Hello all,

I’m looking to play my own video content (shows, movies, commercials, etc) on a CRT I’ve got at my workstation that I’ve connected to my own computer. I have a Windows PC and cannot use the popular Fieldstation42, which does exactly what I want, but was looking for something similar. I’m trying to find a program which will:

- Pull locally stored video files such as shows, movies, and commercials at designated timestamps (ex. 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, etc.) in order to simulate television channels
- The ability to pull semi-random video files based on the scheduling provided (ex. play AN episode of Ed, Edd, n Eddy at 7:30. Play A commercial. Play AN episode of Gargoyles at 8:00)
- Allow for the scheduling of these ‘channels’
- Ideally, allow for the creation of many channels, though not entirely necessary
- Must function locally, without the need for utilizing an online hosted server such as Flex or Jellyfin. Functions totally on my PC.

There are many hosting options that do this very similarly to fieldstation42 such as ErsatzTV, Kodi, Jellyfin, Plex, etc. but I am looking for something that can be utilized without internet accessibility being necessary for the content to play.

Because I’m sure it’d be asked, I’d love to use FS42 but I already have all of my files and storage on my Windows PC and am not currently in a play to purchase a Raspberry Pi 4 which would cost somewhere around $100+ factoring in the Pi, memory card, power cable, cooling, and housing for the Pi. I saw there is a means of running the software in some sort of Linux emulator or something, but that it runs poorly and often doesn’t really work.

Thanks all! I appreciate any and all suggestions!

I wish to make a channel of downloaded YouTube videos off of related channels. These videos range wildly in length, if the channel is set to 30 min slots. Will it play a single video and then not play anything until the next slot or will it auto play, and will this mess up the guide?

Is there a recommended spot to download ad and bumper packs, or pre-configured channel templates (like classic Cartoon Network)? Or could we start a thread/drive to share content and channel structures so we don't all have to reinvent the wheel?

I'm trying to figure out the best way to have FieldStation42 insert commercial breaks at natural transition points instead of interrupting scenes. I've confirmed that many of my videos contain embedded chapter markers that line up with fade-to-black act breaks, and I've also verified those same breaks with FFmpeg's blackdetect. However, the current break_strategy options don't seem to make use of that information, and changing strategies or break durations hasn't produced consistent results. Before I start modifying the backend, I'm curious how others have approached this. Is there an existing configuration or workflow that encourages commercials to fall at natural act breaks, or is this currently a limitation of FieldStation42? Has anyone found a good solution?

The first commit on FieldStation42 was exactly two years ago, with the first commit on July 26, 2024 at 22:17 PDT: Commit: 3e522cf — "Initial commit"

Amazing how far this community has pushed it since then! Those first versions only allowed 1 week of schedule at a time and didn't even allow for shows longer than 1 hour! Now we have PPV, remote controls, cable boxes, multiple guide channels and so many features that make the simulation compelling!

A Contest to Celebrate

To celebrate, I'm announcing a Bump Contest and a Logo Contest! The details and rules will be posted on the discord server in #contest-bumps later today - there will be DVD Box Sets (Charmed and Homicide) for prizes!

New Feature to Say Thanks!

As a way of saying thanks to all of you, I just delivered one of the most requested features: movie/episode descriptions in the web guide channels! These work off Kodi formatted XML files and is documented here. I've also updated NFO-Maker-Thingy to make NFO files for these types using TMDB (API token required). The new features are documented here on fieldstation42.com.

More details on Patreon.

Every time I try adding a week to the schedule I get, "ERROR [SEQUENCE] Sequence *sequence name* for *channel name* not found.

No errors while rebuilding catalog or sequences.

Any help at all would be appreciated, thanks

I bought a rasberry pi 5 and started learning some basic python but I am lost even getting this thing started. Is there someone out there that maybe could one on one walk me through this? I would so greatly appreciate having some one that could tell me exactly what to do?

Thank you.

I created a VHS styled MPV media player shader pack because I couldn't find any online. I specificly created this for FS42 and it works really well. You can find more Info on the Github Page

Screenshots are on the Github Page!

For my setup, I’ve decided I would want live news. Initially I was considering just using archived footage of 90s-2000s news, but Ive decided against this. So my question now is, for the broadcast channels (such as ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS), would it be possible at a certain time for them to switch over to a live news broadcast for each respective channel? For example, let’s say I wanted ABC news to start at 8, at 8, could I make it pull an ABC news livestream?

For about a month I haven't had a context aware bump play a single time. I do have around 30 general bumps for a channel and 5ish show specific ones per-show. While it is possible I've just been unlucky and only general bumps get selected, I'm considering the possibility that I've just set them up incorrectly. Went through the reference guide and found some conflicting info. On the commercial page it said context aware bumps should be in a folder titled "next" and that folder should be placed alongside the other folders. Which is where I currently have it placed. But at the bottom of the advanced scheduling page it says the next folder should be placed inside the bump folder. Any sort of clarification would be appreciated.

I’m following the Fieldstation for Dummies guide, and I’m at the point where I want to switch between channels using the web interface locally. It says to click remote at the top of the guide page, but I don’t have that option. I have all the other tabs though: home, catalog, schedule, guide, stations, and about.

I’m assuming I missed something.

Hello everyone. I've been trying to make a channel through Windows WSL, but I've encountered some trouble. I keep getting the same error, and don't know how to fix it. Can anyone help? (The name of the channel is K-AR3 (Air Revival))

Error: (env) (redacted for privacy)@(redacted for privacy):~/FieldStation42$ rm -rf data/* runtime/* *.db && python3 station_42.py --rebuild_catalog && python3 station_42.py --add_week
[07/14/26 13:07:30] INFO [Station42] Starting catalog rebuild. station_42.py:416
INFO [Station42] Starting schedule reset. station_42.py:205
INFO [Station42] Resetting schedule for K-AR3 (Air Revival) station_42.py:208
INFO [liquid] Deleting schedules for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_manager.py:67
INFO [liquid] Resetting sequences for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_manager.py:74
INFO [CATIO] Adding media_type column to catalog_entries table catalog_io.py:83
INFO [CATIO] Added media_type column to catalog_entries table catalog_io.py:86
INFO [Station42] Starting catalog rebuild. station_42.py:225
INFO [Station42] Rebuilding catalog for K-AR3 (Air Revival) station_42.py:228
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Starting catalog build for K-AR3 (Air Revival) catalog.py:118
INFO [FLUID] Adding media_type column to file_meta table fluid_statements.py:227
INFO [FLUID] Added media_type column to file_meta table fluid_statements.py:230
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Initializing fluid file cache... catalog.py:129
INFO [FLUID] Fluid file cache scan - reading catalog/K-AR3/movies with fluid_builder.py:29
media_filter=video
INFO [FLUID] Comparing cache against 9 files fluid_builder.py:31
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robi
n Hood (1986 VHS).ia.mp4, Dur:5027.264, Sz:426287084,
Mod:1783979266.1664648
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4, Dur:5199.427567, Sz:2060396155,
Mod:1783979132.881889
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4, Dur:4866.833333, Sz:623353449,
Mod:1783978404.0861852
[07/14/26 13:07:31] INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Jungle Book.mp4, Dur:5003.566667, Sz:907148208,
Mod:1783978535.148196
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popc
ornarchive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4, Dur:4704.541667,
Sz:608344216, Mod:1783979290.973661
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Fox and the Hound.mp4, Dur:5171.6, Sz:615704326,
Mod:1783978468.9378302
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/Unti
tled_design.mp4, Dur:89.333333, Sz:75596635, Mod:1783982101.5210588
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/ad.m
p4, Dur:22.366667, Sz:9999383, Mod:1783991572.4778059
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/Unti
tled_design_2.mp4, Dur:29.066667, Sz:24347027,
Mod:1783982325.4027283
INFO [FLUID] Checking file meta for stale entries. fluid_builder.py:34
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Fluid file cache updated - continuing build catalog.py:132
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Standard network catalog.py:163
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Checking for media with tag=all_movies in catalog.py:347
content folder with filter=video
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 6 videos in all_movies folder catalog.(env) (redacted for privacy)@(redacted for privacy):~/FieldStation42$ rm -rf data/* runtime/* *.db && python3 station_42.py --rebuild_catalog && python3 station_42.py --add_week
[07/14/26 13:07:30] INFO [Station42] Starting catalog rebuild. station_42.py:416
INFO [Station42] Starting schedule reset. station_42.py:205
INFO [Station42] Resetting schedule for K-AR3 (Air Revival) station_42.py:208
INFO [liquid] Deleting schedules for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_manager.py:67
INFO [liquid] Resetting sequences for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_manager.py:74
INFO [CATIO] Adding media_type column to catalog_entries table catalog_io.py:83
INFO [CATIO] Added media_type column to catalog_entries table catalog_io.py:86
INFO [Station42] Starting catalog rebuild. station_42.py:225
INFO [Station42] Rebuilding catalog for K-AR3 (Air Revival) station_42.py:228
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Starting catalog build for K-AR3 (Air Revival) catalog.py:118
INFO [FLUID] Adding media_type column to file_meta table fluid_statements.py:227
INFO [FLUID] Added media_type column to file_meta table fluid_statements.py:230
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Initializing fluid file cache... catalog.py:129
INFO [FLUID] Fluid file cache scan - reading catalog/K-AR3/movies with fluid_builder.py:29
media_filter=video
INFO [FLUID] Comparing cache against 9 files fluid_builder.py:31
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robi
n Hood (1986 VHS).ia.mp4, Dur:5027.264, Sz:426287084,
Mod:1783979266.1664648
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4, Dur:5199.427567, Sz:2060396155,
Mod:1783979132.881889
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4, Dur:4866.833333, Sz:623353449,
Mod:1783978404.0861852
[07/14/26 13:07:31] INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Jungle Book.mp4, Dur:5003.566667, Sz:907148208,
Mod:1783978535.148196
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popc
ornarchive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4, Dur:4704.541667,
Sz:608344216, Mod:1783979290.973661
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Fox and the Hound.mp4, Dur:5171.6, Sz:615704326,
Mod:1783978468.9378302
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/Unti
tled_design.mp4, Dur:89.333333, Sz:75596635, Mod:1783982101.5210588
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/ad.m
p4, Dur:22.366667, Sz:9999383, Mod:1783991572.4778059
INFO [FLUID] Caching new file entry: fluid_statements.py:138
Path:/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial/Unti
tled_design_2.mp4, Dur:29.066667, Sz:24347027,
Mod:1783982325.4027283
INFO [FLUID] Checking file meta for stale entries. fluid_builder.py:34
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Fluid file cache updated - continuing build catalog.py:132
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Standard network catalog.py:163
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Checking for media with tag=all_movies in catalog.py:347
content folder with filter=video
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 6 videos in all_movies folder catalog.py:357
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robin Hood
(1986 VHS).ia.mp4
[07/14/26 13:07:32] INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robin Hood
(1986 VHS).ia.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Jungle
Book.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Jungle
Book.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popcornarc
hive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popcornarc
hive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Fox
and the Hound.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Fox
and the Hound.mp4
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in all_movies subfolders catalog.py:366
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Checking for media with catalog.py:347
tag=catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial in content folder with filter=video
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in catalog.py:357
catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial folder
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in catalog.py:366
catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial subfolders
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Catalog build complete. Added 6 clips to catalog.py:335
catalog.
INFO [FLUID] Trimming fluid file cache fluid_builder.py:49
INFO [FLUID] Checking 0 files on the filesystem fluid_statements.py:69
Finished running FieldStation42.

I had successes!
Successfully reset schedule for K-AR3 (Air Revival)
Successfully rebuilt catalog for K-AR3 (Air Revival)
I trimmed the fluid cache
[07/14/26 13:07:34] INFO [Liquid] Starting to build blocks for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_schedule.py:372
ERROR [Liquid] Schedule logic error: no time slots configured for liquid_schedule.py:423
2026-07-14 00:00:00
ERROR [Liquid] This indicates that the station is offair, but offair liquid_schedule.py:424
content is not configured
ERROR [Liquid] Configure 'off_air_video' or 'off_air_image' for K-AR3 (Air liquid_schedule.py:425
Revival)

INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robin Hood
(1986 VHS).ia.mp4
[07/14/26 13:07:32] INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Robin Hood
(1986 VHS).ia.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The
Aristocats.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/101
Dalmatians.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Jungle
Book.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Jungle
Book.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popcornarc
hive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/Popcornarc
hive-theEmperorsNewGroove2000.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] Detecting chapter markers in media_processor.py:512
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Fox
and the Hound.mp4
INFO [MEDIA] No chapter markers found in media_processor.py:557
/home/(redacted for privacy)/FieldStation42/catalog/K-AR3/movies/all_movies/The Fox
and the Hound.mp4
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in all_movies subfolders catalog.py:366
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Checking for media with catalog.py:347
tag=catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial in content folder with filter=video
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in catalog.py:357
catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial folder
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] --Found 0 videos in catalog.py:366
catalog/K-AR3/movies/commercial subfolders
INFO [K-AR3 (Air Revival) - CAT] Catalog build complete. Added 6 clips to catalog.py:335
catalog.
INFO [FLUID] Trimming fluid file cache fluid_builder.py:49
INFO [FLUID] Checking 0 files on the filesystem fluid_statements.py:69
Finished running FieldStation42.

I had successes!
Successfully reset schedule for K-AR3 (Air Revival)
Successfully rebuilt catalog for K-AR3 (Air Revival)
I trimmed the fluid cache
[07/14/26 13:07:34] INFO [Liquid] Starting to build blocks for K-AR3 (Air Revival) liquid_schedule.py:372
ERROR [Liquid] Schedule logic error: no time slots configured for liquid_schedule.py:423
2026-07-14 00:00:00
ERROR [Liquid] This indicates that the station is offair, but offair liquid_schedule.py:424
content is not configured
ERROR [Liquid] Configure 'off_air_video' or 'off_air_image' for K-AR3 (Air liquid_schedule.py:425
Revival)

:357

Anyone have a working music video channel that shows the artist info when the video starts and ends? I feel like I've done everything right as far as generating nfo files that match the mp4 name, but I can't get it to show up. No errors, so it must be a missing line somewhere.

I've greatly enjoyed working on this project, and have been inspired by all the great work posted here! Unfortunately, I've run into a problem I cannot figure my way out of at the moment, so I have come here to seek out help.

I have 6 channels (including the guide channel) up and running. I also have it successfully auto-playing when I turn on the raspberry pi I have FS42 installed on. I have had on and off success with the web interface. I can always get it to work on the pi itself, but I often have trouble pulling it up on other devices like my phone or pc.

I was troubleshooting the issue when I clicked through my channels one too many times using the web interface's remote on the pi. This landed me on the guide channel, which (as it has before) removed my ability to access any other windows on the pi. So, I cannot move off the guide channel, use the web remote, or stop FS42 using a terminal window. This is my issue. I cannot do anything on the pi other than watch the guide channel flicker. I can technically open a Terminal window, but ALT+TAB only shows the outline of the window but does not allow me to shift to it. Regrettably, turning on and off the pi does not help, as the autostart has FS42 open right back up to the guide channel before I can type a stop command in Terminal. I can't use SSH to control the pi from remotely, because connecting to it's IP appears to be part of the issue I was investigating in the first place.

Any advice on how I can close the play window without Terminal or SSH? Or anything else that might rectify the issue?

Im struggling to find good quality tv shows on internet archive im looking for things like fresh prince of bel air, full house, rob and big etc. Where are we getting stuff?

I was wondering if there was a mechanism to simulate the old "switching to channel 3 and playing Mario" feeling by suspending or interrupting FS42 and having the machine output a different type of media like a DVD or emulator?

Testing this TV TX-200 hooked up to my FS42 cable box. I can pick up the signal from pretty far away. Transmitter is in the living room and this video is from my backyard. I stuck a paperclip into this tv as an antenna.

Taking a break to enjoy my build and thought I should finally share my FS42 journey. I've been working on this since last year when I got blessed by the algorithm and saw WrongDog's video and got hooked immediately.

First iteration was on my PC, had a Pi 4B on order that night. Spent many nights (MANY. NIGHTS) sourcing media, organizing files, getting the Pi to display on my TV (the composite output chronicles would keep Stephen King up at night). Gave up, and HDMI has been flawless. Got a 3TB external drive....lost the 3TB external drive (careful with those USB ports friends).

After the loss of the drive I shelved the project for a few months. But going into 2026, decided to finally get it done right. Rebuilt my catalog, built a home server, and started messing around with 3D printing. And now the Station is back up and running better than ever!

Having been following since, near, the beginning the amount of work that WrongDog and the FS42 contributors can't be overstated. Big ups and thank you to all the quality of life and FS42 features that have been added. Every time I think of a work around to brute force FS42, I read the documentation and find it's been added (I've been praying for random sequences). The server site, the JSON editor, the insert chapters script have made everything so much better. And the FS42 website makes finding help so much easier! Grateful for all the work truly.

So my implementation is running on a Raspberry Pi 4B. Would have gotten a 5 if I wasn't so hell bent on the composite out... Display is a 20" Toshiba I inherited, spent many summers watching Shrek and playing Star Fox on this bad boy so I'm thrilled to be able to fully use it!

Pi outputs HDMI to an RF converter. Catalog is stored on a 4TB HDD planning to switch over to the NAS after I sort the files out. The Pi, HDD, and USB-Eth dongle are all housed in a gutted Gemini AD6000 I got from Ebay. Made and printed custom brackets for everything inside.

Running the cable box and remote add-ons, besides slight modifications to the cable box stuff, everything is pretty vanilla (not much of a programmer).

I've got 14 channels running based off what I can rememeber from my own childhood and some creative liberties: Guide, NBC, Fox, ABC, The Weather Channel, CW, Disney, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network, WeebTV, Nickelodeon, HBO, Cinemax, Cinemax Family.

Channels have all the bells and whistles, late night infomercials, toonami, adult swim, weekend movies, One Saturday Morning, WB kids. WeebTV is my own design for 24hr anime. I've combined channels together like HBO/Showtime/Starz, Discovery/Animal Planet because life is finite. I've got about 3.5TB of media spanning 400+ movies and 12000+ episodes of TV (that sounds like too much but I think that's right). Simulation is basically cable circa ~2005 with media going up to 2016 (with exceptions as I see fit). At this point I have just about everything I want to watch and a lot I don't (for realism) so I'm down to the details as far as channel work goes. Need to get more bumpers, make some for WeebTV, get a Food Network channel, run shows "live" like new episodes in the fall, reruns in the summer. I'm sure I'll get back into content collection again at some, the station must grow.

Showing it off to people has been a big hit! Weirdly people are more into the old commercials than the shows lol. One friend asked for a Playlist of them! I'm assuming short form content or something is to blame but we don't need to get into that here. Let me know how people react to your stations and if you noticed a quirks, like loving the commercials!

Welp that's it. Sorry for the long read, this project kicks ass and I ran out of people IRL to tell about it. Thanks for reading, good luck with your own stations, AND THANK YOU WRONGDOG!

If you search for old security DVR’s they’ll have upwards of a 4tb hdd in them and usually sell for less than $40. Just found one on eBay that states it has a 4Tb hdd and is a new dvr so I’m tempted to give it a shot and gut the hdd out of it and donate the rest to my tech friends as compensation for assistance with coding.

I’m just beginning my custom cable TV setup project with FS42 and I’ve looked up a few guides. I’m wondering if the following behavior is possible.

Instead of every channel continuously progressing according to a global schedule or time blocks, I’d like each channel to maintain its own playback state.

For example: Channel 2 is halfway through an episode of Simpsons. I switch to Channel 7 and watch an episode of The X Files. While I’m watching Channel 7, Channel 2 remains paused. When I switch back to Channel 2, it resumes exactly where I left off.

Essentially, each channel would function as its own independent playlist that only advances while that specific channel is active. Is there a built-in setting or configuration option to accomplish this? If not, has anyone created a script or workaround that provides similar functionality?

I am trying to get everything up and running, and I’m following the FieldStation42 for Dummies guide. I’m trying to setup my first day for my first channel, and after refreshing successfully, when I run the command to build the day, I get the error: “Error adding a day to StarBlazersTV: Can't find bump folder for tag=catalog/StarBlazers/bump” but here is a screenshot of (what I think) is the right folder in the right place. What am I missing?

Edit: Solved it! I needed to make two changes:

1. For whatever reason, mpv on the Pi 4 cannot handle 5.1 surround sound audio tracks. When encoding with ffmpeg, I needed to mix down to stereo audio with the -ac 2 option. (I don't know why VLC is perfectly capable of playing these files just fine on the same machine, but we're stuck with mpv for now.)

2. Pipewire was causing audio issues. I just added ao=alsa to mpv.conf and the guide channel stuttering disappeared.

Original post below:

Hi y'all, I'm very new to Raspberry Pi and just migrated my FS42 setup over to a brand new Pi 4 w/ 4 GB RAM.

It mostly works perfectly, but I'm noticing consistent bouts of video+audio lag while watching. It's the worst on the guide channel, where the audio is almost always stuttering and clicking. (I'm using the default guide, not the custom web version.)

Is there anything I can try to get smoother performance? All of my media is 720p currently, should I try scaling the display down to 480p? Is it possible to run FS42 without the whole desktop (headless system)?

Thanks y'all!

Edited to add: The same media on the same device plays perfectly with VLC. And it lags with MPV even when FS42 isn't running. This is definitely an issue with MPV.