@wavery wrote:
2. I am looking for a way to schedule downloads of iTunes podcasts from a Windows machine (Windows 10 Home Pro) during off-peak hours.
I realize this isn't exactly answering your question, but let me share with you how I schedule the majority of my podcast downloads to happen during the "Bonus" time. Maybe you can utilize the approach to work for your particulars.
I use gpodder as my podcatcher. It allows many different settings for when to commence downloads. It also has a batch version (gpo) that can be launched for various tasks (including checking subscriptions for new podcast episodes and for downloading pending episodes). In general I disable gpodder's frequent automatic downloading and instead use Win10's scheduler to launch gpo during the 'bonus' time to perform the majority of my daily downloads.
You can launch the Windows Task Scheduler many ways, but one way is to Win-I and type "schedule tasks" and select "Schedule Tasks". I put my computer to sleep (not hibernate) before going to bed. I have a task scheduled to wake my computer up at the beginning of the "bonus" time. I then have a task scheduled to launch gpo to update my subscriptions (gpo update). About 15 minutes later I launch gpo to download pending episodes (gpo download). I hibernate my computer at the end of the "bonus" time. I also run other tasks and focus system software updates to happen during the "bonus" time.
If you'd like more details I can provide them, but that is the general outline of things. I used FDM for a while, but I found it interfered with browser download capabilities too much so I abandoned it in favor of my current approach.
