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<DIV>Doug. you had said</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>Google TTS will still be usable for occasional ID or text
conversion. Just be careful how many times you use it on a single IP over a
certain period. The period is not known! Until we make changes and have an
update you should disable weather forecasts and alerts as repetitive use will
make Google TTS not work at all.<BR></FONT><B><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"
size=4>73 Doug</FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4><BR></FONT><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>WA3DSP</FONT></B></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Like you have stated in other emails TTS_audio.sh does not work. I tried it
earlier to make a new id but got no response, so I believe google has totally
eliminated it! if you have found a way to use it to produce at least id's please
let the list know. thanks</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>btw espeak sounds awful. But I for one would not have a problem with
spending $130 for an unrestricted voice program. I would like to hear a demo
first!</DIV>
<DIV>Being blind and doing most of my work with text readers, 130 dollars is
cheap! using Jaws is a $1000 program plus a $300 a year license!</DIV>
<DIV>if we want audio quality sometimes we have to pay for it!</DIV>
<DIV>Thanks<BR>73 Neil Sablatzky K8IT<BR>Allstar Node 41838
KITLINK<BR>Allstar Node 42087 KITLINK HUB<BR>IRLP Node exp0068<BR>Echolink
K8IT-L<BR>WIRES-X K8IT 11479 Room 21479</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=doug@crompton.com
href="mailto:doug@crompton.com">Doug Crompton</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 29, 2015 10:36 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=arm-allstar@hamvoip.org
href="mailto:arm-allstar@hamvoip.org">arm-allstar@hamvoip.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [arm-allstar] Update on Weather Scripts and
TTS</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000000 face=Tahoma,sans-serif>If you have been
listening here the last week or using the weather scripts you probably know by
now that Google has limited repetitive use of their free online TTS converter.
Google TTS is a great asset but unfortunately if everyone starts using it I
guess you can understand why they would set limits. <BR><BR>We made the Google
TTS available in the BBB and RPi2 releases for use in ID's, Weather scripts,
etc. If you are not using weather scripts and do not intend to in the
future then this Google change will probably not effect you. If you are then at
least for now weather reporting will probably not work or may stop working for
you in the future.<BR><BR>We are working on fixes for this but unfortunately at
least so far none are as good as Google. Cepstral has a package for the RPi2
that works and sounds good but they are a bastard company to work with at least
for amateur radio. The package is reasonable - $29.95 - but they require a $100
public broadcast license even for amateur radio for EVERY user. We also could
not distribute even their demo package in the image which could then easily be
upgraded to full use. So each user would have to purchase the code and license
and install it on their own. Not a practical idea and few if any would want to
spend the money. It is a shame when companies like this don't make exceptions
for amateur radio. It could only help their business.<BR><BR>Espeak is probably
one of the better (if you want to call it that) free packages for TTS for Linux.
If you are use to the Google TTS it will sound like crap to you. For the most
part understandable but not great quality. This may be our only option for
general distribution.<BR><BR>Using Alison and the existing pre-recorded words is
also an option we are looking at. It certainly would not have as much
flexibility though as it would be limited to existing words but it could report
weather specifics like temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc.<BR><BR>So the
bottom line is their is no really good free or inexpensive option. If anyone has
any ideas or suggestions on this please lets us know.<BR><BR>Google TTS will
still be usable for occasional ID or text conversion. Just be careful how many
times you use it on a single IP over a certain period. The period is not known!
Until we make changes and have an update you should disable weather forecasts
and alerts as repetitive use will make Google TTS not work at
all.<BR><BR></FONT><B><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>73 Doug</FONT><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"
size=4>WA3DSP</FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4><BR></FONT><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>http://www.crompton.com/hamradio</FONT></B><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4><BR></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR><BR>arm-allstar
mailing
list<BR>arm-allstar@hamvoip.org<BR>http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar<BR><BR>Visit
the BBB and RPi2 web page - http://hamvoip.org
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