The idea is to pre-record it ALL so that SSB contesting becomes the same as CW
or RTTY contesting. Use the mic only in extreme situations.
Works great for the exchange as well
<prosody rate="+50%">
Kilo Four X-Ray Sugar, five nine oscar november
</prosody>
________________________________
From: Pete Smith N4ZR <n4zr@contesting.com>
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Sent: Friday, March 8, 2013 10:30 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Improving voice recordings for phone contests
Amen. Close to 30 years ago I had a Radio Shack speech synthesizer chip that I
tried to use for this purpose. It made speech, all right, but often the only
response to my machine-speak was "sorry - your audio went bad. again, please."
73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at
http://reversebeacon.net,
blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com.
For spots, please go to your favorite
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On 3/8/2013 8:57 AM, Cqtestk4xs@aol.com wrote:
> Do NOT use a different voice for the exchange!!! It really screws up the
> op on the other end, especially when there is QRM or you don't have a big
> signal. The guy on the other end is expecting a voice similar to the one
> that CQed or called him. If you don't hear that in less than optimal
> conditions you think the guy QSYed.
> As an SSB contester I've had this happen to me a few times and it is a
> PITA.
> Bill K4XS
> In a message dated 3/8/2013 1:35:36 P.M. Coordinated Universal Time,
> r_bakalov@yahoo.com writes:
>
> Have you guys tried using AT&T Labs' text to speech site? See
> http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php ; You won't be using your
> own voice,
> but at the very least the voice will be consistent. I am not a SSB fan, but
> do want to get into SSB contests and have been toying with the idea of
> recording it all with a text-to-speech tools. For call signs, my thought is
> to
> make them sound more natural by identifying the top unique prefixes and
> recording dedicated files for them (e.g., W1, DL5, S50, etc.).
>
>
> Rudy N2WQ
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Björn SM0MDG <bjorn@sm0mdg.com>
> To: CQ Contest <cq-contest@contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, March 8, 2013 5:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Improving voice recordings for phone contests
>
> On 7 mar 2013, at 13:30, Pete Smith N4ZR <n4zr@contesting.com> wrote:
>
>> Before last weekend's contest, I had a chance to experiment a bit with
> my voice recordings. One of the problems I have always had is that when I
> try to enunciate clearly I always slow down, and the resulting recording
> lacks the urgency you expect in a contest situation. I also always notice
> stations whose recorded and live audio don't sound anything alike, and wanted
> to minimize that as much as possible.
>> I use Audacity, excellent freeware recording software, but this time
> around I "discovered" its "Change Tempo" function, which speeds up speech
> without changing the pitch or timbre. The results are wonderful - you can
> speed up any recording 10 or 20 percent at a time, and it sounds completely
> natural, just faster.
>> *listen and adjust the tempo (on the same Enhance menu) for the effect I
> want. Repeat these 4 steps for each recorded message.
>
> I used the same methodology for the recordings I made for CQ160 SSB where
> I had to go "silent". I voiced in normal speed (or slightly below normal),
> articulating clearly and used about 20-30% tempo increase. I would be
> interested to hear others "best practice" on the amount of speed increase.
>
> A sample exchange of mine is posted on the SE0X blog, go to www.se0x.info
> in the CQ160 SSB update and listen to the audio file.
>
> Another benefit of voicing all prompts is that exchanges are kept to the
> essentials keeping the rate high. Of course this can only happen if voice
> prompts are clear and easy to receive by the other station. The benefit is
> probably higher in a contest with a predictable exchange leaving only the
> call to constructed on the fly by N1MM.
>
> 73 de Björn,
> SM0MDG
> VP2MSW
> V21BM
> SE0X
>
>
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