Best Radio Automation System for College Internet Station

[dkuchlermontcommr]

Hi
I'm Danny Kuchler and I'm the program director for Montgomery County Community College's internet radio station Montco Radio. Currently we have been using the BSI Simian and I feel it's limiting what we can do as a station because the BSI doesn't have an effective way to exactly time out the automation. I currently intern at WMMR and they're changing their system from Wide Orbit to Zetta and I have inquired about getting a used Wide Orbit system. I'm also looking for other ideas and systems that are relatively easy to use because college students getting their start in Radio could use and something that could be exact with the timing of when a certain thing could play.
Thanks
Danny Kuchler

 

[wavo]

Why not consider Zetta? It would give your airstaff a job skill which could be used later, if any of them are misguided enough to choose radio as a career. If price is a consideration, a used NexGen system.
RCS (NexGen/Zetta) and WO are the two best choices, IMHO.

 

[littlejohn]

Automation/playback assist systems are like word processors - get the one your people like. If price is a consideration, set your budget and see what can be had within it. Pretty muich anything can be done or worked around with all of them I've messed with, though I admit I haven't played with Simian. Kick some tires, and hit up the makers with the fact you're a non-profit teaching station.

 

[Chuck]

Zara Radio is free and does everything a low power or college station needs. It is very reliable and very easy to use. Did I mention it is free? There is a paid version called Zara Studio that is quite good. They also have a companion traffic program that interfaces nicely, in case you need to do some serious scheduling and billing. Although there is a charge for these two pieces of software, it is extremely affordable. I've been using it for years on three commercial stations and have no complaints.

 

[davideduardo]

Zara Radio is free and does everything a low power or college station needs. It is very reliable and very easy to use. Did I mention it is free? There is a paid version called Zara Studio that is quite good. They also have a companion traffic program that interfaces nicely, in case you need to do some serious scheduling and billing. Although there is a charge for these two pieces of software, it is extremely affordable. I've been using it for years on three commercial stations and have no complaints.

I agree with wavo that getting one of the products like NextGen or Zetta or Wide Orbit trains students with the kind of software that most significant radio stations will have. If future job skills are not part of the station's objectives, then Zara is a pretty good choice.

 

[hdradioeng]

I would definitely have to oppose Simian, lackluster support and a very dated UI, but......a ton of small stations use it. Rivendell open source works good for free, and you can actually get support for it. A couple Tampa stations run it.

 

[Grounded Grid]

Some people like Fords, others like Chevys.

There are a lot of Simian installations up here and, for what they are, they work just fine. Once you get them programmed, they're reliable (I don't recall when I actually had a crash), and they work well with the traffic systems they're integrated to.

The system is non-proprietary. Except for the software and dongle, you can buy the whole system off the shelf at any computer store or Wal-Mart.

There's a drive-in theatre up here that uses a 4-instance installation to automate its program. It handles preshow, intermission and concession stand content and fires off the projectors. They've had the system in-place for more than 12 years now.

A flashy UI won't make the system work better... maybe use more resources though.