Well, I decided that I needed some NEWS on my micro station and NPR fit the bill.
They provide hourly updates for IPOD users. They usually introduce it by thanking you for downloading and then run one commercial. The ‘cast runs 5 minutes.
The news is national and international and very good quality. Now I just have to figure out how to automatically delete the file after it’s played.
Well, I decided that I needed some NEWS on my micro station and NPR fit the bill.
They provide hourly updates for IPOD users. They usually introduce it by thanking you for downloading and then run one commercial. The ‘cast runs 5 minutes.
The news is national and international and very good quality. Now I just have to figure out how to automatically delete the file after it’s played.
Next I need to find a good audio source for weather as I don’t have time to record hourly weather updates. I’m using Weather Watcher with ZaraRadio and can insert current Time/Temp/Humidity but that’s not a forecast.
I’ve tried some of the TEXT to VOICE synthisizer programs but they’re just not ready for prime time yet.
There are several programs
There are several programs that will automatically download a file at certian times during the day. Some are even free.
I use a a automatic FTP program to retrieve the local forecast from Pirateweather.com 4 times a day. The program I use deletes the old file and writes the new one using the old file’s name. If it is unable to download that file. i have written a script that gets a file that says ‘not available’ and renames it to be used until the downloader retrieves the new weather forecast. Also, if it is unable to retrieve the new forecast after 3 trys (3 hours), it will try again every 2 hours till it does.
Since I use ‘Direttore’ as the automation software it’s possible to edit the cue points of the audio files, Thus, possible to start playing the file past the point where pirate weather mispronounces our city’s name. The weathercast is done by playing a vocal intro, the weathercast, and current conditions. The flow is smooth and the only thing that really sounds “mechanical” is the downloaded forecast, but, it really doesn’t sound bad.
I have used the ZARA radio software on another computer and found that the FTP program works fine, the only trouble being the inability to start the downloaded mp3 file past the mis pronounced name.
I’ve attempted to use the FTP program to download another daily program without success due to the way it was posted to the server. I “catch” a live Newscast off a satelite rig I have at the top of the hour, but, I’m going to check out the NPR Podcast to see if I can relieve the satelite receiver of its current duties.
The program I’ve been using is “reget deluxe” and was on the computer I was given. (reget.com).