People have turned to their radios to find out the time and temperature for years. At home, at work and in their cars people tune in their local radio stations when they need to find out the time and temperature. And, in a typical radio broadcast, an update of local conditions is never more than a few minutes away. It’s a given, right? Not necessarily. Unfortunately, with many automated programming systems this simple task has been difficult to achieve.
You may remember the old cartridge-based talking clocks. Two cart machines were used: one for even minutes and one for odd minutes. They were ingenious and they worked great...until the carts wore out...which happened fairly often. We’ve also heard of a talking thermometer that was built around a “Gates 55” cart loader. With the help of a little digital technology, we can perform the same task in a fraction of the space, with greater accuracy and no moving parts to wear out!
This single-space, rack-mounted device can deliver the time, the temperature, or both, upon a simple command from an automation system. It even automatically changes the way it speaks the information so it doesn’t sound like a machine. For example:
Time Only
- It’s 3:27
- The time is 3:27
Temperature Only
- The temperature is 72 degrees
- It’s 72 degrees outside
Time and Temperature
- It’s 3:27 and the temperature is 72 degrees
- The time is 3:27 and the temperature is 72 degrees
- It’s 72 degrees outside at 3:27
- At 3:27 the temperature is 72 degrees
Interfacing the TTI-2 to most automation systems is simple. A relay contact-closure or open-collector output is all that is required to make it speak. When the TTI-2 is finished speaking it sends a signal back to the automation system via a relay contact-closure.
Station ID
And now, by popular demand, we've added station identification capability. The TTI-2 includes storage and playback for two user programmable messages up to 28 seconds each. You can say whatever you like. Use it for station ID, sign on/off messages, sponsor ID. Add music and sound effects, it's entirely up to you.
Demonstration
The TTI-2 uses the voice of a professional announcer that has been digitally recorded and stored in non-volatile memory. The speech samples that the device uses have been carefully selected and edited so that it is not obvious to the casual listener that the announcer is not an actual human.
Select a sound format that your browser supports from the samples below.
To keep size down, the sample files originate from a 22kHz, 8-bit, mono source. While these settings provide a reasonably accurate representation of the audio performace of the product, they may also introduce small amounts of distortion or other audible artifacts.
