Posted by jpiazzo on June 30, 2011 at 5:49pm
Looking for input on anyone with these broadcast server experience - particularly in terms of their "open Source" cooperative philosophy and system compatibility. I have worked with Telvue, and they have been very cool and I like their base system.
Don't want to "color" this too much with my particular bias, and the devil is in the details - but I am now looking at (for a new station)
Telvue Princeton series B100, 3000 & Pro (might want HD / SD)
TightRope SX 2 (or LE) - (really like multi-format playback)
Leightronix Nexus Series (like built in router, Software offerings, price/performance ratio )
Comments
I have a SX2. I wouldn't
I have a SX2. I wouldn't trust the multi-format playback. For 24/7 operation having everything MPEG2 compliant is best. It works well in our open source environment and with Drupal.
I've also worked a bit with the Nexus. It's pretty much a closed box. You can ftp files in/out but that's about it.
Whenever we upgrade we will seriously consider a Telvue. The main reason we chose the SX2 was for device control but we don't need that any longer.
PSG and Cablecast
We actually run both Tightrope's Cablecast system on one of our channels and Telvue's PSG's for two of our channels. There are benefits and drawbacks to both systems.
We've been using PSG's for over four years now and the automated scheduling is finally working really well. One of the main obstacles we faced with our Drupal automation was having to move over every mpeg file from our archive to the playback servers and keeping track of all the airings. It has finally been sorted out and we are fully automated now, occasionally we have files that fail to transfer but there are now warnings we receive when that happens.
We only started using Cablecast for one of our channels last year when Ray Tiley came out from Tightrope to help make sure their system play nicely with our Open Media scheduling tools. We've been using it since Fall 2010 and have been happy with it. The biggest benefit to their system is that we don't have to move files around, we play them back directly from our archive. However, this means that occasionally there are times when the network is congested or a file for some reason or other cannot be played and you end up with a hole in your schedule.
Let me know if you have any further specific questions.
Ann
TelVue or TightRope
Talking about the "open-source cooperative philosophy", in our opinon, TelVue and CableCast/Tightrope are the only options. We have all three of the servers you mention here in Denver, and TelVue/CableCast have both been incredibly cooperative and invested a lot of time and money into making their systems work with open-source efforts like our Open Media Project. We have a Leightronix Nexus, but it does not integrate with the Open Media Project software, and despite inquiries from several of their clients, have not yet put any effort into ensuring that their system works with our open-source software.
Tony Shawcross
Whatever your first issue of concern, media had better be your second, because without change in the media, the chances of progress in your primary area are far less likely. http://denveropenmedia.org