We send the Stream data signal to Shoutcast via an intermediary which we pay for. However, Shoutcast have now informed us that we can send our stream direct to them for free – but they would put adverts on our stream every hour.

We’ve discussed this and made the decision not to use the free service, as we feel that our regular listeners who leave the stream running most of the day would not appreciate adverts every hour.

The Stream hardware has now been moved to its new location.

It communicates into the Internet via wifi which works well. However, the RF received signal strength is not as good as expected and there is little room to move the aerial, so for now there will be a small amount of noise on the received signal. Please feel free to comment on your thoughts on this.

When the stream hardware at this end is taken down for maintenance, the server that is in some far off distant land, heck knows where, that’s between here and the Shoutcast server detects the loss of stream and automatically fills in with an mp3 file that the GB3OA team have uploaded.

This used to contain one piece of music and an announcement, which kept going around in a loop of a few minutes until the stream became active again. Now this has been lengthened with more ‘interval’ music and announcements to make it more entertaining.

Although it’s unlikely you’ll catch the stream down and this Stream Down segment,  if you do try to guess the music used as ‘interval’ music – there’s a certifcate in it for the listener who does guess one piece! And also a special unwanted item from one of the team’s shack as it’s a difficult thing to catch. A hint: the first and third music are from a film. We doubt you’ll guess the second piece.