Help Section and Frequently Asked Questions:?

We hope that you find this website easy to use, and don't have any problems accessing any of the features on it, but in this section we have covered a few of the questions and problems that some listeners have asked in the past, and hope that these will help to solve your problems. Do please contact us if you are still having problems, or if you feel that we have not included any questions that you would like answers to.

Does your computer not play any music when you click on the link?

To receive our programmes through your computer you'll need to own, or have access to a computer that is connected to the internet. You'll also find that you may need certain software to play the music, and this may require that you donwload and install the latest versions of such programs as RealPlayer, which you can obtain from the Real website: Other software such as Windows Media Player (often pre-installed on many PCs), or WinAmp may also do the job successfully as well. One useful tip is to visit the Radio Section of the BBC website, and install their 'free' Real Player plug-in, you should find that this will receive or broadcasts too, and without the need to install the full version of Real Player etc. If you do download Real Player you don't need tp pay for their full version, but sticking to the basic player should be more than adequate for your needs and not cost you a penny.

Sometimes you will find that when you click on our 'Listen Live' button a box appears asking you which program you want to "open with", and depending on which version of Windows (or other operating systems) that you are running, will often be in the form of a message saying something like: "You have chosen to open listen.m3u which is a M3U playlist from http://www.oldhamcommunityradio.com", and beneath this a series of options to select. in this instance select the box marked "open with" and search your PC for a copy of Real Player or Winamp if you have one already installed on your PC (this will most likely be in the C:\Program Files\Real or Winamp folders, when you open these you should see an icon marked with something like "RealPlay.exe", this is the one to select. Once selected click on the 'OK' button and if all is well you should now hear our station coming from your loudspeakers. On some systems the player may ask to check your line speed whilst going through this set up, this will determine at what speed the music can be most efficiently streamed through your connection, and it is worth allowing it to do this.

I've done all that, but I still can't hear you?

First check that your speakers are switched on (power button in, volume up etc.), and if you have previously been hearing sounds from them this should already be the case, and that the lead from the speakers is plugged into the correct socket on your PC (this is on the back of the case on many PCs, though some newer models also have them on the front panel too - if yours has both and one isn't giving any sound you might like to try the other one. With many laptops this socket will be located somewhere on the side of the unit as a rule. You may also find that your soundacrd sockets are colour coded e.g. pink, blue and light green. This isn't always the case, but on many PCs pink is often the microphone socket, blue the line input, and light green the Loudspeaker socket. The name of the socket is often embossed onto the panel near the socket, but you'll probably need a good magnifying glass and torch to read these.

Some PCs have a Firewall installed, which might try to block your connection, especially the first time that you use it. If this is so you will often see a warning box appear asking if you want to allow the connection, you must say yes to this, or the Firewall will prevent you from downloading the signal.

There can be a number of other factors which could be affecting your PC, and as is often the case with these things, it may be a good idea to try re-booting (closing your PC down and then switching it back on again) and seeing if that has cleared the problem before you start to look any deeper into the problem. Installation is usually very simple though, and in most cases you won't have had any problems at all, this guide is intended mainly for those few people who are having problems. As always, if you don't know too much about how computers work, try asking a friend or family member who does to try and help you sort out the problem, and if all else fails try contacting us to see if we can help.