Do you want to send Now Playing Song Data to your 2wcom RDS Encoder, from your Radio Automation System? MetaRadio makes this possible. This article explains the setup of MetaRadio and 2wcom RDS Encoders, allowing the current song title and artist to be displayed on RDS-enabled radios.

Sending song now-playing information to your RDS Encoder has clear advantages for your listeners and also your station. Now Playing data enhances the listener experience by allowing them to discover new tracks, and unlocks additional advertising opportunities by displaying promotional messages on your screen.

2wcom has range of current and discontinued RDS encoders. The ASCII protocol MetaRadio uses to connect to 2wcom encoders is believed to work on all IP-enabled 2wcom RDS encoders. We also have a generic UECP module, which also works on all known 2wcom encoders as well as a wide range of other RDS encoder brands.

What is MetaRadio?

MetaRadio is software which acts as a connector for your radio station’s metadata. It enables you to send your now playing data to dozens of different types of systems (including RDS), and also unlocks new opportunities for revenue and promotions by inserting commercial and non-commercial messages between your song data. While many automation systems can send data directly to some of these third party broadcast systems, MetaRadio aims to connect all your systems together and provide advanced features.

MetaRadio takes all the hard work out of connecting your metadata. There’s no need for custom scripting – MetaRadio does everything you need out of the box.

Getting Song Data From your Radio Automation System

Before you can send your song metadata to your 2wcom RDS Encoders, you must first install MetaRadio and connect it to your radio automation system.

MetaRadio has over 30 different input system – including all the major Radio Automation System vendors. If you don’t have reliable metadata available in your automation system, you may like to consider using radio stream fingerprinting software with MetaRadio.

There is a free trial available so you can test the entire system before committing to purchase.

Preparing your 2wcom RDS Encoders for IP Communication

You also need to prepare to your 2wcom RDS Encoders. In this section, we assume you are communicating with your RDS Encoder via IP. Serial is also supported (see the next section). Your 2wcom RDS Encoders should be on the same network as your MetaRadio PC, so the two systems can communicate.

  1. Open ARCOS Config and connect to your encoder. Make sure you press ‘Load all data’ to get the latest copy of all data on your encoder.
  2. Go to the Hardware Setup > Connection tab.

  3. On the “Connection” screen, enter a Port Number into the “Port AS” field. We’ll use “6670” in this example. If you are given a choice, choose “Terminal” or “ASCII” connection mode.
  4. If you haven’t already configured an IP Address, on the “Device Setup” screen, specify a IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway. This must be on the same subnet as your MetaRadio PC.
  5. On the left screen, press the “Save” button to commit these settings back to the RDS Encoder Hardware.

Preparing your 2wcom RDS Encoders for Serial Communication

  1. Open ARCOS Config and connect to your encoder. Make sure you press ‘Load all data’ to get the latest copy of all data on your encoder.
  2. Go to the Hardware Setup > Connection tab.

  3. On the “Connection” screen, select a Serial Port, set it to “Terminal”  Protocol and select a baud rate (if in doubt, use the default of 9600).
  4. In Windows, open the ‘Device Manager’ and check the port number assigned to your serial connection (e.g. COM4).

Sending Now Playing Data to your 2wcom RDS Encoders

Now we have successfully configured MetaRadio, our Automation System, and our 2wcom RDS Encoders – we are ready to connect all these systems together.

All configuration in this step is done in the MetaRadio Configuration App. By default, the MetaRadio configuration app is available by going to http://127.0.0.1:9606/

MetaRadio’s configuration interface lets you control all settings within MetaRadio.

  • The left contains the menu with various options – including the Input and Output settings.
  • The centre of the screen contains information about your system, including license details, and a summary of the inputs and outputs you have setup.

The options you see available will vary depending on the version you have installed, and the license options you have installed.

In the left menu of MetaRadio, click on “Outputs”. Find your station, and click “Add Output”. Now you can select “2wcom RDS (IP)” from the list, and configure its settings.

Click “Add Output System” under the “2wcom RDS (IP)” heading. You can now configure your system.

Enter the IP Address and Port Number of your 2wcom RDS Encoders. The port number we used in this example is “6670”.

You can then configure the messages that rotate. The “Now Playing Text Format” messages rotate whenever a song is playing. The “Default/Fallback Text” messages rotate whenever a song is not playing. The Message Interval determines how long a message displays on the screen.

2wcom uses special merge codes and strings, which are configurable. We recommend leaving this configuration as-is. These are used when a song is playing, and enable internal RadioText+ generation. The merge codes are:

  • TITLE
  • ARTIST
  • STRING1
  • STRING2
  • STRING3

Separate each of these five strings with a “+” symbol. You can enter arbitrary text into the ‘String 1’, ‘String 2’, and ‘String 3’ fields.

Click Save, and then click “Apply & Restart” up the top to restart MetaRadio.

The black MetaRadio window will now display a status update whenever a new messages is sent to your RDS Encoder.

If data is not displaying on your radio receiver, check the following:

  • Check the black MetaRadio status windows for errors
  • Check your network allows connections from your MetaRadio PC to your 2wcom RDS Encoders
  • Check your 2wcom RDS Encoders is configured correctly.

Support & Next Steps

Thanks for choosing MetaRadio to manage your now playing song data needs. Make sure you explore all the features, such as station scheduling, message scheduling, and all of our advanced output options. Please get in touch with us if you ever need assistance!

If you have any trouble with this process or it’s not working, please send the MetaRadio log files through to our support team. We’re here to help! You’ll find the support bundle file in MetaRadio’s dashboard.