Date   : Fri, 30 Apr 1999 12:05:46 +0100
From   : "Fraser, Colin J" <Colin.Fraser@...>
Subject: Re: PLEASE HELP URGENTLY

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Benham [mailto:adsb@...]
> Sent: 30 April 1999 09:54
> To: John Simpson
> Cc: 'kai@...'; 'beeb-emulators@...'
> Subject: RE: [BBC-Micro] PLEASE HELP URGENTLY
> 
> The Acorn speech system comprised two ICs. There was a Texas 
> Instruments
> speech chip (I've forgotten the number now), and the 'Kenneth 
> Kendal' speech
> ROM.
> 
> The ROMs plugged into the main board in dedicated sockets. 
> There was then
> a socket which could be soldered onto the right hand side of 
> the keyboard to
> take cartridges. The plastic sheet over the keyboard had a 
> break-out section
> to gain access to this socket.

I have a Cheetah SweetTalker at home - this is a General Instruments SP0256
based speech synth that used allophones instead of the phrase roms, but it
fits into the same socket as the Acorn speech synth, and is accessed on the
same bus.
Of course, all the hardware speech synths were pretty much redundant after
Superior's Speech program came out.

It should be possible to write a few lines of basic to determine if a speech
chip is fitted.
You would just need to read the status byte from the speech chip and look
for the 'ready' flag.
That would save opening the cases at least.

How was the Acorn speech module accessed by the user ?


Colin f