My surprisingly successful project this year was automated SWBC translation. It is easy to set up and works fairly well.

During early fall, I wondered when we would be able to achieve the universal translator popular on Star Trek. After some experimenting, I discovered an easy way to translate most SWBC foreign language broadcasts into English.

You can check out these SWBC translation articles for yourself.

In short, I run the Microsoft Translate app in an Android emulator on my PC. Audio is provided from any of my SDR receivers with a virtual audio cable to the emulator. As you can see in this video, the system works fairly well for a variety of languages.

Here is another video with instructions for running SWBC translation with SDRuno and SDRplay receivers.

I only speak English. Microsoft Translate in Auto mode has opened up a whole new world of listening for me. What’s more, it costs nothing to set up, as long as the apps remain open for use without charge. How long that will last, who knows?

SWBC Translation – Fantastic Discovery

I was amazed how a silly, far fetched idea turned into a fantastic discovery. Voice recognition and language translation software have been moving ahead by leaps and bounds. What was science fiction only a few years ago is now quite real.

A great thing about our hobby is the freedom to just try new things. I didn’t call this blog “Making It Up” by accident. Learn, experiment, discuss and accomplish are part of the essence of developing proficiency in your hobby. You might want to read my 2022 series of articles about developing proficiency in any hobby.

So, Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope you get some fun toys to play with over the holiday season. There is always some new idea to try just around the corner. Even if you have to buy it for yourself!