Recording XM radio???

[melissajkelly]

I am a techie novice. I used to be much more into PCs than I am nowadays so I could use some help.

I want to record Peter Walsh's radio show off XM radio. I do not currently have an XM radio because I was told they don't sell one that records (?). But I did learn that if I pay for the monthly subscription, I can also listen over the Internet. So I'm thinking...there should be some way to record the radio show as it plays over the Internet?

But how?

I have a MAC at work (10.4.8) and a PC running Windows ME at home. I tried some free downloads at work, thinking I could use software that could "record" whatever it "hears" through the audio...but for some reason it's not recording anything. (I think the old program...was it Windows Recorder?...used to do this easily but they stripped it out of Windows.)

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Melissa

[The Dude]

Welcome to Daniweb....

XM radio will broadcast over an FM radio which you can set a cassette recorder to record whatever is coming over the frequency you set it :)

The radio has its own transmitter OR you can get an external one...

http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com/xm-fm-transmitter.php

Good luck :)

[lethargic]

I am a techie novice. I used to be much more into PCs than I am nowadays so I could use some help.

I want to record Peter Walsh's radio show off XM radio. I do not currently have an XM radio because I was told they don't sell one that records (?). But I did learn that if I pay for the monthly subscription, I can also listen over the Internet. So I'm thinking...there should be some way to record the radio show as it plays over the Internet?

There are several different types of XM radios that record. The MyFi, Nexus, Helix and Inno.

[melissajkelly]

There are several different types of XM radios that record. The MyFi, Nexus, Helix and Inno.

Thanks!! I went and read about them and think I like the Helix.......but the .pdf of the User Guide says you can't transfer the recorded files to any other device? Do you know of any way to get the recorded files (which will be talk radio) to my PC so I can burn them to disk to keep?

Thanks,
Melissa

[lethargic]

Thanks!! I went and read about them and think I like the Helix.......but the .pdf of the User Guide says you can't transfer the recorded files to any other device? Do you know of any way to get the recorded files (which will be talk radio) to my PC so I can burn them to disk to keep?

Thanks,
Melissa

None of them let you do that. They're already getting sued by the RIAA over the fact that those radios let you make such crystal clear recordings you can keep of music. If they actually let you save those then transfer them to anything they'd be in deeper trouble.

But the base they come with has a lineout jack you could plug into something to record. You'd have to do it in real time of course. But with those radios you can delete commercials out and just keep the show so that would make it a bit easier to transfer that way.

Also XM broadcasts talk shows in a much lower bitrate or whatever than they do the music channels. So even though the radio says you could only record 25, 50 hours or whatever, that means music channels. With talk you can get double that or more so you have plenty of room to keep talk shows on there longer.

[John A]

Instead of buying a radio that can record, then transferring everything to your computer real time, I'd say it would be much easier to go the internet route. I'm pretty sure there are tons of Windows utilities that can record the sound output of a program; the only one I'm aware of on the Mac platform is WireTap Pro. It's commercial software, but the 30 day trial should be more than enough for your purposes.

[melissajkelly]

Thanks! I discovered WireTap Pro a few days ago and signed up for the free 3-day trial of XM radio internet, then Friday I tried recording a radio show and it worked perfectly. This is what I am going to use! Plus the internet subscription is cheaper than the portable.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Melissa