Roger Bleeps - New for 2021

[1968neil]

A new CB project in progress, I’ve been asked many times to make some different bleep boards and some retro boards. The problem is always the same. You have to fit them inside the radio, This is not always possible due to size and keeping the radio stock is sometimes preferred.
I have designed a new bleep box which stores all the tones you could dream up and call them up for use whenever you like. I’ll post a full spec when I’ve finished the manual in the coming weeks. Here’s a link to the basic format thus far 73’s Neil

[ch25]

Nice one.
I use that modules to pıss others on the air https://www.electronics123.com/page/faq-fn-t418

[1968neil]

That looks like a nice little module, haven’t seen that one before.
Is it a Chinese import ?

Regards
Neil

[ch25]

Yes, Aliexpress
I also have a few: https://sparks.gogo.co.nz/jq6500/index.html , work very good.

[k40]

I got one of those monkey bleep boards a while ago but they don't exist now.
I have a couple of hygain ones too

[Crackle]

Yes a great idea for getting one over the other idiots who constantly insist in using a roger beep.
Mike

[The Collector]

Somebody was selling an old hand-made "beep box" that had a selection of about 5 switchable beeps on it, including single tone, K-tone, Hy-Gain, adjustable 5-tone etc that simply plugged into the radio's mic' socket and then the mic' plugged into that a year or so back on ebay. If this is the same sort of idea, that'd be sooooo much easier/better as it'd be swappable between radios in seconds and less hassle not having to mess with the radio's insides. You could have the 5-tone tune from "Close Encounters" but with the correct tone lengths...something I could never have done with the late 80's add-on 5-tone board I used as a call-tone

[1968neil]

Hi all,

The general idea is :

You copy the sound you want onto a usb memory stick in mp3 or Wav format, REAL sound rather than electronically generated tones.
Inset the stick into the socket on the box, power up and the lcd screen displays the number of bleeps on the screen.
The volume control doubles as a select switch, you push the volume control to select the bleep number and then press the ptt on your Mike to lock it in.
To turn the bleep off just press the button once and the display goes to 0 meaning no bleep.
Capacity of 1000 tones should be more than enough I would hope to keep anyone happy.
The box can also run directly from 12 or 24 volts and will auto detect polarity so you can’t wire it up backwards, it will still work
The LCD also displays RX and TX.
I will most probably supply the USB stick fully loaded with tones once I’ve gone thru my list of classic bleeps and sampled them.
Exiting times ahead, any ideas for tones welcome, we have plenty of storage space
What are the most common radios you guys use ?
I have considered making a version with the 6pin socket for radios with electret mics (power on the centre pin) as well as the standard uniden/cybernet radios.

73’s
Neil

[Mitch]

... any ideas for tones welcome, we have plenty of storage space ...

Gunshots! Gotta have gunshots, pistol with ricochet, machine gun, oh, and explosions of course. What about animal bleeps? I've still got an old one somewhere that does dog, cat, sheep, elephant, cow, frog and a few others, but nothing too long, short and sweet does it for me. Any chance of a rotary bleep select as well? It'd be easier to select instead of scrolling a list everytime you wanted to change it. Just a thought (or two)

[1968neil]

Thanks for your input, I finished editing a load of sound bytes today and most of what you requested is already done. I’ve been thru 100’s of them and think I’ve covered a lot of the classics and some unique new tones.

I’ll have a look into maybe replacing the select with a rotary encoder.
I chose the current method to keep the cost down and maintain a high quality standard.
Thanks again for your input
73’s
Neil

[The Collector]

How about a good, old-fashion fart at the end of your conversation? Will truly make you sound like you're talking out of your ar$e lol.

Woody Woodpecker, the La La Caracha tune, Dixie (Dukes of Hazzard)...the list could be endless...or you may have to resort to a bigger memory card!

[Mitch]

...
I’ll have a look into maybe replacing the select with a rotary encoder.
...

The push button thing is going to get old very quickly imho, if you have to press 200 times for bleep 200, it'll be a pain tbh. I think a little cost could be sacrificed for enhanced usability

[stanogs68]

Somebody was selling an old hand-made "beep box" that had a selection of about 5 switchable beeps on it, including single tone, K-tone, Hy-Gain, adjustable 5-tone etc that simply plugged into the radio's mic' socket and then the mic' plugged into that a year or so back on ebay. If this is the same sort of idea, that'd be sooooo much easier/better as it'd be swappable between radios in seconds and less hassle not having to mess with the radio's insides. You could have the 5-tone tune from "Close Encounters" but with the correct tone lengths...something I could never have done with the late 80's add-on 5-tone board I used as a call-tone

[1968neil]

...
I’ll have a look into maybe replacing the select with a rotary encoder.
...

The push button thing is going to get old very quickly imho, if you have to press 200 times for bleep 200, it'll be a pain tbh. I think a little cost could be sacrificed for enhanced usability

I have ordered some encoders as i agree with your thoughts, it's nice to have some input from an end users point of view.
Thank you
I'll probably put the output volume control on the rear as in hindsight it's probably only ever going to be used once or twice.
Also whilst i am reviewing the design..... do you think there are enough users that have radios with electret based mics or am i wasting time on adding that as a feature ? (will require 5v power to the mic socket).
I am probably going to release two versions 4 Pin Uniden/Cybernet and a 6 Pin Version. Any thoughts ?
73's
Neil

[Mitch]

It depends, personally I like older radios with 4 pin cybernet wiring, I've made an adapter for my ft857 so I can use a CB mic on it, most are dynamic, though I have tried power up the lead for power mics to run without batteries, success was limited with 5v though. Newer rigs may well need power for electret mics and 6 pin sockets so a choice is good, along with 4 pin uniden. A lot of people (me included) will have no trouble re-wiring to our needs though, so perhaps a kit with ready built PCB would cut cost to consumer, and save you build time.

People here talk about bleep boxes like they're a new thing, lol. We had these back in the eighties, both me and Cubwolf built them to order back then, a big box with a bank of switches on the front and anything up to a dozen bleeps inside, all capable of one at a time or any combination up to all of them one after the other, oh happy days... Then there's the animal bleeps, they were different to say the least, based around the HT82231 IC and a k bleep for the timer.

We had k bleeps, ham bleeps (the first surface mount components I ever saw were used on the ham international bleep back in 1979/80), multi 5 & 9 tone, hy-gain, superstar etc. even two or three of the same type but different tone, most annoying but fun none the less. I used to make bleeps too back in the day, etching my own boards with smelly brown chemicals and transfers, then got a local firm to make them, k and hy-gain mostly, with standard components from Maplins. I did eprom and mid block conversions as well back then. Seems such a long time ago now, in a galaxy far far away.

Then there's the echo and pitch shift noise toys, we had some fun back in the day, lol.