RC Tanks Australia Forum

Juno Sound Board for ASP

The first run of sound boards for ASP have arrived. So while we wait for the production of the main board to complete let's take a look at Juno.

Juno_labels.jpg

Juno is an add-on or daughter board for ASP and is responsible for sound and IR battle function. Those requiring ONLY airsoft functions at a chaeper price can receive JUNO boards with out the additional IR components.

SOUND:
Juno features two monophonic sound modules both of which use micro SD cards for sound file storage. Module A is primarily responsible for the engine sounds while Module B is for weapons and sound effects. At present there are about 100 sounds for JUNO, 40 sounds on Module A and 60 sounds on Module B. ALL sounds can be changed by the user. Every effort has been made to allow for users to easily create or edit the sound sets. Sound files are stored in the very common and easily dealt with 44.1 kHz, 16 bit wav format (CD quality sound). These sound files can also be named in a very logical and descriptive format. For example:

010_A_T34_EngineIdle.wav

It is clear to see that this is file number 010 for module A and it is the sound of the T-34 tank engine idle.

In addition to sound storage Juno features a number of speaker outputs. The outputs of Module A & B can be accessed individually via 3W speaker outputs or mixed together into a single 20W speaker output. The audio amplification section can be driven at either 5V+ or battery voltage (6-12V) for an even louder sound level. NOTE: you must have speakers capable of handling this level of power output.

IR BATTLE:
Situated underneath JUNO is the famous MAKO chip delivering the widest range of IR battle options available. 5 pin and 2 pin JST PH connectors are present for connection to the Hammerhead/Piranha Battle units with options for connections to other battle units (Heng Long, Taigen, Tamiya,...) Those ordering ASP with IR functions will receive either a Hammerhead/Piranha or adapter for their existing Battle unit.

Also present - well it is a MAKO standard - are connections for a diagnostic LCD and Remora Battle telemetry systems. Functions not available anywhere else but on RCTA boards.

Stay tuned for more details on the ASP sound sets...

Cheers
Kevin G

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rctanksaustralia.com

I've seen that you can play sounds like music with your board. How long in minutes can the songs be?

Hi Rad - As long as you want. Well I haven't exactly placed anything longer than 10 minutes on there. How long do you want?
Cheers
KG

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rctanksaustralia.com

Oh God, I would be more than happy with just a couple of minutes. 10 minutes is amazing and I dont think anybody will need more than that, but being able to play as long as I want is just incredible.

I asked that because the IBU 2 limit is only about 45 seconds, (1 Mb file) and is not enought in most of my needs.

Hi Rad, When you are talking about sound you also have to take into account sample rate. I think the IBU board you refer to only uses a sample rate of 22k (so too do the old EL Mod Blaster Boards). The Juno has CD quality sample rates of 44.1K. The smaller the sample rate the smaller the file size. The smaller the sample rate the poorer quality of the sound.

So a:
45 second sound @ 22k = 1 meg
45 second sound @ 44k = 2 meg

The Juno board does not have such a limited file size and it also is able to play back CD quality sounds. Because the amplifier on the board is only mono there is no point using stereo sounds BUT the audio modules themselves can output in stereo. My startup sounds for the T-34 alone are between 1 to 4 megs

Unfortunately I will not be able to distribute a lot of the music files I have on my personal sound cards as I use a few soundtracks. You the user would have to put any copyright music tracks on for yourself. For example my Bulldog has a few songs from the Vietnam era and almost all of my tanks have some of the background music from World of Tanks and or the Fury Soundtrack.

Final point is that Juno is the smaller of the two sound options as it is only duophonic (only 2 sounds can be played at once) the more expensive sound option allows for more than 10 sounds to be played at once.

Cheers
KG

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rctanksaustralia.com

I have a taigen tiger 1 that i'll be using my new asp board when it arrives. I keep seeing warnings that the supplied speaker (3w) will be blown if i use it with the juno board? If that's the case; what speaker would you guys recommend that I can fit into this 1/16 model and where can i purchase one?

Thanks again,

Hi Matthew

No you will not blow your factory speaker if you run at the default of 5 volts. Further if you use 4 channel mode then the max volume level is about 8/10ths adding further protection. If you do run 6 or 7 channel then you can here any possible distortion of sound at the higher levels and you would simply back the volume off a bit.

Yesterday I was at Imex Tanks giving Erik a demo of Asp and it went straight into a factory tank and of course there were no problems.

Having said all of that - let's be honest the factory speakers are not the best and certainly do not do justice to Asp's CD quality output. You will get louder and better sound from a better quality speaker. Personally I like using the Visaton FR7 series of speakers. I have searched for cheaper and or better speakers but to date can't recommend anything else. Asp will handle both the 8 ohm and 4 ohm variants. Of my personal tanks the sound I like best is form a tank with the 4 ohm speaker.

Remember, the golden rule of speakers is to have them in an enclosure as big as possible. So if you use a different speaker you will need to also come up with an enclosure.

Cheers
Kevin G

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rctanksaustralia.com

So, awaiting for more ASP boards to be available for sale; but when they do I'm going to put one in my KV1 Taigen. But, when i go to the wiki page to download more sounds the only ones available to download are for the tiger tank. Is there another place where i may download sound files for my Russian KV1?

Thanks again guys,

All other tank sounds are available on the included sd cards in tank sound sets folder. There has been a change of policy for various reasons. Mostly because it is apparent that the asp sound sets are without a doubt best in class and it would be commercially silly of me to make them available free for anyone to use on competing products. If a tank is not available on the cards you initially get there will be individual sd cards with just that tank for sale ($9) or a link to image files.
Cheers kg

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rctanksaustralia.com

All other tank sounds are available on the included sd cards in tank sound sets folder. There has been a change of policy for various reasons. Mostly because it is apparent that the asp sound sets are without a doubt best in class and it would be commercially silly of me to make them available free for anyone to use on competing products. If a tank is not available on the cards you initially get there will be individual sd cards with just that tank for sale ($9) or a link to image files.
Cheers kg

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rctanksaustralia.com