P164 - EAS/EASTIME Protocol

[mendotatech]

Hi All,
So far, been having good results with the P164 with MagicRDS 4 as I'm tying Song Titles with Hourly Station Announcements and a Program Guide (Long Story, Neither here nor there.) . I have a SAGE EAS ENDEC 3644 and it appears to have a "Peripherals" section where I can select between a few devices. One of them happens to be a competing RDS encoder and only seems to ask for a URL to send data to.

In comparing what the P164 (Page 49, Manual) and the competitor protocol standard is, it appears similar. EAS/EASTIME.

Since I'm using MagicRDS 4, do I need to set it up to receive the commands from the SAGE Endec? If so, how would I go about doing that? I don't seem to find anything in the documentation except for possibly directly connecting with the P164. Again, I haven't the slightest clue.

Thanks in Advance.

[Jan]

The Magic RDS 4 can provide an entry point to the RDS network for another device or application, to expand the range of other services broadcast.

If the device provides a data output which is compatible with the RDS encoder command set, use the setup as showed in Help - m4vp.pdf, section 'Data Splitter for RDS Encoders'.

If the device output uses incompatible data format, you still have the option to at least partially control the RDS encoder with it. Appropriate setup is showed in m4vp.pdf, section 'Redirecting to External Text Sources'. Then use the External Text Sources function called 'Text conditions' to send RDS commands, based on the occurrence of keywords or sequences in the text received from the device.

You should consult with the manufacturer of the SAGE Endec device to determine which method is suitable for your case.

The Magic RDS currently accepts input data via following interfaces: serial RS-232, TCP server, TCP client, UDP, HTTP server (GET method), HTTP client, FTP client, Windows file system.

[mendotatech]

So I did try that out using the competitor product standard on the SAGE EAS ENDEC connecting via TCP to Magic RDS 4 and this is what I was able to capture in the recent events.

25-11-14 09:04:33; SAGE ENDEC: Client 10.5.10.147 connected
25-11-14 09:04:35; Radiotext and Dynamic PS text:  MONTEREY BAY MORNING SHOW -  DON BROOKLYN
25-11-14 09:04:35; Radiotext and Dynamic PS Dynamic PS text:  MONTEREY BAY MORNING SHOW -  DON BROOKLYN
25-11-14 09:04:36; KMBY-FM: Command not accepted: XCMD=<rds><item><text> MONTEREY BAY MORNING SHOW -  DON BROOKLYN</text></item></rds>
25-11-14 09:04:36; KMBY-FM: Command not accepted: DPS1ENQ=
25-11-14 09:04:36; SAGE ENDEC: Client disconnected, 0 clients remaining

So far, I'm able to get TCP data through, but it looks like none of it is what the P164 is expecting for EAS. I'll reach out to them.

[Jan]

It doesn't look like there is any data sent from the SAGE ENDEC.
The XCMD and DPS1ENQ commands are generated by the Magic RDS 4 External Text Sources, the KMBY-FM connection is configured for some PIRA encoder but another device is connected. Inovonics and others do not support X-Command or Dynamic PS queue. For such encoders use the Lite ASCII model.

Anyway, there's no need to guess and hope, because the Magic RDS 4 allows you to track the data at any point, using the RX Monitor in the Virtual Port and Communication Monitor at each Connection output.

The SAGE ENDEC must be a Virtual port, as proposed before. It cannot be a Connection. In simple terms: Connection = DATA OUTPUT, Virtual port = DATA INPUT.

[mendotatech]

I'll have to pull from that log later...

But I did receive ASCII data from the EAS Encoder on the program.

And yes, we are using a P164 as the encoder.

[Jan]

At the end of your efforts you should see the EAS= and EASTIME= commands in the Communication Monitor of each Connection feeding the P164. The commands are not sent to the encoders until they appear there.

[mendotatech]

Here's what I have logged...
ASCII: EAS=Required Weekly Test
ASCII: EASTIME=30

I did perform a screen capture and here's that link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_pSDOilZSn1CtSSz-l-bPmm8PpTdiDw/view?usp=sharing

[mendotatech]

It looks like I misunderstood the error. Still, I think being that I'm sending a Weekly Test, that's less than 10 seconds total (yes, I see the data has it pegged at 30 seconds). I may stand a better chance waiting for the Monthly Test or an actual alert since those messages are usually 90 seconds in length.

That all said, I think we may have found a way to get this working. Thanks!

[Jan]

Yes, I think it is working now. You can see in the video that the Virtual port receives the EAS commands. At the same time, these commands should appear in the Communication Monitor in Overview, which is a monitor of the data going to the encoder.