Hi!
While sorting through a box of old stuff in my basement, I ran across this
little box called a "SPEECH THING"
It appears to have been manufactured by Covox, Inc., around 1991. It is a
small tan box, about 1.5"x2"x1/2". It's got a male DB-25 connector on one
end, and a female DB-25 on the other end. It's got a 3-foot length of wire
(the type that's on Walkman headsets) coming out of the side.
Only problem is whatever was on the other end of that wire was chopped off.
Stripping the wires, the inner wire (they're coaxial) is red on one, and
white on the other. The white wire is connected to "1" and "2" on the PCB.
The red wire isn't connected to anything, although there is a "3" and "4"
that it looks like it could be soldered to (but never was - there's no
solder on the PCB contacts).
Does anyone have any idea what this thing is, what it does, or what goes on
the end of the wire (I have a feeling it's some sort of plug)?
ThAnX,
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
<SNIP><SNIP><HACK>
> > IIRC the sets don't match the "natural" breakdown of the coins' values
> > (1p/2p/5p, 10p/20p/50p, L1/L2/L5) but the system is still very elegant. It
> > should be a lesson to the US Mint on how to avoid making mistakes. The L1
> > coin also makes a really nice "plnk" sound on a counter and has a motto on
> > the edge.
>
</SNIP>
Think I'll change my vacation plans from Great Britain to Mexico. At least I can count their money... and speak the language. ;-)
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
I have the speech thing! It's been a long time since I fired up that baby.
I used
for speech synthesis and voice recognization eons ago. This was before the
Sound
Blaster for PCs. Let me look around and see if I still have the software...
Ram
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: Speech Thing
>O.K. At least I know what it is. Anyone have any idea where to get
>software for it??
>
>ThAnX,
>--
> -Jason Willgruber
> (roblwill(a)usaor.net)
> ICQ#: 1730318
><http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Ruschmeyer <jruschme(a)exit109.com>
>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 8:13 PM
>Subject: Re: Speech Thing
>
>
>>
>>IIRC, the Speech Thing was what it sounds like, a speech synthasizer for
>>the IBM PC. Basically, it plugged into the parallel port. The other end
>>of the wire was probably a speaker (amplified, most likely).
>>
>>I seem to recall Covox being very big into speech recognizition and
>>synthesis many years back.
>>
>><<<John>>>
>>
>
>
-----Original Message-----
>> > Will someone please sell me one?
>>
>> Or me? (I bid on it too!) :)
>> Stan
>>
> From: Lance Lyon
> Can I add a third bid ?
Damn... Maybe I'll get lucky someday and be able to step in between one of
Stan or Lance's attempted purchases and cost them *more* money.
> I got a VAX CPU board and it is a KA620, what kind of VAX was that? I
> haven't found it in the module list yet ...
A KA620 is basically a KA630 without the full memory management logic.
Useful for real-time embedded VAX applications, especially under VAXELN, but
not supported by VMS.
If you're really interested in this board, you can buy the _KA620-A
CPU Module User Guide_ from DECDirect - part number EK-KA620-UG. You
can still buy the VAXELN development tools from Compaq/Digital, which
is the "supported" KA620 development suite, too. If you do, look
forward to receiving about 600 lbs of printed manuals!
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
O.K. At least I know what it is. Anyone have any idea where to get
software for it??
ThAnX,
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
-----Original Message-----
From: John Ruschmeyer <jruschme(a)exit109.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: Speech Thing
>
>IIRC, the Speech Thing was what it sounds like, a speech synthasizer for
>the IBM PC. Basically, it plugged into the parallel port. The other end
>of the wire was probably a speaker (amplified, most likely).
>
>I seem to recall Covox being very big into speech recognizition and
>synthesis many years back.
>
><<<John>>>
>
A chap in the San Diego area has a couple of Eagle II's in storage. One
was working when placed there about two years ago, while the second was
not. He could not remember whether they were II's or IIE's, but I will
check and post that information.
Items are available at no cost but shipping, which could mount up as they
are large and heavy.
If anyone is interested, please e-mail me and I will put you in contact
with him.
- don
> I gather the machine had some sort of support for doing arithmetic on
> pre-decimalized currency, does anyone here know what that looked like?
> It wasn't explained very well in the book.
I don't know how the currency was handled on Leo, but as a reference for our
American friends I shall say a few words on British currency prior to 1971.
The basic unit was the pound. The symbol was the same as nowadays, viz. a
scripty capital L with two horizontal bars through it (though often only one bar
is written, for speed) On e-mail I generally use an ordinary L for pound (L
stands for Livre (french = pound))
King Offa (?9th century) fixed the value of a penny at 1/240 of a pound. Later
the shilling was fixed at 12 pence. (Pence is the plural of penny, in case you
hadn't worked it out. "Pennies" is a word coined much more recently (pun
intended))
So L1 = 20 s. (s stands for solidus (lat. = a silver coin of some sort) or sou
(Fr. = a coin worth not a lot))
1 s. = 12 d. (d stands for denarius (lat. = penny) or denier (fr. = penny))
Halfpence (pronounced ha'pence) were in use until 1969 (and re-introduced with
decimalisation in 1971).
Farthings (1/4 d) were in use at least until the mid 1940s, and may have been
required for Leo.
So to computerise the currency you probably need:
A field for whole pounds
A field for shillings (up to 19 with a carry at 20)
A field for pence (up to 11 with a carry at 12)
A field for farthings or ha'pence (up to the obvious numbers thereof)
It would not likely be possible to ignore the fractions of pence, since even as
late as the 1950s 1/2 d had a reasonable purchasing power, perhaps equivalent to
one US dime today.
Also, just as they do today, vendors loved prices ending ...nineteen shillings
and elevenpence ha'penny.
Philip.
