind and for operating it while you're not looking. (It can be turned off too.)

I bought a CC Pocket Radio in 2014 and it's still going strong. I do have one preset button that no longer works, but all I have to do is select the button before it and do a manual seek to get the station that was programmed there.

This thing has not been babied either. It's been in suitcases, lunchboxes, backpacks, pockets and purses. I say purses because I had a friend that went to a funeral and she wanted to hear the Kentucky Derby that year. She swapped out the antenna cable for the earphone cable (which acts as an antenna) and was able to do both with no one the wiser.

It has a sleep timer and gets the weather info for your area too and the battery life is fantastic.

I thought about getting a certain model Sony to replace this, but the button issue is not a deal breaker.

This one? https://www.amazon.ca/C-Crane-Pocket-Radio-Presets/dp/B00BSYCZZ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537933419&sr=8-1&keywords=Crane+pocket

​

Seems to be a very close contender and was one or my original prospects before I bought the DT200X but for some reason it's priced super high in my area. How much did you buy yours for?

Wired? We use a mic/headphone dongle... it works on our iPhones and a wide variety of the droid phones our on-air guys own.

The one below is not the exact ones we have, but is very similar. Ours have a longer lead on them... maybe 2.5' or so.

http://www.amazon.com/Sescom-iPhone-Right-Angle-Monitoring/dp/B005TE4KNK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1459357712&sr=8-11&keywords=smartphone+xlr

We have a Comrex Bric in the equipment room we can switch between 4 studios. We then use Luci Lite on the smartphones.... sounds like you are right in the studio. We often run the phone to a mixer so we can hook up an ambient noise mic for remotes so it sounds more like we are on location.

This will satisfy your AM loop requirements pretty well

To add to this, OP is looking for FRS/GMRS radios. These(and radios like them) are typically sold alongside sporting goods, and do not require a license to operate in the US unless you plan on increasing tx power or running a repeater.

Maybe there is a local am or fm station there that carries BBC? If it is shortwave, he would need a really good receiver and antenna to pick up BBC World Service aimed elsewhere. Either way, this Kaito crank radio is well reviewed on Amazon. I am in the US but I assume this radio would be on Amazon.ca also.

Kaito KA500 5-way Powered Emergency AM/FM/SW NOAA Weather Alert Radio with Solar,Dynamo Crank,Flashlight and Reading Lamp, Color Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F0MNRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_cwFuyb94NS5WV

I wonder if the TRRS adapter I bought is just faulty because this one is not working.

I'll probably play with the OBS software mentioned by other people.

Looking forward to hearing from you;
https://amzn.com/153338763X

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-KLANTOP-Digital-Function-Special/dp/B074X9SC1C

You can actually use speaker wire for an antenna or buy some Parts Express FM Dipole Antenna https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M9EREE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-SfyCbXCP3R9J

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=pd_aw_fbt_23_img_3/134-9726562-0830052?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B011HVUEME&pd_rd_r=7fb5f220-9c5e-11e9-9c69-1d3c8f2acdb3&pd_rd_w=Ocse9&pd_rd_wg=8WNg6&pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&pf_rd_r=TKY3CV92KZVSGH06DB85&psc=1&refRID=TKY3CV92KZVSGH06DB85

You mean this? https://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-60-Short-Wave-Antenna/dp/B000023VW2

There's a fantastic box set of cold war era radio propaganda and music called Atomic Platters. However due to the price and rarity, you'll probably have to look for it through *ahem* "other channels"

Well the reason I specifically asked was because the big popular one on Amazon is the Arcshell

https://www.amazon.com/Arcshell-Rechargeable-Earpiece-400-470Mhz-Included/dp/B072JJFVJG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

apparently all but TWO are illegal channels without a license. Then some other forums say that they don't know if they were ever programmed differently so it's a crapshoot.