streamextraction

Discovering a radio station's stream

  1. Introduction
  2. Tools
  3. Expiry Tokens
  4. Streaming Providers
    1. Stream The World
    2. Cumulus
    3. Liquid Compass
    4. Live365
    5. ShoutCast
    6. Akamai
    7. Citadel
    8. CrystalMediaNetworks
    9. Securenet systems
    10. Abacast
    11. Surfnetwork
    12. Streamaudio
    13. StreamOn!
    14. Warpradio
    15. Infomaniak
  5. Submitting a new stream to the Reciva database

Introduction

These notes are designed to complement the entry in the official Reciva FAQ, which can be found [WWW]here. It is recommended that you familiarise yourself with that document before proceeding as this wiki page assumes you already have a working knowledge as to how to extract a stream.

Be advised that currently some AAC+ streams (especially from Stream The World and Liquid Compass) do not work on the radios. It is believed to be an issue with servers running the ShoutCast streaming software. Reciva are aware and have confirmed that they are trying to resolve the issue, although it may require a firmware update. Also be advised that RTSP over TCP streams are not supported by the radios. In this instance, asking the station to enable the HTTP plugin on their streaming servers should resolve this issue.

Tools

Selection of tools often used for stream extraction :

* Live HTTP headers (Mozilla)
* Wireshark (Free download - Techie software for network monitoring. Not recommended for casual users). (Example required as to how to use to extract stream addresses)
* URLSnooper (Free download - recommended)
* Replay Media Catcher (Shareware - Free 30 day trial - Recommended. Good for identifying flash streams)
* Your installed media players or website embedded media players (view stream properties or clip info etc)
* Source code of the webpage using a regular browser

Expiry Tokens

Some stations assign expiry tokens to their stream addresses. Any stream that you locate that has a token should NOT be added to the database with the token included. Most tokens are either 'once only' or 'time limited'. Once only tokens, as the name suggests, expire as soon as it is used so cannot be used a second time, making it pointless as a database entry. Time Limited tokens are usually assigned for a fixed time period, usually in minutes or hours. Again, this makes them pointless database entries. In all cases, a working 'non token' stream should be found if the intention is to add it to the database. In some cases, non token addresses can't be located so that regrettably makes the stations inclusion on the database impossible. If you can only find an address with a token included, you can still add that address to your 'My Streams' but be aware that you will almost certainly need to recreate the address every time you choose to listen to it.

Tokens are generally fairly easy to identify as the following address shows: [WWW]http://213.200.97.110/radiogongfm/livestream.mp3?token=6da844238f5d5b902797bf67c64b958d

In the above instance it is possible to copy everything preceding the ? to obtain a working 'non expiry token' URL i.e. [WWW]http://213.200.97.110/radiogongfm/livestream.mp3 This technique doesn't always work however. It depends on the station ! Check your extracted 'non token' address in My Streams or with the streamtester before attempting to add it to the database.

Streaming Providers

Many broadcasters use 3rd party stream providers to distribute their output. The majority of stream providers use their own standard syntax for each of their stations. This therefore means that it is often possible to determine the correct stream address without using any tools, by merely visiting the broadcasters "listen live" web page to see which stream provider they are using. Below are examples of some of the most popular stream providers.

NB: Bold text indicates the variables that will/may need changing in order to obtain the correct stream address for your chosen station.
Also please be advised that the protocol ([WWW]http://, mms:// rtsp:// etc) MUST be included in any stream address for it to work. Rtmp protocol is currently NOT supported by the Reciva Internet radio.

Submitting a new stream to the Reciva database

See the [WWW]add station wiki page for more information.

There's a link to the official Help on this on [WWW]radios101