WVTF Streaming Cookbook

WVTF is now offering its webstream in MP3-PRO (www.mp3prozone.com). When you click the link to the stream, you're telling your computer to download an address file (wvtf_low.m3u, or wvtf_high.m3u) for whatever media player you have to use to find our webstream. You can choose to open the file to play it immediately, or save it to your desktop for future use. This usually works beautifully for Windows and Unix operating systems with Winamp (www.winamp.com) or XMMS (www.XMMS.org) installed. However, like any computer related task, your actual mileage may vary.

Let's face it: we're all different, and our computers are all different too! No single silver bullet exists in the new digital age. Thus, we organized this document to help cover many WVTF compatible media players across several computer platforms in hopes that you will be able to find a way to connect that best fits your computing hardware, software, and skills.

WINDOWS	Winamp (recommended)	Windows Media Player (WMP)	VLC	Foobar 2000	Real Player or Real Player Alternative (see WMP)
MAC	Audion	Cog	iTunes	MacAmp	Whamb!
Lin(UX)	XMMS (see Winamp)

WINAMP (recommended) www.winamp.com/player/
Any version of Nullsoft’s Winamp should be able to connect and properly decode the WVTF webstream. The “Lite” version of Winamp will decode MP3 files just fine. However, many internet radio stations are using the Ogg Vorbis codec (.ogg), which will require the “Full” version. That version is still free, but will require a bit more time to download and install.
If file associations are such in your machine that simply clicking on the link on our webpage will not automatically start Winamp, then you have several options. These instructions should hold true for XMMS as well.

- (WINAMP) DOWNLOAD THE .M3U FILE. The .m3u file is a Playlist file that contains information Winamp (and other media players) can use to find the webstream. By storing this file locally and manually loading it into Winamp, you can easily get the WVTF webstream to start working!

--> Right-click the link to the stream you wish to connect, and select “Save Target As” in Internet Explorer, or “Save Link As” in Mozilla Firefox.

--> Find a good place on your machine to save the file (i.e., C:\, Desktop, MyDocuments, etc…).

--> Start Winamp and drag and drop the .m3u file into the playlist window on Winamp.

--> Double-click the entry in the playlist. WVTF should start streaming to your machine shortly there after.

… or…

- (WINAMP) MANUALLY CREATE YOUR OWN PLAYLIST FILE FOR WVTF.

--> Install and start up Winamp
--> In the bottom left portion of the playlist window, single-click “ADD”, “ADD URL”. In the dialogue box, copy and paste the following URL:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3

...then again, “ADD”, “ADD URL”, and paste the following:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3

--> Now in the bottom right corner of the playlist window, you can select “Manage Playlists” and save the list somewhere on your machine, like your desktop or MyDocuments…
--> Double clicking either of the entries in the playlist should start streaming WVTF.

TIP: Setting Winamp to REPEAT the list may help keep network hiccups from interrupting the music for too long.

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WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER (WMP):
WINDOWS USERS should have Windows Media Player already loaded onto their machine. Those users can download and install the latest WMP from Microsoft’s website (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&categoryid=4).
Note that Windows 2000/ME/9x users can install WMP up to version 10. Windows XP users can install version 11. There is a security advantage to having the most updated media player, in that most known holes have been patched in the latest version. If file associations are such in your machine that simply clicking to open the link on our webpage will not automatically start WMP, then you have several options.

- DOWNLOAD THE .M3U FILE. The .m3u file is a Playlist file that contains information WMP (and other media players) can use to find the webstream. By storing this file locally and manually loading it into Winamp, you can easily get the WVTF webstream to start working!

--> Right-click the link to the stream you wish to connect, and select “Save Target As” in Internet Explorer, or “Save Link As” in Mozilla Firefox.

--> Find a good place on your machine to save the file (i.e., C:\, Desktop, MyDocuments, etc…).

--> Double-click the entry in the playlist. WVTF should start streaming to your machine shortly there after.

… or…

- MANUALLY SET WMP TO PLAY WVTF! -
--> In WMP, click on “File”, “OpenURL”.
--> Copy and paste the following URL into the dialogue box:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3 for the low bandwidth connection…
http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3 for the broad bandwidth connection…

Click the “Play” button to start the stream.

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VLC
VLC is a freely available and incredibly versatile media player with a medium-weight installation. You can download it at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ The WVTF webstream has been successfully tested using VLC version 0.5.8

- (VLC) INSTALL VLC WITH FIREFOX PLUGIN – depending on your computer’s file association settings, this may allow VLC to start playing the WVTF webstream or any other streaming media as soon as you click on the associated link at a website using the Mozilla FireFox browser. Failing that…

- (VLC) MANUALLY OPEN WVTF’s WEBSTREAM WITH VLC
--> Click on “File”, “Open Network Stream…”
--> In the “Open…” dialogue box, select the radio button next to “HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/MMS”.
--> In the text box that is now highlighted, next to URL, copy and paste one of the following:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3 for the low bandwidth connection…
http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3 for the broad bandwidth connection…

--> Save this list entry in some easy place to find, like your Desktop or MyDocuments.
--> Then, whenever you want to call up the WVTF webstream in the future, simply double click this file.

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FOOBAR2000

- (FOOBAR)MANUALLY LOAD WVTF WEBSTREAM INTO FOOBAR2000
--> Click on “File”, “Add Location”.
--> Copy and paste the following URL into the dialogue box:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3 for the low bandwidth connection…
http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3 for the broad bandwidth connection…

--> Click the “Play” button to start the stream.
--> Click “File”, “Save Playlist” and save this list entry in some easy place to find, like your Desktop or MyDocuments. Then, whenever you want to call up the WVTF webstream in the future, simply double click this file.

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Macintosh

AUDION
Audion is a freely available, versatile media player with a medium-weight installation. You can download it at http://www.panic.com/audion/ The WVTF webstream has not yet been tested using Audion. Please relay reception reports to engineering - sturlen@vt.edu and jpd@vt.edu.

- (AUDION) MANUALLY OPEN WVTF’s WEBSTREAM WITH AUDION
--> Click on “File”, “Open Stream…”
--> In the dialogue box, copy and paste one of the following:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3 for the low bandwidth connection…
http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3 for the broad bandwidth connection…

See http://www.panic.com/audion/help3/ne/ne10.htm for more details on Audion.

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COG
Cog is a freely available, open source media player for OS X, 10.4 and up. You can download it at http://cogosx.sourceforge.net/ The WVTF webstream has not yet been tested using Cog. Please relay reception reports to engineering - sturlen@vt.edu and jpd@vt.edu

- No instruction set for Cog yet... please email your method to engineering

iTUNES
iTunes is a cross-platform (Mac and Windows) media management software suite with a streaming media player. You can download it at http://www.apple.com/itunes/ The WVTF webstream has not yet been tested using iTunes. Please relay reception reports to engineering - sturlen@vt.edu and jpd@vt.edu

- (ITUNES) MANUALLY OPEN WVTF’s WEBSTREAM WITH ITUNES
--> Click "Advanced”, “Open Stream…”
--> In the dialogue box, copy and paste one of the following:

http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-32.mp3 for the low bandwidth connection…
http://mp3.rev.net:8000/wvtf-64.mp3 for the broad bandwidth connection…

See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=165152 for more details on Audio.

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MACAMP LITE X
Macamp Lite X is a now unsupported, but still freely available media player. You can download it at http://www.macamplite.com/ The WVTF webstream has not yet been tested using Macamp. Please relay reception reports to engineering - sturlen@vt.edu and jpd@vt.edu

- No instruction set for Macamp yet... please email your method to engineering

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WHAMB!
WHAMB! is a versitle, freely available media player for the Macintosh platform. You can download it at http://www.whamb.com/ The WVTF webstream has not yet been tested using Whamb!. Please relay reception reports to engineering - sturlen@vt.edu and jpd@vt.edu

- No instruction set for Whamb! yet... please email your method to engineering

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IF YOU’RE STILL HAVING PROBLEMS, it could mean that your firewall and/or router settings on your machine/network are not properly configured to allow internet traffic on port 8000. Consult your documentation or your network administrator/guru for help with this, as the myriad of configuration possibilities is far too great to include solutions for in this document.