Locality Switch

If you’re a not for profit group in Australia (such as Community Radio), and can’t quite afford to buy the software you need, then this is for you! DonorTech is a organisation which provides software and hardware to not for profit groups for a tiny sum of money:

DonorTec provides donated software and hardware from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco to eligible Australian non profit groups with Income Tax Exempt Status (ITE). Via this program you can get the latest products each year e.g. Microsoft Windows Vista

If you’re strapped for cash, then this is just what you need. No more *cough* illegal software. No more borrowing that copy of XP from a friend. This is the real deal!

Their catalog of software is extensive: from Windows XP and Vista through to Windows Server 2008, Office 2007, Expression Web, etc. The list goes on. There is also a great list of hardware from Cisco, but at the time of writing, they don’t have any readily avaliable.

However, there are certain rules, particularly in regards to the Microsoft products. You can only order once a year, and but within a 24 month period, you can not order more than six software titles, and you can not order more than fifty licenses for each title.

There’s also a couple of other gotchas, but overall it is a very nice program. Did I mention how much they charge for their products? Windows XP costs $11 per licence, and Windows Server 2008 only costs $48. CALs also sell for around $3.

How can they do this? All of the software and hardware is donated by the suppliers.

The key to this is: planning. You need to plan not only how many licenses for each product you will need now, but also in the next 24 months. Develop a long-term strategic plan. But remember, plans are only guesses; I think it is best to over-order slightly, to cover all bases.

Finally, you need to ensure you have an ATO recognised Income Tax Exemption (ITE). Luckily, our government makes it very easy to check out your accreditation status through the web.

The Community Broadcasting Foundation has just announced in their July 2009 Update that they will soon be introducing grants for IP-Based Outside Broadcast equipment. Here’s the full announcement:

If your station would like to do outside broadcasts (OBs) using the internet, you will soon have the opportunity to apply for up to $2,500 toward IP-based OB equipment through CBOnline grants. These grants will be available only during 2009/10 – with applications closing on Monday 12 October 2009.

If you’re new to IP-based OBs and need some ideas for how to go about it, download the Mobile Broadcasting for Community Radio Stations Manual. It describes what options are available and whether IP-based OBs are suitable for your station.

This is fantastic! I’ll start putting my application together ASAP. While I couldn’t put together a full OB rig (kitted out with proper PA gear, outboard processing, UHF mics, etc.) for under $2,500 it would certainly buy the basics any station would need to get started. And that, I believe, is what this grant is about – getting stations started.

The part I find most interesting about this announcement is the Mobile Broadcasting for Community Radio Stations Manual. Let me say first that this is a great idea, publishing a concise manual to give stations a run down 0f how to perform an IP-based OB. It’s the right idea, but I think it has been executed in the wrong way.

The part that was unexpected and disturbing to me was that proprietary software was used for all of the examples! NCH’s Broadwave was pretty much used exclusively for the streaming, and Hamachi’s Log Me In was used for remote computer access. Both proprietry pieces of software, and both require you to buy a licence (they both have limited free versions, but it’s a licencing minefield).

While there is nothing wrong with each of these pieces of software, and I don’t blame them for using them as an example, mention should have been made of the open source alternatives. Shoutcast or Icecast are both massively popular pieces of software which allow you to stream stably for long periods of time. Shoutcast is closed source, but 100% free, and Icecast is 100% open source. I know they both work incredibly well because I use them both on a regular basis.

As far as remote access goes, I thought VNC would have been the option of choice. It’s open source, has a massive community around it, and is also easy to get running.

There was an appendix which made a brief mention of other streaming solutions. On this list I found NCH VRS (a logging program, not even proper streaming!), Real Producer Basic, VLC, Audio TX Communicator (a hardware solution), Ustream and Ubroadcast. At least mention was made of one open source piece of software, that being VLC.

The CBF is on the right path in producing this manual, but surly community radio should be trying out the open source products before dishing out cash to companies for proprietary software. It would be great if this manual could be revised to include mention of open source software.