RadioWeather DIY
DIY automated weather that doesn't sound automated!
Chapter I
What is RadioWeather DIY
RadioWeather DIY is software-as-is product that provides accurate weather conditions, forecasts throughout the day or night. You Provide the Voice and oversee all the install and continued maintenance of the product.
You are given the tools to create your own voice and we have condensed the list of voice-overs down to, what we think, is a reasonable amount, with an ability to be up running and playing your voice on the radio within a few hours.
Download RadioWeather DIY and see for yourself, look around and see what voice-overs you will need and if you like what you see, Call us at Shiny Stone Digital - 817.631.3266
Price
$ 25.00/Month (Paid by Year) ($300.00)
NOTE: As a side note regarding price; when you become one of our clients, we will do our best to never increase your then current rate for what you've purchased for as long as your account is active / current. We commit to this as a "thank you" for being a continued member of our radio family. Everything is available through Shiny Stone Digital is month-to-month. We want you to work with us because you love our products and services, not because you are locked into an ironclad and restrictive long-term contract (with built in yearly increases). With that said, please understand that there could be times (typically external) that would prevent us from being able to do this; obviously we will do our best to notify you well in advance if such a circumstance were to ever occur (knock on wood, it never has).
Chapter II
Getting Started
Downloading RadioWeather DIY is simple and easy and with the steps below you will have it installed and ready to start recording your voice.
Although you can use this browser to install, the experience may not be as smooth; with that said...
Please download this installation program to begin the process. (You can also try downloading and executing this.)
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Go to ShinyStone.com And under Radio Services click the More button.
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Under the Projects Section you will find the link to RadioWeather DIY and click.
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(If you are already using the above search engines then just go straight to http://www.shinystone.com/Projects)
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Scroll Down to the Install section of the page.
Click the Begin Installation to begin the install process.
- A prompt will pop up asking if you want to proceed.
Click the Open button.
- The application Install-Security Warning will pop-up.
Click the Install button.
- After RadioWeather DIY installs you will receive a Windows pop up letting you know that an app has been installed and asks if you want to precede. There appears no way to go forward but if you click on the More Info icon you will see new button pop-in.
Configure Automatic Start-up
Now that you have installed RadioWeather DIY you will need to set up your computer to run it automatically whenever your computer restarts.
This requires two parts:
* Automatically launch Windows with a default user.
* Automatically launch UAW.
Automatically launch Windows with a default user.
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First step is to open the Run command box by simultaneously pressing Windows logo and R keys (Windows+R). In the Run dialog box, type Netplwiz and then press OK key.
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Uncheck the checkbox "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer".
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Click the Apply button
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In the Automatically sign in window, type your password and then re-enter the password to confirm.
- Click the OK button
You have now setup the computer to not need a password upon reboot.
Automatically launch RadioWeather DIY
%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
You can access the Run Command by right-click on the Windows Icon (bottom left) then click "Run". Or use the Windows + R key combination to access.
- Then Paste the Run Command into the window, click OK.
This will open the Windows Explorer window to the Startup folder. Place the batch file you created into this folder.
- In the Startup Folder you will need to make sure that "FIle Name Extensions" are turned on.
- Make a new "Text Document". Do that by using the New Item dropdown. And rename the document to UAW.cmd
- Open up the the new .cmd file and copy/paste the batch file below
@ECHO OFF
REM Place in %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
IF EXIST "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Shiny Stone Digital\Unattended Weather.appref-ms" (
"%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Shiny Stone Digital\Unattended Weather.appref-ms") ELSE (start /b "" cmd /c del "%~f0"&exit /b)
- Right-click and click Edit to open this file in notepad, Paste the batch file
- CLick Save and you have setup UAW to automatically launch upon reboot.
You have now completed the Install and configuration to allow RadioWeather DIY to run and stay running after a reboot of the computer.
Chapter III
Features
These are Unattended Weather DIY's main screen. From here you can access all the functions/capabilities.
But before we dive into the Menu Bar we are going to show you the many unseen features that we want you to know about.
There are 5 areas that you can click on to get info or are links to outside websites.
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The red area of the screen allows you to click through the conditions of weather, Current, Today, Tonight, Tomorrow , and Tomorrow night and read them in the screen above.
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The big yellow box shows you the conditions. clicking in the box area will open your web browser to the National Weather Service local weather webpage.
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In the area of the small yellow box is a link to open up your web browser to the Nation Weather Service Global web page. Special Note if you shift-click in this area you will go to a different page we just found. NWS Weather & Hazardous data Viewer.
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Clicking on the weather icon (in blue square) will open up your Output path. So it can be played in the playback system.
Main Screen Menu Bar
All 4 of these have dropdown menus and we will go over them individually.
Menu Bar File Tab
The file tab has the Exit button.
If you wish to close down the software. You can always double-click on the desktop icon to restart Unattended Weather.
Menu Bar View Tab
The View tab has Status Bar checkmark and Refresh F5
The Status Bar checkbox turns on/off the conditions area of the main screen. This hides the station and version.
The Refresh F5 refreshed the main screen window. And get the latest info from the weather service.
Menu Bar Tools Tab
The Tools tab has Options and Recorder (DIY)
Recorder(DIY) opens up the Recorder Screen. We will discuss this in depth in the Set-up and Support section below.
Options opens up the Configuration pane. We will discuss this in depth in the Set-up and Support section below
Menu Bar Feedback Tab
The Feedback tab has Report a Problem and Provide a Suggestion tab.
Report a Problem is The way to contact us regarding an issue, bug or complaint.
Provide a Suggestion is a great way to contact us, Share an idea...say something, Have a opinion...let us know.
Chapter IV
Set-Up
Now that you have Unattended Weather DIY or are still just lookin around a little more. This is where we ae going to tell you how to set Unattended Weather yourself.
Some of the pictures will have redacted info for security reasons.
Configuration Screen
Under Tools and then Options in the Main Menu will bring up the Configuration screen.
## Configuration General Section
Enable Silent Updates - True/False - Pops up a window letting you know that an update is in progress. Setting this to True will turn this off.
Prompt for Shutdown - True/False - This is an added layer of safety if you want/need it, A pop up will ask if you really want to shut down Unattended Weather and ask that you type in a 4 digit response to turn off Unattended Weather DIY.
## Configuration License Section
Calls - Text Field - Your Call letters - Must match license.
Email - Text Field - Your Email address - The address of the person you want us to contact.
Key - Text Field - Unique key code for your station.
Name - Text Field - Your Name.
Phone - Text Field - Your phone number.
Voice - Dropdown - Your Voice is the only one to choose from.
## Configuration Service Section
Active - True/False - Most of our users use National Weather Service but whichever you use, The one Active needs to be true and if you have the other make sure it's False.
Latitude - Text Field - Place your Latitude here. You can get this by Web Search for Latitude/Longitude of my Zip Code.
Longitude - Text Field - Place your Longitude here. You can get this by Web Search for Latitude/Longitude of my Zip Code.
Configuration Weather Instruction Section
Output - Text Field - Address of your output file. The file that will be used by your automation system, so make sure this is directed to that file.
Output Cache (Hours) - Text Field - This will save the output files for set time (hours) In a date and time format. Up to 24 hours and this will take up space on your computer's hard drive.
## Configuration Weather Segments Section
Current - True/False - True to turn on the current part of the weather audio file.
Today - True/False - True to turn on the today part of the weather audio file.
Tonight - True/False - True to turn on the tonight part of the weather audio file.
Tomorrow - True/False - True to turn on the tomorrow part of the weather audio file.
Error Messages
If for some reason you exit the Configuration window and you get:
You may have made a mistake in one or more fields, so double check;
* Calls
* Key
* Latitude
* Longitude
The True/False settings will set the condition to be on/off.
Testing your weather
To test for yourself what will play, close the configuration pane, open up your output file by left-click the weather square on the main screen,this will open up your output file and then double-click the .wav file to hear how you have your weather set-up.
Please make sure you close out of your music player when you are done, Some music players keep the .wav file in use and Unattended Weather DIY cant replace whats in use.
If you like what you hear, then you are done. If you want to add more or take some away go back in to the Configuration pane and adjust your weather segments to find the right weather set-up for you.
# Chapter V
## Your Voice Recorder
Under Tools on the Main Menu is Recorder (DIY).
Clicking on this will bring up the Recorder.
In the Recorder there are areas we would like to talk about:
Yellow Area - Filtering Drop-down to start easy and then to expand on more of Your Voice.
Red Area - The working area of the Recorder. With easy to use Play, Record and Delete buttons.
With these three easy buttons it wont take too long to get into a rhythm and these recording will go smoothly and quickly.
Play - Playback any recording to listen.
Record - Left mouse click on/off.
Delete - To remove one and try again.
We have also set up Hotkeys.
CTRL+E - Adobe audition
DEL - Delete
R / Enter - Record
P / Space - Play
S / ESC - Stop