Project:EMFM: Difference between revisions
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== Studio == | == Studio == | ||
=== Mixing === | === Mixing === | ||
We need a mixer to mix the microphones + playout and other audio together to broadcast | |||
* If we can't source a broadcast mixer for free, you can get an Alice Series A mixer from [http://www.radiquip.co.uk/1_hire_centre/cat_pages/10087.htm Radiquip] for £164.06 for a week | |||
** These console are old, but solid ([http://www.csrfm.com/ CSR] has one which has been running for at least 15 years with no major faults) - [User:naxxfish] | |||
=== Microphones === | === Microphones === | ||
Revision as of 01:35, 4 March 2012
Wouldn't it be awesome if EMF camp had a event radio station? Yes, yes it would be incredibly awesome. So lets make one
Aims and Objectives
EMFM would serve to provide information about EMF Camp, including upcoming events, talks and workshops, news about recent happenings at the camp, as well as local and national news that is of interest to the people attending the camp and the local community.
We would also aim to provide content of interest to the attendees of the camp, including live and pre-recorded discussions about current issues around technology, security, privacy and digital rights and freedoms. We may also want to provide educational content to broaden the horizons of the listeners.
EMFM would aim to be as transparent as possible, letting anyone who's interested in radio and broadcasting see how the radio station works, and letting them get involved in running it during the camp. Editorial control will be required to some extent to ensure we don't breach our license(s), but will not be hidden from those wishing to contribute content.
Content
What do we want to broadcast?
- Recorded talks
- Live talks?
- Interviews
- Discussion & talk shows
- Music (from real live musicians and/or DJs?)
Licensing
| Item | Qty | Cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ofcom S-RSL Application Fee | 1 | £400.00 | £400.00 |
| Ofcom typical S-RSL Daily Rate | 3 | £70.00 | £210.00 |
| PPL Short Term Radio Daily Rate | 3 | £35.00 | £105.00 |
| PRS/MCPS 3-day Discount Rate | 1 | £222.74 | £222.74 |
If we only play royalty free/creative commons music, we wouldn't need to pay for PRS/PPL/MCPS licenses, potentially saving us a bit of money. But would we want to limit ourselves like this?
Financing
We need to make money (as well as prove to Ofcom that we can pay the bills).
Merchandise
- FM Radios
- FM Radio kits?
- Clothing
Advertising
Do we want to sell out?
Donations
Can we either reduce costs by having kit donated or have donations to pay for equipment?
Implementation
Accommodation
Where are we going to go?
Physical Space
Power Supply
Networking & Comms
Network connection, telephone lines
Acoustics?
How much do we care about the acoustics of the studio?
- Probably not a lot - as long as it's not bad enough to make speech unintelligible
- Makeshift acoustic treatment can be arranged if it's really really bad
- Anything we need to sound polished and nice can be recorded in a studio ahead of time.
Transmission
Processing
Software or hardware?
FM Transmission
A transmitter usually helps.
If we can't source a FM transmitter, we can probably hire all the kit required from Transmitters R Us for £595 + VAT for 2 weeks (or £494 for just 1 week). Or the exact the same kit from Radiquip for £246.88 for 2 weeks.
The kit comes with:
- BW Broadcast 50W FM Transmitter
- BW Broadcast FM Processor (which having used them are pretty decent sounding once you've set them up)
- BW Broadcast RDS encoder (As it happens 'EMF CAMP' is exactly 8 digits, which is the limit for RDS programme ID)
- Matched folded dipole and 25M feeder cable.
Pretty good little setup and does everything we need and reasonably good value too - good alternative should we be unable to have anything donated.
Online Streaming
We will need to run the FM output into a recorder of some kind anyway (due to license requirements) so we may as well stream it too!
Software
Hardware
- Normal ATX PC that can take a PCI card
- M-Audio Delta 44 has which has 4 inputs - we can use 2 for streaming and 2 for FM Rx logging
- I can probably source one that's currently not in use - User:naxxfish
DAB?
You can get event slots on some DAB muxes, we'd need to hire space at the mux and get some sort of codec, and some sort of transmission method (IP or ISDN, maybe microwave link)
Really expensive, and not so easy to sell radios at the site to pick it up.
Studio
Mixing
We need a mixer to mix the microphones + playout and other audio together to broadcast
- If we can't source a broadcast mixer for free, you can get an Alice Series A mixer from Radiquip for £164.06 for a week
- These console are old, but solid (CSR has one which has been running for at least 15 years with no major faults) - [User:naxxfish]
Microphones
Condensers ideally. Also need stands.
Outboard
Gate/Compressors would be good for the mics, plus a limiter on the output of the mixer.
- I can probably hire some dBx 266 (dual gate/compressors) from Kent Tech for fairly cheap - User:naxxfish
Playout
Some potential solutions for free PC based playout, Windows or Linux based.
Not free but cheap
- DARP - clone of P Squared Myriad
- mAirlist
Outside Broadcasts
We might want to broadcast live from outside of the studio (and gain audience participation)
- UHF mic/belt pack tx + IEM? (depends on range required)
- Broadcast RF Tx/Rx?
