The program is free and requires no special
computer power to operate it.
Teach Your Spektrum Transmitter to Say What You Want
Yes, I know somebody’s radio will soon fart
Text, photos and video by Tom Hintz
Posted – 1-15-2016
Disclaimer: I fear that there is a portion of the RC world that lacks the maturity to forego making their Spektrum transmitters to swear, fart or spout hopelessly childish (and politically incorrect) verbiage that has no place in the RC world or any other portion of a supposedly civilized society. Of all of the possibilities I guess we can accept a thoughtfully-placed fart now and then.
The Program
This How-To got started accidentally when I was cruising the Spektrum RC site checking for firmware updates. I noticed the Spektrum Audio Editor program in the list of available downloads. I can remember RC’rs wishing they had a way to add their own ideas of voice alerts ever since Spektrum transmitters began speaking recorded words. Perhaps we should talk about such things less and look to see if they are already available more. (See the Resources list below)
The process of downloading and installing the Spektrum Audio Editor is simple and quick. It took just a few minutes for me to get the Spektrum Audio Editor program on my computer and ready for use. I should note that the Spektrum Audio Editor is apparently only available for PC-based computers. Check with Spektrumrc.com for other versions of this program.
Recording Phrases
Using the Spektrum Audio Editor is not difficult because this is a very basic program. It simply records and does nothing else to the sound it captures. There are no tweaks, corrections or enhancements. It captures your voice and then saves it in a file type that is compatible with the system in the Spektrum transmitters.
The only issue I have found is that occasionally the record button in the Spektrum Audio Editor refuses to respond to the “Stop” click when I finish recording a phrase even though it actually has stopped recording. I must go back and forth between the button and a warning window that pops up a few times to get the button graphic back to where the “Record” label comes back. It apparently has no impact on the actual recording as I have never lost that and this issue is not consistent.
It appears that the F-Mode switch is the only one that remains constant through all saved models. In my exploring, it appears that all other switches within each saved model can be assigned specific sound files. This gives us a huge number of opportunities to assign an embarrassing sound that will be heard only when a specific switch in a specific model is enacted. I have not seen any defined limitations on the number of sounds that can be stored in one transmitter but there must be an end to the amount of memory a transmitter has available. I have confidence that someone out there will be so enthused by the ability to make their radio use their own voice that the physical limit for sounds will be reached.
Conclusions
The Spektrum Audio Editor is free and available at the link below in the Resources section. It is a simple program that is easy to use and has virtually no demands on the computer system to operate. I like this kind of simplicity in a program especially since the sound system within our transmitters is not capable of reproducing “enhanced” sounds with enough clarity to let those tweaks be heard in the first place.
The only down side I can think of to having the Spektrum Audio Editor is the unfortunate words and sounds some within our RC community will put in their transmitters. Regardless of their good intentions those words and sounds will eventually be emitted at the worst possible time in terms of the people within ear shot. So, have fun, make your transmitter say odd things if you like but consider the possible embarrassment if what you put in comes out in front of the wrong person or persons. And then there is the possibility of sneaking sound files onto your friends’ transmitter and having it say odd things to him or her.
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