Interesting. I’ve provided nodes with that headset to quite a few hams and, other than needing the dreaded ‘boost’, seemed pretty good
Are there any other headphone models that are compatible besides just the MPOW 071? If not no biggie, I was just curious.
EDIT: Would something along the lines of this work?: Cyber Acoustics Stereo USB Headset.
I've tried in the past doing the CM108 mod and this is where I gave up, but this idea may have just given me another reason to do AllStar all over again!
FYI this is somewhat off topic as it's more expensive than a ~$20 headset, but for high quality audio with AGC/limiting, mic gain adjustment, a real volume control knob, line out and speaker out jacks I have a new product now available - the UCI90 - that works with any standard ~$15 K1 speaker-mic or headset. See allscan.info for details. Shown below is the UCI90 with an RPi5, USB power pack, and Pryme speaker-mic. $15 Radtel speaker-mics also work well.
@AI3I I know you also mentioned that you tested a few Logitechs. Was the readily-available Logitech H390 a part of that group of Logitechs?
I have an H390 and it is not supported by ASL3 as a sound device.
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Owen, you're welcome to conduct your own experiments to discover whether a headset has the potential of working for you or not. The discovery was just that; I didn't set out to purchase and identify every single USB headset on the market, or to build a hardware compatibility list in preparation for this question. Clearly, if I would have discovered any others, I would have mentioned them in this post. My experimentation stopped with the Mpow units since they clearly provided functionality with ASL and could do so inexpensively.
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Awesome, thank you! I actually have an MPOW on the way as I write this. So excited to FINALLY get my ASL node on the network at last!
On my CM108 equipped headset, it uses the - (minus) button...
Just wanted to stop by and say my setup works! Mic does sound very quiet and I've got to wear it close to my face but other than that pretty good! Not bad for <$20 
Okay another update...
I did have to turn up the volume in simple-usb-menu (set to around 800ish) but I've also found a way to increase the gain even more if need be! You can use the alsamixer menu or amixer CLI command and increase the mic volume this way as well. In fact, it sounds so much better now and I don't have to wear it so close to my face either!
Hello Group,
Being a complete Linux newbie and being lazy, I struggled with this for hours and I would like to point out my mistakes to help someone avoid hours of "head banging"
I followed Ai3i's instructions however when I got to the part of editing "/etc/asterisk/res_usbradio.conf" I used the "Expert Configuration Menu" and edited /etc/asterisk/usbradio.conf. WRONG FILE!
You MUST go into the terminal and do a sudo nano /etc/asterisk/res_usbradio.conf and edit it there or the Tune CLI will never find the right sound card.
I hope this saves others from this dilemma.
73's
Mike WA3O
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Hi John, thanks a lot for your fantastic solution, which I've already implemented on two different QTHs. I asked AI if there was a way to stream audio in parallel to network speakers, for example. However, my attempts were unsuccessful. For now, I'm connecting the audio out via a Y-connector and feeding the signal to the amplifier, as the outgoing signal is low.
I'm looking for a more elegant solution that might have worked for someone with a similar setup (Mpow Pi3 + ASL3). I'm very curious if anyone has tried this route.
73 to all of SM7VMS
Thank you for this very useful thread. I’ve managed to set up a second ASL3 server in addition to my main RPi4+Shari based node. I used a small recycled Intel-based laptop computer running Debian Bookworm.
It works with two remaining issues:
-
even with rxmixerset = 999 and rxboost = yes, mic channel set to max in alsamixer capture settings, transmitted audio is still kind of low, I have to speak up close to the mic to have a correct level (as per parrot node)
-
EDIT: fixed. Setting duplex type = 1 in node parameters instead of the 2 I had initially configured did it. more annoying, I have audio feedback in the headphones when I transmit, with a very short delay (fraction of a sec). Yes, parrot = 0 in rpt.conf and Echo mode is off in simpleusb-tune-menu
Does this ring any bell to anyone?
I must admit that my headset is not based a true C-Media CM108 chip. Although it shows as C-Media when plugged, it’s VID/PID is 8086:0808 so I had to edit res_usbradio.conf as described in USB Audio Interfaces - AllStarLink Manual to have it recognized.
It could be the reason for the issues above, although at least for the unwanted audio feedback I suspect that this could be a wrong configuration somewhere.
I have a true Mpow 071 on order, but it will take a while to get here. They’re not easy to find here in France. In the meantime I’d like to make this headset work if anyone is willing and able to advise.
Many thanks in advance,
Best 73s de F4LDT - Alain
I can’t help much with the low RX gain (I don’t use this setup myself), but try using duplex=3 instead of duplex=2. This is full duplex without repeat, I.E. you won’t hear your own audio coming back to you.