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Squealer Advanced Configuration

Overview

While the Squealer comes pre-configured with settings that work for the vast majority use cases, it does have the capability to adjust some parameters to tailor its performance for specific situations. These parameters include:

  • Random silence between squeal sounds
  • Fade up time
  • Fade out time

Please Note

Making these adjustments does require a basic level of familiarity with computers and operating systems, and a some experience with installing software, connecting USB devices, and interacting with a text terminal. While we would love to support every customer in this effort, making these adjustments is considered an advanced topic and our ability to provide direct technical support (other than through this guide) may be limited.

Mac Users

The instructions below assume a Windows operating system. If you are using a Mac, please read the Mac Notes section first.

Step 1 - Install Tera Term

To interact with the Squealer, a terminal emulator is required. For most Windows users we recommend Tera Term. The latest installation executable can be downloaded from GitHub here:

https://github.com/TeraTermProject/osdn-download/releases

Download the .exe file and follow the prompts in the setup process.

Alternative Terminal Emulators

If you have a different preferred temrinal emulator, by all means use it. The rest of this guide will use Tera Term on Windows as an example, but the core functions still apply regardless of the terminal program used.

Step 2 - Connect the Squealer

Using a Mini USB cable, connect the Squealer to your computer. Mini USB cables can be found at most electronics stores, or places like Amazon.

Since the Squealer enumerates as a Communications Device Class (CDC), no drivers are required.

Step 3 - Launch Tera Term

When Tera Term launches, it will prompt to create a new connection. Select the Serial radio button. The Port box should list a COM port. If it doesn't, check your connection with the Squealer board and restart Tera Term.

Note: COM4 above is only an example. The number listed for you may be different.

If only a single COM port is listed, then click OK and continue to the next step.

In the event multiple COM ports are listed, you will need to determine which one corresponds to your Squealer board. Disconnect the Squealer board, restart Tera Term, and note which COM ports are listed. Then reconnect the Squealer board, restart Tera Term again, and not which COM port is new to the list. That's the one to select for the Squealer. Select it and click OK.

Step 4 - Configuration

After clicking OK above, the terminal window should appear. You may see some diagnostic text appear in the window. This is normal and tells you what the unit is currently doing. Press the 'q' key to reset the Squealer and print its setup information.

In the information listed are the four settings that can be adjusted:

  • Silence Max
  • Silence Min
  • Volume Up Coef
  • Volume Down Coef

Silence Max can be adjusted up and down using the 'a' and 'z' keys while Silence Min can be adjusted using the 's' and 'x' keys. These settings control the range of the random silence inserted between each squeal clip, in seconds. Smaller values result in less silence. If both settings are set to the same value then there will be no randomness to the silence - it will always wait that amount between clips.

The Volume Up Coef and Volume Down Coef control how quickly the sound ramps up when triggered and down when untriggered. These values are unitless and larger values result in faster ramp times. It is best to set these empiracally - try a setting, see if you like it, then adjust again if needed.

The 'd' and 'c' keys set Volume Up Coef and the 'f' and 'v' keys set Volume Down Coef.

Default Values

The default values for each setting are:

Silence Max = 5.0s

Silence Min = 0.0s

Volume Up Coef = 10

Volume Down Coef = 8

Saving Values

When you make a change to one of the values, it is automatically saved to the non-volatile memory on the Squealer. No special steps are needed to save the values and it will power up next time using the values you set.

Mac Notes

For those using a Mac, the instructions above are slightly different. First of all, skip Step 1 - you don't need to download a terminal emulator since the Mac comes with one pre-installed.

Second, replace Step 3 with the instructions below:

From a terminal window, run the following command:

ls /dev/tty*

In the results, looks for something like tty.usbmodemN where N is some number. Remember that name. Then, run the following command:

screen /dev/tty.usbmodemN

Replace tty.usbmodemN with the value found above. Once connected, you may have to press 'q' to reset the Squealer and see the initialization screen.