For a while now I have been looking for a system that is capable of recording specific talk radio shows so I can listen to them on the road at another time.
My requirements are:
- For each recording task, programmable band/frequency, start time, stop time with repetitive timer options such as every Sunday, Mo-Fr, Mo & We & Fr, daily..
- Recording as MP3
- AM / FM receiver, SW would be nice
- External antenna connector
- External power option
- Reasonable size, power consumption and stability (unlike a PC system that runs 24/7 and hangs once in a week)
- Storage on flash card or hard drive
- Access to the recordings by removing the flash card or hard drive. Or by Ethernet, WLAN or USB connection.
These features would be nice but aren't essential:
- radio-controlled clock so I don't have to adjust it every month. I'm located in Europe, so it would be DCF77.
- User-selectable bitrate and mono/stereo for MP3 encoder
- A way to browse and play its own recordings
- Line-in as a possible source for timed recordings plus IR-transmitter to control a satellite receiver (like TiVo is doing it)
I've looked around and found just two companies making products that come close. The PoGo Radio Yourway
(various versions) and the Griffin RadioShark. From what I've read, the Radio YourWay has a couple of flaws (poor receiver sensitivity, limited to small flash cards and having little internal memory, buggy software, doesn't record as MP3 but needs a special conversion software, hard to find a Europe-version at a good price) and the RadioShark is none better, it needs a computer running all the time, and it has been discontinued.
Now I ask myself am I missing something ? The technology is not a big deal. There are MP3-players with radio and recording option. Timers have been around for ages. Just none seems to put these things together so that they are good for timed recordings the way I described it.
Who has done it before, who had the same requirement and found a solution ?
My requirements are:
- For each recording task, programmable band/frequency, start time, stop time with repetitive timer options such as every Sunday, Mo-Fr, Mo & We & Fr, daily..
- Recording as MP3
- AM / FM receiver, SW would be nice
- External antenna connector
- External power option
- Reasonable size, power consumption and stability (unlike a PC system that runs 24/7 and hangs once in a week)
- Storage on flash card or hard drive
- Access to the recordings by removing the flash card or hard drive. Or by Ethernet, WLAN or USB connection.
These features would be nice but aren't essential:
- radio-controlled clock so I don't have to adjust it every month. I'm located in Europe, so it would be DCF77.
- User-selectable bitrate and mono/stereo for MP3 encoder
- A way to browse and play its own recordings
- Line-in as a possible source for timed recordings plus IR-transmitter to control a satellite receiver (like TiVo is doing it)
I've looked around and found just two companies making products that come close. The PoGo Radio Yourway
(various versions) and the Griffin RadioShark. From what I've read, the Radio YourWay has a couple of flaws (poor receiver sensitivity, limited to small flash cards and having little internal memory, buggy software, doesn't record as MP3 but needs a special conversion software, hard to find a Europe-version at a good price) and the RadioShark is none better, it needs a computer running all the time, and it has been discontinued.
Now I ask myself am I missing something ? The technology is not a big deal. There are MP3-players with radio and recording option. Timers have been around for ages. Just none seems to put these things together so that they are good for timed recordings the way I described it.
Who has done it before, who had the same requirement and found a solution ?