diff --git a/acatcher/start_streamers.sh b/acatcher/start_streamers.sh
index a2ffba7..693a3ff 100755
--- a/acatcher/start_streamers.sh
+++ b/acatcher/start_streamers.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@ if [ ! -f "$1" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 NUM=0
-for HOST in `cat "$1"`; do
+if [ ! -z "$2" ]; then
+  HOSTS="$2"
+else
+  HOSTS="`cat \"$1\"`"
+fi
+for HOST in $HOSTS; do
   >&2 echo starting up host $HOST
   ssh pi@$HOST "screen -dm bash stream.sh"
   NUM=$((NUM+1))