Smarts Broadcast Systems

The UR tells the computer what days of the week and at what time to record a show
The Time Event makes the RIDZ switch to ensure the proper audio source is available for recording.

Before you begin to record any show, you need some basic information. You should have information about which days of the week, starting and ending times, pin-number the control come in on the "fan out" card, and the cut number(s) the show will be recorded to. The fan out card is a plastic card with 20 screw terminals on it that connects to the Smartcaster via a 20-pin ribbon cable. Also, if this show is multi-segmented (i.e., you will be playing commercial stop sets at different points of the show) then you will need a unique five digit cut number for each section of the show.

PROBLEM 1 - Recording a show that starts on time

To setup an unattended record, you must navigate to the proper screen. You begin at either the Blue Automation Mode Screen or the Red Live Assist Screen. Press the ESC key once to bring the MenuBar across the top of the screen. Next, using the right arrow key, move to the Programming Menu, and then press ENTER. The menu will drop down and you may select the Unattended Record menu by using the down arrow and pressing Enter. The screen changes, and should now read "Unattended Record" across the top of it.

You need to create a new UR, so press F1 to add.
Select the days of the week by pressing the SPACEBAR to toggle days on/off and ENTER to advance to the next day. (Notice the field name Open Window is displayed under the current box.)
Enter the time in HH:MM:SS (hours:minutes:seconds) format and press ENTER. The computer will place the colons for you.
The computer asks "Is this correct?" If correct, press Y to continue, if not, press N to re-enter times and days.
Press N for Not Applicable in the next box. IMPORTANT! Because this UR begins at an exact time, you do NOT need a Close WIndow--see the field name currently under the current box.
Next, you should be prompted to enter the Duration. How long is this show? Enter the value here in the HH:MM:SS format and press ENTER. It's a common mistake to set up a show for 02:30:00 instead of 00:02:30, so double-check your work.
You should now be at the End Relay field. If this UR is to end at an exact time, you DO NOT need this field and should set it to Not Applicable by pressing ENTER. If the ending time of UR can vary, type the digit number for the pin-number the control comes in on the "fan-out" card and press ENTER. If you're unsure of which number control comes in on, please consult your station engineer.
At this point, you should be in the Spot field. Enter the unique five-digit cut number you want the show's audio to be recorded to and press ENTER. If you type a cut number the Smartcaster isn't using, you will see "This sport does not exist. Do you wish to add it?" You should press Y and the computer will walk you through adding the Name, Start Date, End Date, Product Code, and Drive Letter information for the new cut number. You will be prompted "Is this correct?" Of course, you'd press Y if the information is correct. Pressing N allows you to re-enter the information.
Lastly, you'll be asked "Do you wish to add?" Press Y and the highlighted line should contain the new entry. Don't panic if you don't see the Unattended Records you have previously created. Press the up arrow to scroll to the top of the list again.

The completed entry should appear similiar to this:

_MTWTF_ 08:15:00 N/A N/A 00:30:00 N/A N/A 12345

Here's how it reads in English. You want to record a weekday show that starts exactly at 8:15 AM. The show is 30 minutes long and has no breaks in it. You've set aside cut number 12345 for recording it.

PROBLEM 2 - Recording a Show that the Start Time Varies Each Day

Navigate to the Unattended Record Screen.
You need to create a new UR, so press F1 to add.
Select the days of the week by pressing the SPACEBAR to toggle days on/off and ENTER to advance to the next day. Notice the field name Open Window is displayed under the current box.
Enter the earliest possible time that this show could begin in HH:MM:SS format.
The computer asks "Is this correct?" If correct press Y to continue, or N to re-enter the days and times.
Again, select the days of the week by pressing SPACEBAR to toggle days on/off & ENTER to advance to the next day for the Close Window.
You are now in the Start Relay field. Type the two-digit pin-number the control will come in on the fan-out card. This control will signal the Smartcaster to begin recording sometime between the times listed in the Start Window and Close Window fields.
The computer will ask you "Does start relay trigger multiple records within the record window?" Normally, you will select N. However, if you expect to receive control on the fan-out card multiple times during the duration of the UR, and would like to re-record new audio to the same cut number each time, you would enter Y. (Example: You have a 4-hour Unattended Record set up and wish to tape a network spot feed each hour. Each hour when the control reaches the fan-out card, the latest audio will be recorded into the same cut number. This allows you to automatically update your audio cut without needing separate numbers.)
Next, the computer will prompt you for the delay of the Start Relay. Enter the length of time the computer should wait before beginning to record in MMM:SS:HH and press ENTER. Or simply, press ENTER if there should be no delay. (The delay is a useful tactic to allow for local commercials. During a UR, the satellite show provider will send control down when the computer is to fire a local break. Because you are recording this show for later use, you need to "cut" out these times and only record the actual show.)
Please note that all Unattended Records have a choice of three ways to end the records. The first is Duration. If you know the exact length of the show or show segment, type in the HH:MM:SS format. Otherwise, type N to set the field to Not Applicable.
The End Time is similar to Duration, but is looking for a specific time in the hour to stop recording, such as 10:42:15. Select the days of the week by pressing the SPACEBAR to toggle days on/off and ENTER to advance to the next day.
The third way to stop the recording is the End Relay. Type the two-digit pin-number the control will come in on the fan-out card. This control will signal the Smartcaster to begin recording sometime between the times listed in the Start Window and Close Window fields.
At this point, you should be in the Spot field. Enter the unique five-digit cut number you want the show's audio to be recorded to. If you type a cut number the Smartcaster has not used, you will see "This spot does not exist. Do you want to add it?" You should press Y and the computer will walk you through adding the Name, Start Date, End Date, Product Code, and Drive Letter information for the new cut number. You will be prompted "Is this correct?" Of course you'd press Y.
Lastly, you'll be asked "Do you wish to add?" Press Y and the highlighted line should contain the new entry. Don't panic if you don't see the Unattended Records you have previously created. Press the up arrow to scroll to the top of the list again.

The completed show entry should appear similar to this:

S_____S 09:00:00 S_____S 09:07:00 03 N/A N/A 03 22223

Here's how it reads in English. You want to record a weekend show that starts sometime between 9:00 AM & 9:07 AM. The control comes in on pin 3 to signal the start for the recording. It has no commercial breaks in the middle of it. You don't know the exact time it ends. Pin 3 will also tell when to end the record. You've set aside cut number 22223 to record it.

Putting an End Time into multi-segmented records will help avoid "runaway" recording in which the Smartcaster keeps recording until your hard-drive is full.

Done correctly, an entry might appear like this:

_MTWTF_ 14:20:00 _MTWTF_ 14:28:15 05 N/A _MTWTF_ 14:50:00 05 34578

Feel free to call the support line if you have any questions or comments about this, or any other problems with the Smartcaster. Our support line is 800-765-2930, our fax number is 800-498-0618, and our email address is support@smartsbroadcast.com.

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