I'm sure many of you are very interested in the current state of Codec2, the open-source, low-bitrate voice codec that is being led by David Rowe VK5DGR. If so, I'd like to draw your attention to the following video that ZL3IN and I made over the past weekend, which comprises the actual audio of our first meeting over the Internet, using codec2 bitstreams. I hope you'll agree that this alpha-level software is very usable right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k-nhHE6CrI
Our conversation was conducted using a bash script that I wrote to provide simple codec2 voice communication over the Internet. Since October, I've been spending what would normally be my ham time working on that, or trying to help improve the c2 performance on low-power CPUs.
Codec2 could be very important to AMSAT's future. Running currently at 2500 bps, and aiming for 2400 bps with FEC, it could make satellite voice communication comprise a smaller bandwidth, offering less demanding downlink systems. Because it is open source, the codec could even be implemented in the satellite, perhaps to provide voice-encoded telemetry for a FUNcube-like project of the future.
The Codec2 site is http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=452
The source files of my conversation with ZL3IN, and many ancillary c2 materials are available on my blog: http://ve9qrp.blogspot.com
73, Bruce VE9QRP