The project was completed at the end of 2022 with the extension of two licenses and the migration of the database server.
AEQ
The University of Costa Rica, also called by its acronym, UCR, is one of the five state universities of the Republic of Costa Rica, being considered one of the most prestigious and recognized in Latin America and the best university in Central America and the Caribbean. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in Montes de Oca, about 3km from the center of the country's capital, San José.
The Radio Stations of the University of Costa Rica promote the free expression of ideas through diverse, creative and quality programming. The three university stations are dedicated to the dissemination of artistic and educational content and analysis of local and international politics.
They currently have 3 frequencies:
-Radio Universidad 96.7FM: It is the only Costa Rican station dedicated to the dissemination of academic music of the great world and national composers and performers. Its productions are dedicated to the cultural, literary, scientific dissemination and the analysis of the national and international reality.
-Radio U 101.9 FM: The diversity of content and musical genres make the difference in Radio U. Its programming stimulates the audience with multicultural, reflective and experiential music. Independent productions and the collaboration of university students create a unique space to experiment and innovate.
-Radio UCR 870AM: The 870 UCR is dedicated to the dissemination of public service content. The programming affects the quality of life of its listeners through continuing education programs and inclusive social communication.
Automation renewal
The University of Costa Rica (UCR) decided to renew its AEQ Mar4Suite Pro automation system in use for many years, by the current AudioPlus system. The Project has been developed in stages over the last few years.
For each frequency, a broadcast license and a production license have been installed, giving a total of 3 Playout licenses and 3 Planner licenses.
The versatility of AudioPlus licenses allows any programmer of any station to make contributions to different frequencies. If required, the broadcast stations can also be versatile by being able to integrate on the same computer two or more players that can be diversified to different frequencies.
The most important advantages of migrating from Mar4Suite Pro to AudioPlus are:
-Centralized server in the university farm.
-Integration of university network units in AudioPlus for mass import/export of audios.
-Cataloguing of your sound library by any filter that is required.
-Semi-automated audio imports and normalizations.
-Safe mode: AudioPlus is able to output whatever it has loaded in cache without needing to rely on a server. In this way, full days or weeks can be automated without the need for a connection to a central server.
-Low investment in hardware: Audioplus accepts any audio card on the market, whether professional, semi-professional or low cost. UCR reused cards it used in other applications so as not to lose that investment.
-Comprehensive migration of audios and metadata. No audio was lost in the migration process.
In 2022, the Project was completed with the installation of two new licenses, the migration of its Database and Audio server to a more current one, without the need to stop the broadcast due to the integration of the secure mode, and a 2-day training was given to the new staff to explain the main characteristics of the system.
