SvxLink - Multi Purpose Voice Services System


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2 Dec 2005: Version 051202 released
Ok, time for another release. There was just too much small things in the ChangeLogs to wait with a release any longer. Hopefully, this release is bug free ;-)
  • Bugfix: The SvxLink server would crash when recording voice mails on other distributions than Fedora.
  • A new "connect by call" feature in the EchoLink module.
  • The voice mail module now can send a notification e-mail when a new voice mail arrives for a user. First implementation by PA3FNT, improved by me (SM0SVX).
  • Timestamps in the log file.
  • Now possible to use both DTR and RTS together for PTT, which is required by some interface boards.
Be sure to check out the ChangeLog for more detailed information.

9 Oct 2005: Version 051009 released
The biggest reason for this release is that a couple of serious bugs have been fixed. The most important changes are:
  • Bugfix in the networking code which caused the svxlink server to crash or hang.
  • New module Tcl which make it possible to write simpler modules in the TCL scripting language.
  • New module TclVoiceMail, which is a simple voice mail system.
Be sure to check out the ChangeLog for more detailed information.

14 Aug 2005: Version 050814 released
Hmmm... Let's face it. I will not be able to release more than two times per year but I guess you have all noticed that already. Sooo... here is a brand new release for you to play with.
For all of you running Qtel nothing have happened besides some bugfixes in libraries that are shared between Qtel and the SvxLink server. The SvxLink server is still the focus for my interest. The most important changes are:
  • DNS lookups could sometimes block SvxLink which could cause dropouts in the sound. DNS lookups are now done as a background job.
  • SvxLink could some times be silently logged out from the EchoLink directory server on communications error. Now an error message will be emitted and the directory server connection will be restored.
  • There is a new, more flexible, event handling subsystem for audio announcements. All events triggers the execution of a TCL function. The TCL function is then responsible for emitting the proper sounds. Have a look at the installation documentation for more information.
  • The repeater controller logic is now fully working and have been tested since march with good results. It is running a real repeater at SK3GW-R.
  • It is now possible to link two SvxLink logics together if you have two sound cards in the computer. An example usage of this is to connect the local repeater to a remote repeater via a linking transceiver. Connection/disconnection is done with DTMF commands.
  • A couple of configuration variables have changed since the last release. It's all in the ChangeLog.
  • As usual a bunch of smaller bugs have been fixed.
Be sure to check out the ChangeLog for more detailed information.

25 Mar 2005: Version 050325 released
Time for another release. It's been six months since the last release. It didn't happen very much during the end of the last year so there really was no reason to make a new release. The last months I have been working a little bit on the SvxLink server. What's new then:
  • The repeater controller logic has now been tested for more than one month without any big problems. However, there are some audio issus still to be worked out.
  • COS - Carrier Operated Squelch
  • A macro (or short cut) system
  • Qtel now have a connect sound for incoming connections
  • Bugfixes
Check out the ChangeLog for more detailed information.

26 Sep 2004: Version 040926 released
Hmmm... I aimed at making one release per month. I guess I failed... There was just too much fun stuff to poke around with so the thing would never achive release quality. And there were some bugs that just refused to go away. But now it's here; the best release ever of SvxLink :-)

As with the last release, most effort have gone into the development of the SvxLink server. The biggest news in this release are:

  • The EchoLink module now supports multiple connections
  • Anti-flutter mode for better DTMF detection
  • A bunch of bug fixes and new small features
  • Improved documentation
Qtel didn't change much. The IP-address in the station list have been replaced with the node ID. This is of more use I think.

27 May 2004: Version 040527 released
So, finally I have assembled a new release of SvxLink. One of the news is improved support for Alsa OSS emulation. Binary packages are now also available for Fedora Core 2.

Most work has gone into the development of the SvxLink server. It now can act as a repeater, DTMF detection has been improved, CTCSS squelch has been implemented, improved sound clips.

Unfortunately I have no real repeater hardware to try my software on so the repeater logic has not been tested in a real situation. It would be really interesting if someone would want to try it on real hardware.


17 Apr 2004: Good and bad news
The good news are that I'm back from my skiing holiday and no bones are broken.

The bad news is that I found a serious bug in the EchoLink communications svxlink server module. Connecting EchoLink stations only get a timeout. This bug does not affect Qtel. It's fixed in CVS but I have not compiled a new release yet.

I also discovered that the DTMF detector is a little sensitive to speech. It detects random digits when someone is speaking on the channel.


07 Apr 2004: Web pages touch up and more documentation
Updated the web pages a bit and moved the menus from the top to the left. Also added some user documentation for Qtel and the SvxLink server.

I will be gone skiing for a week now so if I don't answer your mails that's why. I hope to find some mails from people that have tried the SvxLink server or Qtel when I come home :-)


05 Apr 2004: More RPMS and documentation
RPMS are now available for Red Hat Linux 9. I have also whipped together some installation documents. No usage document yet though. Try pressing 0# when you have the svxlink server running to get some help.

04 Apr 2004: We have transciever connection!
So, here goes. The first try at EchoLink "sysop mode" grew into a pretty general voice services system for ham radio use. The svxlink server is a standalone server that is connected to a transciever. Voice services modules can then be loaded into the system. Existing modules right now are: a help system, a parrot module that plays back everything you say to it and an EchoLink connection module.

There is a lack of documentation at the moment but I'll try to get some up as soon as I can. Only binary packages for Fedora Core 1 exist at the moment. Source code is of course available as well. Go to the download section to get your hands on the new goodies.


16 Mar 2004: Still alive...
I just want to say that the project is still alive. It is just a little slow. I am now working on a stand alone link daemon. It is operational but there are still some work to be done to make it really usable. I will check in some code some time the following weeks.

18 Nov 2003: Cleaned up the web pages a bit
The web pages should be operational now. It should be possible to check out from CVS and compile.

03 Jul 2003: Project has been registered at SourceForge
The project has now been registered at SourceForge. I will start moving everything over there as soon as I have figured out how everything works.

30 Jun 2003: Site is searchable via Google
I saw that this site has now appeared in the Google search engine. I guess people will start finding this page then. I have not made any announcements yet because of a problem I encountered. The problem is with audio boards/OSS drivers that does not support playing sounds in mono. I have made a fix so that it should work in stereo mode as well. However, when I tested this the mic gain was _very_ high. I could not make it work properly. I have probably made something really stupid but I can't figure out what. Please tell me if you know.

04 May 2003: Website is up
Put up the website to prepare for the first release of Qtel.

08 Mar 2003: First rows hacked
The day when it all began. The first rows of code were written.

Copyright © 2003-2005 SM0SVX / Tobias Blomberg