Livewire Simple Delegation Switcher (lwSDS) is a freeware Livewire Source Selector. You can select any Livewire Source on your network, and send it to any xNode, Classic Node, QoR, PowerStation, IP-Driver, or Omnia Processor.

Originally released in July 2017, lwSDS has had thousands of downloads and is in use by radio and TV stations all over the world!

What does lwSDS do?

Livewire Simple Delegation Switcher acts as a single button-selector window. You can think of it like a simple Pathfinder Mini panel, or the press buttons on the front of your old analog audio switcher.

The software consists of a single configuration file and EXE. You can setup as many selector buttons as you like. Each one represents a Livewire Stream Number. As soon as you click on a button, it sends that Livewire stream to the configured destination. The active source has a red coloured background.

Your sources could be studios, computers, codecs, satellite feeds – anything! As long as it exists on your network as an Axia Livewire source, you can use it.

The application uses the Livewire Routing Protocol – a TCP based protocol with simple text commands. It does not require access to the Multicast data on your Axia Livewire network, so you can use it from any separate network – so long as TCP port 93 is accessible.

This software does not require a central server, yet you can still run it on as many computers as you like at any one time. The software subscribes to route change notifications on the Livewire device, so as soon as you change the stream number in one place, it shows up on every other computer running this software.

Application Notes

• lwSDS on a Raspberry Pi
• lwSDS for Profanity Delay Remote Control

Download lwSDS

Livewire Simple Delegation Switcher is available as a free download – there’s no catch, no upsell, and no time limitations. The latest releases are always available on this page.

lwSDS System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows
  • Tested on Windows 7, Windows 10, & Server 2008 R2
  • 32-bit or 64-bit is acceptable
• 15MB Free Disk Space
• Network access to your destination Livewire device (TCP Port 93)

lwSDS Setup Instructions

1. Download the latest release from this page
2. Extract the ZIP file to a convenient location on your computer (e.g. C:\lwSDS\)
3. Rename config-sample.json to config.json
4. Open config.json in Wordpad
5. Set the IP Address and Output/Destination number of your destination Livewire Device
6. In the “Sources” section, specify the names and Stream Numbers of all the sources you wish to be available in the application
7. Run LW-Delegation-Switcher.exe and try it out!

GPIO Setup

There are two ways you can use Livewire GPIO within this app:

1. GPI Inputs
2. GPIO Output Triggers

You can use these two features together, or separately, or not at all – it’s totally up to you!

GPI Inputs

You can configure this switcher to be controlled via the GPI pins on a single Livewire device. It’s an input – essentially a way of controlling the switcher from external hardware. There’s a 1:1 relationship between GPI pins and Switcher Buttons in this app. Whenever a pin is pulled low, the configured button in the lwSDS app is selected, changing the destination audio.

To configure this, configure global options ‘GPI_DeviceIP’ and ‘GPI_DevicePassword’, and source options ‘GPI_SwitchPort’ and ‘GPI_SwitchPin’.

If you don’t need this option, delete the lines with ‘GPI_DeviceIP’ and ‘GPI_DevicePassword’ from the config file.

GPIO Output Triggers

Output Triggers are used to send GPIO changes when a button is selected. Think of it as an output from this app, which is only sent whenever you press a button.

For configuration options, see the file ‘config-sample-gpiotriggers.json’.

Who’s using lwSDS?

There have been over 160 downloads (as of December 2017). Of these people, there’s a few who’ve contacted us to let us know. These include:

Kirk Harnack’s IP-STL – Kirk is running 4 radio stations over an IP-STL, and uses lwSDS to control paths and backup feeds. Watch the video for info on his setup:

A UK TV/Radio News Network is using it as a source selector for their news operations. They have a lot of columns! This was one of the first installations of lwSDS – and lead me to implement support for multiple columns.

A number of Community and Narrowcast radio stations in Australia are using it, including 2UUU Shoalhaven, Pulse 94.1 Wollongong, and Pulse FM Tasmania.

TAFE NSW has it in their radio training studios in Ultimo, for studio delegation and headphone switching.

Tim Wright (from WLS, Chicago – a Cumulus News/Talk station) is using lwSDS – and has even modified it to run on a Raspberry Pi!

A few people in The Broadcasting Club on Facebook have shared how they use it. This includes Ben Slagle of the Cumulus cluster in Youngstown, Ohio who’s using it to control the speaker feed in their lobby. He’s also put it on their laptop for remote broadcasts, allowing presenters to control the return audio – genius!

If you want to share how you’re using lwSDS, please email us. Alternatively, hit me up on Twitter.

Supported Devices

This software should work with any Axia Livewire device that supports the Livewire Routing Protocol on Port 93. This includes all official Telos Alliance products, and some third-party products too. Here’s a list of products we’ve been told work with lwSDS:

• Axia xNode (including SIP addresses)
• Axia Nodes (the original ones)
• Axia QoR (Radius & iQ)
• Omnia One
• Axia IP Driver for Windows
• BreakawayOne Livewire/AES67 add-on (you need to explicitly allow it in the Livewire config)

Troubleshooting

There are a few common problems you may experience while running this program. Here’s some suggested troubleshooting steps:

1. The Livewire Device isn’t accessible
   1. Try pinging the Livewire device
   2. Ensure there is no firewall blocking access on TCP Port 93
   3. Check to see there is no password set on the device (this isn’t currently supported)
2. There is an error with my JSON file
   1. Compare the configuration to the sample provided
   2. Copy and paste your full configuration on JSONLint to check it for errors
3. The application crashes with the error message “Failed to execute script LW-Delegation-Swicther”
   1. Try running the Debug version of the program from Command Prompt
   2. Log an issue on GitHub with the full error message and any other information that would help us debug it

Support Development of lwSDS

Livewire Simple Delegation Switcher has been provided to the international broadcast community as a free application, and it’s really taken off! There are three ways you can support the development of lwSDS:

• Subscribe to our Broadcast Tech Newsletter
• Share a link to this website via your social media
• Contribute financially to see extra features included
• Purchase one of our other products, such as Radio Websites or MetaRadio