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growthtrac radio FAQ
Having trouble listening?
Who are you? Where are you located?
Click
here for Growthtrac Radio contact information and click
here for background on Growthtrac Marriage Radio...
Why do you link to Growthtrac.com?
Growthtrac Radio is a service of Growthtrac
Ministries, a non-profit 501(c)(3) Christian marriage
ministry. So, since you're listening to Growthtrac Radio —
a marriage-focused, 24-7 Christian Contemporary music station
— we thought you'd appreciate the great marriage resources
at our mothership, Growthtrac.com.
So, I can listen for free?
Yep. All you need to do is click the Listen links on
the home page.
Of course there are expenses associated with keeping the music
streams and website running smoothly. If you'd like to support
Growthtrac Radio through a tax-deductible donation, please
click here.
There are several ways to listen:
- Listen with the Player below:
- Listen on iTunes...
- Install iTunes
- In the left iTunes menu, click on Radio
- Click on the Religious category
- Click on Growthtrac Radio
How do I get the player(s)?
To listen to our webcasts, we recommend the following
players.
Windows Media Player or RealPlayer will also work in many
cases, but we think you'll like one of these better:
- Windows: WinAmp
- MacOS X (or 9):
iTunes
- Linux/Unix: XMMS
- Linux KDE Desktop: amaroK
- Multiple Platforms (incl. Linux & Mac): VLC
iTunes tells me your servers are full...
iTunes is a great program, but it has problems playing our
links sometimes. When you click one of our listen links,
we send your player a list of servers. If the first one
on the list is full, the player should move on to the second,
third, etc. until it finds one that will work. iTunes often
fails to do this.
Another option is to install a different player. We recommend
Winamp
(for Windows) or VLC
(for Macs). The Winamp installation is pretty straightforward.
To configure VLC properly, see the FAQ entry below.
How do I configure VLC to play Growthtrac Radio on my Mac?
First, download VLC from
this site. Open the .dmg file that you downloaded, then
open the VLC disk image on your desktop and drag the orange
traffic cone thingy into your applications folder.
Then right-click (or control-click if you don't have a 2-button
mouse) on the "128k MP3" link on our website, and select
"Save Link as...". Save the link to your desktop. Then right-click
(or control-click) on that file (rp_128.m3u or something
similar) and choose "Get Info". In the info window go to
"Open with:" and select VLC from the list of programs. Click
the "Change All" button.
Now all m3u links will open in VLC rather than iTunes. You'll
find that VLC is more reliable than iTunes for playing radio
streams. It'll also play our AAC & AAC+ links (which iTunes
won't play).
Our 128k AAC link gives the best sound quality of any of our
streams, and our 64k AAC+ link gives quality equal to 128k
MP3 at half the bandwidth.
When I click the listen links my computer asks if I want
to download a file.
This means that you don't have the player software installed.
Look at FAQ item, "How do I get a player?"
I can't get Winamp to start up properly when I click the MP3 links.
This can be due to a conflict between Winamp and other media
players. First, try downloading & installing the latest version
from www.winamp.com.
If that doesn't work, there is a very active user support
forum on the Winamp site.
If all else fails you can start the stream manually:
Open Winamp. Press 'Ctrl-L' (or select "Play" -> "Location"
from the menu).
Then type one of these addresses:
- Hi-Speed — mms://wms3.nwrnetwork.com/sam_wma_5l-128
- Low-Speed — mms://wms3.nwrnetwork.com/sam_wma_5l-32
I'm not using Winamp — can I still bypass the link
& connect directly?
Yes, the addresses above should let you connect using any
player. You may have to poke around a bit to find the place
to enter the address.
The sound cuts in and out a lot. What do I do?
This means that either there's a lot of net congestion
between you & the server (in which case you should try back
later), or that your connection bandwidth isn't high enough.
In Windows, on a modem connection, you can check your connection
speed by clicking on the modem icon in your system tray (lower
right hand part of your screen) while you're connected. If
it's lower than 40kbps, you'll have problems listening to
the 32kb webcast. You can try disconnecting & connecting again
— or contact your Internet service provider for help.
In some cases you may have to give up and settle for 16kbps.
The sound is distorted. It sounds like your level is too high.
I'll bet you're using Winamp, and you have one or more of
the EQ sliders turned up fairly high. Am I right? Try turning
the EQ off. The problem will most likely disappear. If you
really need radical EQ settings, turn down the 'Preamp' slider
(next to the EQ) to compensate. If you have EQ-related distortion
in other players that lack a 'Preamp' control, try turning
the sliders for the frequency bands that you don't want emphasized
down instead of turning up the ones you do want more of. It
accomplishes the same thing.
I've loaded WINAMP, but RealPlayer keeps opening when I
click the MP3 links
On RealPlayer, go to 'View' -> 'Preferences' -> 'Upgrade'.
At the bottom of that box, under 'Media Types', click the
'Re-associate' button. Un-check the boxes marked 'Mpeg Audio'
and 'MP3 Playlists'. Click 'OK' twice & you're done.
Mobile Streaming on Smartphones, etc.
Please see Growthtrac Radio on the iPhone
We have, however, experimented quite a bit with using PDAs,
portable Internet devices (such as the Nokia N800), and laptop
computers to listen. That generally works pretty well if you
have a Verizon or Sprint data plan and if they offer EVDO
capability in your area (this is assuming you're in the US
—elsewhere, check with your carrier to see if they offer
a data service with at least 100 kbps of reliable download
speed).
The downside is that, at least in the US, data plans like
that are $40 - $60 per month. Warning: if you're going to
listen to Growthtrac Radio on any kind of mobile device, and
do not have an unlimited data service, you may get hit with
extra charges — perhaps quite substantial extra charges. Check
with your carrier.
Is Growthtrac Radio available on either XM or Sirius satellite
radio?
No, we're not. Both US satellite radio companies are
very committed to doing their own music programming in-house
and neither is carrying any "outside" programming. We'll keep
an eye on the situation and if that changes, we'll be ready
to talk to them (as long as we can retain our independence
& creative control).
What about other ways to listen in my car?
We're very excited about the possibilities of the 3G cellular
networks that are finally rolling out in the US. Verizon has
a broadband wireless service now available in many US metro
areas (click
here for coverage info & pricing) that works great for
wireless listening with a laptop (any model) or PDA (currently
only a single model available through them). We've heard from
several Growthtrac Radio listeners who use the service & they
say it seriously rocks.
In another 2 or 3 years broadband wireless should be much
more widely available, and will provide a viable alternative
to satellite radio, especially in or near major metro areas
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