The ID-31 comes with two different voices, English and Japanese. It’s sometime a little interesting to switch from one language to another.

To switch languages for the voice synthesizer:

• Menu – Scroll until you see SPEECH.
• Select SPEECH
• Select SPEECH Language
• Select American or Japanese as Desired

One of the new features of the ID-31 is the voice synthesizer. This isn’t a new feature to Amateur Radio, but its implementation on the ID-31 is unique.

Are you tired of having to throw the bifocals on every time someone makes a call just to look at the display on the radio and see who it is? The ID-31 lets you leave the glasses in the pocket.

To enable voice announcement of users:

• Menu – Scroll until you see SPEECH.
• Select SPEECH
• Select RX Call Sign SPEECH
• Select ON (All)

If the speech is a little loud, you can turn it down by:

• Menu – Scroll until you see SPEECH.
• Select SPEECH
• Select SPEECH Level
• Adjust Volume Level as Desired

This is where the microSD card comes in very handy. The IC-31A supports recording a conversation and it uses the microSD card to store the information. The record consumes about 16 kB per second which is about 34 hours of recording to a 2GB card!

Now for the really neat part. You can remove the card (make sure to turn off radio or unmount card first) and plug it into your PC. Navigate to the ID-31/Voice directory and you should see a number of folders, one for each date of recordings. If you go into one of the folders, you should see a number of  .wav files with a name that corresponds to the time of the recording. Of course the actualy time stamp on the file is accurate as well.

Click the file, up comes the Media Player and you may hear a previous QSO! Files that are under about 60kB in size are probably just keyups with no audio.

To turn on the Voice Recorder

Quick Menu
<< REC Start>>

To turn off the Voice Recorder

Quick Menu
<<REC Stop>>

To play a previously recorded QSOs

Menu
Voice Memo
QSO Recorder
Play Files
Select Date of Recording
Select File to Start Playing
Use the directional buttons to control playback

Up - Play previous recording
Left - Backup 10 seconds
Right Fast Forward 10 seconds
Down - Play next recording