NEED BATTERY-POWERED PROGRAMMABLE TIMER

[Stuart]

Dear Friends,
My goal is to play a tape of birdsongs at a local park for several hours each morning. There

[Hero999]

You have contradictory requirements: programmable and plug and play. A simple PIC microcontroller would be a perfect programmable timer. The PIC12F508 could do what you want with the addition of a transistor, a resistor and a capacitor. It can be programmed with C, BASIC or assembly.

[Stuart]

Hi Hero999 and All,
  Thanks for your response.  I guess I was too glib when I used the term plug and play. What I meant was an off-the-shelf piece of gear that would be just like a standard, consumer-grade timer for a lamp or other security device, except battery-powered and capable of dealing with low voltage.  I have no knowledge or skill to add a transitor, resistor or capacitor, etc.  Just looking for something real simple.
  Any other ideas?
  Stuart

[Hero999]

I doubt you'll be able to find such a thing as there isn't much of a market for it,

A PLC would certainly do that but it's overkill nd will be very expensive. An Auduinio board is another option but you still need to connect an output transistor to boost the current capacity. Either way, you're going to have to learn a programming language or do some soldering or both.