We’ve seen it in the trucker movies. I’m thinking stuff like Convoy. It looks hella cool whenever the guy reaches up in his cab, grabs the mic and talks into it.
I’ve been playing a bit of Space Trucker, Elite Dangerous, etc and I want to replicate that feeling.
So this idea originally came from a buddy of mine (hey, Troels), and he talked about using an Arduino Leonardo to enable the push-to-talk (PTT) function on the handset and hooking that into a Discord chat, or even just a games own PTT functionality.
So here’s the idea … get a handset, an Arduino Leonardo board. Wire that up and hook it into your gaming rig. Extremely simplified.
I have zero experience with Arduino, but since I tend to learn best when I have an actual practical project I want to do this seems like it will fit the bill nicely. I am looking forward to this, and I think it’s going to be fun. And I’ve been looking for an excuse to get into Arduino and play around with it.
Bill of goods
- Arduino Leonardo board
Or compatible. There are a ton of cheaper boards than the OG, I am using a board from Keyestudio. - A CB radio handset
I got a PROMAXPOWER (what a name) one on the cheap from Amazon. - A variety of bits
Breadboard, wires, etc. to test on before final assembly.
The expected outcome
I want to outline some criteria’s for success on this one. Just to give myself something to go back to if I get lost or go too far down a rabbit hole.
- PTT functionality
The PTT button needs to be connected to the Arduino, to engage the PTT function, and send the correct keyboard combination to the computer to engage PTT. - Audio capture
I should be able to capture audio from the handheld mic and send it to the computer.
I genuinely don’t know how I am gonna do this yet, but I have a few ideas.
Extra credit
If I achieve the above then ideally I want to build it out into a self contained unit. 3D print a housing, with dedicated connectors, and the like. Something inspired by the look of CB radios or LogitechGs flight sim control panels. Maybe something that I can mount under my desk, or on my desk shelf.