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TK-Talkie - My Experience


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Hey all, I just wanted to post a little build-thread here so that maybe some people might learn from my mistakes.

 

I was looking at a few of the different voice effects units out there for a TK build.  I really wanted the static burst at the end of communication and I didn't really like the idea of having a dedicated phone running under my armor.  That kind of narrowed it down to two solutions: the iComm and TK-Talkie.  I like the idea of the iComm because it is so well used, but with current technology, it seems kind of LARGE.  Plus I saw a few complaints about internal batteries dying after a year.  I'm sure it's also a great solution but I ended up trying TK-Talkie.  It's a bit smaller, a bit cheaper and pretty much "state of the art'.  :-)

 

TK-Talkie runs on an ARM processor based USB board called a Teensy 3.2.  It really IS teensy.  You add a sound board and a bluetooth module for configuring and you've got yourself a TK voice modulator.  There's an app for your phone which connects via bluetooth and allows you to change settings.  Those settings are then saved to an SD card on the Teensy so you only need the phone to make changes.  I think my parts came in at about $50 US.  The guy (who is on this forum as lerxstrulz) has everything on his web site.  Parts Lists, tutorials, source code (firmware), sound files and even the case and lid as 3D printable objects.  He sells completed units but I chose to build my own.

 

It's fairly easy to assemble providing you have basic soldering skills, that you are somewhat computer literate and you can follow the tutorials on their web site.  The first two came reasonably easy for me, the last "not so much."  I made a few mistakes during assembly which caused me to take apart (un-solder) the entire unit and re-assemble it correctly to get things working.  I figured I'd post my experiences here so that others don't follow in my original footsteps.  :-)

 

I'm not going to post a full tutorial.  They have that on their website.  www.tktalkie.com  This is just going to hit a few highlights in the idea of a basic description and a few "what not to do" examples.

 

So here we go....

 

This is the Teensy 3.2 along with the header pins (legs) in the lower-left.

 

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The first thing you are supposed to do is chop up the headers and only solder on the legs that are actually required.  I think there are 28 pins but only 15 (or so) are actually used.  I thought, "Why chop them up?  I'll solder them all.  It will just take a minute."  While I can't say for certain that this caused any issues, when I completed all the steps, I had very low volume and the bluetooth wouldn't connect.  So play it safe and chop up the headers like they say and only solder the required legs.  It's the safe thing to do.

 

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Next up here is the audio board along with a mono 3.5mm audio jack I purchased.  This one DEFINITELY caused me issues.  My problem with almost no volume was because the mono jack wasn't sending the signal correctly.  I can only imagine the mono jack did not connect left and right together but only sent audio down the right.....which was not what either the TK-Talkie or the Aker amp was expecting.  Once I rewired using stereo jacks all my audio problems went away.  So again, play it safe and just use stereo jacks to begin with.

 

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You solder the Teensy board onto the sound module, then add the leads for the bluetooth module.  I started with a nice connector to connect the bluetooth module (shown below) then later removed the nice connector because it was too big and wouldn't fit in the case.

 

And be SUPER careful of the bluetooth wiring.  I messed this up as well.  All I can say is READ THE TUTORIAL CAREFULLY and look at the photos when wiring the bluetooth module.  Watch where the wires go.  There's only 4 of them.  Transmit on the Teensy goes to Receive on the bluetooth.  Similarly Receive on the Teensy goes to transmit on the bluetooth.  Make sure you get these right.  Sometimes the tutorial shows the bottom of the board and sometimes the top.  Pay attention.

 

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I shrink wrapped the mic and line-out connectors.

 

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This is probably a good time to test everything and make sure it works.  You need a Micro-SD memory card to write the basic setup and audio files to.  I used my computer for this.  Then you plug the memory card into the Teensy Audio module.  The Teensy itself uses a micro-usb connector for power and/or programming.  You plug the Teensy into a computer via USB and install some Teensy software.  It's like a programming kit.  Then you download and write the firmware (from the tk-talkie web site) to the Teensy.  May as well go for version 4 of the firmware, it's the latest.  At this point it should be working with default settings.  You can disconnect it from your computer and now just power it off the same USB connector via a USB battery pack.

 

Once my USB wiring problems were fixed I was able to connect to the app on my phone.  Here I had to boost the mic level and adjust the sensitivity.  Fairly easy but it seemed to be time dependent.  I had to make changes and save quickly.  If I waited too long it seemed to disconnect and I would have to connect again.

 

Lastly, a fellow TK-Wannabe, Mr_Fahrenheitwas gracious enough to print out the box and lid for me on his 3D printer.

 

Here's the raw box before any cleanup...

 

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I cleaned up the sides and holes.  Did minimal sanding and painted it black.  It's going inside my helmet so it won't be seen.

 

I jammed everything into the box only to find the bluetooth module was a little too big.  As mentioned, I removed the connector I was using and cut the legs off the bluetooth module, soldering the wires directly to the bluetooth board.  Then I even dremmel'ed away at the lid slightly to give me a millimeter or so of additional room on the inside.  Then everything fit.  :-)

 

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The blue and white thing in the side is the memory card.

 

And here's a quick sample of the audio...

 

 

 

I hope this helps.  Learn from me, people.  :-)

 

Mark

 

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Great walkthrough Mark, thanks for posting! I'm in the same boat you were, not fond of the size of the iComm or having to worry about running wires to an iPhone... did plenty of research on the TK-Talkie but haven't taken the plunge yet. Which is fine because I haven't even finished my bucket. Ha. It's great to know pitfalls to avoid when building this. Thanks again.

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4 minutes ago, TheLorelei said:

Great walkthrough Mark, thanks for posting! I'm in the same boat you were, not fond of the size of the iComm or having to worry about running wires to an iPhone... did plenty of research on the TK-Talkie but haven't taken the plunge yet. Which is fine because I haven't even finished my bucket. Ha. It's great to know pitfalls to avoid when building this. Thanks again.

Thanks!!  My latest adventure is trying to tweak the position of the bucket fans so that they circulate air without blowing on the microphone.  :-)

 

Mark

 

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2 hours ago, Suspend said:

Thanks!!  My latest adventure is trying to tweak the position of the bucket fans so that they circulate air without blowing on the microphone.  :-)

 

Mark

 

I'm undecided on the mic, and will likely base fans off of my chosen mic and its necessary position (condenser in top of helmet, lav on sternum, etc) but that does sound tough. So you power the TK-Talkie separately from your other elements, right? I'm planning on making my own hovi mic tips and riddling out power supplies.

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5 hours ago, TheLorelei said:

I'm undecided on the mic, and will likely base fans off of my chosen mic and its necessary position (condenser in top of helmet, lav on sternum, etc) but that does sound tough. So you power the TK-Talkie separately from your other elements, right? I'm planning on making my own hovi mic tips and riddling out power supplies.

Yeah, right now I've got a battery pack in middle/back of the helmet (big lipstick tube type, same as in the video above) to power the fans inside the helmet.  I have an Aker 1505 amp which people seem to really like.  I'm going to mount that in the chest along with the TK-Talkie and another battery pack.  The Aker microphone seems pretty good to me.  It comes with a wire (coat hanger) head band but the wire band easily detaches, leaving the boom and mic.....perfect.  It even has a little plastic box on the end of the boom.  I velcro'ed this to the inside of the helmet and it still allows me to bend the boom to position the mic.

 

I haven't finalized the wiring of the fans yet but you get the idea...

 

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I'll get some of that coiled headphone cable so that it will stretch when I take the helmet off and not pull everything apart.  I guess I'll just run it down my neck seal and out the undershirt into the TK-Talkie in the chest.

 

Mark

 

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