How to use the request system
System Usage Overview
Select an instrument and song, enter your name and location and click 'Send Request'.
Your request will be added to a list on the radio station and included in one of the request slots, subject to available time and choice of instrument or song title - avoid selecting the same instrument multiple times as it may take a while for your requests to be played.
You can view submitted requests in the 'Pending requests' drop down list selector.
There is a limit to the number of requests you can make per day, which is currently set to six.
Important; You must have cookies enabled on your device to use the request system. The Send Request button will be deactivated and a message displayed if cookies are not enabled.
Detailed description
It is important to note that the request system does not contain the entire music library of the radio station, so your preferred title may not be available.
When the search text boxes are empty the entire request library is available in the instrument and song selectors. This may produce a slow response when viewing the lists.
Instruments and songs are sorted into numerical, then alphabetical ascending order. The first number or letter determines the order, so, for example, 101 appears before 35.
A search facility is provided to narrow down the number of instruments and songs. The search is not case sensitive, so either upper or lower case can be entered for a match.
It is important to note this search facility uses a literal match and is not 'intelligent' like a Google search. For example typing 'verb' in the instrument search box will produce a list of Verbeeck instruments, but typing 'verb centenary' will not produce a match, however typing 'centenary' will produce a match.
Selecting instruments and song titles.
Enter part of an instrument or song name and wait a second for the search to present a list of matching instruments and songs.
There are two ways of selecting a song title:
The main song list will show the song titles for all the instruments found in the search.
Selecting an instrument from the instrument list will also show the playlist for that instrument in the selector below.
Selecting a song from either the main song list or instrument playlist will show the song and associated instrument in 'Your selected instrument and song' panel.
You can now enter your name and location and click the 'Send Request' button. If accepted, you will see a message indicating your request has been successful.
If your selected title has already been requested, you will see a message asking you to select another title.
Your request will be shown in the 'Pending requests' list selector a few seconds later.
The list will periodically update showing the current status of pending requests. As requests are added, the list will increase and as the songs are played on air it will reduce. If there are none, it will show 'No pending requests'.
There is a limit to the number of requests you can make per day, which is currently set to six. After each successful request, your remaining requests will decrease by one. When the count reaches zero, you will not be able to make any more requests on that day. The counter resets back to six at midnight UK time.
Important; Cookies must be enabled on your device to use the request system. If they are not enabled you can still use the instrument and song search, but the Send Request button will be deactivated and a message displayed informing you to enable cookies.
Privacy notice: The cookie stores the name and location you entered for the request. No other personal details are stored.
Request Library Information
There are two music libraries for the station and request system. The station library is stored on the station computer, the request library is stored on a separate web server. All instruments and song titles for the request system are contained in the request library. When the request page is opened, the library is downloaded from the web server to your browser.
Both libraries are occasionally updated with new titles or corrections. The station library is updated directly on the station computer, but the request library has to be updated separately.
The request page software periodically checks for library updates while it is running on your browser. However, if you have the page open when a library update takes place, there will be a short interval where your browser library is not up to date.
If a request is submitted at this time, it may result in either;
(1) The title is not available any more, which will return a 'File not found' error.
(2) The title will not be the one requested.
If (1), the new version of the request library will be downloaded immediately, but see note(1) below. If (2), unfortunately there is no way to remove a request, so you will have to contact the radio station and ask them to remove or change it!
Note(1). There is also the possibility that the station library has been updated but hasn't been transferred to the request library. If this is the case, your request will continue to return the 'File not found' error until the request library is updated. Please report any errors to Request System Error Report. Please give as much information as you can in any report emails, thanks.
The time at the top of the page will always show UK local time, wherever you are located, as Mechanical Music Radio is based in the UK.
In the event of a communications error between the request system and the radio station there will be a longer delay when a request is submitted. A message will be displayed indicating the error status.
Design notes by Dave Stubbs. The request system is built in to the radio station software, I didn't have anything to do with the design of the system. However, I customised the request web page that is viewed by listeners to make it more in the style of Mechanical Music Radio. I have nothing to do with how requests are processed by the radio station, that is James's department, but if there are any issues with the Request Page, please contact me with details, thanks :-)
