User Manual
Contents
1. VoiceKeyer controls the radio PTT by toggling the DTR and or RTS pins on a PC serial port Most commercially available sound card interfaces sold for digital mode operation support this method of PTT control PowerSDR also supports this method using a virtual serial port created with VSPmgr com0com or similar program VoiceKeyer also allows up to two messages in each profile to be triggered by pulsing one of the modem control lines CTS DSR on either the serial port used for PTT control or on another serial port Installation Run the installation package file VoiceKeyerSetup exe This will install VoiceKeyer exe and all required supporting files on your computer The installer will suggest a default location for the program file You may change the location or leave it at the default it does not matter Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC However the VoiceKeyer rtf file MUST be located in the same directory as the VoiceKeyer exe file You must create at least one profile as described below The setup data and all of the profile data is stored in XML files which are located in the application data APPDATA directory Startup Message When the program first starts the message shown in Figure 1 is displayed Go to the section at the end of this document titled Creating WAV Files for further information Checking the check box will prevent this message from being displayed when the program starts Click on the Close2. You may completely delete the profile you are currently editing by clicking on Delete Profile When you are finished adding editing or deleting profiles click on Exit to return to the main program Creating WAV Files You can use any sound editing program to create the wav files for the messages you want to send A simple internet search will yield a list of inexpensive easy to use programs for recording amp editing wav files Personally use Audacity which is free and can be downloaded from htip audacity sourceforge net Another good choice is Any Sound Recorder which can be downloaded from http www any sound recorder com and has a registration fee of 24 95 By transmitting into a dummy load and activating on the air recording in PowerSDR you can create a wav file using the same microphone that you use for normal operating This file can then be trimmed to the desired length using the sound editing program The resulting file can be used with VoiceKeyer to transmit the recorded message Of course any other method of creating the WAV files may be used This is only one example Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC About the Author VoiceKeyer exe was written by Ray Andrews K9DUR Ray holds an Amateur Extra class license and was first licensed in April 1960 He currently resides in West Terre Haute IN and is a retired electronic design engineer and software developer He operates a small custom software
3. in VoiceKeyer 2 Onthe Setup gt Audio gt VAC tab check the Allow PTT to override bypass VAC for Phone box This allows you make live transmissions using the microphone 3 On the Setup gt CAT Contro tab enable PTT Control amp select the proper serial port This will be the port at the other end of the virtual serial port pair from the port selected for PTT control in VoiceKeyer For example If you have a serial port pair defined using COM9 amp COM19 and you have selected COM9 for PTT control in VoiceKeyer then you would select COM19 for PTT control in PowerSDR Serial Trigger Commands Messages can be sent by sending a command to a serial port Each command is terminated with a semi colon Commands are not case sensitive Below are lists of the available serial commands and their functions Send Message Commands Repeat Message Commands S01 Send Message 1 RO1 Repeat Message 1 S02 Send Message 2 R02 Repeat Message 2 S03 Send Message 3 R03 Repeat Message 3 S04 Send Message 4 R04 Repeat Message 4 S05 Send Message 5 R05 Repeat Message 5 S06 Send Message 6 R06 Repeat Message 6 S07 Send Message 7 R07 Repeat Message 7 S08 Send Message 8 R08 Repeat Message 8 S09 Send Message 9 R09 Repeat Message 9 S10 Send Message 10 R10 Repeat Message 10 Stop Message Command STOP Stop Sending Current Message Copyri
4. lt not used gt Figure 3 Main Program Window Sending a Message You can send a message by any of the following actions e Left click on the button for the message you wish to transmit e Press one of the function keys F1 F10 Pressing the F1 key will send Message 1 pressing F2 will send Message 2 etc A check box on the Setup Hardware screen allows you to turn the use of the keyboard on or off e Pulse a serial port modem control line hardware trigger e Send a serial port command software trigger While a message is being sent the color of the button will turn red during the time that PTT is active Repeating a Message You can send a message repetitively by any of the following actions e Right click on the button for the message you wish to transmit repeatedly e Hold down the Alt key and press one of the function keys F1 F10 Pressing Alt F1 key will cause Message 1 to repeat pressing Alt F2 will cause Message 2 to repeat etc A check box on the Setup Hardware screen allows you to turn the use of the keyboard on or off e Send a serial command software trigger While a message is being sent the color of the button will turn red during the time that PTT is active Note that you cannot use a hardware trigger to repeat a message Aborting a Message You can stop sending any message before it is finished by clicking on the message button again If the keyboard is enabled you can also stop the message by pressing
5. VoiceKeyer Version 5 2 1 Revised September 16 2013 Introduction VoiceKeyer was written for use with the PowerSDR software used with the software defined radios manufactured by FlexRadio Systems Inc However its use is definitely not restricted to use with PowerSDR By selecting the built in PC sound card and using a hardware sound card interface this software can be used with any transceiver Most of the already existing digital voice keyer programs are restricted to using the default sound card Since with PowerSDR all of the radio functionality resides in software there should be no need to use a piece of hardware such as the PC sound card to communicate with it There is a 3 party piece of software called Virtual Audio Cable VAC which would allow a voice keyer program to communicate with PowerSDR entirely in software but you must be able to select a sound card other than the one built into the PC hardware VoiceKeyer lists all of the sound cards installed in the PC including VAC and allows you to specify which sound card to use VoiceKeyer allows you to set up as many different profiles or sets of pre defined messages as you want Each profile can have up to 10 different messages which are played back by clicking on a button on the program screen You can set up a different profile for general operation and for each contest you normally operate This way you do not have to re program the messages between contests
6. Window button to close the message and proceed to the main screen If you use PowerSDR to create your wav files you must edit the files before you can use them with VoiceKeyer See the User Manual for further information Do not show this message again Close Window Figure 1 Start Up Message Initial Setup Before using the program you must perform some initial hardware setup and you must create at least one profile containing one or more messages When you first start the program the main window will not display all of the buttons amp controls but will appear as shown in Figure 2 Figure 2 Main Window at Initial Start Up The text in the middle of the toolbar tells you what settings still need to be made When all of the necessary setup has been completed the main window will appear as shown in Figure 2 See the sections on Hardware Setup and Creating Editing Profiles for information on how to complete the required initial setup Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Program Operation The main program window during normal operation is shown in Figure 3 KODUR VoiceKeyer v5 0 5 General Operating Profile General Operating F Edit Profiles IE Repeat Off 15 EE Monitor On Z Setup Hardware Help i About Minimize Poy Exit Program KIDUR lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt lt not used gt
7. consulting business just to keep him out of mischief between camping trips For more information visit Ray s web pages http k9dur info http www rnaconsultingservices com Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Revision History v5 2 1 September 16 2013 Added code to correct screen size when users sets Windows magnification to something other than default of 100 v5 2 0 September 6 2013 Added startup message warning about editing WAV files created with PowerSDR v5 1 2 July 3 2013 Fixed bug causing program crash if user attempted to turn on Monitor before selecting monitor device v5 1 1 January 16 2013 Fixed bug causing volume sliders to be reset to 0 Added error trap to reset sound device selection if either sound device is not found on start up v5 1 0 January 1 2013 Added Minimize button to toolbar Fixed bug preventing None from being a valid selection for PTT control v5 0 4 December 10 2012 Fixed bug in message repeat function v5 0 3 October 21 2012 Eliminated endless loop condition if PTTport setting not set v5 0 2 October 11 2012 Changed default value of TriggerPort setting to None v5 0 1 October 10 2012 Eliminated endless loop condition if TriggerPort setting not set v5 0 0 October 8 2012 Major rewrite using Visual Studio Express 2012 Replaced menu strip with tool strip Moved setup da
8. e by pressing the Esc key v2 0 July 30 2008 Major rewrite Added capability of aborting a message before it has been completely sent and added capability of monitoring messages using a second sound card v1 2 July 20 2008 Added None to list of serial port choices amp revised user instructions v1 1 June 30 2008 Moved setup data from Windows registry to XML file plus various bug fixes v1 0 June 26 2008 Initial Release Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC
9. e radio PTT Check one or both of the boxes labeled DTR and RTS Ifa box is checked then that signal on the selected serial port will be turned on while a message is being transmitted Keyboard If the checkbox is checked the function keys F1 to F10 can be used to send messages Alt F1 to Alt F10 can be used to repeat messages and any other keystroke can be used to abort a currently playing message Hardware Serial Trigger Use the drop down list to select the serial port you wish to use for a hardware or serial trigger The list will show all of the serial ports that are installed on your PC including any virtual serial ports created with a virtual serial port program You may also select None from the list to disable the hardware serial trigger capability or you may select PTT Port to use the same serial port used for PTT control Display lf this box is checked then the VoiceKeyer window will be on top of all other windows unless they also are set to be always on top Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Save Discard Changes The remaining controls on the window are 2 command buttons which allow you to save any changes you have made to the hardware setup or return to the main window without saving your changes PowerSDR Setup If you are using VoiceKeyer with PowerSDR there are a couple of settings to change in PowerSDR 1 Onthe Setup gt Audio gt VAC tab set the VAC Input cable to the same cable selected
10. ght 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Creating Editing Profiles Before using the program you must create at least one profile containing at least one message Click on the Edit Profiles button in the tool bat to display the window shown in Figure 5 KODUR Voice Keyer Edit Profiles Select General Operating Profile Name General Operating Message 1 Message 2 Message 3 Message 4 Message 5 Message 6 Message 7 Message 8 Message 9 Message 10 Button Label Description Hardware None X Message WAV File Browse Fa Save Profile Discard Changes Delete Profile Exit Figure 5 Edit Profiles Window First use the drop down list to select the profile you want to edit If you are creating a new profile select lt new profile gt Type a name for the profile in the Profile Name box This can be anything you wish such as General Operation ARRL Sweepstakes Field Day etc This will be the name shown in the drop down list on this window on the list of profiles on the toolbar and on the title bar of the main window Click on the button for the message you wish to edit and enter the Button Label Description Hardware Trigger amp Message WAV file for that message The Button Label is a short description that will be used to label the button for that message on the main window Keep the label short so it will fit prope
11. nd Card Used to Monitor Messages Speakers High Definition Audio Device X Volume LJ 0 Low High PTT Control Serial Pot COM10 F DTR v RTS 0 milliseconds Enable PTT Drop Delay Keyboard Hardware Serial Trigger Enable Keyboard Serial Pot None Display _ Always on Top Discard Changes Save Changes Figure 4 Setup Hardware Window Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC The window is divided into the following 6 areas Sound Card Used to Send Messages to Radio Use the drop down list to select the sound card you wish to use to send the messages to the radio For example to use VAC with PowerSDR select whatever you have the VAC Input set to in PowerSDR e g Line 1 Virtual Audio Cable Use the slider to adjust the level of the audio sent to the radio Sound Card Used to Monitor Messages Use the drop down list to select the sound card you wish to use to monitor the messages This should be set to either Primary Sound Device Speakers or whatever sound card drives your PC speakers Use the slider to adjust the volume of the monitored messages PTT Control Use the drop down list to select the serial port you wish to use for PTT control The list will show all of the serial ports that are installed on your PC including any virtual serial ports created with a virtual serial port program You may also select None from the list to prevent VoiceKeyer from activating th
12. rly on the button For example My Call CQ QRZ 3x3 CQ Exchange etc The Description is optional text which further describes the message This text is displayed in a small pop up box when you hover over the message button with the mouse The Hardware Trigger is a modem control line on the RS 232 serial port that can be used to trigger the message Available lines are Clear To Send CTS and Data Set Ready DSR A given control line can only be assigned to one message in the profile Therefore only two messages in each profile can be triggered via hardware To trigger a message using the CTS line wire a switch between the CTS amp RTS pins on the serial port Closing the switch will trigger the message Similarly to trigger a message using the DSR line connect a switch between the DSR amp DTR pins Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC The Message WAV File is the full path and file name of the wav file containing the recorded message You can browse to the file by clicking on the Browse button Clicking on the arrow to the right of the Browse button will play the message through the sound card used for monitoring the messages When you are finished setting up all of the messages for the profile be sure to click on Save Changes before selecting a different profile to edit You may discard any changes you have made to the profile you are currently editing by clicking on Discard Profile Changes
13. ta from Settings to XML file v4 0 0 January 4 2012 Edited User Manual to list settings required in PowerSDR v4 0 0 March 31 2011 Complete rewrite in Visual Basic 2010 Express under Windows 7 32 bit Added software serial port triggers v3 1 4 January 8 2010 Changed compiler setting to force VoiceKeyer to run in 32 bit mode on 64 bit systems Added code to trap for wav file not found when sending a message v3 1 3 January 6 2010 Added Always on Top option Changed number of available hardware trigger lines from 4 to 2 Fixed minor window positioning bug v3 1 2 January 5 2010 Fixed bug where clicking on a different application aborted message v3 1 1 December 26 2009 Added donation screen on startup v3 1 0 December 23 2009 Moved setup amp profile data to user s APPDATA folder v3 0 1 September 24 2009 Minor internal changes to copyright amp program release date handling v3 0 0 September 22 2009 Rewrote in VB Express 2008 Added separate serial port for hardware trigger v2 5 March 31 2009 Added hardware trigger capability v2 4 September 28 2008 Added message repeat capability v2 3 September 17 2008 Added message preview button to Edit Profiles window v2 2 August 16 2008 Fixed bug where COM port used for PTT control was not always open v2 1 July 30 2008 Added capability of aborting a messag
14. the appropriate function key by pressing the Esc key or by sending a serial command Copyright 2013 by RNA Consulting Services LLC Toolbar The toolbar contains the following buttons amp controls left to right Profile General Operating This drop down list allows you to select the profile to be used Eg Edit Profiles Clicking on this button will open a window where you can create amp edit profiles See the section on creating editing profiles below fe Repeat Off 1 RepeatOn 5 hardware below Exit Program Hardware Setup Clicking on this button will turn the repeat message feature on amp off Use the up down box to set the repeat delay in seconds Clicking on this button will turn message monitoring on amp off Clicking on this button will open a window where you can change the hardware setup settings See the section on setting up the Clicking on this button will open a window to display this document Clicking on this button will open a window that displays basic information about the program Clicking on this button will minimize the main window Clicking on this button will close the program To set up the hardware click on the Setup Hardware button on the toolbar The window shown in Figure 4 will be displayed KODUR Voice Keyer Setup Hardware Sound Card Used to Send Messages to Radio Line 1 Virtual Audio Cable v Volume J 0 Low High Sou
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