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TIM 2015 Technical Manual v1 (February 2018)           

          

 

 

 

           Page 36 

 

reason the Catalex module sometimes repeats the End of File message. If that happens, the PIC just ignores it but it appears that the 
Catalex module then delays playout of the next file. 

4.

 

The most significant delay that you need to consider relates to the amount of time required by the Catalex module to access each file 
stored on the microSD card. To confuse things further, this delay varies according to the card speed, the formatting option chosen 
and the degree of fragmentation. The delay could in theory be reduced a little by changing the SD card format settings (increasing the 
allocation unit size) — but not enough to make this ploy worthwhile.  

5.

 

Another thing that can delay playback slightly is the microSD card formatting cluster size. The designer of this project experimented 
with increasing the cluster size from the default and it did reduce the time taken to load a file from the SD card (but this was a matter 
of milliseconds, so it should not really make much difference unless the sequence timing is very close to being too long). 

6.

 

The Catalex module begins to fade-up at around 60ms after the start of each file. If your audio files begin immediately (with no 
preliminary silence), this leads to some loss of sound. 

Consequently you need to include at least 60ms of silence at the beginning of 

your audio file

. This simple to arrange in Audacity. 

7.

 

As a result of all these factors the program starts the command for the pips file 98ms earlier than second x8 (or second x0 for USA-
format voices) to allow the pips to start playing promptly at second x8 (or x0).  

8.

 

Fragmentation of the data on the microSD card caused by files being added and removed can cause the Catalex module to fail to play 
files (delete all files on the card and re-copy all files in one fell swoop to avoid this problem). The other delays (the time taken to 
execute serial commands and latency in accessing data on the microSD card) may also contribute to the sequence over-running into 
the next pips and the Catalex player becoming confused and truncating announcements. We suspect that the Catalex file processing 
system is very basic and does not handle fragmented files very well.  

9.

 

The Catalex device will definitely truncate (cut off) the end of a file being played if it receives the next Play File command too early 
(for example it always sends the Play File command for the three pips at the start of second 8 regardless of any existing file still 
playing). For this reason the ‘and 

nn

 seconds’ audio file may need to be shortened (by removing some silence following the speech) 

to give the microcontroller  more time to ensure the Catalex module has finished before sending the command to play the three pips

Careful editing of voice files (and not putting more than five voices in a microSD card will avoid these unwanted effects.

 

10.

 

MP3 files do not work well with TIM 2015. While using some MP3 files, the designer encountered trouble with files not playing 
properly. But they worked fine after converting them to .WAV format and also removing any data from the file headers (created when 
saving them in Audacity). 

Содержание TIM 2015

Страница 1: ...TIM 2015 Technical Manual v1 February 2018 Page 1 TIM 2015 Speaking Clock TECHNICAL MANUAL...

Страница 2: ...roblems when printing onto US Letter size 8 5 x 11 paper With Acrobat Reader for instance under Size Options you will see four options Fit Actual size Shrink oversized pages and Custom Scale One of th...

Страница 3: ...are three things that we need to stress in order to avoid any confusion Accuracy The claim that we make for TIM 2015 is that it is accurate to within a second but no more In other words if you synchro...

Страница 4: ...nderson Andrew Emmerson and the manufacturers and suppliers of various parts used The computer engraved panels are produced for us by Architectural Industrial Engravers Northampton http www aiengraver...

Страница 5: ...Troubleshooting problem solving 4 Background information 5 Upgrades 6 The Catalex serial MP3 player 7 Creating new voices for TIM 2015 8 Revisions to this manual 9 Safety notice and legal disclaimer...

Страница 6: ...onise the voice and time display updates module MOD3 also contains a separate memory chip which is not used The time of day speech announcements are handled by the Catalex player module MOD4 This cont...

Страница 7: ...rightness is controlled using a PWM output from the microcontroller to driver transistor T3 The user interface is provided by a mechanical rotary encoder with switch When it is turned between each det...

Страница 8: ...i Fi off Display brightness setting 34 half power Approx 0 7W Amplifier off Wi Fi off Display brightness setting maximum brightness Approx 1 14W Amplifier off Wi Fi active Display brightness setting m...

Страница 9: ...TIM 2015 Technical Manual v1 February 2018 Page 9 Board dimensions 140 x 85mm...

Страница 10: ...TIM 2015 Technical Manual v1 February 2018 Page 10 Board layout...

Страница 11: ...TIM 2015 Technical Manual v1 February 2018 Page 11 Circuit diagram...

Страница 12: ...sehold or general waste It should instead be handed over to the applicable collection point for the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment or returned to the supplier for disposal RoHS regul...

Страница 13: ...has been set and retained in the RTC module Set the date and if it is not retained after power off check whether the CR2032 coin cell has become dislodged or requires replacement Error 01 VoiceHW The...

Страница 14: ...occur if local radio interference such as a noisy thermostat or an unsuppressed passing motorcycle is stronger than the signal from the distant radio time signal transmitter and corrupts the radio sig...

Страница 15: ...bruary 2018 Page 15 Catalex player blue module Micro SD card projecting slightly Side with lettering uppermost Coin cell in its holder with engraved lettering visible and uppermost Microcontroller chi...

Страница 16: ...the soldering iron being used to heat the solder directly rather than the parts themselves Properly done the iron heats the parts to be connected which in turn melt the solder guaranteeing adequate he...

Страница 17: ...eneral a good looking soldered joint is a good joint As mentioned it should be smooth bright and shiny If the joint has lumps or balls of otherwise shiny solder the metal has not wetted properly Not b...

Страница 18: ...chnologystudent com For all of these reasons it is essential to correct any cold or dry solder joints If you find one the solder on the joint should be removed with solder wick braid or a solder sucke...

Страница 19: ...bstituting another LED Is plug not making proper contact on the matching connector on the PCB If this is not the problem check and reflow if necessary the appropriate soldered joints on the PCB 3 Pres...

Страница 20: ...of the cable has been pushed onto the pin header of the display the wrong way round See sketch in Chapter 4 Wiring The body of the plug lies back over covering the PCB it does not project over the edg...

Страница 21: ...with the parallel serial jumper circled in red 6 The liquid crystal display does illuminate but it shows gibberish that changes constantly This is usually a loose wire connection in the flylead or el...

Страница 22: ...a master volume control that you can operate by pressing the left hand knob and entering the Settings menu Scroll through until the arrow points to Voice Volume and press the knob again You can now al...

Страница 23: ...was then put on a continuous soak test for several months during which time no problems occurred The opportunity was taken to fine tune some of the audio files Soak Testing is a type of performance t...

Страница 24: ...ll as the minute was changing and the third stroke happened at the same moment that the minute changed on my IP phone which is synced to my internal NTP server About Unusual Electronics This is the fi...

Страница 25: ...roSD cards containing the latest voice files these are available at cost 2 including inland postage at the time of writing Five voices are supplied per microSD card Please e mail andrew_emmerson btint...

Страница 26: ...e is still plenty of other error checking carried out 2 4 October 2016 Option added to provide for time announcements given in 24 hour format 2 5 April 2017 Voice menu no longer mention Pat Simmons by...

Страница 27: ...sequence begins with the time indicator With so called British voices this is a set of three pips that begin at 08 18 28 38 48 and 58 seconds In this way the last of these three pips will occur at ex...

Страница 28: ...ening The software makes a check to see whether these files are present and if so an on screen message indicates that a USA voice has been selected Times in the 24 hour format include hours files name...

Страница 29: ...or skilled we advise you not to make any alterations to this scheme of things otherwise commands from the microcontroller PIC chip will probably fail to work The files that you create need to be stor...

Страница 30: ...and where you place the audio within the file is critical to getting things right too The following details are correct for the Pat Simmons British voice Other voices will use slightly different timin...

Страница 31: ...to 159 WAV contain the minutes from 1 to 59 These also run for 1 3 seconds with the audio starting at 0 30 seconds File 200 WAV contains the word Precisely It lasts 2 1 seconds with the audio beginni...

Страница 32: ...mplete cycle 080 3 0 seconds 00x 3 1 seconds 1xx 1 3 seconds 2xx 2 0 seconds TOTAL 9 4 seconds not 10 00 seconds because we need to take account of the latency or delays that occur while the Catalex c...

Страница 33: ...ning that the final And ten seconds segment is truncated If alternatively I add a period of silence after the toneburst in 080 then the beep is sounded too early What am I doing wrong When I was writi...

Страница 34: ...latter but please confirm It is the latter because the Catalex unit cannot play more than one file at a time I contacted Catalex about their Serial Play command back in 2015 and they said it did not...

Страница 35: ...t to 1 The Catalex player is an ingenious device and priced attractively It is not very sophisticated however and it cannot play more than one file at a time If instructed to say sound the three pips...

Страница 36: ...mand for the pips file 98ms earlier than second x8 or second x0 for USA format voices to allow the pips to start playing promptly at second x8 or x0 8 Fragmentation of the data on the microSD card cau...

Страница 37: ...moving any excess silence you may find they will work then You may need to remove excess silence from other files 14 In any 10 second voice file the actual speech tone and pauses should not exceed 9 8...

Страница 38: ...9715958 1st Play 3 339516163 Folder 7 Track 3 3 299515963 2nd Play 3 309262037 0 151778221 Folder 8 Track 3 3 363430023 1st Play 3 359964848 Folder 8 Track 3 3 33957386 2nd Play 3 32967186 0 172188044...

Страница 39: ...the item is in the FAT table Renaming won t change that Folder 16 Track 3 3 511431932 1st Play 3 514756918 Folder 16 Track 3 3 481031179 2nd Play 3 491523981 0 334040165 Folder 17 Track 3 3 542538166...

Страница 40: ...6545 0 499085 Folder 10 Track 80 3 298041105 3 308758974 Folder 10 Track 80 3 228356123 3 237987995 Folder 10 Track 9 3 512026072 3 51099205 Folder 10 Track 128 1 548631191 1 54822588 Folder 10 Track...

Страница 41: ...micro seconds in between each check of the input buffer so this could be subtracted Timing report Catalex Full Sequence freshly formatted to FAT16 B 1st run Sequence 2nd run Sequence Extra time Extra...

Страница 42: ...0 3 058138132 3 047650814 Folder 1 Track 9 3 158977985 3 149448872 Folder 1 Track 128 1 36714983 1 346889019 Folder 1 Track 250 2 065678835 9 64994478 2 075988054 9 619976759 0 0 Folder 5 Track 80 3 2...

Страница 43: ...41852045 Folder 20 Track 250 2 44029808 11 522866 2 450479984 11 53380084 1 876312 1 868589 Full Sequence side by side First Run Second Run FAT16 A FAT16 B FAT32 FAT16 A FAT16 B FAT32 Folder 1 9 64655...

Страница 44: ...ou intend making an entirely new recording the process will be greatly simplified if you conform as closely as possible to the same format and timing of phrases as the standard British speaking clock...

Страница 45: ...e you may care to apply compression EQ and reverb delay to make it sound even better Here you generally need to experiment as what sounds good depends on both the microphone and the 6 Good equipment h...

Страница 46: ...nds thereafter This USA format is valid in most countries Many but not all USA format voice files include a preamble such as Good Morning Good Afternoon or Good Evening and when the microcontroller de...

Страница 47: ...to it now and again In some cases errors occur only at certain times of day usually when the and 45 seconds is cut short in its prime and replaced by the next toneburst or pips This indicates that the...

Страница 48: ...d advice provided in the User Assembly and Technical Manuals and any advertisements and leaflets are purely advisory and given in good faith without any legal engagement or responsibility Errors and o...

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