I turned off my HD Radio today

I have always had an overall love of broadcasting and care a lot about radio, even in the sectors that don't affect Comrex directly. When the industry finally settled on HD Radio after what seemed like endless debate, I was very skeptical it would add the kind of value the proponents said it would. But I was willing to be proven wrong on that.

It was time for a new vehicle last summer. Being a frugal Yankee, I lean toward well reviewed but value-oriented cars. But being a techie I tend to upgrade those with some shiny options. It turns out one of those options this time around was HD Radio.

I wasn't surprised, given the dismal results of the HD Radio marketing campaign, that I had to teach the sales rep what it was and that it wasn't satellite. On this radio, HD is a global on/off setting i.e. you can't enable a couple of HD2 channels but disable HD1 switch-over on others.

Having had the family in the car now enough times, I made the decision to turn it off. I live about 30 miles from most of the Boston market's FM transmitters in Needham MA. It was result of two conversations. The first from my teenage son:

Him: Dad, why does the sound of the music keep changing?
Me; It's called HD radio. It's switching from old fashioned radio to digital. But the station set their sound processing so different on each side that it sounds like a different song whenever it switches..
Him: Can you make it stop?

The second was with my teenage daughter, listening to the local NPR affiliate:
Her: Why does the guy keep stuttering?
Me: It's called HD Radio. It's switching from analog to digital. But the station hasn't aligned the two signals in time correctly.
Her: Can you make it stop?

At no time was any advantage to HD noticed by any of my family. And HD2 channels are unlistenable in the suburbs. So I made it stop today.

What is WebRTC?

We've been discussing WebRTC a lot here over the last year, and sometimes you have to take a step back and make sure you've brought everyone up to speed. So here's a new little primer describing what it is and why it's important. Enjoy!

Microsoft is a little less evil today

Microsoft today has tipped its hand about the direction it intends to take Skype, and it's pretty good news for us. Besides a commitment to integrate WebRTC in Internet Explorer, they're now talking about integrating Skype with WebRTC.

The devil's in the details of course, but this bodes well for those of you missing Skype integration on STAC-VIP, and it means we may be able to eventually support it on codecs.

As a refresher, WebRTC is a real-time video audio codec built into modern web browsers. Using the right SIP carrier, it can make high quality calls to our ACCESS codec and STAC-VIP talkshow system from virtually any computer, using the high-quality Opus algorithm.

Think I'm kidding about changing default passwords?

I've raged before about people leaving their passwords at default.
I'm not kidding. And neither are the hackers.

Verizon obsoletes Pantech USB modems

If you go to the Verizon Wireless website today, you'll find the selection of 4G USB modems (the kind that work well with audio and video codecs) quite reduced. The UML290, and it's newer cousin UML295, have been given the ol' end-of-life treatment. The only remaining option is the Novatel 551L, which does the job but has a very quirky USB connector and doesn't support the new Verizon XLTE service.
USB modems are waning in popularity in general, in favor of Wifi Hotspots, so this isn't a big surprise. We're working on alternative plans but for now, UML295s are available for good prices on eBay. I've bought a bunch and they work very well. Just carry it down to the Verizon store and have them activate it. It gets you out of a 2-year commitment when you bring-your-own anyway. You can even put a prepaid sim into it for a one-time event. And Hotspots (or Jetpacks as Big Red calls them) also work well in conjunction with our codec Wifi adapters.

Edit 10/1/14: The Pantechs appear back on the VZW site today, although my contacts there maintain the ax has fallen on them. So get 'em while you can.

Using free apps with STAC-VIP

We've covered how to make connections to our STAC-VIP talkshow system from web browsers with crystal clear Opus audio, but our experiments with using it on Android have had mixed results. When STAC-VIP first hit the scene, we had our own apps, but they had to be retired for technical reasons (and they weren't free).

For those that want to connect via app (both on iPhone and Android) we've now written up a technote on how to get that all configured. Again, we use our friends at GetOnsip.com, because they provide a free service without huge technical barriers to overcome. And again, we've utilized Linphone as the app, which is such a powerful free tool that we've recently engaged with the developers in making it perfect for broadcast.

Some other cool things that connect to Comrex codecs

We've recently done some interoperability testing with our ACCESS and BRIC-Link codecs with a couple of companies you might find interesting

1) Backbone Networks is a company out of Westborough Mass that can supply you a "station in the cloud". They handle almost all details of automation, telephone integration and distribution of your station, and you run the whole thing from a MacBook. Most clients are Internet or College broadcasters, but they have signed up some "old school" stations and were interested in codec compatibility to allow distributing their programs to existing stations. Testing was done over the summer of 2014 and they can now stream their programs to your Comrex codec using G.722 (with Opus hopefully soon to follow)

2) ipDTL is a UK company that specializes in making WebRTC easy for remote broadcasters. With a subscription, they will provide a service allowing you to connect two computers (running WebRTC-capable browsers) together via Opus for remote broadcasting. They have achieved compatibility with Comrex codecs, so you can "dial" directly from your browser to your ACCESS/BRIC-Link codec. (Readers of this blog know this is already possible for free via GetOnsip, but ipDTL gives you an option with real support--albeit not free).