If you've spent time in AutoCast, you've noticed that the interface is organized around four distinct work areas, each one named with the word "Pad." That wasn't an accident — and it wasn't just a naming whim, either. The word suggests something immediate and ready-to-use, like a notepad you grab without thinking. Each of AutoCast's four pads is designed around that idea: fast, purposeful, and always within reach.
Here's a proper introduction to all four.
The MessagePad is AutoCast's information center — a scrolling display that tells you exactly what the system is doing and has done. Every time AutoCast loads a file, executes a command, routes a switcher, encounters a problem, or completes a task, it writes a timestamped entry to the MessagePad.
Displays timestamped status messages from AutoCast in real time. Shows weather data, output log summaries, file messages, and rich formatted content. Supports clickable action links — you can click a link in the MessagePad to skip an event, load a file, or take other direct actions without touching any other part of the interface. Right-click for options including viewing the full output log or opening it in an editor. Long-press (or long-click) to expand the MessagePad to fill the entire window for easier reading.
The MessagePad is the first place to look when something isn't behaving as expected. If AutoCast skipped a file, couldn't find a scheduled item, or switched an input, it said so — right there, with a timestamp.
For stations that do weather announcements — and most do — the WeatherPad brings current conditions and forecasts right into AutoCast without requiring a separate weather app or a browser window.
Fetches current conditions and forecasts using the National Weather Service API, with OpenMeteo as a fallback if NWS data isn't available. Enter your ZIP code once, and AutoCast handles the rest — geocoding your location, finding the nearest NWS observation station, and retrieving current temperature, conditions, and the forecast. The data is also written out for use by ChatterCast, TuneTracker's text-to-speech tool, so your weather announcements can be fully automated.
The WeatherPad exists because weather is one of the things local radio does better than anyone else. A forecast read live on air — or voiced automatically with accurate, up-to-the-minute data — is something no streaming service can match. The WeatherPad makes sure that data is always current and always at hand.
AutoCast maintains a library of your station's audio files — music, commercials, voice tracks, sweepers, and anything else you've logged in. The SearchPad is how you find things in that library without leaving the automation interface.
Provides a real-time search interface into your station's audio library. Type any part of a title or artist name and results appear immediately. From the results, you can drag a file directly onto a playback deck or into the program log to queue it instantly. No file manager, no folder browsing — just type and drag. Useful when you need to pull something specific on the fly, whether it's a caller-requested song, a last-minute insert, or a file you need to verify before it airs.
The SearchPad is especially valuable in live-assist situations, where you're managing the board in real time and need to find and queue something quickly. The drag-to-deck behavior means the time between "I need that track" and "it's playing" is about five seconds.
The ButtonPad is the most hands-on of the four pads — a customizable grid of buttons that each trigger a specific action at the press of a click. Think of it as your station's custom control panel, built exactly the way you want it.
Holds a configurable grid of labeled buttons, each assigned to one of several action types: Hot Buttons (instant audio playback from a file), Cart playback, Switcher commands (route an audio input to an output on your matrix switcher), Relay Closures (pulse an external relay for triggering hardware), Stream Relay, Input Source switching, and more. Buttons are set up in a configuration window, given custom labels and colors, and can be rearranged by dragging. The ButtonPad is also a drop target — you can drag an audio file from the SearchPad directly onto a ButtonPad slot to assign it.
Every station has things it does repeatedly — switching to a live microphone, triggering a station ID, starting a network feed, firing a relay for a transmitter function. The ButtonPad turns all of those into single clicks, available at any moment without hunting through menus or program log commands.
What ties the four together is that they're all live during a broadcast. The MessagePad is always updating. The WeatherPad has current data ready. The SearchPad is always ready for a query. The ButtonPad is always one click away from any action you've assigned.
AutoCast is designed to run a station — not just a playlist — and the four pads are what make that possible. Between them, they handle status awareness, weather information, on-the-fly audio retrieval, and instant command execution. That's most of what a working board operator needs, organized into a single window.
If you haven't explored all four yet, now's a good time. Each one has more depth than it shows at first glance.
AutoCast is available as part of TuneTracker System 7. The ButtonPad, SearchPad, MessagePad, and WeatherPad are included in both the free and paid tiers.