[OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121

[Alexander Oestert]

I have a Sharp PC-1212 and recently purchased a CE-121 Cassette Interface for it. As I own no real tape/cassette recorder anymore, I'm trying to record to a digital speech recorder or to my PC with Audacity and mp3DirectCut. I manage to record something that sounds like it is described in the manual, but I'm unable to load the programm back to the PC-1212.

Any hints, any working methods?

Thanks in advance!

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

Alexander, never attempt any lossy compression on these files. Only lossless compression will work. I don't know the exact format of a PC1211 recording. My CASette I/O Utlities contain software to decode the files from other calculators (mainly Casio). There is a generic wave conversion utility (wav2wav) that might be able to refresh the wave files so that they can be effectively compressed by ZIP. This depends on the frequencies used. If they are the same as with later Sharp pockets it will work with switch -5.

You might be able to find a similar suite of programs for the Sharp pocket computers (search for WAV2BIN).

[Alexander Oestert]

Thanks, but right now I think, there is no compression involved, as I played back the recorded sound directly from Audacity. I recorded at the highest possible quality - both in stereo and mono, just to be sure.
The link to your site tells me that the problem may be in the mono plug put into the stereo jack.

I will go on experimenting...

Edited: 27 Apr 2012, 8:53 a.m.

[Bill (Smithville, NJ)]

Marcus,

Thanks for posting the link to your CAS I/O utilities. I wasn't aware of them. Nice work.

Alexander,

Please see the following link for I/O utilities for the Sharp computers:

SHARP PC I/O Programs

These work great. You want to save to a WAV mono file. The wav file should be mono, 8 bit 11 KHz or better. I use an old version of Cooledit to record/manipulate audio files. I usually just save in stereo to the PC (only one channel has data) and then just kill the dead channel using the software. Be sure you have a very clean signal and are not clipping.

If you need a sample of what the waveform should look like, then use the BAS2WAV converter to transform a basic text file into a wav file.

Bill

Edited: 27 Apr 2012, 10:09 a.m.

[Alexander Oestert]

Bill,

thanks for the link, I had already downloaded these prior to you mentioning it. My further experimenting got delayed by waiting for a mono-to-stereo-adaptor. I got the idea for that off Marcus' site.

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

The problem with connecting the mono plug from the cassette interface to the stereo line-out socket of the PC sound card is that the ground ring of the connector will short one of the channels. This might do damage to the sound chip on play back. It has no influence on recording.

The signal should be recorded at the full range without clipping and played back at a volume which would be too loud for your ears. If you get a WAV file that does not cover the full range or is biased you can still try to normalize it with Audacity.

Good luck!

[Bill (Smithville, NJ)]

Quote:

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the connector will short one of the channels. This might do damage to the sound chip on play back

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Good point. I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I've been lucky so far.

Bill

[Bill (Smithville, NJ)]

Quote:

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waiting for a mono-to-stereo-adaptor.

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I've been successful in using the mono-to-mono cables that came with the printer/casette adapter. When plugged into the PC, only one channel should be seen. It depends on the quality of the jack/plug and whether the second channel is partially being connected. If that happens, then you may get noise on second channel which will spoil the signal. You can look at the wave form to see if it is clean or not.

[edit] Please note Marcus warning above about possible damage to sound chip.

I also have used a cable that is mono plug on one end and stereo plug on the other. I think I got it at Radio Shack many years ago. Not sure if they still offer it or not. I've had mixed results from some cheap mono/stereo adapters - got induced hum, probally from inadequate shielding.

Bill

Edited: 27 Apr 2012, 11:27 a.m.

[marais]

Alexander, I see no mention of the FX-501P/502P/602P in the list of supported calculators. Are they too different from the other machines to be compatible with your suite of tools?

Andreas

[Alexander Oestert]

Andreas,

I'm sorry, I'm not the author of these tools and unfortunately I don't know anything about the format needed for either machine.