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This may have been addressed before but I am unable to find an answer. I am wanting to use the internet stream in zara to play a top of the hour news feed (ex .QNN) However, when I put the QNN feed in the internet stream .. zara will not play it… it skips it and goes on to the next event. I was wondering if there is a trick I can use to get this to work.
This may have been addressed before but I am unable to find an answer. I am wanting to use the internet stream in zara to play a top of the hour news feed (ex .QNN) However, when I put the QNN feed in the internet stream .. zara will not play it… it skips it and goes on to the next event. I was wondering if there is a trick I can use to get this to work.
TNX
Jim
Total posts : 45366That sounds to me like you’re playing a podcast (either the xml mp3 files) as a stream…
If you want the podcast news then you’ll need to download it prior to playing it. Otherwise you’d connect to their news stream if they have one available.
Checkout FSN’s news (http://www.lpfmnews.net/pages/1/index.htm) as another option (again these would need to be downloaded prior to being queued and played).
You can automate the downloading and then overwrite the earlier file but this is far beyond the scope of this post. If you’re interested, look into wget for Windows. It’s not too easy to configure but it works very well.
Total posts : 45366I’ve been streaming FSN news using ZaraRadio for some time now.
I set the run time slightly longer than the anticipated program time and rely on the “silence detector” to jump to the next item for play.
Here is a SCREENSHOT of the setup. I hope you can read it OK as the image is a bit small.
As such, I don’t have to download the FSN mp3, it’s streams the audio on schedule everytime!
I used to use another news source and had to do as you have suggested, using a batch file to delete the previous download and then download the newest file for play. It worked but not flawlessly as sometimes the file would not download and the process would have to be reset manually.
Total posts : 45366Make sure your feed is either an mp3 or windows media feed. Also be sure you’re putting in the entire URL, i.e. “http://www.feedsource.com:8000”.
If you want to grab podcasts, use Juice to download the files. Then schedule the files in Zara. Juice will do a periodic cleanup so you don’t have to worry about your directories filling up.
I’m using Zararadio to stream Talkstar and it works great!
Total posts : 45366[quote=mram1500]by MRAM 1500 kHz
I’ve been streaming FSN news using ZaraRadio for some time now.
I set the run time slightly longer than the anticipated program time and rely on the “silence detector” to jump to the next item for play.
Here is a SCREENSHOT of the setup. I hope you can read it OK as the image is a bit small.
As such, I don’t have to download the FSN mp3, it’s streams the audio on schedule everytime!
I used to use another news source and had to do as you have suggested, using a batch file to delete the previous download and then download the newest file for play. It worked but not flawlessly as sometimes the file would not download and the process would have to be reset manually.[/quote]
I cant quite see your screenshot,but I cant get mine to work as a stream,it wont even show up in the schedule. Any ideas?
Im using http://…../fsnheadlines.mp3 It looks like you are using something different but I’m not sure???Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366I uploaded a better shot of the “event” window so click on the link in my previous post. If you still see the original, click the “refresh” button on your browser.
This particular setup is for the FSN 3 minute bulletin. On this one I set OK for delay of start to allow whatever was playing to finish. FSN keeps a pretty tight schedule so the run time is set for 3 minutes. Sometimes I set the run time a few seconds longer and let the silence detector work.
When you say it won’t show up in the schedule, do mean when you click on the little “clock” symbol next to the “check” box symbol in the event window? Events only show up a few minutes before the scheduled play time. Clicking on the “clock” shows all of your events and the ones selected should play on schedule.
Here is a SCREENSHOT of the Events programmed, some selected to play and some not.
My setup for the 5 minute news is set for immediate so as to end just before the hour. That way my program starts on the hour with and ID, time and temp announcement.
Let me know if this helps…
Total posts : 45366Just a quick note on one of my many pet peeves.
Several versions ago, MS Internet Exploder added a feature to automatically resize web images to fit the browser window.
If a hosted image from an image link (like the screenshot in MRAM’s post) appears small or distorted it could be because IE is “helping” you by resizing the image.
If the user is using a less-than-maximized browser window, has a small screen or is using a notebook PC with a very small screen the user won’t see the image full size without calling the resize button.
Here is the screenshot in a very small window, automatically resized:
Mouse over to get the resize button in the lower right corner (outlined in red)>
Exactly the same image in exactly the same window but now at 100% actual size after clicking the resize button.
Failure Fox doesn’t do this, but some folks don’t like to download and install additional software.
Experimental broadcasting for a better tomorrow!
Total posts : 45366I see it now,its the same as I am using. It does not play or show up in the pending events window,very strange indeed! The only difference was the capital letters but that shouldnt matter,should it?It also seems the cue command doesnt work on streams either. I have Pirate Weather running with no problem so why wont FRN work? Zara manual sez events show up 15 minutes prior to being run,but FRN doesnt appear! ARGHHHH!
SCWIS,I am using FumbleFox already,LOL!
Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366All Zara users should check out MRAM’s ZARA support web pages:
mram.50webs.com/index_files/page4.htm
Phenomenal effort!!!
Experimental broadcasting for a better tomorrow!
Total posts : 45366Enter the following in the Zara Internet Stream field and set the run time for 5 minutes…
http:/qnn.whiterosesociety.org:8000/qnn
This works perfectly without any issue. Please note that they leave their stream up even when there is no audio present. If you are trying to test during a time when there is no audio present on the stream, Zara will detect silence and jump to the playlist. I set my event to connect to the stream at _:59:57. Also note that QNN currently only broadcast their news content from 6am-6:05pm PST, so again beware if you are attempting to connect during their off hours.
Tony Seton, at QNN, is anticipating providing news content 24/7 in the near future.
Feel free to email me directly if you need further assistance.
Dave C
Total posts : 45366[quote=mram1500]by MRAM 1500 kHz
I’ve been streaming FSN news using ZaraRadio for some time now.
I set the run time slightly longer than the anticipated program time and rely on the “silence detector” to jump to the next item for play.
Here is a SCREENSHOT of the setup. I hope you can read it OK as the image is a bit small.
As such, I don’t have to download the FSN mp3, it’s streams the audio on schedule everytime!
I used to use another news source and had to do as you have suggested, using a batch file to delete the previous download and then download the newest file for play. It worked but not flawlessly as sometimes the file would not download and the process would have to be reset manually.[/quote]
First,I want to thank MRAM and the many others for their persistence in giving me a hand,a rare thing these days.It is appreciated!
Well,I did some more experimenting(yeah,thats what we do!!) and I found that Zara dumps it upon failure without any indication it has done so(I dont use the log).I re-did the events and they show up in the event window,but they still fail to connect!NEW:I get a syllable then it goes on to the next event.
I then tried it from Firefox,get a 404 failure every time!!! I tried Explorer,same thing. I then tried another computer,no go. But from their webpage it downloads fine!???! Is there a setting in my browsers or router that stopped it? Weather Watcher works fine as does Pirate Weather and anything else works fine. I even disabled pop-up stopper and script controls,no help.I dont have much hair left at this point,didnt have much to start with!!! Does anyone have the missing piece to this puzzle???
Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366I have not tried it MRAMs way, but here are the links for FSN’s news:
5 minute: http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNWorldNews.mp3
3 Minute: http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNBulletin.mp3
30 sec: http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNHeadlines.mp3It should be said that by “streaming” a file this way in ZaraRadio, you are actually downloading it to your drive first (temp directory) so your success is bandwidth dependent. If you have a low speed connection, it (ZaraRadio) will time out before you’ve downloaded the file and move on to the next event or file in the playlist.
I highly recommend wget as the method to download the files. I found this link (http://wget.techknight.com/index.php) and it just about idiot proofs the installation and configuration to get one file from a website (easily expanded to retrieve more).
Use Scheduled Tasks in Windows to get the files at a set time.
Total posts : 45366After placing wget.exe in your Windows directory, create the following batch file in the root of C: and name it whatever you want, I named mine GetFSN.bat
(remove the ==== lines)
=====================================
echo offREM Change this next line to match your content
REM directory for FSN.cd c:contentfsn
REM For sanity, lets remove any FSN files that
REM already exist in the directory.del FSNWorldNews.mp3
del FSNBulletin.mp3
del FSNHeadlines.mp3REM Now lets use wget to get all three news files.
wget http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNWorldNews.mp3
wget http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNBulletin.mp3
wget http://64.26.15.101/feeds/FSNHeadlines.mp3REM Go back to where we started.
cd c:
=====================================Now create the event in WIndows Scheduler to run at your needed interval.
After you use wget for a while you’ll see just how flexible it is. It is the perfect solution for getting needed files that do not come in an rss feed. Type wget –help at the command prompt for more options.
As I clean this up I will post a newer version.
Total posts : 45366Another free application is “Free Download Manager” http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/ which has a built in scheduling feature. I have been using this for a couple of years now without any issues. For instance, we run Wyatt Cox’s American Sunrise and his sports report as well, Mon-Fri. I have “Free Download Manager” set to download the American Sunrise and sports files each day automatically and Zara Radio simply plays the appropriate files at the scheduled times. We also use this process to download other various programming we air such as “Live from the Late Nite Lounge” and “Adventures in Contemporary Jazz”. Our station, Variety AM1640 is 100% automated!
Total posts : 45366Though I’m weary of their community feedback service… Call me paranoid 🙂
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