Seaberg Communications Service
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WHEATON, Ill. I’d like to offer my thanks to Henry Engineering and Radio World’s Silver Sweepstakes for the DigiStor II digital audio recorder I recently received (Oct. 24, 2001, page 4) . It is a really neat device.
When I received the unit, I scanned the instructions and gave it a test drive to see what would happen using only the front-panel switches. I was able to record on all eight channels, but operation was a bit confusing.
I telephoned Hank Lansberg at Henry Engineering to thank him for the unit and to clarify operation. He mentioned that the front-panel switches are primarily to check the unit and not intended for programming. He suggested I make use of the remote control switches. This proved to be good advice. I quickly mastered the learning curve.
Initially I thought it necessary to utilize eight message channels to obtain eight minutes of recording. One channel can store eight minutes, however; and actually I was able to record slightly more than nine minutes.
Audio quality was excellent for speech; music was acceptable within the audio bandwidth limitations of 6.5 kHz.
For using the telecoupler, the instructions stressed that pin No. 1 of the telecoupler assembly must be mated to remote control connector pin No. 1. While certainly reasonable, pin No. 1 is not clearly identified on the unique, heat-shrink-covered assembly.
A little peering under the heat-shrink revealed a jumper that the sketch shows is near to pin No. 1. I tried a phone call to the unit and got no response. The instructions say all switches should be up, not mentioning that switch No. 8, “recording disabled,” must be down.
Once I figured this out, DigiStor II performed like a champ.
I am in the process of installing a Part 15 low-power camp radio that will allow parents dropping their kids off at camp to receive instructions in their cars as to parking, check-in, etc. The DigiStor II will be ideal for this application.
Thanks for this great prize.
