CHAPTER - 6

T9 PAGING AND TALKBACK

The system of calling or summoning the individuals or the general public is called paging. In railway stations the announcements are made to the passengers regarding the details of the trains, is an example for paging. It is a one way communication. The system which facilitates to talk back to the caller by the individual, is called, paging and talk system. In railways paging and paging and talk back systems are very much required. Formation of the train by attaching and detaching the compartments or goods wagons is done in Railway marshalling yards. This work is executed by the yard master (YM) with the assistance of Hump shunting staff. Hump shunting may be done at different points of the yard. Paging and talk back system facilitate yardmaster to communicate with the shunting staff or the points man regarding the formation of train. The paging and talk back system utilises the horn type loud speaker as a loud speaker as well as a microphone, which is similar to the same antenna used for both transmitting and receiving the radio frequency signals. Moving coil dynamic loud speaker characteristics are similar to that of a dynamic microphone. This system is a simplex communication. The simple block diagram is as shown in the Figure 58C. Yard master is provided with an amplifier, one microphone and a loud speaker. Audio visual indications are provided on the Yard Masters control console. All the speakers are connected in voltage matching system.

Fig. 58

In the normal position local speaker is in o/p of the amplifier. S2 key selects the loud speaker 1 or loud speaker 2. When no speaker is connected, a dummy load resistance is connected to input of the amplifier. 1. When YM wants to speak with yard staff he selects the location by lever keys S2 and S1 keys are operated, the microphone is connected to the amplifier input and yard loud speaker is connected to the amplifier output. Local loud speaker is disconnected in the circuit. After the YMs instructions he changes the lever key S1 to the other direction. The local speaker is at the amplifier output and yard speaker is connected to the amplifier input so that the yard staff can speak to the yard master. Control of the keys are provided with yard master only. 2. When yard staff wants to call the yard master, a press to operate non locking type switch is provided on the loud speaker post. This is generally achieved by an earth return circuit which will activate the audio visual indication on the YMs control console to draw the attention of the yard master as shown in figure 58.d. Yard master will now operate the required key and the call is made. In RE area underground cable is used and in non RE area overhead lines are used. RDSO standards TC 1-66 specifies the mechanical and electrical requirements of the indoor and outdoor paging and talk back equipments including amplifiers, microphones, loudspeakers, control panels and talk back units forming part of the complete equipment. Paging and talk back loudspeaker equipments for use in Railway Marshalling yards broadly consist of microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers with associated line matching transformers switching equipments and control panels, the loudspeakers being connected to the amplifiers switching equipments through appropriate aerial wires/cables and wiring, protectors and terminals. The clause that follow lay down the facilities that should be incorporated in the system. A common control panel shall be provided to control announcements on the paging system and intercommunication on the talk back system. The paging system shall comprise a paging amplifier with associated loudspeakers and a microphone with provision on the control panel for the master to select any particular group of loudspeakers for making announcements by the operation of a key. Paging loudspeakers will be combined into suitable groups in as many numbers as possible in parallel, consistent with the rated capacity of the paging amplifiers, each group being served by a pair of aerial line wires/cable conductors. A visual indication to monitor the level of speech on the paging system shall be provided on the control panel in the form of a VU meter. Each Talk-back point shall be provided with a loudspeaker capable of being used as a microphone as well, with the necessary line matching transformer. Each Talk back point shall be provided with a push button of non-locking type to call attention of the master. The Talk back system should be designed so as to require not more than two conductors between each Talk back unit and the master unit. In areas provided with either A.C. or D.C. electric traction, three conductors between each Talk back unit and the master unit are admissible, one conductor out of the three being used for signalling. Operation of the push button associated with each Talk back unit should give a visual and audible indication to the master operating the control panel, the visual indication giving the identity of the Talk back unit. The indicators shall form part of the control panel and shall

continue until acknowledged by the operator by the operation of a key relevant to the Talk back unit, which shall connect the Talk back to the master unit to enable inter communication. Only one amplifier shall be provided for the Talk back system for inter communication between the Talk back unit and the master, the control resting with the master through a Talk/Listen key. For talk back units located very far away from the master unit, transistorised pre amplifiers shall be provided at such talk back units controlled by a relay actuated by the Talk/Listen key on the control panel. A visual indication to monitor the level of out going speech on the Talk back system shall be provided on the control panel in the form of a VU meter. The microphones provided for the paging amplifier shall also be capable of being used as the microphone for talk back purpose by the master. A volume control shall be provided on the control panel to adjust the level of incoming speech. Hundred percent stand by shall be provided for the paging and Talk back amplifier and the power supply unit for the operation of the signalling relays, with facility to change over to the standby units with ease. Loudspeaker Characteristics for Paging as well as Talkback. Sound systems may be classified as sound reinforcement paging, or public address systems. All these systems have some common characteristics and some widely different ones. In general the objective of a sound reinforcement system is to produce just enough intensity of reproduction to enable all listeners, regardless of seated location to hear clearly and without effort, all that is being paid at the rostrum or on the stage. Equally important to this criterion is the necessity of creating the effect of the reproduced sound coming directly from the main at the rostrum. Successful localization of the reproduced source of sound near the original source itself, and with just enough intensity to be heared comfortably wound the constitute a "soundreinforcement" system. These characteristics of a sound reinforcement system would of course be completely unsuitable for a general plant paging system. In this instance, our need is to get a message across to a particular person regardless of where he may be located and sufficiently strong and penetrating to overcome environmental masking noise, and to be clearly intelligible above reverberant conditions of the area in which the listener is located. While much has been written concerning the choice of loudspeakers for such application, little information is available on the reciprocal nature of the loudspeaker as a microphone when the paging system is also to be used as a reply system. The paging and talk-back installations are used on the Railways for marshalling yards and Railway stations. In regard to railway stations, loudspeakers are provided on the platforms, waiting rooms, etc. The loudspeakers provided for station announcing equipment are basically paging types, but talk back facilities would be desirable to improve the utility of the system for establishing communication with station staff on the move. In the marshalling yards talk back speakers are provided on separate circuits while paging types are installed similarly as an entirely independent circuit. While in paging applications the basic criterion is to provide a signal to over-ride the noise level, for talk back purposes, optimum correlation must be achieved between the frequency response, output level of the loudspeaker as well as its sensitivity and frequency response characteristics as a distant pick up microphone. Several type of loudspeakers have been used many variations for these two widely different situations, but they may be generally put into two groups, a cone speaker mounted in a simple box baffle suspended from or flush in, the wall or ceiling, or small to moderate reflex horn-

compression driver systems mounted by means of their universal brackets to project, their message into the desired area. As loudspeakers, both types have their own frequency response characteristics, directivity patterns and sensitivities. The choice of which loudspeaker to use (for speaker purposes) will be determined by types of coverage made necessary by the acoustic environment. However, to make a choice in terms of a talk-back (microphone) we have to shift emphasis on the importance of these characteristics. It will be seen that wide frequency response is perhaps the worst criterion of a loudspeaker, when used as a microphone. The most important factor will be the correlation between the reverberant conditions of the room and the natural resonance of the speaker. When the loudspeaker acts as a microphone for a sound signal considerably removed from it, say perhaps 15 or 20 feet or even more, then the loudspeaker picks up not only the direct reply but also the reverberant images of the message and noise in the room. More often than not this ambient noise and the reverberation level is almost on par with the sound signal itself. Although the loudspeaker finds it hard to discriminate against the unwanted components of the ambient noise and reverberation that ride along with the reply signal, yet there are characteristics of loudspeakers that make some types unable as distant pick up microphones. For this purpose, a group of some speakers were analysed for their speaker microphone correlation, and a similar analysis was made for 2 pair of "paging-talk-back" projectors whose mouth dimensions were comparable to the cone speakers. The characteristics of horn units as sound reproducers are well known. For example, while the ordinary cone speakers has an efficiency of about 5 per cent, the projector may be as efficient as 30 per cent for standard production units. The relative significance for audio power conservation is self evident. Furthermore, the ability to control projector directivity easily is a great boon in directing the paging message into the specific area that needs the greatest sound intensity. An analysis of these projectors are talk back devices reveal that some of their attributes as good sound projectors carry over into providing desirable performance as remote reply microphones.

Fig. 59 Correspondence between response as speaker and sensitivity as a microphone for two typical horn projector units Figure 59 illustrates the performance of two paging talkback projector speakers, one with a cutoff frequency of 350 Hz, another with a cut off frequency of 250 Hz. As loudspeakers these two units have sharp cut offs at their specified frequencies. The meaningful results of this characteristics is that a maximum efficiency as a paging unit is achieved over the intelligence carrying part of the voice spectrum, and power is not lost at the low end that does not penetrate into the heavy noise areas. A more significant aspect, however, is the fact that a horn is a reversible element, it is not only a projector, it is a receiver. The same cut-off characteristics govern it for both conditions, if it will not transmit below a certain frequency, it will not accept

frequencies below that same frequency. Accordingly, as shown in figure, the low end response of these horn projectors as microphones, follows closely their output response as speakers. Moreover, since their low-frequency response is limited (by design), reverberent energy pickup is greatly attenuated and the received sound signal consists, in the main of the desired voice intelligibility frequencies, relatively unvaried by masking room noise and reverberation. While there is a sloping off characteristic of the higher frequency characteristic of these projectors as microphones, it is not nearly as severely as the sudden drop-off of middle frequency section of the cone units. This may be due to the fact that even though the sound wave front impinges on the entire diaphragm, for the high frequencies, the energy imparted to the outer areas of the cone never really reaches the voice coil because of physical absorption within the main body of the cone. The mechanism would be analogous to the performance of a cone as a loudspeaker, where the high frequency vibrations are mainly in the apex region, and diminish as they proceed out to the peripheral areas of the cone. Similar discrimination against the transmission of the high frequencies inward to the apex may exist when the microphone function is performed. In the case of the project, the sound intercepted by the mount of the horn travels down the horn's length towards is narrow throat where the moving system of the small stiff diaphragm as its voice coil uses the entire wave front at (even though the front is compressed to the horn throat dimensions) the upper end cut off that does shown up in the microphone characteristics of these projector horns may be due to several conditions, but the most important would arise from the front and rear cavities confronting diaphragms, in microphone designs, these cavities are made as small as possible consistent with the (small) excursion of the diaphragm with consequent minimum high frequency acoustic capacitive shunting across the diaphragm. However, in light of the fact that the moving system of the horn driver must have adequate free area into which to move under applied electrical power, these larger diaphragm acoustic shunting capacities do influence performance as a microphone. In conclusion, it might be said, depending upon the need for such bi-sectional characteristics in a sound reinforcement system, that serious mention should be paid to the conditions under which replies will be required. If the replies are to be obtained from locations remote from the transducer, and where room resonance and reverberation are to be minimized, it would be far more desirable to use the high-efficiency loaded paging speaker as a talk-back device. On the other hand the reply is to be generated very close to the speaker itself where room resonances and reverberation and ambient noise is almost entirely negligible than the cone speaker may be used. However, even in this utter instance, there will be a great reduction in the articulation area of speech due to the loss in high frequencies in the typical cone speaker structure and its peaked response at the low end.