openrcforums

Help please.

I got the voice module built and before I installed it in the transmitter I installed the optiboot loader and the test firmware. With the test firmware I saw a LED I had connected in place of the back light flashing. I did NOT hear any sound from my speaker that I thought I was supposed to hear. I then tried to install the regular firmware and was not able to install it. I kept getting a no sync error from avrdude. I reinstalled the optiboot and was then able to flash the regular firmware. I also checked the micro SD card and saw that a models file had been created on the card. So I thought all was well.

Today I installed the arduvoice module in my radio. When I turn the transmitter on I get the ER9x splash screen but it never goes beyond that. I have been flying using the ER9x firmware and all has been working great. I do have the Smartiparts board rev 2.1 installed. Of course I had to remove that temporarily to install the wires going to pins 27 and 28. I did remove the resistors going to pins 27 and 28.

I was under the impression that the ER9x firmware I had installed was the correct one for this mod. Any ideas why my radio does not go past the splash screen?

Thanks for any help you can give.
Carroll

I found my problem. When I put the motherboard back in place the menu and exit push buttons were not properly in place. So when I turned the radio on they were being held on and causing the problem. I fixed that and now the radio powers up normally. Tomorrow I will see if I can actually get it to talk. I did flash the sv file for FrSky M64 so that should be the right file I think.

Carroll

Hi Joao,

Well I finally got some time to look at my transmitter again. It appears NOTHING connected to the Arduvoice board is working. No backlight, no sound and the trim switches also are not working. I did notice that the LED on the Atmega board that is used for the blinky program was coming on about every 10 seconds and staying on for about 2 seconds and then off again for another 10 seconds. I think that means the Atmega board is working but I am not sure that means it has the right program. I have reinstalled the Amod_lastSer16d program a couple of times. I believe that is the right program.

I also do not see any options for turning on the sound board in my radio menu. I turn the radio on with the left horizontal trim held to the left and then I can get into the hardware menu but don't see any option except Bandgap and TelemetrEZ. The firmware I have flashed to the radio is this one: er9x-frsky-sv.

Something else that may or may not mean anything is that I can't seem to get eepe to want to reflash the firmware to the Arduvoice module. But BitBurner seems to work fine for doing that.

I will continue to troubleshoot the problem while I wait for a reply from you or Mike.

I appreciate any help you or Mike can give.
Carroll

Hi.. Is your arduino an Atmega 328P 16MHz 5V arduino?

João

Hi Joao,

Yes I built the one board version using the Atmega 328P with pins 4 and 5 inside the other pins.

I have made some small progress. I have discovered with my setup that if I install the test version of the firmware then I cannot flash anything after that. I keep getting a no sync error. However if I use Bitburner and reinstall the Optiboot firmware then I can flash the regular firmware. Also if I use eepe to install the firmware it shows the install worked but nothing changes in the operation of the radio and the small LED on the Atmega board still flashes for a couple of seconds about every ten seconds. But when I used Bit burner to install the regular firmware then my trim tabs started working and the LED is no longer flashing. I apparently was not getting the right firmware installed when using eepe. That is probably my mistake as I am still learning how to use eepe as I used Companion when working with OpenTX.

I still don't have sound or backlight but I need to check my connector for the backlight as it doesn't seem to fit real well to the mating connector on my Arduvoice board.

Should I have some sound without setting up the sounds for each model? So far I have heard no beeps or any other sound when powering on the radio. I do have the splash screen turned on as I saw you told someone they needed to do that in order to hear the welcome message.

In a few minutes I will use my scope to see if I have any signal going into and out of my 386. I used a speaker from an old cellphone so it may not be working. Which option do I use for the sound mode? The PiSpkVoice or the Megasound?

I have just confirmed that backup and restore are working. So I think that means the proper firmware is correctly installed.

So I only need to get the sound and backlight working which are probably hardware problems rather than a software problem.

Thanks for you help,
Carroll

You need to select "MegaSound". If your trims are working an you can backup and restore models, then the serial communication between the radio and Arduvoice is working. Did you copy´the voice files to the root directory of the SD Card?? If so, which voice pack did you use?

João

Hi again Joao,

Sorry for the slow response. I got involved with some family things that had to be done.

The voice file I used was Sharon. I took the micro SD card out of my card reader and put it in my PC. The voice wave files are in the root file of the micro SD card. I also tried playing several of them on my PC and they all worked. I also checked the models folder while the SD card was in the PC and the model I had backed up earlier using the radio was in the model files folder so that verifies the back up and restore are in fact working.

If I don't get any more interruptions I plan to start troubleshooting the voice not working part. I have selected MegaSound as you suggested but no sound yet. Should some of the sounds automatically play without doing any set up for them? Or does every switch function have to be programmed from the radio set up menu or model set up menu before the voice will announce that switch? I also do not hear any beeps when pushing any of the buttons so I am still thinking I probably have a hardware problem somewhere. Is that thinking correct?

Thanks again,
Carroll

The SD Card is also working as the model backup seems to be working.
Did you connect the beeper signal to the Arduvoice board? Also check the volume isn't set too low.

The welcome file should play when you turn the radio On. All other voices (switches, etc) must be programmed in the "Voice" menu.

João

Also, you need to do this.
Turn the radio on while holding the left horizontal trim to the left for a second or so. this will enable an hidden menu called "hardware".
Now go to "Radio Settings / Hardware" and enable the option "M'Sound serial".
This option might not exist if your radio's processor is an Atmega64... If it is, then please disregard this post.

João

Thanks for all your help Joao!

I do have the Atmega64 so I don't have that option. I found the problem with the voice. When I soldered the wire going to my speaker to the strip board I accidentally unsoldered one leg of the output capacitor. When I resoldered that I got my beeps. Also when I turned the radio back on with the throttle switch on I got a voice message that said alert. So the voice part is now working. However if I turn it on with all switches normal I do not get the welcome message. I do have the splash screen turned on so I don't know why that isn't working. But I am not too concerned about that. My only other problem is the audio is pretty low and not real clear. But the signal looks good on the scope so I am pretty sure I just need to find a better speaker. Thanks again for all your help. I will watch again the videos for how to set up the voices for all the other functions.

Apparently I have somehow killed my backlight. I have voltage right on the wires going to the backlight but it still doesn't work. It was always very dim before anyway. Another project for a later time. I am just happy to hear my radio talk to me!

Take care,
Carroll

Check you have the welcome voice file on the card. I am not sure which number it is, but it should be on the list supplied with the pack.
About the backlight, check for the correct polarity.

João

I know the welcome voice file is on the list because I saw it. I will check the wave files and see if it is actually there. I have them stored on my PC so it will be easy to check. I did check the polarity of the back light and it is correct. I even tried it the other way and still no back light. As I said it has always been very dim so it may have just died.

Thanks again,
Carroll

Below all my posts there are a couple links. one of them takes you to my video playlists. I have made a couple of them about the voice menu and how to program it. You might find them useful..

João

Yes I have watched your videos a couple of time now. I used the one about telemetry to set up my sailplane to tell me the altitude. I do have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Is there a way to set up the telemetry so that the voice only announces the altitude if it changes a certain amount. As I have it set up now it gives be the altitude every 10 seconds. But I would rather it gave me the altitude when it changes either up or down by a certain amount. I looked at the functions part of the telemetry but did not see a way to do that.

Also I thought I had seen a document that covered how to set up the voices in addition to your excellent videos. But I can't seem to find that document now.

An additional note for anyone else that might want to build this module. While looking for a small speaker that would fit in the transmitter I happened to see an old set of earphones my wife used to listen to audio books. She had broken one of the wires so only one side worked. When I took the earpiece apart I found a small speaker just the right size to install in the transmitter. It seems to be working great.

Thanks again for all your help,
Carroll

I found the document that explains how to set up the voice files.

Carroll

citfta wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:14 pm I found the document that explains how to set up the voice files.

Could you include a link to the document that you found, please?

Hi Taipan,

As it turns out the document I found is actually for the 9XR Pro with Ersky 9x software. But there are a lot of similarities between the two. However if you look at the bottom of any of Joao's posts he has a link there to his videos and there you can watch 3 videos he made that show you how to actually program your radio. His videos were really more help than the document I found. He carefully explains how and why he does what he does.

Carroll

Here, check the first link at the end of this post

João

Could something like this be used for a sound card ?
See here: https://www.banggood.com/Sangyue-Micro- ... rehouse=CN




Manual:

I think it can only store about 12 audio files, so unlikely.

Mike

Thank you Mike for your reply,
though I would ask so to know if it were feasible or not.

Hi.
I have updated my 9X with ER9X firmware. It is working very well.
Now I want to put the voice module: ArduVoice.
I want to use an Arduino nano, since it has the USB connection to load the program. I have a LM386 amplifier board and mini SD board. I'll put everything out of the radio and then put it on.
So:
exists the .ino program to load the arduino ??
where do i find this .ino file ??
Thank you very much


Sorry for my English, I am using a translator

There is no .ino file. Mike provided a compiled file only. It could probably run on the NANO though as it uses the same chip. I think I tried using a NANO but wasn't successful with it. It was also long time ago I think someone had more luck than me. Please read this thread, I think the discussion is here, but not sure.
My advice is to use an Arduino Pro-Mini. It is smaller, and perhaps cheaper

João

Hi João,

Where can I find the last release of firmware and boars for ArduVoice.

Thank you in advance
Darek

Hi, Schematics, here. Now the firmware, I guess here as well. Unless Mike posted it somewhere else, but I don't think so

João

after so much pulling of my hair, found a working sd module.
bought from aliexpress

cool

thank you Mike and thank you all guys.
although there are many newer radios in the market but i still love my 9X specially now that have voice mod.
https://youtu.be/zVne5FnEGAA

Cool, well done. Congratulations

João