Topic: Portable FM Receiver for In-House FM Recording

[dgale]

Once again summer is upon us and I'll be hitting a festival or two that have in-house FM feeds of most acts.  I have an old FM Walkman receiver I've always used for these, running a stereo miniplug out of the headphone jack, but this has always produced sporadic/not ideal results.  I'm hoping some folks have some suggestions for something a little more reliable and effective at capturing a good FM feed that I can send to my DR-680.  It needs to be relatively portable and be able to run off of DC/battery power.  Any thoughts?

[George2]

So many choices... it's up to you:

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/ccradio-swp.aspx

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0400.html

[dgale]

So many choices... it's up to you:

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/ccradio-swp.aspx

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0400.html

I hadn't even thought about ccrane - they are located in Fortuna CA, which is just about 40min south of me, so I can actually drive down and buy the thing.  They've always had a good reputation, so that looks like a good route to go.  Thanks for the tip.

[rastasean]

this comes up occasionally and I just say a rock boxed hp-120. You can record directly from the radio to the harddrive. I suppose it would even be possible to record to the hdd and use the output to plug into the dr680.

[ArchivalAudio]

Dan,
just wondering what festies you are hitting with in house FM?
just curious?
both of the links seem like a great option!

thanx for the question and tips
--Ian

[dgale]

At this point I'm planning to hit the Kate Wolf Festival later this month and they always broadcast all the main stage sets unless the artist says no, which has only happened once in the past few times I've been that I can recall (Ritchie Havens said no go...he was boring as hell and I would never of listened to him again anyway, so didn't really care).  I know other festivals I've been to in the past such as Strawberry Fest in Yosemite and the High Sierra Fest at least used to broadcast all the main stage acts...I haven't been to either in a while so not sure if they still do.  Given I hit these things with small kids these days, this is a lot easier way to get sets captured then to try and run my aud gear, especially when it entails non-open duty

[dgale]

this comes up occasionally and I just say a rock boxed hp-120. You can record directly from the radio to the harddrive. I suppose it would even be possible to record to the hdd and use the output to plug into the dr680.

What does "rock-boxed" mean?

[rastasean]

this comes up occasionally and I just say a rock boxed hp-120. You can record directly from the radio to the harddrive. I suppose it would even be possible to record to the hdd and use the output to plug into the dr680.

What does "rock-boxed" mean?

http://build.rockbox.org/

This replaces the standard software on the hp-120 with a better software/firmware for recording and even a better playback setup.

[dgale]

this comes up occasionally and I just say a rock boxed hp-120. You can record directly from the radio to the harddrive. I suppose it would even be possible to record to the hdd and use the output to plug into the dr680.

What does "rock-boxed" mean?

http://build.rockbox.org/

This replaces the standard software on the hp-120 with a better software/firmware for recording and even a better playback setup.

I presume the h120 must have a built-in FM receiver (?).  Near as I can tell the H120 is discontinued and no longer available anywhere - is there some alternative to this thing that is available? 

[rastasean]

i think another feature includes the radio since both of my hp120s have a radio with the rockbox software. The hp120 has been discontinued for awhile but they do come up for sale in the yard sale from time-to-time. You can also post an ISO if you're interested in purchasing one of these units. I don't know of an alternative except maybe the radios that have been mentioned in this post.

[sunjan]

http://build.rockbox.org/

This replaces the standard software on the hp-120 with a better software/firmware for recording and even a better playback setup.

I presume the h120 must have a built-in FM receiver (?).  Near as I can tell the H120 is discontinued and no longer available anywhere - is there some alternative to this thing that is available?

Strictly speaking rockbox doesn't replace the original file system, the Iriver OS is still accessible if you hold-boot it.
To the OP, you could also look for H3x0 series, for recording to the HDD the functionality is identical.
Either of these models should cost you less than $100 these days. Check the YS or ebay, they are not that hard to track down.

[yltfan]

The iriver models you want would be the 120, 140, 320 or 340. 20=20 gig, 40=40 gig; 1xx have optical in. There are also some that have been modified to use a compact flash card instead of the hdd.

dgale--I pm'd you about Los Lobos, please let me know if you need a Portland taper.

[mandoman]

If you have trouble finding an iriver and don't mind recording in Mp3 format (not the best quality, but ok really for low bandwidth fm), check out:

http://www.sangean.com/products/products_main.asp?pid=62&pan=4&um=3
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/am-fm-radios/cc-witness.aspx

The later lets you program several record times.

[mandoman]

You are probably getting poor results recording from your hand-held tuner because most small portable fm receivers use headphones and your body as the antenna. Since you are using a patch cable instead of headphones to patch the tuner to your recorder, you effectively loose the antenna and thus get poor reception.

I read somewhere on the net about creating an antenna/patch chord combo, but can't remember where. Perhaps google around a bit. That is if you want to try and use what you got.

The other option is to buy a new small battery powered portable radio that has an external antenna, line-out, and really great reception. This is one I am considering buying, supposed to have incredible reception: http://www.amazon.com/Tecsun-PL390-Digital-Shortwave-Speakers/dp/B004NQHR12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1307411211&sr=8-1

[mandoman]

Here is a very technical description of how a near body headphone antenna works, and a possible DIY way to add a telescoping antenna to improve reception.
http://www.smeter.net/ham-radio/issues-f30/antenna-design-fm-antenna-near-body-t447.html

Probably less hassle to buy a new portable tuner with external antenna capability and good reception... That tecsun pl-390 I mentioned is supposed to rival high end analog tuners (think McIntosh) as far as reception goes and only cost $70, worth checking out. I'll probably get one for a campground radio for Strawberry since it is one of the few radios in this class (like grundig, sangaen, and ccrane mentioned earlier, all good choices) with stereo speakers. I could not find out what battery life is like on it though (takes 3 AA and has built in charger), but it takes external 5v DC, so an external battery pack is always an option.