[arm-allstar] audio levels

[David McGough]

Hi Don,

Okay about the PTT and COS working properly and just having an audio level
issue.  Do you have a service monitor or deviation meter available??  
--that will simplify getting the levels perfect.

To set the RX levels going into AllStar, go into the simpleusb-tune-menu 
program and select option 2, Set Rx Voice Level.  Then, using a signal 
from the RLC controller (which could come from the repeater RX), set the 
level between 3KHz and 5KHz.  Each time you press enter, you can change 
the level, from 0 to 999.  You ideally should be somewhere around the 
middle of this range (500). If you're at the extremes (low or high), 
you'll probably want to adjust the port audio level in the RLC, using the 
adjustment potentiometer. Once you're happy with the level, press enter to 
get back to the main menu.

To set the TX levels coming from AllStar,  first go into option 7 and set 
the TX DSP level to 999. Then, toggle option E, which enables a 1KHz test 
tone.

Then, go into the option 3.  Adjust the level from 0 to 999 and press
enter. You'll hear the test tone going to the repeater TX via the RLC.
Press enter to stop the tone and go back to the menu. Go around this loop
until you've got the deviation between 3Khz and 5KHz, as measured on a
deviation meter, depending on you preferences.

In some rare scenarios, you may find that one TX level (for example:  
601) is too high and the next step down (e.g.: 600) is too low. This
happens with some flavors of the CM1xy sound chips, where they have very
course mixer level settings.  In this case, you would adjust the option 3
level to 601, which is too high. Then, go into option 7 and turn the TX
DSP level down from 999 to some lower value. Keep setting the option 7
level lower and lower, until you reach to perfect set point.

Again, as mentioned above, if this TX option 3 level is near either
extreme (0 or 999), you may want to adjust the appropriate RLC level pot,
to center the range.

Once you're happy, toggle option E again, to disable the test tone.  Exit 
simpleusb-tune-menu with option 0, and make sure to save the settings, by 
pressing w <enter>.

That's it!  Once you've got these levels set, Echolink is typically ready 
to go.  Once you've been through this procedure a few times, it goes very 
fast---I can typically set the audio levels for a new system in about 5 
minutes.


73, David KB4FXC




On Fri, 23 Jul 2021, Don Sayler wrote:

> Hi David.
> 
> Thanks for responding.
> 
> Here's the Asterisk version info:
> [image: image.png]
> 
> Running on a Pi3+, with the Repeater Builder USB RIM interface to an RLC
> Club Deluxe controller.
> I guess I started with Echolink 'cause I'm already familiar with it.
> AllStar is brand new to me.
> 
> Don
> 
> On Fri, Jul 23, 2021 at 8:38 PM David McGough <kb4fxc at inttek.net> wrote:
> 
> >
> > Hi Don,
> >
> > The place to start with the audio levels is getting them set right for the
> > AllStar side first. Then, the echolink levels should already be correct
> > (or very close).
> >
> > What type of an AllStar node do you have and how are you using it?
> >
> > 73, David KB4FXC
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 23 Jul 2021, "Don Sayler via ARM-allstar" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Folks.
> > >
> > > I' trying to get our Allstar node dialed in, starting with Echolink. The
> > > handshake works, COR and PTT work properly.
> > >
> > > I'm having a hard time getting the audio levels set, I had to set TX DSP
> > > very low to avoid getting a bunch of noise coming into our repeater from
> > > the Echolink app on my phone. Audio going to the phone is low level, but
> > > clear.
> > >
> > > >From what I've read on here, maybe the audio level from our repeater is
> > too
> > > high. Is there a recommended peak-to-peak voltage to set our repeater
> > audio
> > > output to?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > Don Sayler, W7OXR
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> >
> >
>