Linking Options

[Liamashley]

Hi all, Just wanted some feedback on a few link option ideas ive had, what sort of equipment would be the cheapest and most reliable and general thoughts.

Im considering Streaming to the TX site using an internet radio stream and then receiving this at the TX via a Rasperri Pi and am looking at ways to mod a rasPI to turn on, connect to 4g, connect to streaming server and playback audio out of its 3.5mm jack. you could ring the sim and it would turn on maybe..... or just a cheap smartphone with an unlimited data sim in it plugged in to the same 12v supply as the rig.

The power setup would be 12v 20w output on a solar charged backup power battery system. Rig would be a 10w chinese jobby until i can get something good enough to put power out with.

the Quicker and easier option would be the sweet fact that these chinese rigs do 76-108....so im thinking of buying a second one, one for the studio to tx out somewhere between lets say 76 - 87mhz as a link, rx'd by another chinese stereo receiver at th TX site, running straight into the second rig..... I'm not a fan of band 1 links and i dont see this being much different, just as traceble as the main rig in my opinion...

Thoughts Please?

[Bton-FM]

Don’t use those Chinese ‘rigs’.Also The Japanese fm band is just as traceable as band 1.

[teckniqs]

Band I is the old TV band which is no longer being used in the UK so that's why it's popular. I wouldn't recommend going anywhere above 68 MHz as it's used for VHF low band PMR radio and other services and I certainly wouldn't recommend running band I or band II from your studio.

[Bton-FM]

Band I is the old TV band which is no longer being used in the UK so that's why it's popular. I wouldn't recommend going anywhere above 68 MHz as it's used for VHF low band PMR radio and other services and I certainly wouldn't recommend running band I or band II from your studio.

That’s a suicide mission !!

[Liamashley]

Cheers for the comments, any thoughts on the 4g option?

[Bton-FM]

Yes just stream it with shoutcast or similar and pick it up with VLC at site on a phone or a laptop.

[mikroman]

VLC crashes when the internet connection is interrupted, or problems with the stream server, even for a few seconds. That is why it is not the best solution. What I have been using for years for a secondary FM network that receives modulation over IP is radioboss. it can be configured to attempt a reconnection every couple of seconds in the event of a connection loss. A playlist can also be compiled to run until the stream is re-established. In addition, in the PC bios (if used) set up an automatic start after a power outage, and some remote desktop program, and everything will work fine.

[Albert H]

Unfortunately, radioBOSS demands Windoze and money. It's expensive ($200) and it's not very reliable.