Digital Jukebox Stopping At Odd Times

[shreveville]

The Digital Jukebox will sometimes stop without reason. It happens to us about once a week at different times so it is hard to see a patern.

The Digital Jukebox will be in the automation mode (lights are in green). But then it will stop at certain times. If someone is not monotoring the station - it might be off for hours - waiting for someone to start it again. Remember - this is not happeneing in the Jock Assist mode which is suppose to stop after each function. The problem is happening when JB is in automation mode. Any ideas on how to fix it. Does it happen to any of you guys.

 

[RadioMan203]

I had this problem and the only way to solve it was to go with another system. I authored the StationPlaylist review for Radio World (although it's showing up on the site for their sister publication) after having my station go off in the middle of the night multiple times and the programmer for DJB claimed there was a mouse (i.e., rodent) walking on the keyboard.

If you do a search of the forums here regarding Digital Jukebox you'll find many more instances of poor and/or support and product performance issues. If your station is in a position to move to a product that's more robust I would just chalk up DJB to a lesson learned. I know I was happy to dump it.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

I cant tell you the ultimate temporary fix but will relate this after I ask, What did support suggest?

Anytime there is physical interaction with a running playlist you will normally and routinely loose the ability for triggers to activate anything or for any playlist to function. ANY interaction such as editing the playlist or adding a command...anything with the keyboard on the ON AIR machine. It will stop. This is true as we discovered across days. Sat night someone edited the playlist on air and it didn't do anything until we Exit DJB and then go back into the playlist.

When we discovered this we tested it over and over to see what would cause this to happen. Any interaction with the ON AIR system. At the stations using it I tell them all to stay away from the computer in the studio. Edit or change on the prod system. if you don't have a separate prod system and want a fix lock the on air in a closet and have no interaction. Live assist? Exit and re-enter.

Support has no answer. This is over the life of the system. 2005 I think we discovered this. The Exit DJB and re-enter (not reboot the computer or restart DJB) was found over a period of multiple deaths of audio on air and by accident.

If I found a system that provided it's own music log I might switch. It runs so well in a lot of circumstances and when it works works better than most systems. I do forget and edit and forget to exit and reenter. I get dinked every time.

 

[WNTIRadio]

If you want a cheap system that runs, try Simian. I can email you a copy (and it can be found on the net) of the old MusicGen software from Prophet. This was pre-RCS merger, and it was free and worked very well. It isn't Selector, but it does all of the basic functions of music scheduling and can do very complex rotations. Used it on a station for a few years, as far as I know they're still using it.

Have Simian at one client, running off the Bird and live assist. Works well, very stable.

 

[shreveville]

ChiefEngineer - Thanks so much for your response. That is EXACTLY what we have been doing lately - edited on the On Air Computer, adding songs, moving things around and so forth. Based on your suggestion - we will only make changes on the Production computer from now on. Since you have been through exactly what we are going through - this suggestion is an exciting one for us. ChiefEngineer - you are the best!

 

[ChiefEngineer]

I would not use DJB live and the three stations using it have all agreed the on air computer just plays audio. Since prod systems are cheap relatively the use of these systems to edit is the best way to interface.

We have a live morning show that is just a few minutes tape delayed. This makes the station while small market sound more professional.

Prior to this we used Enco. Support fees exceeded the cost of the system. DJB does everything ENCO did and more, music scheduling. The scheduler is similar to Selector in many ways. The big problem is quirks and support. Printing music logs is something that has never worked. You ahve to examine the logs on the computer.

Make sure to isolate these computers from any others on your system. LAN traffic sometimes causes a hiccup. We have used XPO, Vista, and 7 with DJB. Using Simian on our other stations.

 

[Kent T]

Second the recommendation of Simian and use WaveCart for live assist duty. Both just run and run once set up correctly as a rule. I do reboot weekly.

 

[Groove1670]

I've had stationplaylist since 2004. It has NEVER shut down. Plus it voicetracks, and you can get music scheduling software with it.

 

[Charlie]

I know the OP didn't ask for alternative solutions but another vote for StationPlaylist Studio - especially if you use the accompanying "Creator" to schedule it. The playout app isn't very DJ-friendly in terms of fast-paced use but it's solid, voicetracks/sweepers and easy to learn. It is the only system I use when getting internet stations going - simply because it just runs providing you throw a new set of schedules at it each day. Also - if you schedule a series of generic VT links, you can have the same VT filenames coming round on each show and it makes remote VT'ing very simple.

The other great thing it does is handle audio auto-cue so you haven't got to top/tail files or set cue points in order to get automated - it does it all for you. Coupled with the Artist/Commercial Intro/Outro voicetrack groups and auto time-announce feature, it offers pretty much everything. The latest version - I believe - now has a plugin for online requests that can be sent direct to the playlist.