Radio Audio over Internet

[JD]

I need a recommendation on how to be able to listern to a vhf radio in my office from a remote location. I only need to monitor, no transmit functions. I can log into my computer with GO TO MY PC.

Thanks.

[tvsjr]

Gotomypc is not what you want to use for this task.

Do some googling on Shoutcast... tie the radio into a computer, run the shoutcast server, and stream from your remote location.

[JD]

Thank you for the help. I will try that.

[DPL]

Also look into Teamspeak. Some people (including myself) find that it is easier to set up. The bandwidth can be adjusted so that very little is consumed, if that is an issue.

For really easy setup, check out Windows Media Encoder. You have to have some bandwidth to play with, but it was the easiest to set up of anything that I have tried.

[Wowbagger]

I can log into my computer with GO TO MY PC.

Be thankful I am not your IT administrator: What I would do to you for installing Go To My PC would make the Bastard Operator From Hell faint dead away.

Saying GTMPC is a security hole is like saying Mt. Everest is a bump in the road. It's like saying Goatse.cx is mildly disturbing.

If you work with any type of sensitive information at all: health data (HIPPA), corporate data (SarbOx), let alone anything truly classified and you have this on your PC, you are exposing both yourself AND your employer to $$$$$BIG_FINES$$$$$$.

Even running Shoutcast or any of the other servers is a bad idea unless you make your IT staff aware of it and get permission (and, indeed, may not even be possible if your IT staff have correctly configured the firewall.)

The right way to do this, assuming you can convince your IT folks, is to put a computer into the DMZ segment of your network, running a server like Shoutcast or IceCast, with the bandwidth throttled by the firewall as well as by the application. The computer should do NOTHING but sample/encode/stream the audio, and ideally should be protected by a password at a minimum.

Of course, the legality of streaming whatever you are streaming is also a question that needs investigating.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade - but I am trying to keep you from having a parade in a fecal hurricane if the Wrong People find out in the Wrong Way.

[tvsjr]

I can log into my computer with GO TO MY PC.

Be thankful I am not your IT administrator: What I would do to you for installing Go To My PC would make the Bastard Operator From Hell faint dead away.

I do have to agree on this one... though, if he's already running GoToMyPC, the chances of being able to make Teamspeak/Shoutcast/etc. play are pretty high since the chances of having an IT department with a clue seem to approach zero.

[JD]

Thanks. My office is me with one computer in it, no IT area. I was wanting something like the site you can go to and listen to VHF scanner traffic.

[Wowbagger]

Thanks. My office is me with one computer in it, no IT area. I was wanting something like the site you can go to and listen to VHF scanner traffic.

OK, but:
a) I'd STILL recommend STRONGLY against running GotoMyPC. It is a GAPING security hole.
b) I'd recommend getting a dedicated firewall, if you don't have one. Try to get one that supports a DMZ in addition to the External and Internal zones.
c) I'd STILL recommend running a dedicated machine to do the streaming. Anything you put up that is accessible from the Internet will be under CONSTANT attack. PLAN on it being broken into. I'd set up a cheap machine booting from CD or read-only USB memory stick, with nothing but the barest minimum install of Linux or *BSD needed to do the job: Icecast, an encoder, but NOTHING ELSE: Ideally not even a shell. I'd use the hardest set of firewall settings I know how to set up, and I'd insist upon password authentication before streaming.
d) I'd STILL be concerned about the legality of what I was streaming. You have the MAFIAA going after people because *somebody else* used their computer for file sharing, you have various three letter agencies going after people for supposed violations of "national security" - best not to bring their attention down upon you. No matter how careful you are, somebody will find out about your site and then word will spread.

[tvsjr]

Buy a Cisco ASA5505 10-user license - about $350, supports full AES256 VPN using their clent.
Buy an SFF computer, like a Compaq Evo D530 (P4/2.4), off eBay - $150
Get rid of GoToMyPC, because it sucks. If you want remote control, connect via VPN and use remote desktop across that.
Stream the audio across the VPN.

Pretty cheap to buy the gear... as for configuring it, that may be a bit more expensive if you don't have the necessary chops.

And yes, one of the hats I wear is IT security. Wowbagger isn't a slouch in this particular area either.

[spareparts]

I need a recommendation on how to be able to listern to a vhf radio in my office from a remote location. I only need to monitor, no transmit functions.

You need to get your IS team involved. If this is job-related and had a budget, they can help.

We terminated a user who attempted to hack around the desktop permissions and firewall to stream audio from their favorite radio station. Our ruleset is "everything is forbidden unless expressly allowed"

[scancapecod]

I need a recommendation on how to be able to listern to a vhf radio in my office from a remote location. I only need to monitor, no transmit functions. I can log into my computer with GO TO MY PC.

Thanks.

I wrote a tutorial for the scanner feeds I set up, using Simplecast and Icecast. Simplecast is not freeware though. There is a free program called Oddcast which is relatively easy to set up as well, and will work with Icecast. Here is the tutorial, which primarily covers setting up Icecast. Oddcast streams to Icecast, and listener(s) connect to the Icecast server.

http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.ph ... _Tutorials

Shoutcast works well also, but there is a significant delay in audio processing. What you hear may be delayed by a minute or so. The delay with Icecast can be tweaked down to a minumum, but there is a buffer of about 10-15 seconds that seems to work well if there is net congestion.

It was mentioned elsewhere that Teamspeak works well also, which it does. I run a teamspeak server, and you can download the client software and log in to have a listen. Audio is in near real time, about a .5 to 1 second delay. http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.ph ... erver_Info

Best of luck with it. It's a relatively easy setup.