Campbell Scientific VSP3 Vosponder Voice Radio Interface - Manual (Page 7)

OV-1
Vosponder Overview
The Vosponder converts raw digital data input from a datalogger to natural
human speech. The model VSP3 is designed to connect via an industry
standard SDI-12 serial digital interface to data acquisition systems such as the
Campbell Scientific, Inc. CR510, CR10X, and CR23X series dataloggers. The
Vosponder also interfaces to a two-way radio system to broadcast the
information to the user over the radio link.
The voice message broadcast sequence starts when the selected data values are
sent from the datalogger and stored temporarily in the Vonsponder’s memory.
The Vosponder uses what is called a “voice image” to determine what text
string to associate with each data value, how to speak the decimal point, and
how many numbers after the decimal point to speak. The combined text and
data values are then broadcast over the radio link.
A voice message can be initiated in several ways.
• Based on a DTMF tone sequence from a radio handset - Anyone with a
two-way radio which has DTMF features, can request the current data
from a datalogger. This is done by entering a pre-set key press sequence
on the radio handset’s keypad. The Vosponder is also addressable, so a
user may request data from multiple stations simply by entering the
different numeric key press sequences (DTMF codes) that are assigned to
various Vosponders.
• Based on a user set interval - This option allows for transmission of the
stored data at predefined intervals (i.e., you can have your data broadcast
every 15 minutes).
• Based on events or conditions - Standard voice messages as well as voice
alarm messages can be broadcast based on events (i.e., if the battery
voltage gets low, the station can report a low battery alarm).
Programming the datalogger and configuring the Vosponder requires four
steps. One of the steps is covered in each of the first four sections of this
manual.
1. Hardware connections to the datalogger and radio (Section 1)
2. Programming the datalogger to output the data values to the
Vosponder (Section 2)
3. Developing a voice image file for the Vosponder (Section 3)
4. Setup and testing of the Vosponder (Section 4)
Two modes of operation are supported. These modes relate to the SDI-12
specification and are referred to as ‘slave’ and ‘master’ mode.
The Vosponder defaults to the SDI-12 slave mode. In this mode the
Vosponder responds to commands issued by the datalogger over the SDI-12
bus. This is the method best used with Campbell Scientific dataloggers.