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Automation Software

I

Interstate 78

I know it's been asked before, but it's been awhile.
So what's everyone using for automation these days in the community radio/part-15 world?
I'm looking for a simple to use and learn but versatile automation software. Don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks if it's worth it.
 
Here's a list that I culled off my website:

Airtime (Formerly known as Campcaster) - Linux-based
DirEttore Radio Automation
mAirlist Radio Automation
RadioDJ Free Radio Automation
Radiologik Radio Automation - Macintosh
Rivendell Open Source Radio Automation
StationPlaylist Broadcast Automation
ZaraRadio Radio Automation

Some are free and most are inexpensive. The bigger "pro" offerings from companies like RCS/Prophet are going to cost quite a bit more than these. Having not had a great experience with their hardware products I would personally shy away from any of the Arrakis automation products.

If you're going to do something like LPFM perhaps you actually have a budget for something more substantial for automation software. This is one area you don't want to cheap out on, especially if you need to be able to work with external sources and things like EAS alerts, etc.

For low budget with good flexibility I happen to like StationPlaylist Pro but I know I've seen many others mentioned.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
...For low budget with good flexibility I happen to like StationPlaylist Pro but I know I've seen many others mentioned.
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Like the last one on your list; ZaraRadio. It's "a simple to use and learn but versatile automation software" (quote I-78), and it's free and non-crippled. Their new ZaraStudio cost $214.00 but to be honest the versions seem to be almost identical in features.
However, Zara does not have any built in streaming capability to the internet, you would have to use it in unison with Edcast or the like. But for on-air needs, it does everything that I could ever want for it to do.
I warmed right up to it.
There's a straight forward tutorial by "Farney Lights" who use it with their Christmas light synchronization at: http://farneylights.com/content/view/325/133/ Which provides a good overview of set-up and also spells out how to integrate automated time, temperature, humidity announcements, and news feeds, using the scheduler, etc.
The page is old, but very useful.

Yeah, I like ZaraRadio
 
Stationplaylist will give you everything you need. Streaming, scheduling, voice tracking. Very simple to use, tons of features. Has become a favorite of small medium broadcasters. Will run on a basic.computer, and you don,t need fancy sound cards. A winner.
 
I've been a very enthusiastic user and supporter of Station Playlist, and I've probably sold a few licenses for Ross Levis based on my recommendation. I have to admit I'm discouraged with his support lately, though. I think, ultimately, that SPL's a very good system for the money, but it suffers considerably because it's a one man operation.
 
ironbear said:
I've been a very enthusiastic user and supporter of Station Playlist, and I've probably sold a few licenses for Ross Levis based on my recommendation. I have to admit I'm discouraged with his support lately, though. I think, ultimately, that SPL's a very good system for the money, but it suffers considerably because it's a one man operation.
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Surprised that no one jumped to Ross' defense on this one. I have used SPL for some time and still use it for live programming even though I now have Audio Vault for my satellite programming. Just easier to use IMO. They just released v 5.0 and are dealing with a rash of minor bug fixes typical of new releases. But for support, I think Ross is a god in the way he always seems to be on the SPL support group on Yahoo. He is in New Zealand with its associated time zone difference but when he is sleeping (or taking a couple of days holiday last week) there are a ton of power users weighing in on users problems. And all of this support is free! And for paid and registered users they can also contact them direct at support at stationplaylist dot com and get a pretty prompt reply. Just my 2 cents.
 
As the author of the original StationPlaylist review for Radio World I have to say I've been quite pleased with both the software and especially the support. The system I had been using previously, the Barcus-version of Digital Jukebox, was deplorable as far as support went.

I've never waiting any excessive amount of time for support from Ross. In fact, I had forgotten about renewing my support contract and within hours of doing so I had the link for the 5.0 upgrade, but having dealt with computers for more than 3 decades I always wait for the "x.1" or "x.0.1" bug fix updates. No fault to Ross or anybody else, but things are always discovered once an application gets released to the masses.

For a low-cost system with inexpensive software support costs this is a great package.

@Carmine5: While MegaSeg might be an adequate music player, I never considered it useable for a radio station environment, between it's interface and lack of features normally found in more mature packages. It might work well for a webstream or a backup for a LPFM but I wouldn't dream of installing it for anything else.

The one Mac package I saw that looked decent was RadioLogik, which I haven't re-visited in years.
 
For the needs of most LPFM or Part 15 stations, the free version of Zara does just about anything you could want. It is very reliable, easy to use and will do many things that it probably wasn't intended to do. The price is certainly right.

If you feel the need for more features, the pay version, Zara Studio is 165 Euros, which is about $200. It adds features like an auditor program which makes compiling affidavits for proof of play, very easy. You can download the free version here: http://www.zarastudio.es/en/descargas.php

To compare features try this page. http://www.zarastudio.es/en/comparar.php

I have no personal or financial interest in any software company, but I've used Zara Studio (the pay version) on a commercial FM station for over three years without any major problems.
 
My beef with Ross involves his confusion of my account with a user with a similar name who lives in Canada. This led to an over-billing of 'support' units, his apparent confusion over whether 'support' is due, and ultimately my overpayment under protest. He apparently needs outside help in the accounting department. And to seriously consider what the present situation does to loyal client relationships.
 
This led to an over-billing of 'support' units, his apparent confusion over whether 'support' is due
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This is where I keep my receipts of all software purchased (as a PDF file) in case I have a billing or subscription issue.

So far no issues.

SP is now set up to automatically renew annual support.
 
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