1.  How do I listen to UK70s?

2. I could get the station yesterday, but today I can't connect.  What can I do?

3. How do I make those irritating ads go away?

4. Why does your broadcast stream keep skipping/dropping out?

5. Can I listen with Realplayer, Windows Media Player, etc?

6. Winamp player is the holy grail for listening to Internet Radio. How do I get it to work?

7. I am not getting the playlist display, or I still cannot get the player to work.

8.  Harold, why do you go to all the trouble to do this?  Are you making money?

9.  Harold the Barrel can't be your real name.  What's with that?

10.Why don't you play more [fill in new or neglected act here]? Why do you have to play so much [fill in overplayed act here]?

11. I thought you only played 70s stuff from the UK.  Why are you playing other stuff?



How do I listen to UK70s?

Minimum Computer Configuration (If you use a Mac, go here)
1. Pentium Class PC
2.  High Speed Internet Connection (cable modem, DSL, T1, etc.)  You may get something with a 56K dialup, but it will skip so much you will wish you hadn't bothered to try.
3. A decent sound card and computer speakers. If you can now play a CD or DVD on your computer, you are already good to go.  To really enjoy UK70s, connect your computer's sound card to an audio system using its external output jack. Use a cable to convert mini plug to standard audio jacks (think Radio Shack).
4. Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or higher
5. A media player (Winamp or Live365 player are recommended).  Both are free.  I like Winamp 5.02 for MP3Pro broadcasts like this one.
6. A Free Membership with Live365.
7. Follow these instructions after you sign up.

That's it!


I could get the station yesterday, but today I can't connect.  What can I do?

Live365 sets a maximum number of non-paying listeners that can tune in at one time.  At peak listening times UK70s is full and no one else but preferred members can connect.  Either you pay to listen ad-free, or be sure to connect before peak times which are usually Monday-Friday during 'business hours' of 9 am - 5 pm EST. Live365 has increased their broadcasting rates and continues to reduce their broadcaster revenue sharing rate.  I don't have to make money, but I cannot afford to lose money, either.  Unfortunately, this means I may have little choice but to permit fewer free connections in hopes more will become preferred members, which helps to offset the rising costs.  The current maximum number of free listeners is set at 100. I may have to reduce that number.  Please complain to Live365, because I do not set the broadcasting rates or the broadcaster revenue share rates.



How do I make those irritating ads go away?

One way is to use Winamp instead of the Live365 player. That gets rid of the pop-ups.  Another way is to get Pop-up Stopper free version.  Now your remaining problem is that you still get audio ads, and the only way to get rid of those is to spend the 16 or so cents per day and get a preferred membership with Live365.
It's well worth it because the ads really suck, and they play the same ones over and over.


Why does the broadcast stream keep skipping/dropping out?

It could be a number of reasons.  Let's rule out the most common ones.

1.  Wrong player: You need to switch to either Winamp or Live365 player. (Don't use Winamp 3. It's not compatible with MP3Pro. Go with 5.02 )  If you are using Windows Media Player, Realplayer, or some other one, it is likely contributing to the problem.
2.  Temporary Internet files:  Your browser cache is too full and you need to clear it.  If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, then delete temporary Internet files.
3. Proxy Server: This can be tough or outright impossible to overcome if you listen at work.  If you use the Live365 player and your sysop at work is nice (he/she hasn't already decided to block Live365) get the proxy info and enter it using the listen settings page.  If there is firewall software on your PC or the server, you may have to set live365 as a trusted site.
4.  Connection: Your ISP considers you a bandwidth hog and wants to keep you down! Ha ha. Or you are trying to access UK70s with a dial-up modem.  Seriously, you may need to contact your ISP or trace route to the Live365 server yourself to find the problem.


Can I listen with Realplayer, Musicmatch, Windows Media Player, etc?

Well, you can , but is it really a good idea? Winamp has equalizer controls and it just plain sounds better than the other players.  It also doesn't drop your stream as often as the others.  Save yourself a lot of hassle and frustration and go with either Winamp or Live365 Player.  If you have to use another player then see "Step 1" paragraph e here.


 Winamp player is the holy grail for listening to Internet Radio. How do I get it to work?

Please follow ALL of these steps:

Step 1 - Download Winamp and the MP3Pro codec. They are both free.

Step 2 - Install both Winamp software and codec.

Step 3 - If you have other media players (such as RealPlayer or Windows Media Player), disable music file  preferences so that Live365 won't default to them.  If necessary, you may need to uninstall the other players. You won't need them anyway once you have Winamp......  :)

Step 4 - If you have Winamp 5x or 2.x, or a different player than Winamp, skip to step 5. 

If you have Winamp 3, select "Options" then "Preferences." This is done by right clicking while your mouse pointer is over the word "Winamp" on the player. That brings up the menu.  Check the box for "Auto-play at startup." Right under "System" select "Media" and click the "All" button.  If there are file types you don't want Winamp to recognize you can then deselect them. The background color will be black for those you deselect.  Now select "Internet" and be sure "Local Area Network" (LAN)" is selected.  If you are connecting from a proxy server enter port info. Now select "HTTP Reader" and make sure Prebuffer settings are set to automatic and "HTTP Seeking Settings" are checked to "Allow seeking on files over HTTP". You shouldn't have to change the buffer sizes unless the UK70s stream drops.  Then set it to "Manual" and increase it to the max. It will take longer to load the stream but it will stop dropping out.

Step 5 - Close Winamp.

Step 6 - Login to Live 365.  When you do, check the "Remember Me" box.

Step 7 - Go to Listen Settings, select connection speed "T1/DSL/Cable" then select " MP3 Player (e.g. Sonique, Winamp (2.8 and higher), MusicMatch)" as your mp3 player choice.

Step 8 -  Go to the UK70s station page on the Live365 website. Click the big yellow play button there to launch the player window. (When the player window launches you may need to press that play button too.)  Winamp should now launch.  If it doesn't, go back to step 3.  When Winamp launches don't be surprised if nothing happens right away. It can take awhile for the buffer to collect enough data and start playing.  If after a minute or so it still doesn't play, open your internet browser and delete temporary internet files. Try again. Once the broadcast starts playing select "Bookmarks" on the Winamp menu and select "Add current to favorites." (By the way, while the Live365 player window is open, please save UK70s as a station preset, then select it as a favourite. Thanks)

Step 9 - Enjoy! The next time you want to listen to UK70s (i.e. you have just turned on your computer) all you will need to do is open Winamp, and select the UK70s bookmark you created earlier. You will no longer need to launch the Live365 player window to listen. But you will want to view the track info display. It's better to just visit the UK70s main page, since no ads pop up there, it shows the track display in real time, and displays more track history.

Please set UK70s as your favourite station, especially if you become a preferred member.

I am not getting the playlist display, or I still cannot get the player to work.

If you use Firefox browser, you probably can't see the playlist display on UK70s.com.  You can, however see it here with Firefox.

If your player window or stream STILL won't work, and you have a firewall, Bamman from Live365 tech support (thanks again, Bamman) provided the following fix:

The appearance of numerous instances of the word "undefined" in the Live365 Player window (as well as other odd behavior) is normally caused by Norton Internet Security or Personal Firewall. Try the following instructions from Symantec:

Norton Internet Security version 6:

1. In NIS main user interface, click Options, then click Web Content tab.Now, click Add Site located at the left bottom corner, a New Site/Domain window opens up. Type www.live365.com and click OK.

2. (Still in the Web Content page.) On the left pane, select www.live365.com from the domain list, on the right pane, click Ad Blocking tab and click Add at the bottom. An Add new HTML string window opens up. Check Permit, and put "/" (without quotes), and click OK to close the window.

3. Click OK to close Norton Inernet Security Options windown.

4. Delete all temporary internet files from Internet Explorer (Tools->Internet Options->Delete Files).


Norton Internet Security version 7/Norton Personal Firewall 2004:

1. Disable ad blocking for www.live365.com. You can do this by using the Web assistant icon from IE when you go to http://www.live365.com.
(To disable and then re-enable the Web assistant In Internet Explorer, click View > Toolbars > Web assistant. There should be a checkmark next to it when you click it.Again, click View > Toolbars > Web assistant. There should be no checkmark next to it when you click it.)

2. Permit Information-about-visited-sites for www.live365.com. Click NIS-PrivacyControl ->Advanced, and on the Advanced page, add www.live365.com and set Global Settings->Information about visited sites to Permit.

3. Delete all temporary internet files from Internet Explorer (Tools->Options->Delete Files).

*************************************************
Then:


1) Delete all cookies from Internet Explorer (Tools->Internet Options->Delete Cookies)


2) Shut down all instances of Internet Explorer (IE)

3) Restart IE, login to Live365 and go to "My Live365" and click the "Listen Settings". Click "Rerun Listening Wizard".


Harold, why do you go to all the trouble to do this?  Are you making money?

I do it because I love this music.  It has not made any money - not even close.  It would  be nice to break even for my live365 costs and my time (one day).


 Harold the Barrel can't be your real name.  What's with that?

Actually, it's Harold T. Barrel. Seriously, it's a DJ name I made up as an homage to Genesis.  See "Nursery Cryme" track 5. Here are the twisted lyrics to the song "Harold the Barrel"


Why don't you play more [fill in new or neglected act here]? Why do you have to play so much [fill in overplayed act here]?

Well, it is my station. UK70s is the number 1 prog station on the Internet because I am selective about what I play. I take seriously my responsibility to maintain the highest respectability of this magnificent genre.  Occasionally though, even I miss an essential track that must be included amongst the true legends of Prog. Please enlighten me to such slips by emailing the omitted item to haroldthebarrel_2000 at yahoo dot com.

Cheers!


I thought you only played 70s prog from the UK.  Why are you playing other stuff now?

Two reasons: variety and demand.  We are first and foremost a classic prog station, and always will be. But, a lot of listeners wrote in requesting we expand the format to include some 'non-UK' prog artists and newer material to improve the variety.  Looks like they were right.  Our audience has soared since then and listeners are rating these tracks highly.  I am careful and very selective as to what new prog acts deserve airplay next to greats like Yes and Genesis.  Frankly, a lot of today's prog is trash, and listeners who like the classic stuff tend to like only certain types of new stuff.  We keep an ear out for songs that make the grade.  Don't hesitate to send in suggestions.


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