HP Forum Archive 21

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[OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #1 Posted by Alexander Oestert on 27 Apr 2012, 8:05 a.m. 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!

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #2 Posted by Marcus von Cube, Germany on 27 Apr 2012, 8:26 a.m., in response to message #1 by Alexander Oestert 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).

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #3 Posted by Alexander Oestert on 27 Apr 2012, 8:48 a.m., in response to message #2 by Marcus von Cube, Germany 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.

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #4 Posted by Bill (Smithville, NJ) on 27 Apr 2012, 10:08 a.m., in response to message #2 by Marcus von Cube, Germany 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.

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #5 Posted by Alexander Oestert on 27 Apr 2012, 10:30 a.m., in response to message #4 by Bill (Smithville, NJ) 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.

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #6 Posted by Marcus von Cube, Germany on 27 Apr 2012, 11:09 a.m., in response to message #5 by Alexander Oestert 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!

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #7 Posted by Bill (Smithville, NJ) on 27 Apr 2012, 11:26 a.m., in response to message #6 by Marcus von Cube, Germany Quote: the connector will short one of the channels. This might do damage to the sound chip on play back Good point. I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I've been lucky so far. Bill

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #8 Posted by Bill (Smithville, NJ) on 27 Apr 2012, 11:23 a.m., in response to message #5 by Alexander Oestert Quote: waiting for a mono-to-stereo-adaptor. 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.

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #9 Posted by marais on 28 Apr 2012, 4:01 a.m., in response to message #2 by Marcus von Cube, Germany 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

Re: [OT] Sharp PC-1212 and CE-121 Message #10 Posted by Alexander Oestert on 29 Apr 2012, 2:17 a.m., in response to message #9 by marais 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.

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