Below is the text going out to many of the Railroad 'Fan' Groups located in Minnesota. We could use your suggestions and assistance.

Twin Cities and Minn. state wide railroad radio feeds.
A month ago I started a thread regarding the Twin Cities audio feeds. The plan was to split the TC area into 2, using the existing feed to cover frequencies east and south. Adding a new feed to cover the areas of Northtown and west. Unfortunately this idea hit a snag. The hosts for Railroadradio.net are not allowing any further expansion. Across the state there has been talk of adding at least 2 more locations that provide audio feeds, Duluth/Superior and Brooten, MN. Without the hosting through RRradio.net or some other streaming host these or any others in the future will not come on line.

Audio stream hosting uses bandwidth. The more users (clients) signed on, the more bandwidth that is used. Bandwidth cost money. I’ve done some research on the possibility of converting the existing 3 feeds onto a streaming server. It appears the cost for that service is about $10.00/mo per server for 10 ports per feed ($30/month) Adding the 4th stream to bring in the NW and western parts of the Twin Cities brings the cost to $40.00/mouth.

This fee is ongoing and will require someone or a number of people to commit to paying for it. Once we leave RRadio.net we will not be able to return to them, so this is ongoing. If you want this and are able to commit to helping with the costs contact me or Mr. MRB: rsmtmn@frontiernet.net. (the current Twin Cities Audio stream host)

Don Schoenberger: odnrr@comcast.net
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Note: In early March of 2009 the Twin Cities Minneapolis / St. Paul (South) Audio Feed scanlist was reduced from receiving 21 channels to the current 12 channels. This was done after many listeners complained that we were monitoring too many channels and it was hard to follow a railroad conversation. The future may provide for both a 'South' and a 'North' twin cities audio stream, but for now all railroad channels programmed into the 'South' radio receiver will only cover the southern portion of Minneapolis / St. Paul and operations located to the south.

Would anyone else like channel 15 (West Hump) to be unlocked?

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- Back Online!

I'm wondering why RRradio will not allow you guys to go back if you stop using them? That idea itself would make me think twice about leaving them in the first place.

I agree that paying for bandwidth can get expensive. I however am in no position to donate funds at this time even if I wanted to. I think that having state wide feeds sounds like an interesting idea but I would consider seeing if the benefits outweigh the potential risks and dollar signs. It looks like you are seeking input with such posts as yours above and I think that's great.

That's my $0.02.

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John Fladung
Saint Paul, MN

RRradio.net is not allowing any additional ports. We know they have turned down at least 3 requests for more ports, Ours, 1 in Vancouver and 1 in Illinois. It stands to reason that: If we leave RRradio.net, that will open up 3 ports (our existing 3 feeds), which they will in all likely hood issue to these requests and therefore we will not be able to return to them. This is a permanent situation, once the move is made there’s no going back. Therefore it’s a long term commitment.

MrMRB has made the decision to reduce the clutter on the TC feed. To do that means eliminating some channels. Adding more back in, will only return to the previous condition. Looking at the “big” picture, the best answer is another feed. But that’s not possible under the current hosting service. We are looking for input from the users, but adding more channels back is not an option. To move the feeds will cost some
reoccurring monthly fees. It’s wonderful that RRradio.net offers this service for free. However it comes with limitations.

Don Schoenberger

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A BNSF fan by default.

I guess first is there another host site that is up and running and ready for these "new" feeds to go live? Second is there equipment ready to go? and last what is (if any) the amount of $$ needed up front to get this going.

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Milwaukee Road Matt

Good questions Matt.....Yes the radio is in place and the server is too. Coverage should be good as it was and maybe better for some of the frequencies. Cost is $40.00/month from Power Stream (MI company) They are currently the hosting service for the GreatLakesLive.com feeds.

Don

Since there appears to be no immediate answer to finding a host for the audio feeds, the Twin Cities host is experimenting with stereo feeds. Right channel will have the current frequencies. Left channel will have the remaining west and north frequencies (including Northtown). This is only an experiment. The antenna for the left channel is quit low to the ground so you will most likely only here the DS. Also we don’t know how well Shoutcast and RRradio.net will handle this. To filter out either channel you will have to adjust your audio balance control accordingly.

Don Schoenberger

Thats great news, is there a point person to send feed back to?

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Milwaukee Road Matt

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A BNSF fan by default.

The "go to" person is Dan....rsmtmn@frontiernet.net

I'm sure he'd like to hear some comments, either way.

Don