In this blog post we will show you how you can become a street reporter using a live broadcast app on your phone and our internet broadcasting software Airtime Pro. We have also created a simple video that walks you through the steps on-screen.

But the very first thing to do is set up our Airtime Pro Internet radio station. (Here’s a video which shows how to get on air with Airtime Pro in under two minutes). If you already have a station you will just need to log in.

Setting up your station

Once you’re logged in to your station, live broadcasting is a snap. All you need to do is set up live broadcasting following these easy steps.

You will need to open the Airtime Pro interface. Once inside the navigation panel, click on “Settings,” then “Streams.” 

Under the “Live Broadcasting” section, check the box that says “Auto Switch to Live DJ.” By clicking this box, you’ll enable anyone with credentials, a mobile phone and a livestreaming app to live broadcast to your station. In other words, what this feature allows you to do is turn your friends and colleagues into roving reporters, and to bring live, mobile broadcasts to your listeners.

Once you have the “Auto Switch to Live DJ” box checked you need to set up your live broadcasting app. For this demo we’ve used the free Cool Mic app for Android. There are other apps that can be used on both Android and IOS devices, such as BroadcastMySelf. We’ve included links to both apps in the video description. 

Connecting Cool Mic to Airtime Pro

In the Cool Mic app, you need to enter your Server name. The Server name is a combination of Airtime Pro’s “Host” and “Port” number, separated by a colon (:), as seen here. 

Next, enter your your live broadcasting username and password from the “Master Live DJ Connection Details” and then your Airtime Pro “Mount” name.

You can find all of these details in the Airtime Pro Master Live DJ Connection Details pane, which is on the “Streams” page of your Airtime Pro station.

After you input those details, you’ll need to set the Audio codec in Cool Mic to Ogg/Vorbis.

Finally, you should change the Quality Level setting in the app. The default is 0.1; switch this to “Maximum Quality” of 1. Please note that the maximum quality of your phone stream will depend on your cell-phone ISP connection quality. If your live broadcast is choppy or dropping, you should lower the quality/encoding bit rate until it becomes stable.

Live broadcast

With the configuration complete, you can start live broadcasting, using your mobile phone as a Mic. 

To begin, tap the “Start Livestream” button on the app. 

As soon as you do this, your Airtime Pro station will switch from “SCHEDULE” programming to “LIVE”.

When the live broadcast is over, all your field reporters need to do is hit the “Tap to Stop” button and your station will return to its scheduled programming.

Now you’re ready to take your show on the road. 

There you have it. It’s never been easier to broadcast live and on the go with Airtime Pro. To get started with your own internet radio station, sign up for a free, no-risk 7-day trial.

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There are four ways to do so, here’s your handy guide on how to get the most out of all of them.

Using source streams

Airtime DJs can rebroadcast incoming streams managed by a source switcher which manually, or automatically, connects to the correct source (and fades between them).

On the lower left side of the Stream Settings page (you’ll get there by clicking on the System–>Streams) you can configure remote live input streams from DJ programs such as Mixxx or IDJC or smartphone applications used by broadcast journalists. Airtime supports two types of live input stream; the Show Source, which enables a specific person to stream in during their own show, and the Master Source, which can override the Show Source if necessary. If neither type of live input is available, Airtime will fall back to Scheduled Play (playlists, smart blocks, remote streams and files scheduled in Airtime, in advance of or during a show). You can turn on and turn off the sources by clicking on the little square right next to them. You’ll find the field in the top right corner of the screen.

Auto Switch On

The Auto Switch Off and Auto Switch On checkboxes enable playout to be switched automatically to the highest priority source whenever an authenticated input source disconnects from or connects to Airtime, respectively. Use the field Switch Transition Fade to set the length of the audio fade as scheduled playout is switched to a remote input source, and back. You’ll locate them by clicking again to System–>Streams.

In the Master Panel, available input source streams are shown with an orange line connecting the source to the switch. You could think of it like a patch cable connecting a source to a broadcast mixer. When that switch is active, another orange line connects the switch to the On Air indicator, like a patch cable connecting a mixer to a transmitter.

If you have checked the Auto Switch On box in the Stream Settings page, the Master Source switch will move automatically to the active position, on the left, when an authenticated master source connects to Airtime. Otherwise, you can activate the switches manually by clicking the left side of each switch, or deactivate them by clicking the right side. Simple!

Schedule a webstream

A web stream URL and metadata can be added to the Airtime library, so that a remote stream can be searched for and scheduled to be pulled into a show. For example, at the top of the hour your station may pull a news report from journalists working in another studio. This is a different concept from Master Source and Show Source remote streams which are pushed into the Airtime playout schedule.

To add a web stream, hit the Open media builder button, then New button and finally select New Webstream from the pop-up menu. Like a playlist, web streams in the Library can have a title and description, which may help you find them in searches later.

The Stream URL setting must include the port number (such as 8000) and mount point (such as remote_stream) of the remote stream, in addition to the streaming server name. A Default Length can also be set, although if the stream is added at the end of an overbooked show, it will be faded out when the show ends.

What about full live assist?

We’re almost there. Head to the Now Playing page and expand the Advanced Search Options, which brings you to Library search, where you can search either based on title, creator, album, length and date when the track was uploaded.

After you have found the items that you want, you can then drag and drop them from the library table on the left side of the page into the “Shows” on the right side, including the current playing show.

If the current show has nothing playing out at the time, the new item will begin playing immediately. This manual triggering of playout can be used as a live assist technique. You would use it for example during a live show, when you don’t want to cut off a studio discussion with your host in order to play music at a fixed time.

What else would you like to see? Let us know on Facebook or on the forum.

Want to start broadcasting live right now? Our managed hosting account can save you time and effort. You could be on the air today with Airtime Pro, get started now!

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