speaker hiss

[MikeB]

I'm confused as you posted that reply on the 16th, and I didn't post the test firmware until the 17th!

Mike.

[jhsa]

Better to do it again if you don't mind, just to be sure.

João

[s_mack]

I'm confused as you posted that reply on the 16th, and I didn't post the test firmware until the 17th!

Mike.

Time travel: one of the many features provided by the 9Xtreme!

[gb21914]

Well now that you're all very impressed with my time travel capabilities… I should probably tell you that the forum software allows you to go back and edit your original post .

I believe that I updated the firmware… And then fix the post that I had initially posted .

That being said I will upgrade to the latest version… And see if that does anything for me .

[MikeB]

In the latest version there is an option in the Hardware menu to turn the I2C on and off. The Hardware menu is only available (not disabled) if you switch the power on while holding the left horizontal trim to the left. This is to protect it from accidental changes.

Mike.

[gb21914]

Updated the firmware to the latest.

Still have the hiss, and still have the warble with voice playback. I have tested with hardware on and off...no difference for me.

[jhsa]

You mean with i2c on and off? Not hardware?

João

[MikeB]

Is there any chance you could record a few seconds of the noise you have, when the radio is just on and not playing any voice messages, as a .wav file (audio only). I could then look at it in Audacity and see if I can pick out an exact frequency of the noise. I did this myself, using a microphone, and was able to pick out the low level buzz as coming from the I2C.

Mike.

[gb21914]

You mean with i2c on and off? Not hardware?

I see no noticeable difference in any of the settings. The audio below was taken with I2C off / Hardware off (hopefully .m4a is okay as it's all my phone seems to record in).

[jhsa]

Here is the file a bit amplified and converted to wav.

[MikeB]

I can only just hear clicks, possibly at something a bit over 10Hz. I put it in Audacity, but the clicks only just about show. I found an online converter.
The recording is not very loud.

Mike.

[s_mack]

If the audio recording is representative of what you're hearing... then I'd say that's pretty well "normal". It isn't very loud. Does that really bother?

[gb21914]

To be clear my major issue is the clicking. The background whine is an annoyance that I can deal with, but it is audible. The phone doesn't seem to be picking up the audio very well with an audio recording, but you can hear the whine clearly on the video's that I've posted.

The whine and clicking have been there since day one, and there hasn't been a change (for me anyways) with any of the firmware fixes since receiving the unit.

With regards to the clicking, I'd like to be able to clearly understand what my transmitter is trying to tell me. It has been indicated that a replacement is on it's way, and hopefully that will resolve the clicking issue.

- NOTE -
I just re read this, and I think it might sound as if I'm upset...I'm not, just trying to be factual

[jhsa]

I just checked.. Mine does exactly the same. the high pitch continuous sound, plus the helicopter type one..
I'd say that is normal. we won't get a completely silent speaker sound..
João

[s_mack]

It has been indicated that a replacement is on it's way

It felt like that was a long time ago, and I would have thought it already got to you. I just looked it up and it shipped out 6 business days ago (it felt longer) for what is advertised to be a 7 to 20 business day journey. Hopefully not too much longer.

[s_mack]

I'd say that is normal

I agree that the sound I can hear in the video is normal... however, he's saying he can't clearly understand what the voice is telling him. I can *clealy* hear what is said on mine. Can't you?

[gb21914]

Can someone post a video of what the unit is supposed to sound like?

Is it clear? Does it whine? Does it clip?

[MikeB]

We believe you do have a problem, just so far, we haven't been able to locate it for you. It is clearly difficult to get a representative recording we can interpret.
It does seem your board has a specific fault. There is a general background hiss/clicking, but on most boards, it is sufficiently low level as not to be a problem.
Hopefully a replacement board will fix your problem. I understand 600 to 700 9Xtreme boards have been shipped. Steven will clearly know, but it seems to me just a few (less than 10) have a problem. That is very good given the number shipped.

Mike.

[jhsa]

Steven, we were commenting on the audio file that was posted above as far as I know. So, I meant that the sound I hear on that audio file is exactly the same mine board does, and that is what I think it is normal.
The audio file doesn't show any voice playing, only the background noise. If he can't understand what the voice say, then I believe it is another problem and not what the audio file shows.

The audio on my board is very very clear. The best I have so far..

João

[MikeB]

I suspect there is a gain problem, and this particular board is simply making the same sound the rest of us hear, but at a higher volume. Then, when a voice file plays, it clips, making the sound distorted.

Mike.

[s_mack]

II understand 600 to 700 9Xtreme boards have been shipped. Steven will clearly know, but it seems to me just a few (less than 10) have a problem.

Someone else posted a guess in that range. Actually, it is between 450 and 500. I've so far shipped out 11 replacement boards, including two due to shipping problems (João's, for example) and one so ShowMaster could help with diagnostics. One replacement was to help diagnose an issue that turned out to be a problem with the customers' 9x. So by my math, that means 7 due to defect. Or, rather, potential defect since only a couple have received them. I've been quick to reship because we don't have enough diagnostic information yet to help with remote repairs so probably not all of those needed to be replaced. On the other hand, there have been 2 or 3 problems that were self-corrected by the customer (solder bridges/shorts)

That number of 450-500, I might add, with zero marketing push. I still haven't tapped my ~10,000 email list of SP programmer purchasers. I wanted to get my new website sorted, some documentation done, and to get a handle on problems before doing that. I expect to do so in the next week now that my new site* is up and mostly finished.



* the primary reasons for the new site were a) compliance with PayPal's new rules, b) suitable for shopping on a mobile device (old one was horrid for that) and c) automated back-end so orders are shipped efficiently.

[gb21914]

I am definitely "very impressed" with the capability that this new board provides. It's worth a few teething problems.

[LTMNO]

The audio on my board is very very clear. The best I have so far..

João

I have to second that... best sound radio i have so far..

[ShowMaster]

I showed off my 9x 9XT upgrade and spare board tonight at s big Rc club meeting. Many own 9x radios but with DJT modules and no fw upgrade, and timing was great for this. The year end club give away raffle for volunteer workers was tonight. Among other prizes was a new Taranis Plus. Many were commenting on how they wished they had won it. That's when I broke out my 9Xtreme upgraded 9X and showed the 9x owners that for $70 they could upgrade theirs to have the same features. Having the spare kit along, I showed them how simple it was to DIY! I hope it hooked a few!
I offered to help them if they order one.
Another RC club in 2 weeks.

Now I need a mix option to run the LED backlight through all the color options while it plays some music. I guess it should be Disco if it's going with the color changing!

Oh, to keep on topic, they didn't complain about or notice any hiss!

[OctavioS]

I have a hiss on my 3 9xtreme mod radios. The ideal is that it wasnt there. But it really doesnt bother me. I only hear it at home when there is silence.
The taranis also have, although its less audible.

[LTMNO]

@ShowMaster...
That is awesome.. I wish we had those kind of organizations here in 'boon-e-ville' where I live north of the city. I am part of a club of 1.
Just fly on my property more or less.

Great work evangelizing!

[ShowMaster]

For those new to open source fw, DIY upgrades, and announce/voice audio with its pluses and minor minuses.

Audio announce/voice is a luxury that we only enjoyed maybe 5 years now? We had systems that always beeped when time out timers or the tx battery was low, but nothing more sophisticated built in. Before that we used egg timers clipped to our antennas. Then er9x came along and being open source, it wasn't limited to the standard issue features. It was a DIY mod to a $60-80 Chinese tx that allowed it to be reprogrammed with features, and only limited by its hardware. Being DIY, even the hardware could be modified to add dream features. First fw feature was increasing the model memory from 8 to 16. Then multiple timers. Then a piezo electric speaker/buzzer that could play digital sound effects written into the code. No more just monotone beeps, now we had sound effects. More audio options, but no "buzz/hiss" yet because no audio amp or speaker circuitry. MikeB had joined the open source er9x users, and with his forward thinking and coding ability, started adding new er9x features after a er9x pioneer Eraz, welcomed Mike take part. Then a very helpful but persistent forum member Jhsa, got this idea that he wanted his tx to have a voice, and be able to play real sound effects and music! He bugged Mike a lot about it. Mike finally obliged, and er9x suddenly had a voice! At first it was a modified MP3 module, all DIY, but it talked, played music, and in many languages. Amazing, because none of the big brand hard coded $ystems did that at all! Hitec did have an add on speaker that fit the tx handle to their credit in that time frame, but I never saw or heard one at my fields.
Being that adding audio to our 9x with er9x was a added DIY MP3 module, I don't think we had any audio buzz/hiss yet. Same later when the Megasound board was available. I think it was the best audio still of all our options.
Then the Skyboard total 9x replacement board was designed by Brent, skynorth, and offered. He designed it from the ground up, taking care to better isolate and bypass the audio circuit sections. It was discovered that audio, digital pulses, and RF, don't play well on the same board or proximity. Good design, but there was/is a faint audio buzz there depending on the antenna angle and Rf power level. Then the first Taranis came along, the model A. No longer a DIY tx, but a full featured turn key tx with open source Opentx loaded on it. It could also run a forked version or Mike's er9x fw, ersky9x. The A Taranis was great, but the speaker buzzed a lot for many, and the newly added earphone jack was basically unusable for most. The Taranis audio mods filled the forums, and still do.
It was, I believe, the first RTF system with full featured audio options. At the same time HK commissioned skynorth to design a new full featured board board for their 9XR tx case, they called it the 9XR Pro. It could do want the Taranis could do (and more, Bluetooth), but HK chose to not upgrade the sticks and stick with the 9XR case design. They also sold/sell it for $99 with no battery or tx module. That got the flying price close to the Taranis tx. The audio is good but still a faint speaker buzz or hiss, but still much better than the A Taranis model.
Skynorth retired the Skyboard design at that time as demand fell off.
In that time frame, or earlier, that there was a drop in programmer board for the 9x, a smartiparts!
If you can use a screw driver, you can install a programmer/USB board. Worked great but didn't add telemetry or audio, but did allow er9x or Opentx to be flashed into the 9x. Later a newer sp add on board would add the telemetry feature, still no audio.
So here we are in late 2015, and with a screwdriver and the new 9Xtreme SP DIY board, we can take a numb stock 9x tx, and upgrade it to a full featured tx that can do almost anything, even a rainbow colors backlight! But... we still have that pesky audio buzz/hiss that some find ok, and others don't. There are a few that do have assembly issues that cause excessive buzz and choppy audio that Steven's replacing.
Not the norm! I personally don't have an issue, but agree it's still worth researching because we can!

I just realized that when assigning a pot to adjust the 9XT audio level, I don't hear any clicks or pops! Wow, that's really nice and smooth, try it!
The Taranis requires extensive mods to eliminate the pot/slider pops when used for audio gain change!

All in all, based on my history lesson, we've come along way to basically be just dealing with some ambient hiss, using basically a disposable Chinese 9x and a screwdriver. I did have to make one solder connection for my XJT module and 3 for my haptic. If Steven ships future boards with pins soldered into the expansion/feature pads, then only one solder connection would be required for the XJT clean interface option to pin 5. No external case connection option required then.
Even Bluetooth options are supported. For data interfacing now, but there.

I own maybe 7 talking radios now and enjoy all their features. Many were built up over time for the fun of it. I'd have 6 if Steven hadn't come up with the 9XT board. Had to try it!

I've/we've come a long way from a single channel push button control box era.

Oh, and now I hear many brand systems talking. They had to keep up with "us"!

Typed on my iPhone with my thumb.

[ShowMaster]

@ShowMaster...
That is awesome.. I wish we had those kind of organizations here in 'boon-e-ville' where I live north of the city. I am part of a club of 1.
Just fly on my property more or less.

Great work evangelizing!

I'll bet if the word got out you fly Rc, you'd meet your distant neighbors. You should be in great shape for a drone!

[MikeB]

ABBC3_OFFTOPIC

It was May/June 2012 when I first got voice working with the Emartee module.

On the 9XTreme, the volume is entirely software controlled, there is no hardware involved.
ersky9x now has an option to use software volume control on all platforms.

Mike.

[jhsa]

I still got my emartee module plus the little board that controlled it. I think I have enough stuff for a little museum. Also still got my first huge megasound board, built on a piece of stripboard and with mostly through hole components. It was fun and still is with all the new features Mike keeps implementing.. I am just finishing Modding another radio. Just need to install a taranis slider and the bluetooth module. Would like to be able to switch the power to at least the internal module via software though, as sometimes I also want to use it with an external module, and having both ON in this case is not a good idea because my external is a low power module and I'm afraid of interference from the internal frsky DHT module.

Then, when this radio is finished, I will go back to finish my 9Xtreme.

João