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Google/Wide Orbit Automation

radiogooroo said:
ChiefOperator said:
Does WO actually require these actions for the system to continue to run? Seems like a burden for such an expensive system. My less expensive automation is rebooted only every 3-4 months, just when we update the OS.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm running BSI's OpX and my last reboot was after 309 days, and that was purely to install an update with new features. I have no idea how long it would have run trouble free. I've been running for about 4 months with no restarts on the current version.
Click to expand...

How is Op-X different from Simian? They seem to market Simian much more than they do the other product. How well does the voice tracking part work? I'm curious. I just like to know about different systems.
 
Doc, The Dos version of music master will run just fine on XP. You may need to find the "right" version, and you have to play with settings to get the full screen to come up right. if you call MM they can zip you right through it.

I haven't tried 7 or vista with it, but I bet that would work too. We have DARTS traffic running on Vista, no problem.
 
"Penny wise and pound foolish."... Yeah. He would be better to at least trade a decent computer out and have you install the software on it if he insists on staying with the ancient software. Recently I've found the big guys to be the ones that act like the guy you've described. To be honest, in Oklahoma at least, the small market guys are the ones that seem to have a clue anymore. They'll budget upgrades for worn out stuff. They realize when crap breaks in their small market it won't be fixed by a staff engineer in an hour somehow. It's going to be a while and they don't want to look bad to their community. The tide is turning, and it's small market where it's starting to get right again. At least 4 small market clusters I know about in the state have recently put a bunch of capex in their studios and transmitters. Several non-coms around the state have decent stuff. While several of the big guys engineering staff are made to work with relics, lots of the rest of state is improving a lot. It amazes me how things have inverted.
 
Boy, you hit it right on the head. Small and medium market is where things are going on. It's cool to watch, actually. The big guys all are forced by corporate to keep piling on the chewing gum and baling wire because their capital partners need to look good for the Wall Street boys, but in small markets, the correlation between equipment uptime and bottom line is much more direct and visible.

-- Doc
 
Six stations in the cluster and one is down--and management is a 1000 miles away, doesn't want to spend money.

One station and management lives 2 miles away. Gets fixed in a hurry.
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
"Penny wise and pound foolish."... Yeah. He would be better to at least trade a decent computer out and have you install the software on it if he insists on staying with the ancient software. Recently I've found the big guys to be the ones that act like the guy you've described. To be honest, in Oklahoma at least, the small market guys are the ones that seem to have a clue anymore. They'll budget upgrades for worn out stuff. They realize when crap breaks in their small market it won't be fixed by a staff engineer in an hour somehow. It's going to be a while and they don't want to look bad to their community. The tide is turning, and it's small market where it's starting to get right again. At least 4 small market clusters I know about in the state have recently put a bunch of capex in their studios and transmitters. Several non-coms around the state have decent stuff. While several of the big guys engineering staff are made to work with relics, lots of the rest of state is improving a lot. It amazes me how things have inverted.
Click to expand...

I am in a small market, but we do have 6 stations. My owner is my GM. Since I multitask (I program two stations, do an airshift on one, and manage IT for the building), I have a great deal of latitude in IT upgrades, because I need quality machines that will work, so I can get my other jobs done.

It is nice to be able to walk into an office and get something approved immediately.
 
Seconded! My 2 bosses are the owners. I multitask like mad between all aspects of it from engineering, to IT, programming, and even some on air. I get to choose what hardware and software which we adopt with the other engineers. We are sound quality minded and reliability minded. No mega-corporate BS here.
 
The owner/operator and smaller stations are really the place to be anymore. It's cool to see the little guys become to the premier place to work. I love helping them win. It's still real radio.
 
chriscollins said:
How is Op-X different from Simian? They seem to market Simian much more than they do the other product. How well does the voice tracking part work? I'm curious. I just like to know about different systems.
Click to expand...

They couldn't be more different. OpX is a modular approach. There's a file server module that typically runs on a server class machine, an audio server module that functions as the audio playback engine, a studio client module (the on-air screen) that you use to control the audio server and doubles as the playback engine for hot button audio, a file manager that you use to import audio into the system or export audio out of it, a clock builder module that you use to build clocks for automation, etc.

The studio client module can run on as many workstations simultaneously as you want. In my studios, there's a touch screen with the studio client module facing both the operator and co-host positions.

All communication between modules is IP based. There are no Windows file shares anywhere in the system, so it's very secure.

The system is completely scalable. You can run all the modules on separate machines, and build in as much redundancy as you want, or they can all run on the same machine for smaller operations.

The voicetracking works very well. Easy to use and can sound as live as Nexgen IMO.
 
radiogooroo said:
chriscollins said:
How is Op-X different from Simian? They seem to market Simian much more than they do the other product. How well does the voice tracking part work? I'm curious. I just like to know about different systems.
Click to expand...

They couldn't be more different. OpX is a modular approach. There's a file server module that typically runs on a server class machine, an audio server module that functions as the audio playback engine, a studio client module (the on-air screen) that you use to control the audio server and doubles as the playback engine for hot button audio, a file manager that you use to import audio into the system or export audio out of it, a clock builder module that you use to build clocks for automation, etc.

The studio client module can run on as many workstations simultaneously as you want. In my studios, there's a touch screen with the studio client module facing both the operator and co-host positions.

All communication between modules is IP based. There are no Windows file shares anywhere in the system, so it's very secure.

The system is completely scalable. You can run all the modules on separate machines, and build in as much redundancy as you want, or they can all run on the same machine for smaller operations.

The voicetracking works very well. Easy to use and can sound as live as Nexgen IMO.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that... It is very similar to the way my AudioVAULT Flex is setup. The only real difference is that on most of my machines, UI runs on the playout engine machine.

I have two that run separate UI's and the engine boxes are in the rack room.

Thanks for the info!
 
Back to Maestro, We use it company wide. Between the engineers in all of our markets, we know it better than WO support does, so were able to figure out everything on our own pretty easily. Do have a few Maestro GUI crahes once in a while if someone tries to voicetrack on an air studio workstation (which we tell them not to do) since we only have one Audio Science card. In another operation, I have two cards in every machine, one dedicatd to voice tracking, and it's not ever once crahed due to voice tracking on an air studio workstation. Come to think of it, many of those units have never crahed to my knowledge.

Only thing I have to get from WO support is the license file if I change the LAN on any of the workstations. It somehow includes the Mac address in the license file. So if you change LAN cards, gotta get a new licesne file. That was Dave Scott's big (and to my knowledge, only) addition to Maestro. Before he took it over there was no License required. Just a key when installing.... Gee thanks Dave!
 
Greetings fellow SS32 users.

I recently came back to our 4 station group in Elmira, and while gone for a few years, they upgraded to the SS32 system. Having missed out on the support while it was being installed, I'm lost, confused, and sometimes want to crawl into a ball in the corner.

I've tried reading the manual, but i just get to a point with 100s of questions after that. Flying blind, and trying to lovingly caress the system(you know you have to talk nice to it) into working right.

Is there anyone that can help me...specifically about templates, merging with commercials, and special programs.

Thanks ever so much, oh yea..we don't have any support whatsoever..it's to me like..here's the equipment...you figure it out!

Thanks
Brian Stoll
607-732-1400 (Eastern time zone)
Usually in the station 10a-2p after the morning show.
 
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