I wrote about the Zelenograd company Telesystems, which produces the smallest voice recorders in the world, while still in shaggy ; at the same time Telesystems even organized a small .
Dictaphone from the new Weeny / Dime line in size 29x24 mm, weighing 4 grams and 4 mm thick. At the same time, in the Weeny line there is also a thinner A112 model with a thickness of only 2 millimeters with frontal dimensions of 38x24 mm. And the smallest model in the line is Weeny A113 measuring 37x15x4,5 mm and weighing 4 grams.
"Telesystems" have been keeping the brand since 2004, when the Edic Mini A2M voice recorder with a size of 43x36x3,2 mm and a weight of 8 grams got into the Guinness Book of Records. The maximum recording time was 600 hours. In 2007, the Edic-mini Tiny B21 model that replaced it (8x15x40 mm, 6 grams with quite a decent memory of 8 GB) got into the book of records.
For their miniature size, Weeny recorders have a pretty impressive list of features. User of A110 and other Weeny series recorders can:
- set the sampling frequency (from 8 to 22 kHz);
- select the recording quality (from 4 to 24 bits);
- set up daily or one-time timer recording;
- activate or deactivate recording activation by sound, specifying the sound level for triggering;
- set a password for accessing the contents of the memory.
On the surface of the Weeny A110 fit two buttons On and Off, a single-color LED, a microphone and a contact for resetting the settings.
Separate On and Off buttons allow you to turn recording on and off by touch. At first glance, it is embarrassing that they are the same in shape and the symmetry of their location, but such is the price of miniaturization.
When there is a desire to make a minimum size, there is no special freedom for the location, alas. But which one is perfectly groped for the USB connector.
The LED indicates the start/end of recording, the status of the memory and battery during recording, and the progress of the charging process. This is a rather large number of tasks for one light bulb that can only light in one color - as a result, the method of transmitting information about the state of the recorder resembles Morse code: to figure it out, you need to monitor the number and interval of blinking of the LED.
- Three short flashes when the On button is pressed - the recorder is turned on, recording has begun;
- one longer flash when you press Off - the recorder turned off, the recording is completed;
- With two series of short flashes (from one to four in each series) during recording, the recorder reports on the state of the battery (first series of flashes) and memory (second series of flashes). The more outbreaks - the less left (it would be more logical to do the opposite);
- smooth blinking with an interval of one to four seconds indicates the progress of charging when connected to a power source. The shorter the interval, the higher the charge level.
In practice, this mechanic was not very convenient. In place of "Telesystems", I
would not reinvent the wheel, but would simply copy any existing successful mechanics. I don’t even have to go far for an example: the principle of using the LED on my JBL E25BT headset, which uses a two-color LED, is great for use in a voice recorder: blue indicates the Bluetooth mode, and blue indicates the battery status (it starts blinking when it runs out, constantly glows during charging and goes out when it is completed).
The rest of the settings are "hidden" in the config_w.ini file, which can be opened with the usual "Notepad" when the recorder is connected to the computer like a regular USB flash drive.
It’s not difficult to figure it out, in principle, although a user who is accustomed to controlling gadgets through special applications, the mere suggestion to get into the configuration file to change the settings, can briefly disable it.
An online settings configurator with a more familiar and friendly interface for a “non-advanced PC user” in the form of a special web page will help him return to duty. I saw this configurator, it looks quite usable, but before the official release of Telesystem, they asked not to show it to anyone yet.
We are not releasing it now to let the configuration file format settle down, so that later there would be no mess with a bunch of format versions.
And there, you look, and a mobile application will appear.
Password setting
; Длина пароля не должна превышать 8 символов (допустимы только английские буквы и цифры).
; Для сброса забытого установленного пароля установите пароль 00000000.
; При этом все записи будут стерты.Не существует способа их восстановить. Будьте внимательны.
; Password length might not exceed 8 characters (only English charset is supported).
; To reset a forgotten password type 00000000 as password value.
; Warning! When you reset the password, all records will be erased without the possibility of recovery.
Password=Setting the Recording Mode
; Режим записи (чем меньше макс. время записи (MaxTime), тем качество записи выше)
; Record mode (the shorter the max record time, the better the record quality)
; 0 - PCM 22 KHz 24 bit, MaxTime: ~1 h 00 min
; 1 - PCM 22 KHz 16 bit, MaxTime: ~1 h 30 min
; 2 - PCM 16 KHz 24 bit, MaxTime: ~1 h 30 min
; 3 - PCM 16 KHz 16 bit, MaxTime: ~2 h 15 min
; 4 - PCM 8 KHz 24 bit, MaxTime: ~3 h 00 min
; 5 - PCM 8 KHz 16 bit, MaxTime: ~4 h 30 min
; 6 - uLaw 8 KHz 8 bit, MaxTime: ~9 h 00 min
; 7 - ADPCM 8 KHz 4 bit, MaxTime: ~18 h 00 min
RecordMode=3Microphone gain level
; 1 - самый низкий (0dB), 2 - (+6dB (2)), 3 - (+12dB (4)),.... 7 - (+42dB (128)) самый высокий
; Microphone gain level: 1..7,
; 1 - lowest (0dB), 2 - (+6dB (2)), 3 - (+12dB (4)),.... 7 - (+42dB (128)) highest
GainLevel=5
Loop recording
Loop recording or “black box mode” is one of the most interesting features of telesystem recorders. In the loop recording mode, the recorder continuously records, after turning it off, keeping the sound for the last period of time. In the settings, you can set the required interval.
; Длительность циклического буфера (минуты), 0 – циклическая запись выключена
; Size of one part of the cycle recording (minutes), 0 – Cycle recording off
CycleLength=0This is probably the most valuable feature for a voice recorder: in normal situations, it seems that this is not necessary, but unforeseen circumstances are unforeseen because it is impossible to recognize the moment “but it would be better to record it on audio” in advance. And in such situations, it may not be possible to turn on the recording in principle.
By setting up the black box mode in advance, you can get out of any incomprehensible situation with a documented record of what is happening, which can be attached as evidence in court.
all information can be divided into legally protected and available for recording and use. Accordingly, the first cannot be recorded and used in any way (for example, it will be illegal to adapt audio and video recording devices for attempts to secretly obtain personal and family secrets, information transmitted over communication networks, commercial, banking and state secrets). But the conversation of a driver or other citizen with a law enforcement officer who is on duty does not apply to such information. Or recording a conversation by one of its participants is a legal action, and the possibility of recording it by a third party is regulated by law.
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Voice Activation System
; Система голосовой активации (VAS): 0 – выключена; 1 - включена
; Voice activation system (VAS): 0 – disabled; 1 - enabled
VasEnabled=0
; Уровень звука для срабатывания VAS: 0-100(%)
; Silence level: 0-100(%)
VasLevel=15
; Длительность отсутствия звука для выключения записи с VAS: (1..15 сек)
; Silence duration (1..15 sec)
VasDuration=5Timer Recording Setting
; Включение записи по таймеру: 0 – выключено; 1 – Ежедневно; 2 - Однократно
; Timer recording: 0 – off; 1 – Daily; 2 - Once
RecTimer=0
; Время/дата старта и окончания записи при записи с таймером (формат DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM).
; Для ежедневного таймера значения даты не учитываются, но обязательно должны быть указаны.
; Start and end time (DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM format) for timer recording.
; For Daily timer the start and the stop date is ignored, but must be present.
TimerStartDateTime=9/05/2019 13:45
TimerStopDateTime=10/05/2019 3:30Reset to factory settings
; *** Сброс до заводских настроек: 42 - сброс. Внимание!!! ***
; Все записи будут безвозвратно стерты и установки будут установлены по умолчанию.
; *** Reset to factory state: 42 - reset. WARNING!!! ***
; All records will be erased and the settings will be set by default.
ResetToFactoryState=0
By default, the voice recorder is set to 16x16 (16 kHz/16 bit) mode, which gives about two and a quarter hours of recording. It was in this mode that I tested the recorder, first making a short two-minute recording, and then simply turning it on and going for a walk with it, leaving it to record all the way to see how long it would last until the memory was full.
Returning home a few hours later, I checked the contents of the recorder. In addition to config_w.ini, two wav-files with a duration of two minutes sixteen seconds and two hours and seventeen minutes appeared in the device's memory.
Thus, the total recording time in 16x16 mode was 2 hours and 19 minutes.
However, hanging a recorder on a backpack strap and walking around with it, like with an audio recorder, is one of the simplest options for using Edic's capabilities. In Canada, telesystem voice recorders , which scientists put on wild lynxes to record how successfully they hunt, according to the sounds made by the victim and the sounds of bones crunching in the teeth of the lynx.
Wav files are played without problems by standard iTunes media players, Windows Media Player and, of course, all others like VLC.
However, to do this, you first need to connect to the computer via cable - and this is already a limitation. The included microUSB to USB 2.0 adapter, by the way, will not work with Macs of the latest generations that have already switched to USB-C) and the resulting impossibility to view and listen to the contents of the recorder's memory without a computer at hand.
Small in size, small in size, but if you add Bluetooth connectivity to Weeny recorders to listen and send recordings on the go, then this compact device will turn into one of the most powerful “combines” on the market.
Source: habr.com