Direct Control of the DECtalk Express
Text and embedded commands can be sent directly to the DECtalk Express via a computer's serial comm port. The commands used to change voices, speaking rate etc. are the same ones used with the DECtalk PC e.g., [:ra 220] changes the speaking rate to 220 words per minute at the point in the text where the command appears. The file COMMAND.TXT that is installed into the DECtalk Express directory when doing a DOS install lists the commands with the following additions/deletions:

ADDED COMMANDS
CTRL C
Causes the DECtalk Express to perform an immediate stop speaking and flush any pending text and index markers. The unit returns a "CTRL A" when the flush is completed. It is recommended that you do not send any other text or commands until the CTRL A is received. Otherwise some of the text and/or commands sent after the the CTRL C may also be flushed. If part of a command is flushed it could leave the unit in an undeterminable state.

NOTE: In this version it is necessary to initially send two CTRL Cs before the first CTRL A comes back.

CTRL N
Pause speaking.

CTRL O
Resume speaking.

[:dv g5 dd]
Will provide the ability to set the volume of the DECtalk Express. Values of DD should range from 60 to 86.

[:power interval DD]
When a low battery condition is detected, emit a beep every DD seconds.

[:power sleep DD]
Places the DECtalk Express in a power save mode after DD seconds.

[:power speak|status]
Speaks or provides a character string of the power status of the DECtalk Express. The status messages are Battery OK, Battery Low or External Power ON.

[:tsr off|on]
Default is "on". When turned "off", the keep-alive characters sent from the DECtalk Express to the TSR are not sent.

[:version speak|status]
Causes the DECtalk Express to speak or return a character string of the current version of the firmware.

FLOW CONTROL
The DECtalk Express uses the XON/XOFF protocol for flow control.