Settings
The settings of the VOICE computer: what it announces and how, the bell, the end countdown, the queue, what it says about athletes FINISH has said nothing about, and the connection to FINISH. Everything applies within a second, without restarting, except the connection.
- Announcements and Last lap bell.
- End countdown (timed races).
- Queue.
- Athletes unknown to FINISH.
- Connect to FINISH.
The settings are kept in %APPDATA%\ChronoFEED\ (no password, no secret). The start delay, the queue size, the maximum age and the length of the
countdown-only period are brought back within their limits. The settings that come from FINISH (each athlete's language and options, the Speech synthesis box of each race, the bell) are not here:
see Announcing a competition.
Announcements
Default language (athletes without a language, countdown)
Where: Settings › Announcements; French by default
The language of athletes for whom FINISH has given no language, and of everything addressed to everyone: a race start, the countdown, the sentence after an elimination bell. It is also the language offered at startup for Say a message.
Name spoken at lap times
Where: Settings › Announcements; “As set in FINISH (athlete's setting)” by default
As set in FINISH (athlete's setting): each athlete's Spoken name choice in FINISH. Otherwise, for all athletes on this computer: First name only (“Justine”), Last name only (“Pelletreau”), First and last name. At the final time, the full name is always said.
Position only if it changed
Where: Settings › Announcements; checked by default
An athlete's position is only repeated if it has changed since their last announcement (and always at the finish): in a 25-lap race, the leader does not hear “First position” 25 times. The lap itself is still announced: “2 laps to go, 30.0”. Unchecked: the position on every lap.
Announce race starts
Where: Settings › Announcements; unchecked by default
At the start of an announced race, VOICE says “Pair 3” if the race has a pair number (long track: it comes from EVENT, from a SpeedSkatingResults file or from the Pair field of the race record), otherwise the race name. In the computer's default language. A VOICE launched in the middle of a race does not announce a start that is already old (more than ten seconds).
Delay before the start announcement (s)
Where: Settings › Announcements, below the previous box; 5 by default, from 0 to 60
The start is not said at the gunshot, which would drown out the voice, but this number of seconds later. The announcement is dropped if, in the meantime, the race disappears from the broadcast, its start is cancelled (false start), the computer goes on Mute or the race is unchecked; a new start restarts the delay.
Announce annotations (penalties, messages)
Where: Settings › Announcements; unchecked by default
An annotation added in FINISH (penalty, message) is said with the athlete's name, in their language: “Justine Pelletreau,” followed by the text of the annotation, as FINISH wrote it (it is not translated).
Say "seconds" (full reading)
Where: Settings › Announcements; checked by default
With the full reading (and always for the final time): “1 minute and 2.4 seconds”. Unchecked: “1 minute and 2.4”.
Do not repeat the name before (s)
Where: Settings › Announcements; 20 by default
The name of an athlete who has just been named is not said again before this delay, if nobody else has been named in the meantime: in training, an athlete alone on the track hears “2 laps to go, 30.4” without their name on every lap. 0: the name every time. At the final time, the name is always said.
Time in minutes beyond (s, 0: never)
Where: Settings › Announcements; 300 by default
Beyond this duration, a time read “in seconds” switches to minutes: 312.4 s is said “5:12.40” rather than “312.4”. 0: never.
Last lap bell
In long track, VOICE rings the last lap bell on the public address system: FINISH works out the moment and sends it (FINISH Settings, Broadcast the bell (ChronoFEED-VOICE rings it)).
Ring the bell sent by FINISH
Where: Settings › Announcements, Last lap bell; checked by default
Unchecked, this computer rings no bell (another VOICE computer can handle it). Checked, a bell that arrives more than two seconds after the expected moment (network down for a moment) does not ring: it would mislead the athletes. The log says so. The bell cuts off the sentence in progress.
Bell WAV file
Where: Settings › Announcements, Last lap bell
The bell sound, in this order: the WAV file given here; otherwise LastLap.wav from the VOICE folder, if it exists; otherwise a synthesized bell
generated by the program. The button opens the Windows file picker. The line below says which sound will ring; it is
red (and the field pink) if the given file does not exist: the synthesized bell then rings instead.
Listen
Where: Settings › Announcements, below the file
Plays the sound that will ring, on the VOICE audio output, even if the Ring the bell sent by FINISH box is unchecked. The log notes the test (“Bell (test: LastLap.wav)”).
Default sound
Where: Settings › Announcements, next to Listen
Empties the field: LastLap.wav from the VOICE folder, otherwise the synthesized bell.
End countdown (timed races)
Where: Settings, second card
5… 4… 3… 2… 1… "Finished!" (checked by default): at the end of a timed race, VOICE says the last five seconds, each word on its second, with “Finish!” landing at the instant the time runs out. It follows the FINISH time.
Only the countdown speaks in the last (s)
Where: Settings › Countdown; 10 by default, from 0 to 60
During these last seconds, the race's lap announcements are silenced (those waiting are removed): nothing overlaps the countdown. A final time is not lost: it is said afterwards.
Lead time for each word (ms)
Where: Settings › Countdown; 150 by default
Each word is started a little before its second, to make up for the time the sound card and the start of the voice take to be heard. If “Finish!” lands after the actual end of the race (compare with the display's clock), increase it; if it lands before, decrease it. Set it by ear, in steps of 50 ms.
Queue
Where: Settings, third card
Max pending announcements
Where: Settings › Queue; 6 by default, from 1 to 50
The number of lap announcements that can wait. Beyond that, the oldest is discarded (“queue full”). Important announcements (final time, elimination, annotation, start, message) do not count.
An older announcement is not spoken (s)
Where: Settings › Queue; 12 by default, from 2 to 120
A lap announcement that has waited longer is discarded when its turn comes (“too old”): a lap time that is a minute old helps nobody.
Silence between announcements (ms)
Where: Settings › Queue; 300 by default
A short pause after each announcement, so that two sentences do not run together. 0: none.
Athletes unknown to FINISH
Where: Settings, fourth card
What is announced for an athlete for whom FINISH has not sent options: an athlete without custom options in FINISH, or an older FINISH. Default boxes: Name, Position, Lap time, To go, Final time.
Time reading
Where: Settings › Athletes unknown to FINISH; “With dot: "62.4"” by default
How these athletes' lap time is said. The ten readings are described in What VOICE says.
The other options (completed, speed, target…) only exist in the athlete's record, in FINISH.
Connect to FINISH
Where: Settings, fifth card; takes effect at the next startup
Server (empty: found automatically)
Where: Settings › Connect to FINISH; empty by default
Empty: VOICE finds FINISH on its own, through the announcement FINISH sends on the network. Otherwise, the address of the FINISH computer (“192.168.1.10” or its computer name): for a network that blocks the announcement, or to force a specific FINISH.
Choose another FINISH at next launch
Where: Settings › Connect to FINISH
When several FINISH are announcing themselves, the one you chose is remembered (by its name). This button forgets it: at the next launch, the list will be offered again.
TCP port
Where: Settings › Connect to FINISH; 8210 by default
The FINISH broadcast port, when the server is entered by hand (FINISH: Broadcast, IP (TCP)). When found automatically, FINISH gives its port itself.
Name of this workstation (seen in FINISH)
Where: Settings › Connect to FINISH; the computer's name by default
The name under which this computer appears in FINISH, Connected clients: “SONO”, “COACH”.