AtariGeezer Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Excellent! Is that the same speech chip used (planned I guess) for the 1450 line? Yeppers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Lange Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I finally got my voicebox working. I tried hooking it up to an Atari 800XL, which didn't work. The software would lockup when the box attempted speech. I then tried a couple of different TRANSLATOR disks to make the 800XL act like a 800. That didn't work either. The keyboard wasn't working on my Atari 800, so I ordered a new mother board from Best Electronics. Once I installed the new motherboard and my Atari 800 was working as it should, I hooked up the Voicebox through a 1050. With BASIC installed, I ran one of the Voicebox BASIC programs from the disk. This time everything worked. The speech came out through my Commodore 1702 monitor. I don't know if the Voicebox only works on the 400/800 because of the OS, but I do know that pin 12 on the SIO jack has +12v on the Atari 400/800, but not later models. That might be the difference. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiimko Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Sorry for the Commodore reference - but there is little to no trace of the sequencer software written for the C64 for the Voice Box (software was by Alien Group) - was simply called "Voice Box Music System" or alternatively "When I'm 64" .. it allowed the sequencing of the three SID channels as well as obviously the speech output from the hardware - does anyone by chance have a copy of this? DESPERATE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 You may have better luck in the Classic Computing forum, or some other place dedicated to Commies 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiimko Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Already tried unfortunately - hence why I am posting in an Atari forum that happens to have common software hence the relevance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I know this thread is old but I was wondering if anyone has an ATR file for the Voicebox demo games that came with it? Looking for the AceyDucey and Green Goblins games that are on it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Lange Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I have the VB #1 disks and those games probably came with VB #2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Well I guess my version of Acey Duecy is lost to the sands of time. The non Voicebox version of Green Goblins is available though as a dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Well thanks to Nir Dary on Facebook we now have the second disk for Voicebox. It has three demo games of mine that can be played without the Voicebox. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdzlb36idzvksez/Voice-Box-Games.atr?dl=0 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Here's my interview with Mike Matthews, founder of The Alien Group/Electro Harmonix: http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-332-mike-matthews-alien-group-voice-box 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 On 3/19/2018 at 8:50 AM, JohnW said: Well thanks to Nir Dary on Facebook we now have the second disk for Voicebox. It has three demo games of mine that can be played without the Voicebox. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdzlb36idzvksez/Voice-Box-Games.atr?dl=0 Anybody have a copy of this? The download link above is dead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 1 minute ago, MrFish said: Anybody have a copy of this? The download link above is dead. Voice-Box-Games.atr 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 That was fast. Thanks, Doc! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 Wow, Ron Kramer, a name from the past. He ran the Grand Rapids Atari Super Service (G.R.A.S.S.) BBS, and had a considerable software library on it (and a good selection of *cough*copied*cough* games), he was a good friend of the family, and came down during the summer of 1984 and spent a week commandeering my bedroom to copy his entire software library (which at the time was on 54 separate disks, 40 SD, 14 DD), and print labels for them. This was my go-to software library, for years... -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverendshoebox Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 Hello all! I just managed to pick one up a Voicebox in an auction full of other stuff, but I can't get the thing to talk. I tried the graciously-provided vb32km.bas from @orpheuswaking which locked up at "PLEASE TEACH ME TO SPEAK" with no sound coming from the device. Tried the games as well, and those played but with no speech. I'm running on an 800XL...I've got an 800 and a 130XE I could try as well, but fear is that there's something wrong with the Voicebox itself. Any thoughts on where I should start as far as debugging this issue? I'd love to finally hear what my Atari has to say. Thanks, -=ShoEboX=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierodoug5 Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 I think the original voicebox only works on a 800, and the voicebox II works on the XL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverendshoebox Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 @Fierodoug5 - That was it!!! Works just fine with my 800! I see that the original poster actually had the same experience, and I somehow missed that post. Thanks a lot, man! I've successfully got the computer I learned to program on as a kid hooked up to a box that can make spew profanity like a drunken robot sailor. My 8-year-old self is screaming with glee. -=ShoEboX=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 Um we make them work with both 800 and XL/XE... simple fixes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidD Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 SOMEWHERE I have a broken unit and, in theory, the disks to this... although I haven't seen it for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverendshoebox Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 @_The Doctor__ Neat! How? Is it just the voltage difference as suggested earlier in this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Make certain you use the proper driver software as there are two different voice box drivers... please be certain you get this absolutely correct, if you mix anything up, the voicebox will be ruined, as may your SIO etc.. SIO connector 1 clock in 2 clock out 3 data in 4 gnd 5 data out 6 gnd 7 command 8 motor control 9 proceed 10 +5V/ready 11 audio in 12 +12V (1200XL & 400/800) 13 interrupt make sure to fix the 5 volt line in a 1200XL with a super low voltage drop diode 12 Volt being added back into SIO for other Atari's is best added with another power supply, again if you get this wrong you cook the Atari. Some people have wired the power supply directly to the VoiceBox or added a 12 volt SIO cord injector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 It would be so cool to see one of the Atari emulators actually emulate the Voicebox via the Windows text to speech engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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