Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] VR LEC1964.aol.com Sun, 30 Aug 1998 00:02:24 EDT

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Carl, Michael,

     I'm using the Casio CP-850 Digital Spread Spectrum Cordless. I looked a
long time for a cordless phone with all the features I needed. With the
exception of one feature, this phone more than meets my needs.
     The feature that I needed to allow communication with the Soundblaster
was the "Two Way Intercom".
     I have cabled out of the "Base Unit" the SPEAKER audio and plugged it
directly into the sound card mic input. A mechanical volume slider control on
the base unit allows for level adjustment. Now when I go to "Intercom"
(Intercom/Page selected on the handset) all audio spoken into the handset is
seen by VR by way of the Soundblaster.
     Soundblaster microphones have amplifier circuitry so their levels at the
"mic input" are higher than standard microphones. I felt more comfortable
because of this in jacking in the audio from the base unit. It really doesn't
make any difference as long as you don't over drive the Soundblaster mic input
amplifier. I used Microsoft Voice to adjust and verify levels. ECS VR menu's
do not link to all the menu features available in MSV VR. Impedance matching
is wrong, but the mic input is relatively high so I'm comfortable that I'm not
in serious trouble there. Noise cancelling in the handset microphone is very
good.
     I'm currently using 40 feet of shielded mic cable between the base unit
and the sound card. This will allow placement of the base at an optimum
location. Right now its laying across the floor but will be routed overhead
later.
     The base unit has a microphone for voice input. I removed it (a PC board
pin connector had been used) and slipped on one that I had attached to one end
of four foot length of 1/8 shielded cable. The other end of the cable is a
standard monaural 1/8 mini phono plug. At the "Line Out" jack of the
Soundblaster I plugged in a monaural "Y" splitter. One side of the "Y" goes to
my sound system (AUX input). On the other, I plugged in an "In-Line" headphone
volume control, which in turn plugs into the cable going to the base unit mic
input. The volume control allows for setting the audio level at the mic input
amplifier.
     To summarize, I now have two new cables exiting from the cordless base
unit. One plugs into the Soundblaster "mic input' which carries audio from the
handset microphone to VR for interpretation. The other cable plugs into the
soundblaster "line out" which carries TTS audio to the handset speaker.
     The conversion was fairly easy and the cordless easily outperforms the
open microphones I've tried. The great thing is that the cordless is cordless.
     The feature that this phone was missing was a jack in the handset to plug
in a headset. If you had that, you could sit down in your favorite chair, plug
in the headset, pick up a paper or book, request your favorite music (you can
have it play only in your ear piece), or direct ECS to do what ever. You can
just imagine what you could do with that boom mike and ear piece.

Larry C.

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