Listening to radio on satellite receiver (Split)

BrendanBurgess

MOD: posts moved from here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057378344&page=26

I listen to BBC Radio 4 a lot via the Virgin analogue service which is being disconnected soon.

The ariva 153 has been recommended to me as a good replacement which will allow me to listen to the radio and timer record radio programmes to a USB stick or external hard drive.

Does anyone else use it for this purpose? Any comments? Is this the best box for what I want?

How do I actually listen to the radio station? Can I plug a radio directly into it? Or do I need to plug a TV into it?

Brendan

Tigerandahalf

BrendanBurgess wrote: »

I listen to BBC Radio 4 a lot via the Virgin analogue service which is being disconnected soon.

The ariva 153 has been recommended to me as a good replacement which will allow me to listen to the radio and timer record radio programmes to a USB stick or external hard drive.

Does anyone else use it for this purpose? Any comments? Is this the best box for what I want?

How do I actually listen to the radio station? Can I plug a radio directly into it? Or do I need to plug a TV into it?

Brendan

Maybe get a humax 1100s freesat box. It has 7 day epg for bbc radio channels and you can record them at the touch of a button with an internal hard drive. They can be bought on amazon. Rte radio channels are also on it.

To receive the above you need to have a satellite dish and connect the box to a tv via hdmi cable, which is standard setup these days.

BrendanBurgess

Thanks Tiger

That sounds just like the job.

Sorry for the very basic question, but how do I actually listen to the radio? Do I have to connect it to a TV? Can I plug in a radio? Or is there some other device that I plug in?

Do I need a TV to set the recordings or can I do it on screen?

I have my TV in one room and my radios in two other rooms. It would be handy if I did not need a TV to listen to the radio.

Brendan

Tigerandahalf

BrendanBurgess wrote: »

Thanks Tiger

That sounds just like the job.

Sorry for the very basic question, but how do I actually listen to the radio? Do I have to connect it to a TV? Can I plug in a radio? Or is there some other device that I plug in?

Do I need a TV to set the recordings or can I do it on screen?

I have my TV in one room and my radios in two other rooms. It would be handy if I did not need a TV to listen to the radio.

Brendan

You would need the tv and the box.
However if you want to just listen to radio consider using an app on your smartphone, if you have one. There are several free radio apps out there that will let you stream bbc radio.

BBC radio player app is a worldwide streaming app in the android play store.

STB.

BrendanBurgess wrote: »

Thanks Tiger

That sounds just like the job.

Sorry for the very basic question, but how do I actually listen to the radio? Do I have to connect it to a TV? Can I plug in a radio? Or is there some other device that I plug in?

Do I need a TV to set the recordings or can I do it on screen?

I have my TV in one room and my radios in two other rooms. It would be handy if I did not need a TV to listen to the radio.

Brendan

Brendan. Neither are going to be an acceptable nor economical solution.

Satellite receivers on TV boxes are primarily for TV. The radio stations themselves are an after thought. They will require some visual device to set recordings. They will also require an amp or TV in which to play the audio.

You will find it difficult to find a dedicated satellite radio receiver with recording and built in speaker for Europe as most broadcasters have Dab and FM platforms for which devices are sold.

Would you not be better looking at an internet radio ?

BrendanBurgess

Hi STB

I listen to a lot of radio but I schedule my recordings - I rarely listen live.

I looked into doing this via internet radio and it seemed very, very complicated. I would have to leave the pc on and tuned in to the station I wanted to record from.

Either the Humax or Ariva would be a much simpler solution if I understand it correctly.
I use the TV to set the box to record different radio channels at different times to a USB.
I plug in the USB to whichever sound system I want to listen to the recorded program on.
If I want, I can get a second small TV in my kitchen to act as the visual device for setting the recordings on a second box.

Brendan

Tigerandahalf

BrendanBurgess wrote: »

Hi STB

I listen to a lot of radio but I schedule my recordings - I rarely listen live.

I looked into doing this via internet radio and it seemed very, very complicated. I would have to leave the pc on and tuned in to the station I wanted to record from.

Either the Humax or Ariva would be a much simpler solution if I understand it correctly.
I use the TV to set the box to record different radio channels at different times to a USB.
I plug in the USB to whichever sound system I want to listen to the recorded program on.
If I want, I can get a second small TV in my kitchen to act as the visual device for setting the recordings on a second box.

Brendan

Brendan

I would try that bbc iplayer radio app. It is possible there is a catchup service on it for shows on earlier.

I know there is a rte radio app that allows you to catchup on shows. You would be streaming it.

https://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/radio/mobileradio

I just downloaded the app there and I can stream radio 4 live and there is also a catchup service. Looks nice too.

Alun

How far back do you record stuff? The BBC iPlayer radio app not only plays live radio but goes back 30 days as well. Get a Chromecast audio and connect to an existing audio device, or a Google home and Bob is your uncle.

EDIT: Crossed posts with the previous poster I see!

MenloPete

An internet radio sounds like a better solution to me. Any internet radio I've seen will also handle podcasts, which in the BBC's case means you can listen back to most shows from the previous month.

BrendanBurgess

Thanks

I will look at internet radio again. I bought one a few years ago and it was impossibly hard to scan through all the podcasts to find what I wanted.

Even looking through BBC Radio 4 Podcasts on my PC, there are so many it's hard to find the ones I want.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

But I had not realised that so many programmes were podcast so I will check that out a bit further.

Brendan

Alun

It's dead easy to search for programs and podcasts in the app. The user interface on an Internet radio probably isn't going to come close in terms of user friendliness.

Tigerandahalf

Alun wrote: »

It's dead easy to search for programs and podcasts in the app. The user interface on an Internet radio probably isn't going to come close in terms of user friendliness.

I would be thinking the same. If using a pc you will be downloading to some device to carry with you.

With the app you just take your phone.

STB.

I had a think about this. If you insistent on recording satellite radio feeds then you might be better getting an enigma2 box which can be bought for about 100 quid.

Edision OS Nino or Tiviar Alpha Plus are around 100 on world of satellite.

The advantages of these is that they will have 7 day EPG for radio and you can go in and set recordings on the programme event either by connecting a TV screen or using an Android device like a phone or tablet.

The box is connected to your local area network by WiFi and this allows you to open the recording and EPG function by just typing the Ip address of the box. It's called webif. The recordings can be transferred or streamed to any networked device without even taking out the connected usb on the box.

Here's the EPG of an enigma2 box for radio.



The recordings are in TS format which any media player should play.

BrendanBurgess

Thanks everyone for all the ideas. This is where I am at now.

Most of what I listen to on BBC Radio 4 is available on podcast. I hadn't needed to bother with this when I was able to timer record the analogue service via my radio.

Almost nothing on BBC 4 Extra is available on podcast. So I would have to listen to it within 28 days via my iPad or phone. Listening to a programme on a USB via a radio is just so much more simple and straightforward. I use my iPhone for calls and don't bother with it for listening to music or radio.

So timer recording via the satellite seems like the best idea for my particular way of use.

I am still not sure of the advantage of the Ariva over the Humax. Is it that it's a combination box and so can be used for terrestrial and satellite TV? The EPG would be nice, but by no means essential as I know in advance when the programmes are on from looking at the schedules in the newspaper. The Hard drive on the Humax is good, but then I can live with an external hard drive.

The Enigma seems too complex for my limited technical understanding. And I presume if it's in "TS format" I can't play it on the radio.

Brendan

STB.

I would regard the EPG as essential as you can scroll across to the various events and just click record rather than entering a timer scenario.

This feature is on enigma2 boxes only as an ariva does not have 7 day EPG.

The other thing with the enigma2 boxes is that if you have it on your WiFi network you can do everything from a browser on your phone. In fact if you have a static IP you can forward a few ports on your router so you could access the box remotely whilst out and about and set or retrieve recordings from your phone.

I don't have a Humax Freesat box so don't know if its capabilities and if the recordings can be played outside the box. Some of the Freesat recordings on TV have DRM if I remember correctly.

The advantage of a Freesat box over an ariva is that it has 7 day EPG and the channels are presorted. It only does satellite unlike the ariva.

TS is just a container. The file will be an mpeg file. This will be true regardless of the box you buy.

If you are leaning towards the Freesat box make sure their is no DRM on radio and that format is a trp or ts. What are you playing these recordings back on ?

Johnboy1951

If serious about radio, as seems to be the case, then I agree with STB above ...... get a set up that allows you to manage it across the LAN, and that can provide live and recorded media on the LAN.

There are several ways to achieve that but buying a suitable device like described is probably the best option for most.

I have my radio as part of my overall TV & Radio set up, and the Radio EPG looks like this for 7 days time (using Kodi)



Simply clicking on any entry allows it to be set for recording.

That pic was taken on my PC which has access to all functions.

BrendanBurgess

Thanks for all your advice and suggestions. I had my breakthrough when I realised that I did not have to schedule a recording - I could play back later.

The key thing is that I listen to the radio through an actual radio in the house, rather than through devices such as a pc or iPhone. It's simple - easy to pause and later pick up where I left off. My radios all have USB ports.

Most of the BBC Radio 4 programmes are podcast, so I will download them to a USB.

BBC Radio 4 Extra is generally not podcast, but is streamed for 28 days. So I have downloaded SoundTap. https://www.nch.com.au/soundtap/index.html which allows me to record the streamed programme to a USB in MP3 format.

Brendan

lgs 4

Why not use your phone, I find this a great app dependable and great audio quality.UK Radio app

BrendanBurgess

lgs 4 wrote: »

Why not use your phone,

Not sure if it's a generational thing or not. But the radio is just so much simpler for listening to the radio.

I plug in the USB stick and press play.

I don't have to go searching for the programme.

If my phone rings , I can use my phone.

I don't have to worry about the charge or the internet connection.

I stop and resume when I want to.

There is a bit of work in downloading the podcast, but I do that from my PC which is much easier to work with than my phone.

Brendan

lgs 4

BrendanBurgess wrote: »

Not sure if it's a generational thing or not. But the radio is just so much simpler for listening to the radio.

I plug in the USB stick and press play.

I don't have to go searching for the programme.

If my phone rings , I can use my phone.

I don't have to worry about the charge or the internet connection.

I stop and resume when I want to.

There is a bit of work in downloading the podcast, but I do that from my PC which is much easier to work with than my phone.

Brendan

I use it as a backup to poor UK FM reception in the car through Bluetooth. It does come with a downside, Radio 5 live sports and 5 sports extra do have restricted sports programs.