Vortex 3 Voice Effects Unit,
Hyperdyne Labs LLC
8
is higher than the last one. After the last value is selected, the next VOX threshold change cycles back the lowest in
the table. This way you can cycle through all values to find the best threshold for your mic.
NOTE: You can tell if the auto VOX is picking up any mic activity by observing the PTT LED. If you blow into the
mic with PTT mode disabled, this LED will light up when the mic input surpasses the current VOX threshold. The
LED will go off when no voice input is detected. If the LED is always on then your mic is too sensitive and you
should try and increase the VOX threshold. If the LED is never on, the VOX threshold may be set too high or you
may have a faulty mic, input jack, etc.
Setting 2: Changing the auto VOX “OFF” threshold
Instead of using one squelch point (like in a CB radio), your voice board uses a dual squelch. After you have
triggered the mic using the VOX on threshold, the board monitors your voice volume until it goes below a second
(lower) threshold. Once your voice volume tapers off below the VOX off threshold, the board determines that you
are done talking and proceeds to automatically output a random click/static sound effect.
The default setting is the lowest value, which is a nominal VOX off level. If the mic is never closing after saying a
couple words, increment this setting by one value by pressing the PROG button 2x.
Here is a diagram of how the squelch works. Once your voice volume surpasses the VOX on thresh, the mic is
opened. The mic stays open until your voice volume goes below the VOX off threshold. You can see if you make
the VOX off thresh greater than the VOX on thresh, the unit will always keep the mic opened once triggered.
Setting 3: Changing the VOX auto timeout squelch
When the unit is turned on, the mic is “closed”, meaning that you can turn up your speaker as loud as you like with
no feedback. Once the mic “opens”, you can hear your voice but also experience feedback if the volume is up too
loud. The VOX auto timeout helps combat constant feedback by closing the mic after a specified time period. By
default, once you start talking, the VOX auto timeout is set to 5 seconds. If you continue talking after 5 sec, the
board will close the mic no matter what. By pressing the PROG pushbutton 3x, you can increment the timeout
period. The max timeout is 8 sec, which should cover most long talking conversations.
Voice volume
VOX off thresh
time
Mic is open
Mic is closed
VOX on thresh
Voice passed through
