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[N3OX]

I'm playing around with remoting my station using Ham Radio Deluxe for the rig control and Skype for the audio.

Skype version is 4.0.0.226... current as of 4/27/09.

It works OK except that the background noise cancellation works to get rid of the background static, which, believe it or not, I do not want (fond of listening to weak signals in the noise and I'm pretty sure Skype won't manage to differentiate between pure noise and weak sigs)

Anyone come across and fix this problem?  There doesn't seem to be an option and don't seem to be any config files.

Maybe Skype is no longer the appropriate software solution for rig audio?

73
Dan

[WB2LCW]

I have seen posts about a program called IPsound that some people have tried! Google for it !It may solve your problem.
73
mike

[N3OX]

Yeah, I think that's the plan eventually.  Skype is set up to get through firewalls very easily, but I'll just set up a VPN probably, and should be good.

I've got VPN software on all my computers anyway, so that I can access my lab computers from home.

73
Dan

[N0YE]

The BARC club remote radio activity has had K0RZ and his remote station development as a mentor. One Thing Bill has found is that Skype version 2.5 sounds better for remote radio work than more current Skype versions.

You can get back issues of Skype from http://www.oldapps.com/skype.php

Give it a try and let us know if you find the older version serves you purposes better.

Don, N0YE

[KA9CQL]

Greetings.

In the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) world, the setting you are talking about is sometimes called "comfort noise", sometimes called "silence suppression".

Most VoIP clients (Skype is a VoIP client) have some settings that allow the substitution of silence (or near-silence) to save bandwidth.  Look for the keywords mentioned above, and you may find the settings you are looking for.

'73
- Mike S.
  KA9CQL
  Victorville, CA, USA

[K5DN]

I have been experimenting with skype and have had no luck getting acceptable sound quality with CW.  Voice signals sound good.  I have tried the newest version as well as one of the 2.5xx versions.  The older one has a config file that can be edited to turn off agc and echo cancellation, but it does not seem to help.  Has anyone else solved this problem?

I also have IPsound running also, but am having trouble with serious pops and clicks.  A separate thread may be in order for this.

[KE4ZHN]

Skype uses an automatic gain control on the microphone. Its a simple matter to disable this feature and set the gain at a fixed level. Check the tools, options menu under audio settings.