Configure Stations

This is where you bring your channel to life. You'll create a small configuration file that tells FieldStation42 your channel's name, where to find your videos, and what to play at each hour of the day.

Note: This guide covers standard TV networks: scheduled programming with commercials and bumps, like a real broadcast channel. For other channel types (looping playlists, web channels, streaming, pay-per-view), see Channel Recipes.

Using the Web Console

If you prefer a visual interface over editing JSON by hand, the built-in web console lets you create and manage station configurations in your browser. Start the server:

python3 station_42.py

Then open a web browser on that same machine and go to http://localhost:4242/. If you're running FieldStation42 on a Raspberry Pi with a desktop, open Chromium or Firefox on the Pi itself and enter that address. You can also access the console from another computer on the same network by replacing localhost with the IP address of the machine running FieldStation42 (for example, http://192.168.1.42:4242/). From there you can create new station configs, edit existing ones, and see a summary of all your channels at a glance.

The rest of this guide covers the JSON config format directly, which is useful to understand even if you use the web console.

A Quick Word About JSON

Station configs are written in JSON, a simple text format for storing settings. It's a little fussy about formatting, so here are the things that trip people up most:

• Everything is wrapped in { } curly braces
• Setting names and text values need double quotes: "network_name" (single quotes won't work)
• Commas go between items, but not after the last one
• No comments allowed (you can't use // or #)

If something isn't working, paste your config into jsonlint.com. It will point you right to the problem. The most common errors are a missing comma, an extra comma at the end of a list, or a missing quote.

Create Your First Channel

Create a new file in the confs/ folder, something like confs/mychannel.json. Here's the simplest working config for a standard channel:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "network_name": "Classic TV",
    "channel_number": 4,
    "content_dir": "catalog/classic_content",
    "commercial_dir": "commercial",
    "bump_dir": "bump",
    "monday": {},
    "tuesday": {},
    "wednesday": {},
    "thursday": {},
    "friday": {},
    "saturday": {},
    "sunday": {}
  }
}

Here's what each piece means:

• network_name: The name viewers see. Call it whatever you want.
• channel_number: The channel number to tune to. Each channel needs a unique number.
• content_dir: Points to the channel folder you created in the previous step.
• commercial_dir and bump_dir: The subfolder names for your commercials and station promos (inside your content_dir).
• Monday through Sunday: Every standard channel needs all seven days defined. We'll fill these in next. Empty {} means off-air for that day.

Everything else has sensible defaults: 30-minute time blocks, commercials spread throughout shows, and so on. You can customize all of that later.

Build Your Schedule

Now for the fun part: deciding what plays and when. Each day gets a list of hours, and each hour gets a tag that matches one of your content folders.

Hours use 24-hour format and need to be in quotes:

• "7" = 7:00 AM
• "12" = noon
• "20" = 8:00 PM

Any hour you don't list is off-air. Here's a channel with Monday and Tuesday filled in:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "network_name": "Classic TV",
    "channel_number": 4,
    "content_dir": "catalog/classic_content",
    "commercial_dir": "commercial",
    "bump_dir": "bump",
    "monday": {
      "7": {"tags": "cartoons/looney_tunes"},
      "8": {"tags": "cartoons/looney_tunes"},
      "9": {"tags": "sitcoms/seinfeld"},
      "12": {"tags": "movies"},
      "20": {"tags": "sitcoms/seinfeld"},
      "21": {"tags": "sitcoms"},
      "23": {"tags": "movies"}
    },
    "tuesday": {
      "7": {"tags": "cartoons/looney_tunes"},
      "20": {"tags": "sitcoms"}
    },
    "wednesday": {},
    "thursday": {},
    "friday": {},
    "saturday": {},
    "sunday": {}
  }
}

The "tags" value is the name of a subfolder in your content directory. If you have catalog/classic_content/sitcoms/, you'd use "tags": "sitcoms", and FieldStation42 picks a random video from that folder each time. You can also point to a nested subfolder: "tags": "sitcoms/seinfeld" would pull only from that specific show's folder.

Remember: any hour not listed will be off-air. In the example above, the channel goes dark between 10 AM and noon on Monday, and between 8 AM and 8 PM on Tuesday.

Reuse Schedules with Day Templates

Typing out the same schedule seven times gets old fast. Templates let you define a schedule once and reuse it:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "network_name": "Classic TV",
    "channel_number": 4,
    "content_dir": "catalog/classic_content",
    "commercial_dir": "commercial",
    "bump_dir": "bump",
    "day_templates": {
      "weekday": {
        "7": {"tags": "cartoons"},
        "12": {"tags": "movies"},
        "20": {"tags": "sitcoms"}
      },
      "weekend": {
        "8": {"tags": "cartoons"},
        "20": {"tags": "movies"}
      }
    },
    "monday": "weekday",
    "tuesday": "weekday",
    "wednesday": "weekday",
    "thursday": "weekday",
    "friday": "weekday",
    "saturday": "weekend",
    "sunday": "weekend"
  }
}

Define your templates in day_templates, then assign each day to a template by name. You can create as many templates as you need, even a different one for each day of the week.

More Scheduling Options

Multiple Shows Per Hour

You can split an hour between different tags by passing a list:

"18": {"tags": ["news", "sitcoms"]}

Note that the two shows listed for 6 PM are wrapped in square brackets [] and separated by a comma. That's what tells FieldStation42 to treat them as a split hour rather than a single tag. This splits the 6 PM hour into two 30-minute blocks: news first, then a sitcom. Three tags would split it into three 20-minute blocks, and so on. If a show runs longer than its block, the next tag gets skipped.

Clip Shows

If you have folders full of short clips (music videos, comedy sketches, etc.), you can tell FieldStation42 to string them together to fill an hour:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "content_dir": "catalog/music",
    "clip_shows": ["music_videos", "comedy_shorts"]
  }
}

Then schedule them like any other tag: "14": {"tags": "music_videos"}. The scheduler fills the time with random clips, inserting commercials between them.

You can customize the target duration (default is 60 minutes) and add opener/closer clips:

"clip_shows": [
  {"tags": "music_videos", "duration": 30},
  {"tags": "comedy_shorts", "start_clip": "openers/comedy", "end_clip": "closers/comedy"}
]

Sign-Off Event

For that authentic broadcast feel, you can schedule a sign-off: a special video (like a national anthem) followed by an off-air pattern:

{
  "sign_off_video": "runtime/signoff.mp4",
  "off_air_video": "runtime/off_air_pattern.mp4",
  "monday": {
    "3": {"event": "signoff"}
  }
}

At 3:00 AM, the sign-off video plays, then the off-air pattern loops until the next scheduled hour.

Example Configurations

Here's a full working config you can copy and customize. Save it as something like confs/retrotv.json:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "network_name": "Retro TV",
    "channel_number": 8,
    "content_dir": "catalog/retro_content",
    "commercial_dir": "commercial",
    "bump_dir": "bump",
    "schedule_increment": 30,
    "commercial_free": false,
    "break_strategy": "standard",
    "standby_image": "runtime/standby.png",
    "off_air_video": "runtime/off_air_pattern.mp4",
    "day_templates": {
      "weekday": {
        "6": {"tags": "news"},
        "7": {"tags": "cartoons"},
        "8": {"tags": "cartoons"},
        "9": {"tags": "sitcoms"},
        "12": {"tags": "movies"},
        "18": {"tags": "news"},
        "19": {"tags": "sitcoms"},
        "20": {"tags": "sitcoms"},
        "21": {"tags": "drama"},
        "23": {"tags": "movies"}
      },
      "weekend": {
        "8": {"tags": "cartoons"},
        "12": {"tags": "movies"},
        "20": {"tags": "movies"},
        "23": {"tags": "movies"}
      }
    },
    "monday": "weekday",
    "tuesday": "weekday",
    "wednesday": "weekday",
    "thursday": "weekday",
    "friday": "weekday",
    "saturday": "weekend",
    "sunday": "weekend"
  }
}

FieldStation42 also ships with several example configs in confs/examples/ that you can copy to confs/ and customize:

• indie42.json: Basic traditional network
• movie_channel.json: Movie-focused channel
• loop_channel.json: Simple looping channel
• guide.json: Program guide setup

Configuration Reference

Here's a quick reference for all common settings. You've already seen most of these. This table is handy when you're tweaking your config later.

Only network_name and channel_number are required. Everything else has sensible defaults.

Going Further

Once your basic channel is working, there's a lot more you can do:

• Advanced Scheduling: Marathons, slot overrides, per-slot timing, and advanced day templates.
• Series in Sequence: Play episodes in order instead of randomly.
• Bumps and Commercials: Custom bumps per show, pre/post break clips, autobumps, and per-slot commercial directories.
• Scheduling Hints: Make content play only during certain months, times of day, or days of the week, just by naming your folders.

File Checklist

Before moving on:

• [ ] Config file saved in confs/ and ends with .json
• [ ] content_dir folder exists and has video files in subfolders
• [ ] commercial folder has short ad clips (if using scheduled time blocks)
• [ ] bump folder has station ID clips (if using scheduled time blocks)

Next Step

Your channel is configured. Head to Step 4: Generate Schedules to build the catalog and programming lineup.