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Connecting to Your Station

Connecting to AutoCast takes about ten seconds.

First Time Connection

  1. 1
    Open your browser and navigate to the CastAway URL provided by your station (e.g., https://74.125.200.100:7327/castaway).
  2. 2
    If you see a certificate warning, click Advanced and then Proceed (or "visit this website" in Safari). This is normal — it's a secure connection with a self-signed certificate.
  3. 3
    CastAway loads and shows a welcome message. Click the Settings button (bottom-right of the Six Pack area).
  4. 4
    Enter your station's IP address and PIN, then click Connect.
  5. 5
    CastAway authenticates and populates with live data from AutoCast — player decks, program log, ButtonPad buttons, weather.

Returning Connections

CastAway saves your IP address and PIN in the browser. When you return, the page loads and shows "AutoCast found. Now click the Connect button!" in the status bar. Click the Connect button in the Six Pack area and you're in.

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The Connect button serves double duty — it establishes the connection AND unlocks browser audio (browsers require a user click before playing sound). This is why CastAway doesn't auto-connect on page load.

Connection Status

The status bar at the bottom of the screen shows your connection state:

IndicatorMeaning
Green dotConnected to AutoCast and authenticated
Gray dotDisconnected — click Connect or check Settings
"Connecting..."Attempting to reach AutoCast — wait a moment
"Authentication failed"Wrong PIN — click Settings to correct it

Automatic Reconnection

If your internet connection drops — or even if the server restarts — CastAway automatically reconnects and rebuilds the full session. That means both the WebSocket control channel and the WebRTC audio stream are re-established automatically. No page reload needed. You don't have to click anything or re-enter your credentials.

CastAway retries every few seconds in the background. When the connection comes back, everything resumes — decks, buttons, program log, audio monitoring. It's designed for the reality of remote broadcasting, where WiFi hiccups at a county fair are just part of the job.

AutoCast keeps running at the station regardless of CastAway's connection state. Your station never goes silent because of a network hiccup on your end.

TLS Certificate

CastAway uses a secure HTTPS connection. The first time you visit from a new device, your browser will show a certificate warning — this is normal. Click through it once (Advanced → Proceed in Chrome, or "visit this website" in Safari).

The good news: the TLS certificate is now persistent. It's saved on the station's server, so it doesn't change every time the server restarts. That means the browser security warning only appears once per device. After you've accepted it, you won't see it again — even if the station reboots.