My Streams is one of the most useful, yet under utilised functions of a Reciva Internet Radio.
When a radio is registered to your user account, you are given access to new radio menu "My Stuff" which contains several blank databases, generally My Stations, My Podcasts and My Streams. The My Stuff menu is discussed on ![[WWW]](../Wiki_Settings/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
this page as it is outside of the remit of this document.
My Streams enables the user to add streams to their radio which either don't appear on the Reciva database, are alternate streams to the ones carried by Reciva (ie a different format, higher or lower bitrate etc) or are more up to date 'working' streams when the Reciva database has become out of date for a specific station. The use of My Streams means that you are not reliant on the Reciva database and if you find a station that is not listed or isn't working, you can locate the streaming address, add it to My Streams and listen to it on the radio in a matter of minutes. This enables you to control what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it.
My Streams requires the same information that the Reciva database requires which in reality is the direct streaming address. Adding webpages, flash players or home pages to My Streams will not work on an internet radio. As My Streams is a free input form, no validation is performed so you won't see any on-screen confirmation or error message as to the data you've input. See the wiki pages on stream extraction for further information as to how to extract a stream address. As a general rule if the address you have, when pasted into a web browser, displays a visible web page featuring content, then that address is almost certainly not correct for use on a radio. If the address, when pasted into a web browser either launches a standalone media player from your PC or does nothing, then it is more likely to be a direct stream address. If you are unable to locate the stream address, you can post a question on the Forum and someone will most likely respond with the address you need and/or update the Reciva database with the address.
Be advised that not all audio streams on the Internet are supported by Reciva radios so even if you have a direct stream address it can not be guaranteed to work.
Please Note: The sequence below is broadly similar for the adding of podcasts to My Podcasts so can be followed should you wish to add podcasts rather than streams. Obviously you should substitute all references to streams for podcasts !
To add your stream to My Streams
1. You select "Manage My Stuff", then "My Streams" on the radios.reciva.com/ site, or alternatively, click this link. You then click the "New Stream" button on the right hand side (we'll ignore folders for now, that can be done later by creating folders and then dragging and dropping your existing streams into them.)
2. You'll be presented with a pop up box asking you to insert the station name. It's a free form input box, so insert whatever you like.
3. Click OK.
Your chosen stream name will appear in the main window. It sometimes takes a few seconds, occasionally you may need to refresh the screen depending on your web browser.
4. Once the stream name is displayed, highlight it by clicking once on the name. The stream name will appear in the "stream name" window on the right hand side. Paste the stream address into the "Stream Address (URL)" field on the right hand side. Ensure that there aren't any white spaces to the left or right of the stream address ( a common occurrence when pasting in data) as the radio will wrongly assume that the spaces are part of the URL and subsequently will not be able to connect to the stream as a result.
5. Click Save.
6. Go to your radio. Select My Stuff > My Streams and you'll see the stream that you've added. Select the stream and assuming that you've inserted a correct address, that is streaming in a supported protocol and format, it should buffer and play.
Useful links related to this article.
Registering your radio Stream Extraction My Stuff Why Can't I listen from the website? Adding a station to the Reciva database