EchoIdentsTTS_Plus

Ver 3.0.3

Download EchoIdentsTTS_Plus

Windows XP & TTS speech  Application   No registration need Free to use

EchoIdens_Plus is a simple to use Windows XP utility that allows the Sysop/Owner of a Repeater or Link to send Information to their RF users. The program is a close relative of EchoProducer. It incorporates TTS announcements set by yourself to enhance your Link / Repeater. 10 Text Box Greeting Messages. Enhanced message box with text filters. Internet option that will show information about the station connected to you. Tell the time by DTMF or programmed. Silence Announcements option. Stay connected to you favourite node or conference. with the stay connect option. Enable / Disable auto connects with DTMF. Says the time in 12 or 24 hour format with the option of preamble. Fan control with an option for delays to save on unnecessary use. Delays can be set before the TTS for transmitters with slow build up time. Some counter measure to deter the phantom DTMF button presser. DTMF controller that includes group connects/Disconnects. Net Scheduler that will control the link ready for the net. Plus much more.
 
Initial Setup
 Download the EchoIdentsTTS_Plus.zip software into a directory unzip the software and run the setup program. THe program uses an installer
 
I used NeoSpeech voices from http://www.nextup.com. I found Kate16 to be the best.
Check in your Control Panel for the speech Icon and that your Text to Speech is working first before running EchoTTS. I have not tried it on any of the other windows. If you have and it works let me know. Check out the Microsoft web site Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1 for more information.

EchoidentsTTS

Voice ident Call sign, Will read your call sign in TTS voice, you can enter you call sing with spaces of if needed spell it out to make it sound nice (Example Vee Kay two E Ex) the TTS engine will say anything you put in this box (Keep it short)  In the box “ID Every” put in the time interval you would like your call sign to be announced and tick the box to use.

 

  In the box “Turn ID Off After” enter a time in minuets and tick the box to use if desired. This feature allows the Ident to stay in quiet mode, (Not identifying) if the frequency is not in use for extended times. This option is mainly used in VK Land (Australia)  Whenever a signal is received by EchoLink this timer will be reset. Say call now button, Click this button to test what it sounds like.
 PTT call now Button, Click on this and the PTT on the Transceiver will be activated and the call will be transmitted over the air.

 

 CW Idnet Callsign, just enter in you callsign and set the timer for the interval, the quiet timer also is active here, and of course the test button to try it. The Volume Pitch and Speed of the Morse can be set up in theEchoLink Configuration. (Tools - Sysop Settings -  Idents and click on the Settings button.)
 
 Enter TTS Text (Maximum of 70 Characters)
 Type in a short message to be read by the TTS engine, (Up to 70 Characters)
 Set the beacon time in minuets, this will cause the test to be read at that interval. Tick the box to use this option.
 You have a test button here and also a clear button to clear all text in the box.
 
 Enter Info Text (Max 70 Chars)
 Type in the text you want here to be read out after a time call (Keep it short)

Connects and Settings

 

Connects and Settings

Auto Connects     
 There are two auto connect options here, just enter a callsign of a station you want to connect to and tick the box, your system will then connect to this call and remain connected permanently,  the system will automatically reconnect to this station if disconnected. This can take up to 30 seconds to re connect you.
 Directly below you can set a DTMF sequence to enable and disable this feature remotely.
 To the right of this box you have the time announcement section, just tick the box required for your local time announcement the second box will read the info box test at the times selected.
Say The Time
If you wish the Time to be broadcast simply click on On The Hour, Quarter or Half.
Here you can also select if you want the time to be in 12 hour or 24 hour format.
 
Say the Info File
In the EchoIdents screen there is an info TTS panel when information is entered to be broadcast simply click on On The Hour, Quarter or Half for broadcast.
 
Announce Options
Use Preamble when ticked will say Good Morning / Good Afternoon / Good Evening before the time.
Station Con/Dis when selected the nodes that connect or disconnect will be announced
If the Add the time is clicked the time will added with the announcement.
Text messages when ticked will transmit what has been sent using TTS. This can be enabled or disabled using DTMF
Courtesy Tone
 This section will activate courtesy tones with a CW character of your choice, this feature is particularly useful on a simplex link, when the local RF station is transmitting into the link they will hear a kick back from the node radio when they un key, this lets them know that they have successfully accessed the node and also gives the simplex node the feel of a repeater, or if another station is using the node out of you receiving range. You can choose different CW characters for RF and Internet so you will be able to identify if a remote station is calling through the IP side or local.
 This feature is best used simplex, when using this feature on a duplex repeater from a remote location it can cause an odd kickback from the repeater after the tail. If your node is connected directly to the repeater (Not a remote RF hook-up) and depending on the configuration, this feature will work very well.
Delay Before TTS
This option will put a delay before the TTS voice for the specified delay increment. This is to allow for some transmitters that have a delay before TX
      DTR / TRS Control  (Fan)
You can select DTR or RTS for possible fan switching. An option is available to let the fan run on if selected for an added amount of time that is selected by you
With a little circuit and you can wire at cooling fan to your transmitter, the fan will run for however many minuets you enter after the transmitter has un-keyed.
The Use Start Delay when ticked will will only start the fan after the allotted delay time of incoming traffic from the internet. The stops the unnecessary use of the fan.
There are some simple Circuits that can be found on www.echoireland.com that can be used for this purpose.
 

Connect History

 

Connect History

This option simply shows the stations that have connected to you showing the time they connected, The Name they were using and there IP address

 

Silence Announcements

 

Silence Announcements and Player

This option enables you to silence all the TTS announcements and player functions. Your node will operate normally without TTS announcements, CW and Player functions when silenced.

Announce Silence Scheduler 1,2,3
Their are 3 Silence Schedulers that can be used. Simply tick the days and enter your OFF time you want your node silenced and the ON times you want your node back to normal. A delay of 15 seconds has been added to the Announce times as this will allow the any time or other beacons to sound off before being silenced. These normally happen on the hour, quarter and half the hour. Tip if you dont want these announcements / beacons to go out then set your off time 1 minute before they are due.

 

DTMF Announcements
This option gives you the option to set the announcements / beacons OFF / ON using DTMF. Enter the DTMF code that you wish to use in the appropriate boxes.

 

Announcements
Disable Announcements when ticked will disable all announcements. Warn About Silence Mode when ticked will give a Text message saying if the Announcements are Enabled / Disabled also a TTS message saying that the Announcements have been Enabled. There is no TTS when the Announcements have been disabled. (Well you did disable them didn't you )
 
Save  Changes
Click this button to save any changes that you may have made.

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EchoDTMFctrl

 

DTMFctrl

This option allows your RF users Select / Disconnect by the same DTMF a selected station. There is also an option to Connect / Disconnect a group of stations with one DTMF to Connect and one to Disconnect the group.
Callsigns
Simply add  Callsigns, Links, Repeaters or Conferences
 
Con / Disc Button
This option will connect or disconnect the selected station. This is the little button to the right of the DTMF field. Click one to connect and click again to disconnect
 
DTMF
Enter the DTMF codes that you want the users to use.
The single callsign DTMF will connect or disconnect a station when used
The Group callsign can be connected with one DTMF and Disconnected with another DTMF.
DTMF For Time
Enter the DTMF code that you want your RF users to use when they request the time from your node
The tick box should be ticked to enable this function
Countermeasures

 

Disconnect All and Last Connected
We have added a couple of countermeasures against the phantom DTMF button pusher who loves to disconnect stations that connect to your node
The Disconnect All DTMF and Disconnect Last Connected node are controllable using DTMF known to you and your admin to control if the Disconnect all or last connected.
When enabled and the Re-Enable time has been set  by ticking the Use Delay Tick Box. The appropriate DTMF will stop your phantom DTMF from Disconnecting stations from your node until the re-enable timer has elapsed or you want to end the function with  the disable DTMF.
Select a different DTMF codes in the EchoLink program for your own use only known to your admin controllers and have all your users use the DTMF that you have control of.
The 1st seconds of TX don't allow DTMF Con/Disc
This option enables you to have a delay accepting DTMF for the connection of your groups or list of Single calls
You have Enable or Disable function DTMF codes that you can enter
Use Delay tick box to enable the function
Set Time before accepting DTMF
 

Net Scheduler

Net Scheduler 1 to 4
 
This option will enable you to hold possible drive time nets
Each section has the day of the week and time the net starts. The connection is delayed by 15 seconds as to allow for any beacons or the time being transmitted.
Enter the connect node / conference call sign is that you want to connect to for the net.
If you want the node to be disconnected after the allotted time you set on the Disconnect Net Callsign After time simply tick the Use tick box.
If you want all stations connected to your node at the time of the net simply tick the Disconnect All tick box.
If you want your node set to busy while the net is in operation simply tick the Show Busy box. the Busy status will end at the end of the net time.

You you do not want to connect to a node but just keep it local simply enter LOCAL into the Net Call Box

To give a 1 minute warning that the net is about to start simply tick the box

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Text Messages

 
 
Text Messages
 
Incoming Text
Displays messages sent via the EchoLink text box and Displays messages sent by you. With or without time stamp depending your your configuration
 
Type Message
Simply type the message that you wish to send and press the send button or return key
 
Send Text with Time Stamp
When this tick box is ticked any text messages that you send will have attached the time message was sent to it and will be displayed in all connected EchoLink text boxes
 
Time Stamp Incoming
When this tick box is ticked all messages received will have a time stamp attached to them.
 
Text Filter
The filter will stop any messages that have any of the 8 filter words anywhere in the message that has been sent. There are a lot of programs now that use the text box for information and this helps your text box filling up with rubbish 
 
Save
This button will save your changes to any of the fields. Not Text Windows

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Greeting Messages

 

Text Box Greetings

Time Stamping
When this option is ticked your Text Box Messages will be time stamped.

 

Greeting Messages
This option enables you to automatically send greeting messages to stations connecting to your node.
Select the message that you want sent on the connection of a station to you node. Messages can be up to 160 characters.
Messages 1 to 9 can be amended and saved. Message 10 simply says a station as connected or disconnected.

 

Randomise Greeting
This option when clicked will randomise message 1 to the number selected. The will enable you to have a random message sent each time a node connects to you.

 

Delay Before Sending Message
A delay can be added before your message is sent. I have found 3 seconds is about right
Option 10 Auto selected
We have found that there are a  few stations forget to set the messages to option 4 when connecting to a Repeater, Link or *CONFERENCE* so this option will be automatically set for you as this will stop the unnecessary text going over the Conference Servers
 

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TTS Setup

 

TTS Setup

This option enables you to set the Text to Speech volume and the speed of the TTS voice. This does not effect the settings of the sound card

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Internet Option

Internet Option
 
This screen is a small internet window that enables you access to some of the useful web sites. This window can be expanded
 
Auto Show QRZ Info
This option when the Show QRZ Info box is ticked will automatically display a station that connects to your node or a node you have connected to.
 
Look up call on QRZ
This option enables you to look up a call sign on the QRZ web site. Simply enter the call and click on the QRZ button.
 
Last Connected Node
This will display the last station connected and there name.
 
Translator
This will take you to the Babel Fish web site enabling you to use there text translator.
 
Current logins
When this button is clicked it will take you to the EchoLink current log in screens
 
Proxy List
This button will enable you to see the current list of public proxies that are available.
 
EchoLink
This button will take you to the EchoLink web site.
 
eQSL
This button will take you to the eQSL web site. This web site enables you to send and receive QSL eCards

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 Donations are always welcome to help with the upkeep and advancement of the Repeaters & Software

 
 
Peter EI4JR

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Page Updated on  16/01/2008