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APX Voice Announcement

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rustyjw

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I have heard some APX radios announce the channel with the channel name. In the CPS all I see is channelone and zoneone. From what I've read, I can take a .WAV file and convert it to a Motorola file so that the APX radio will see it and I can use that file for channel assignment. Is this the only way to get the radio to announce the channel name?
 

KE4ZNR

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I have heard some APX radios announce the channel with the channel name. In the CPS all I see is channelone and zoneone. From what I've read, I can take a .WAV file and convert it to a Motorola file so that the APX radio will see it and I can use that file for channel assignment. Is this the only way to get the radio to announce the channel name?

Yep.
You have to make sure the wav file fits criteria though:
---Wav files MUST BE less than or equal to 58 Kilobytes (in size) and saved as 8.0 kHz and 16 Bit Mono, and file names MUST BE limited to 32 characters including the .wav file extension. In 8.0 Khz and 16 Bit Mono, 58K is equivalent to a two to four second sound file.

Once the wav files match the specs above then you go into APX CPS and navigate to:
Tools->VA Converter Utility

Then you have to pick the folder where the wav files are stored and where you want the converted files to end up.

Then let the program convert them to mva files.

Then you still have to go into the codeplug and go to Radio Ergonomics->Voice Announcements->Voice Announcements List and add the final converted mva files to the list so you can then select them in the Zone/Channel Fields.

Motorola makes it a giant pain the butt to use the CA/VA features.

Marshall KE4ZNR
 

RKG

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Not to mention what channel announcement does to codeplug size and read-write times. Programmers hate channel announcement!
 

ResQguy

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Not to mention what channel announcement does to codeplug size and read-write times. Programmers hate channel announcement!

Well, we did in XTS for sure, but my APX write times are in the sub 5 second range with a few hundred VAs.
 

jparks29

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Not to mention what channel announcement does to codeplug size and read-write times. Programmers hate channel announcement!

Portable on your hip, commander RSM on your shoulder...side buttons on RSM set for zone up/zone down, and channel selector on the top of the commander RSM... With VA, you don't need to look at the portable..and you have positive confirmation of the zone/channel you're on.
 

riveter

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I have APX announcements, but I only do them for zones. I can't feel what zone I'm on, but I can do channels by feel.

I have A-Z, 0-9, 0A-0Z, 1A-1Z. Can provide if requested.
 

krokus

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Portable on your hip, commander RSM on your shoulder...side buttons on RSM set for zone up/zone down, and channel selector on the top of the commander RSM... With VA, you don't need to look at the portable..and you have positive confirmation of the zone/channel you're on.

I have had my XTS 5000 change on me, while in my turnout gear radio pocket, leaving me to wonder why no one answered me. I was just happy it never happened at a critical time.

Sent via Tapatalk
 

W2ITG

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This guys method does work. It a major pia and very time consuming. The website he mentioned does work that makes an mp3 from typed text, the 1st word happens quickly but after that each word took me about 1 minute to create. Then it takes several minutes to use the other program he mentioned Audacity to modify the mp3 to the Motorola criteria and convert it to a wav file. To me it’s really not worth all the effort and time. It sure would be nice if it was easier but it’s not.
 

empire550

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Yep.
You have to make sure the wav file fits criteria though:
---Wav files MUST BE less than or equal to 58 Kilobytes (in size) and saved as 8.0 kHz and 16 Bit Mono, and file names MUST BE limited to 32 characters including the .wav file extension. In 8.0 Khz and 16 Bit Mono, 58K is equivalent to a two to four second sound file.

Once the wav files match the specs above then you go into APX CPS and navigate to:
Tools->VA Converter Utility

Then you have to pick the folder where the wav files are stored and where you want the converted files to end up.

Then let the program convert them to mva files.

Then you still have to go into the codeplug and go to Radio Ergonomics->Voice Announcements->Voice Announcements List and add the final converted mva files to the list so you can then select them in the Zone/Channel Fields.

Motorola makes it a giant pain the butt to use the CA/VA features.

Marshall KE4ZNR

Needs to be 3 seconds or less
 

empire550

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I found a Text to wav software om download.com that allows you to set the 16bit mono so you only then need the APX CPS to create the mva file.

It was called Text to WAV
 

W2ITG

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I found a Text to wav software om download.com that allows you to set the 16bit mono so you only then need the APX CPS to create the mva file.

It was called Text to WAV

The help is in Japanese. How do you save the text as a .wav file. I’ve looked at all of the options and can’t figure it out. Thanks
 

N1GTL

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Audacity is slow. I switched to a program called GoldWave. Create all your MP3 files in a single folder and you can run a batch process on the folder. It will make the files you need a under a second. It will output them to another folder which you can then run the voice announcement tool to get your MVA files.

The slowest part is the text to speech website. I find using it at about 10:00 pm it goes quick. In the middle of the day, not so much.
 

empire550

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The help is in Japanese. How do you save the text as a .wav file. I’ve looked at all of the options and can’t figure it out. Thanks


At the top there is a drop down menu. It starts at 16kHz 16 bit. Drop down the menu and then scroll up to 8kHz 16 Bit Mono .

Click on the file tab on the left and open up the destination. Choose a folder and then the program will either number the files for you or you can type in a name.
 
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