M
manuka
Guest
Had a tight budget Digital Voice Recording (DVR)educational project in
mind, & recalled those 10 second Hallmark recordable greeting
cards,once popular in the early 90s. My 2005 idea involved
modification to suit a Picaxe microcontroller, delivering user
generated sounds rather than boring old speech synthesis. It's been
done with a Basic Stamp & makes a most attention getting device! Sadly
the Hallmark cards have long gone,as has also a later 90s "Yak-Bak"
gizmo that repeated back ones voice or songs etc.Kids stuff!
Recordable postcards & photo albums ARE still around, but at the $$
level...
OK -they may have been novelties even at that time,but their quality
electronics were worth more than the final toy! You know how it goes -
take the guts from a solar powered garden lamp worth a few $US &
create a $$$ electronic design...
The solid state (zero power EEPROM stored-good for 10+ years)
electronics in these early DVRs gave suprisingly good speech
quality,with circuitry usually based around (Winbond) Information
Storage Devices (ISD)"ChipCorder" range. These chips alone retailed
~US$5-$10,typically as their ISD1110 or ISD1020. Fast forward to
2005,& their ISD1420 (=20 secs)& ISD2560 (60 secs)look the equivalent,
with tradeoffs between recording time & bandwidth (= voice quality)now
possible too. See a complete list =>
http://www.winbond-usa.com/products/isd_products/chipcorder/portfolio/
OK- toy shop time. Guess I should have asked a 3 year old earlier on
for my electronic market research, since -BINGO- a charming talkative
Teddy Bear. These cuddly Wild Republic "Say & Send Friends" bears were
apparently all the rage just last Xmas(2004), & presently sell ~US$10.
The sound module is velco pouched within the bear, & gives a great
quality 10 second greeting when it's tummy is pushed. Maybe have some
recording fun with older kids(& yeah-teens!),then slide out the neat
recorder for workshop enhancement & give the bear to a younger child?
See a pix => www.manuka.orcon.net.nz/s&sbears.jpg
Well that's the plan, but my nursing wife has promptly run off with
the bear to amuse her patients. Further postings when Teddy reappears!
Stan
mind, & recalled those 10 second Hallmark recordable greeting
cards,once popular in the early 90s. My 2005 idea involved
modification to suit a Picaxe microcontroller, delivering user
generated sounds rather than boring old speech synthesis. It's been
done with a Basic Stamp & makes a most attention getting device! Sadly
the Hallmark cards have long gone,as has also a later 90s "Yak-Bak"
gizmo that repeated back ones voice or songs etc.Kids stuff!
Recordable postcards & photo albums ARE still around, but at the $$
level...
OK -they may have been novelties even at that time,but their quality
electronics were worth more than the final toy! You know how it goes -
take the guts from a solar powered garden lamp worth a few $US &
create a $$$ electronic design...
The solid state (zero power EEPROM stored-good for 10+ years)
electronics in these early DVRs gave suprisingly good speech
quality,with circuitry usually based around (Winbond) Information
Storage Devices (ISD)"ChipCorder" range. These chips alone retailed
~US$5-$10,typically as their ISD1110 or ISD1020. Fast forward to
2005,& their ISD1420 (=20 secs)& ISD2560 (60 secs)look the equivalent,
with tradeoffs between recording time & bandwidth (= voice quality)now
possible too. See a complete list =>
http://www.winbond-usa.com/products/isd_products/chipcorder/portfolio/
OK- toy shop time. Guess I should have asked a 3 year old earlier on
for my electronic market research, since -BINGO- a charming talkative
Teddy Bear. These cuddly Wild Republic "Say & Send Friends" bears were
apparently all the rage just last Xmas(2004), & presently sell ~US$10.
The sound module is velco pouched within the bear, & gives a great
quality 10 second greeting when it's tummy is pushed. Maybe have some
recording fun with older kids(& yeah-teens!),then slide out the neat
recorder for workshop enhancement & give the bear to a younger child?
See a pix => www.manuka.orcon.net.nz/s&sbears.jpg
Well that's the plan, but my nursing wife has promptly run off with
the bear to amuse her patients. Further postings when Teddy reappears!
Stan