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AtariVox rev2

Richard H.

By Richard H.
in Hardware

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Add Vectrex support to the AtariVox?  

108 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you like to see Vectrex support added to the AtariVox?

    • Yes
      76
    • No
      3
    • Don't care either way
      29
  • Please sign in to vote in this poll.

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wolfpackmommy Chopper Commander

wolfpackmommy

Posted
Posted

Yes. AtariVox+ also works as a VecVoice and VecVox.

You have to pop the plastic case open and change the slide switches, as it comes set for Atari.

Send PM (Send Me a Message) to http://atariage.com/...-wolfpackmommy/

 

Yes, thanks. Just PM me and I'll sell you one. All PMs replied, and orders sent.

 

 

Sally

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  • 4 weeks later...
DEANJIMMY Dragonstomper

DEANJIMMY

Posted
Posted

Ir ordered two units twice, both orders were handled quickly, I received PMs about the status and it arrived in timely manner even shipped to Germany and got stuck in customs.

 

The units work very well, tested with a few games:

 

Atarivox+:

Juno First, nice speech during game, high score saving, my favorite homebrew anyway (play it with black competition pro without micro switches to keep your stamina in higher levels :)

Fall down: Speech at beginning and end of game, did not check for high score saving

 

Vectrex:

YASI and Verzerk in Vecvoice mode. I like Verzerk (voice enhanced Berzerk), some phrases sound a bit funny. Should be debugged version of Berzerk but I could crash it with high score, then even the output on the atarivox+ gets in a loop but that is related to the game.

 

Debris and V Hockey in Vecvox mode, speech seems to be more accurate plus additional FX like bullet sound in Debris.

 

For Vectrex the modes are not compatible. You get looping sounds if in wrong mode, therefore I use two labled units for my Vectrex with preselected Dip switches so I have not to open the case when changing games just change the Atarivox+ unit as well.

 

Many thanks to all involved for this nice add on!!!

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  • 1 month later...
128Kgames Stargunner

128Kgames

Posted
Posted

Picked one of these up in grey:

 

HDMX Burst

 

Not sure why you can't get that color online, but in store they have it. Works great with the AtariVox I picked up, the speaker actually has some weight to it, didn't feel flimsy or cheap compared to some of the others they have. Has a built in 3.5 mm plug that retracts into the speaker, and the speaker is rechargeable via USB.

 

Really nice sound out of this thing, could only test Debris for the Vectrex as its my only game that supports the 'vec.

 

If anybody is looking for a nice, inexpensive speaker, it was only $19.99, and less with one of those coupons my wife always gets.

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Andromeda Stardust Quadrunner

Andromeda Stardust

Posted
Posted (edited)

I wanted to add the AtariVox that The_Golden_Ax sent me worked great although I only currently have one homebrew that supports the speech (Strat-O-gems). I still have some old 2" cube bookshelf speakers laying around from a defunct surround system. They are 4 ohms and work great as full range drivers. I spliced a 1/8" phono cable and wired it into the speaker. Red (right) and white (left) wires are twisted together and connected to the red (plus) speaker terminal. The bare copper ground from the audio cable is connected to the black (minus) speaker terminal. I tuned the volume pot all the way to the up on my AtariVox and the audio is plenty loud enough to hear speech from the speaker in a medium sized room without amplification. Any 4 ohm or 8 ohm speaker should work. The sound is clean and undistorted even @ max volume, so feel free to directly hook up your own boxed speakers if you have them! ;)

 

FYI 6-switch Ataris have mounts for internal speakers if anybody wants to mod the their Atari and install the 'vox internally. You would still need to disconnect the Atarivox somehow for two-player games though... :ponder:

Edited by stardust4ever
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  • 8 months later...
mos6507 Quadrunner

mos6507

Posted
Posted (edited)

The biggest problem holding back making more is the cost of the Speakjet chip per-unit. The final price is largely a function of the generous (potentially one-off) volume-pricing discount that I arranged years ago based on the combination of me willing to take a loss and thinking that there were enough people out there to sell every unit. So if I were confident enough that there were, let's say, 100 or more people who wanted AtariVox+ units then I could probably order 100 chips and get a decent discount. Otherwise if I bought in a low quantity the boards would be considerably more expensive. While some people might still pay if it were more money, it doesn't seem fair considering how affordable the last run was. While they would still need to be assembled, there's no shortage of extra PC Boards--and used Genesis extension cables can still be scoped out.

 

So it's kind of stuck in a no-man's land where there are a few people coming forward to express their dismay that they missed out, but not yet enough to make me feel motivated to wheel and deal for a batch discount.

 

If I get bored enough I might build some more boards with everything in them other than the speakjet, just to get them poised and ready to go. There's a part of me that's kind of nostalgic for when I did the soldering back in the day, and my life has calmed down recently so that I'm not quite so much in the animation tunnel-vision. That might ultimately be the only solution, to premake everything and then buy the chips in low quantities and sell them at a higher price-point.

Edited by mos6507
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Albert Quadrunner

Albert

Posted
Posted

I am willing to front the money to buy the Speakjet parts in order to make the AtariVox available again. I get asked about them on a routine basis, and they would sell if they were back in the AtariAge Store. I can't encourage homebrew authors to support the AtariVox until it's widely available again.

 

..Al

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mos6507 Quadrunner

mos6507

Posted
Posted

I will fish my stuff out of storage and see if I can actually start building the boards again. Nothing can happen until I've got an assembly line like that going again. I'll let you guys know how that pans out. Worst case scenario is I'll ship all remaining parts to Albert. It's not that the assembly is so difficult (other than the PIC). It's just that it's time-consuming and you have to really be motivated to put the time into it. So if there's anywhere I can really pitch-in, more than just the money, it's putting the time into actually making them. I don't enjoy doing product-fulfillment but I did find making these a relaxing diversion at the time, which was before I got so singularly obsessed with animation.

 

As I recall, I think I manufactured a whopping 1,000 raw boards. More than enough for eternity, I think, assuming the PIC and the Speakjet remain available.

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mos6507 Quadrunner

mos6507

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have everything reassembled on the desk. A rough estimate is about 875 boards, of which I already have about 50 in various stages of assembly and a fair amount of spare parts to make more without having to reorder everything. I also still have a small cache of USB-based AtariVox boards that Richard gave me but I don't know how to build those.

 

I don't think any of my Atari machines really work anymore so I may need to just debug via Stelladapter or something, assuming I can also find my old pair of PC speakers.

Edited by mos6507
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Albert Quadrunner

Albert

Posted
Posted

I have everything reassembled on the desk. A rough estimate is about 875 boards, of which I already have about 50 in various stages of assembly and a fair amount of spare parts to make more without having to reorder everything. I also still have a small cache of USB-based AtariVox boards that Richard gave me but I don't know how to build those.

 

I don't think any of my Atari machines really work anymore so I may need to just debug via Stelladapter or something, assuming I can also find my old pair of PC speakers.

I can help you with a machine if you'd like.

 

..Al

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iesposta River Patroller

iesposta

Posted
Posted

I have everything reassembled on the desk. ... I also still have a small cache of USB-based AtariVox boards that Richard gave me but I don't know how to build those.

Is it this?

med_gallery_29575_733_51333.jpg

 

That is for connecting your PC to AtariVox+ for development work so you can create speech strings, or to use an AtariVox+ with Stella.

 

I am still wanting to buy a "blank board" because I have a programmed PIC, I bought a SpeakJet, I built the programmer to set the SpeakJet baud rate, and have all the parts (except maybe dip switch) to build one AtariVox+.

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mos6507 Quadrunner

mos6507

Posted
Posted

I am still wanting to buy a "blank board" because I have a programmed PIC, I bought a SpeakJet, I built the programmer to set the SpeakJet baud rate, and have all the parts (except maybe dip switch) to build one AtariVox+.

 

If you feel qualified to make them, would you be willing to assume responsibility to make an entire batch instead of me?

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