How to Create Your Own Internet T.V. Station for Free

I have read a few articles about how to create your own Internet T.V. station using Veoh.com but this article isn't going to be another one of them.

Today I am going to give you step by step details on how you can run your own Internet T.V. station using your webcam and your DSL or broadband connection.

We have all seen the webcams on the Internet. If you use an instant messaging system like Yahoo you have probably used your webcam for chatting with your friends.

Most of the time when you use your webcam your running through someone else's network so the picture is usually slow moving and freezes up from time to time. Also unless your using a service like Skype there is no audio to go with the video.

But now you can use your own high speed Internet connection and your webcam to broadcast your own video and audio both live and pre-recorded over the internet without having to go through a third party network.

The only other thing you need to do this is free software called "Windows Media Encoder". There are two version of WMEncoder that you can use. Version 7 and 9. I have tried both versions in the past but I like version 7 the best of the two. I find it is easier to use then 9. Also if you use 9 and tried to go back to 7 it is hard to get version 9 completely uninstalled from you system.

Your can get a copy of WMEncoder7 from my website at http://ChuckBaker.org in the downloads section of the site. You can get a copy of version 9 at Microsoft.com

For the purposes of this article I will be referring to version 7. After you have downloaded and installed the encoder open it up. The first window that comes up gives you some options to pick from. The option we will be using for this article is "Broadcast, capture, or convert a file using the new session wizard." This option is the first one and it is checked. Go ahead and click OK.

From here on out we will be using the default options of the various windows to configure the encoder. The next window asks you what you would like to do. We will be doing a live broadcast so go ahead and click next.

The next windows asks what devices you want to use for Video and Audio. The default devices should be picked. Go ahead and click "next"

The next window asks what port you want to use. The default is usually 8080. Make a note of this port number you will need it later. Click "Next"

The next window asks what profile you want to use. Right now just leave this alone and click "Next"

The next window is the archive option window. You can choose to record your live broadcast here for replay at a later time. Click "Next"

The Next window asks if you want to add video files. For right now just click "Next"

The next window lets you enter information about your broadcast. Enter what you want other people to see about your broadcast then click "Next"

The next window is your setting review. Go ahead and click "Finish"

Now you are at the encoders main control panel. There is one important step that you will need to do before you will be able to broadcast over the Internet and that step is to open the port that the encoder is using in your DSL modem or router. Unless this port is opened your broadcast will not go out over the Internet.

On the encoders control panel click on the "start" button in the lower right hand corner. Now you should see your video image on the screen.

It is now time to see if your broadcast is going out over the internet. To do this you will need to know what your external IP address is. The quickest way to do this is to go to http://ipchicken.com and copy your address from the site. And again you will also need your port number.

Now open "Windows Media Player" and click on the files menu. From the drop down box click on "open URL" and in the box that comes up type in your ip address and port number. It should look something like this: http://72.161.78.200:8080

Now click "OK" the player will start searching for your broadcast if everything is setup correctly your broadcast should start in a few seconds. If it doesn't check your DSL modem or router and make sure that you opened the correct port number. Also make sher you have enter the correct ip address and port number in the player and try again.

After you get your first broadcast on the Internet then start experimenting with the different options of the encoder to get the most out of your new Internet T.V. station.