Please Help..... Showing artist/title and weather in a loop (P164)

[coremediafl]

All was well and it showed the song titles and artist with no issues. Then I tried to add where it would change to the weather for a few seconds every 5 minutes. It shows that it's working I guess in RDS, but in vehicles, The weather stays on for long periods of time, then a short burst of the title/artist and then a blank screen for awhile on some vehicles and rows of strange characters on others. The top 8 character screen works fine. I have something set wrong. I can't even get back to the song/artist working on a regular basis. I have attached screen shots of the current settings.

[Jan]

In your Source 1 (CurrentSong.txt) the Expires After parameter is set to 10. That means "show the song only for 10 seconds, then disappear until the song name changes".

Suggested first aid solution: set to defaults:
Go to next after: 60
Keep in cache for: 0
Expires after: -1

For best result, consider following:
for the song, set Go to next after to 300 seconds, for the weather, set the Go to next after to 20 seconds
for the song, set the Expires after to 600 seconds (or whatever you want to prevent showing the song if the broadcast automation stops playing)
update the Magic RDS 4 to the most recent version
enable the RT+ for all the Sources; for the song, enable the item toggle ant item running control
enable the Output's transition optimizer (~15 seconds)
in the P164, enable the Dynamic group sequence and Default Radiotext

The P164 supports remote monitoring of the output data, just click on the RDS Spy button to see the effect of current settings. It usually tells you more than your car radio.

[coremediafl]

Magic RDS 4 is such a complicated program, especially when it comes with no instruction manual or customer support beyond the forum. I upgraded out the last eversion as per oyur recommendation.  Surprisingly, your suggestions and Chat GPT's paralleled each other. But it did not work. I decided to just eliminate the weather even though I could see it in the program working. I decided to go back to what was working without an issue, but now it doesn't work either. I am beyond frustrated. in the beginning on the Dynamic PS a the top, it rotated the following (all under 8 characters) WTLE.org to 95.9FM to Leesburg to Stream @ to WTLE.app It used to work great great.  Underneath it showed the field it drew from my automation program Year/Title/Artist or Title/Artist. It to worked just fine. Now the Dynamic PS stays static with the default WTLE.org. The bottom works and then it doesn't for a period of time and then it works again. This is without the vehicle moving in the stations' parking lot. I have not made any changes, except for now using Steno Tools, but I am not going through it at all for RDS. Computer to P164 unit via an IP connection. It goes to the MPX of our Aqua Cobalt TX. They have confirmed the TX settings are correct. I have attached the latest screen shots. I you need any other screen shots, please let me know!

[Jan]

Yes, the Magic RDS 4 is not trivial. It is because the RDS itself is not trivial. On the other hand, you still have the option to start by enabling only the basic set of features and you don't have to deal with anything that seems complicated to you now. The Magic RDS 4 covers it all - from beginners to experts. It is entirely up to you how deep you go. The software currently comes with more than 100 pages of instructions, more than 50 kB of ballon help tips, email support is available, and last but not least, this forum is available to you at any time, the range of information provided on the issue of RDS is probably unmatched anywhere else on the Internet.

Instead of sharing your "frustration", focus on the information you already have. For example, in the Dynamic PS settings, if you set the Number of repeatings to 1 and selected Then clear, don't be surprised if the message disappears after being repeated once.

In order to continue, please tell me what measuring equipment you're using for setting correct RDS output level and what is your current FM deviation caused by RDS.

[coremediafl]

I truly appreciate your patience with me. I know a fair amount about radio on the TX side and the audio side, but RDS is new to me. I have tried to read everything I can find. I could not find a manual specifically for Magic RDS 4, I did find one for the P164. Where can I find the Magic RDS 4 manual? My ultimate goal is to bet the best benefits i can out of RDS, I was able to fix the Dynamic PS rotation with your suggestion. Is there an infinite number that can go in there? I set it for 100 and for it not to clear for now. Deviation and RDS level  is set by the transmitter (see attached)

[Jan]

Looks good.

The Magic RDS 4 documentation is available under menu item Help - Magic RDS Help. The documentation is divided into several pdf files, each describing a specific module or topic.

The Dynamic PS settings are described in the RDS encoder's documentation. The "Number of repeats" and "Then clear" settings have meaning only if using the Dynamic PS as the External text source purpose. In recent years, we recommned not to use the Dynamic PS as it is obsolete and not covered by any standard. This feature will remain in our products, but we will no longer provide support for it.

[coremediafl]

Thank you!