[aprssig] next beta build #61 of YAAC ("Yet Another APRS Client")

[Andrew P.]

Looks like I need to update the documentation for the next build of the plugin. :-)

If you don't already have espeak, you can download it from http://espeak.sourceforge.net.

The way YAAC expects to use espeak is as a subprocess that accepts text to speak as carriage-return ended lines to its standard input. To test the command needed to do this, open up a command window (this applies to both Windows and Linux). Then find the command string needed to launch espeak (or espeak.exe on Windows) where it waits for text lines to speak, such as:

C:\Users\kb1chu\espeak\espeak.exe

or (for Linux)

/usr/bin/espeak

It is quite annoying that Microsoft put spaces in the Program Files directory name. I'll add some bombproofing to the next plugin build so you could quote such directory names, i.e.

C:\"Program Files"\espeak\espeak.exe

but quoting won't work yet. An alternative would be to put the espeak installation directory on your PATH; then you could just specify the command 
"espeak" and let the operating system handle path directories with spaces in them.

Once espeak is running, it should hang the command window (not returning to the command prompt) because it is waiting for input. Type an arbitrary string and press ENTER. If things are working correctly, the string should be spoken, one line at a time. Send an end-of-file (control-Z on Windows, control-D on Linux) to cause espeak to terminate.

Once you have determined the correct command string for your installation of espeak, put that same string in the "Specify string for invoking speech synthesizer..." field.

When you switch an event type to the SPEAK action, the plugin will provide a default format string specific to that event type. You can change it if you would like YAAC to say something else. The macro fields for substituting parts of the APRS message or station into the spoken text are documented in the built-in help for the plugin.

Note that you don't have to use espeak as your synthesizer program. It just happens to be a free program that runs on all platforms that YAAC supports. There are others, such as festival for Linux, and the paid-for Dragon programs from Nuance for Windows. As long as the program supports text-to-speech where the text comes as lines from standard input, it will work.

Hope this helps.

Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC

Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 17:15:47 -0400
From: KB1CHU at AOL.COM
To: aprssig at tapr.org
Subject: Re: [aprssig] next beta build #61 of YAAC ("Yet Another APRS	Client")


  
    
  
  
    I have added the plugin for sound and the sound tab is visible under
    the settings. I can get the sounds to work using the beeps and wave
    files but don't know how to include espeak. I  downloaded it but I
    need to know what line to add to  make it connect. I am using Win 7
    but will also need to know the line to use with a Raspberry Pi 2
    with raspbian. Thanks Steve KB1CHU

    

    On 4/30/2015 9:00 AM, Andrew P. wrote:

    
    
      
      Greetings, all.

        

        The next beta build of YAAC has been released, automatically
        upgradeable the usual way or downloadable from the usual
        sources:

        

        http://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html

        http://sourceforge.net/projects/yetanotheraprsc

        

        The changes to YAAC itself are fairly minor (a few bugfixes),
        but the important change is support for the first draft of the
        new soundsplugin, which allows YAAC to use your sound card to
        audibly report various events occurring in the APRS network,
        such as:

        
          new stations and objects being heard
          stations reporting emergency and priority conditions
          locally-controlled objects being taken over by other
            stations
        
        

        Events can be reported as simple beeps, user-chosen sound files
        (WAV, etc.), or synthesized spoken speech (using the "espeak"
        speech synthesizer or other compatible applications).

        

        The soundsplugin is available for download from the same places
        as YAAC itself can be downloaded.

        

        Enjoy.

        

        Andrew Pavlin, KA2DDO

        author of YAAC

      
      

      
      

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