Date Range and Day Duty Cycle
By default, every Song Meter Mini 2 schedule block runs every single day, starting from when the recorder is powered on or until the Delay Start date occurs, if applicable.
By enabling the Date Range for a schedule block, you can specify a range of dates over which the schedule block should run, and/or you can define a cycle for the block to run for X days, then not run for Y days, then repeat.
These features can be set independently for each block in your schedule. For example, block 1 can be set to run every day, block 2 can be set to only run from July 1st to August 15th, and block 3 can be set to run for three of every seven days from June through September.
The rules for what occurs when multiple recording periods overlap, described in Schedules with Multiple Blocks, still apply.
Enable Date Range and Day Duty Cycle
To enable these features for any schedule block, tap the Add Date Range icon at the top of the schedule block. To disable these features, tap the Remove Date Range icon at the same position.
When these features are enabled, three new sections of the schedule block appear: START DATE, DAY DUTY CYCLE, and END DATE.
START DATE and END DATE
These commands work similarly to the START TIME and END TIME commands, described in Schedules and Schedule Blocks. START DATE sets the date when the block should begin running, and END DATE sets the date when the block should cease.
These dates can only be defined by month and day, not by year. Once the clock reaches the START DATE during any year, the block will run as specified until the next time the END DATE occurs, which may be during the same calendar year or the following calendar year.
If a schedule block runs through midnight, like a "sunset to sunrise" block, it will begin running at midnight at the beginning of the START DATE, and it will stop running at midnight at the end of the END DATE.
If the END DATE is set to the same date as the START DATE, or if it is set to one day before the START DATE, the schedule block will run year-round. This is useful if you want to use the DAY DUTY CYCLE feature without limiting the schedule block to a particular date range.
DAY DUTY CYCLE
This command works similarly to the standard DUTY CYCLE command described in Schedules and Schedule Blocks. When this section is set to Cycle, you can define a pattern of alternating between running the schedule block on some days and not running on other days.
For the purpose of these commands, a day is defined as one calendar day, spanning from midnight to midnight. If the schedule block runs through midnight, it will begin at midnight at the start of the first active day and end at midnight at the end of the last active day.
Duty On defines how many days of recording you want to happen during the active phase of the duty cycle. These active days occur consecutively before switching to the inactive phase.
Duty Off defines how many days you want the recorder to skip this schedule block in between active recording days.
Active days and inactive days always occur as consecutive blocks. For example, if Duty On is set to three days and Duty Off is set to five days, the schedule block will run for three days in a row, then it will skip five days in a row, then it will run for three days in a row, and so on.
During "inactive days" for this schedule block, other blocks in your schedule may still run, depending on their settings. The START DATE, END DATE, and DAY DUTY CYCLE commands only affect the schedule block to which they are applied.