When you think of Police Scanner Apps for your smartphone, you normally think of police and fire, right? Well, if you visit http://www.broadcastify.com, you can find over 4,000 online scanner feeds and nearly 100 of them are railroad scanner feeds.
I’m often asked, “well, how is that possible?”
You may already have the tools to stream your very own railroad scanner feed.
Setting up a Railroad Feed
If your scanner is buzzing with railroad activity because you live near an active railroad yard or busy corridor, you may want to consider setting up a feed. First, I would visit the Broadcastify website to see if there is a feed already in your area. If not, I would begin with the set up process.
You will need the following:
– A pre-programmed scanner that will be dedicated to the railroad broadcast feed
– A computer you can run 24/7 with a stable internet connection and a designated sound card
– An audio cable to connect your scanner to your computer sound card via the input jack
(Broadcastify will provide the audio software for streaming the audio up to their servers, once your feed is approved.)
– Read more about the requirements for approval and fill out the online application
Once your feed is approved, you and others can monitor your feed online and on smartphones. By the way, Broadcastify does not charge for streaming, so you just need to get the audio to their servers.
Scanner Recommendation
The most ideal scanner would be the Uniden Bearcat BCT15X (or a used BCT15). This scanner provides an alpha tag display for if you’re scanning multiple railroads on different frequencies. This data can be sent along with the streaming audio. That means that the stream listener would be able to see who is talking if they are using a Java audio player. Sharing the alpha tags requires additional set-up and cables. This scanner also provides a record-out jack and the volume is pre-adjusted for streaming and recording. You can still use this scanner for listening, and when you adjusted the scanner volume it will not affect the volume of the stream.
Really any scanner can be used as long as it’s narrow band capable and it covers 160 -162 MHz. If it does not have a record-out jack, you will need to adjust the volume when setting up the stream, so it will not be too low or too loud.
Antennas Recommendation
If you’re able to put up outdoor antenna, you may want to look at getting a VHF Base antenna such as the TrainTenna – Vertical Outdoor Base Antenna. This antenna are highly recommend by railfans. I’m currently using the Austin Ferret Outdoor Antenna (photo on right) which is a great all band antenna and works really well on VHF. Having a great antenna is key to providing the clearest signal. Depending if you’re within close range, a basic telescopic antenna would be fine.
My Railroad Feed
As you may already know, I have a railroad scanner feed on Broadcastify called “Southeastern New England Railroads“. My feed covers Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. You will hear communications between the dispatcher and the trains running along this busy corridor, which includes Amtrak’s Acela, Amtrak’s Northeast Regional, CSX, Providence & Worcester and the MBTA Commuter Rail.
I hope this inspires you to share your railroad scanner with other rail-fans. This is one of the ways railfanning is moving into the digital age!
We would love to hear from you!
If you set up or already have a railroad scanner feed we would love to hear about it, so please e-mail us with all of the details. Your feed may be featured in an upcoming blog post!
