Audio on the Field PC

7 Oct 2008

All current model Field PC products provide a mono speaker for playback of system notifications, key or touchscreen press feedback, and basic single channel audio media playback. The Mesa Rugged Notepad provides a 3.5mm audio jack for microphone input and stereo headset output.

The Mesa, TK6000, and Archer provide a built-in microphone for basic single channel audio input (monitoring and/or recording) through the included Notes application or other third party software.

Increase Volume

If you would like to increase the volume on the Field PC, please make sure you have tried the following items.

Turn on the most noticeable sounds for notifications, increased the volume to full, and changed settings to "Loud" under Start > Settings > Personal > Sounds & Notifications.
Tap on the Volume (speaker) icon in the top right system tray and adjusting the volume slider (and/or using the volume buttons in Media Player Mobile).

Otherwise, a Level II Customization can be submitted for creating a utility for allowing you to further adjust the volume and other audio settings of the internal audio chipset.

External Audio Devices

External audio devices can be connected to the Mesa via the 3.5mm audio jack. Other audio output devices may be connected to any of our Field PC models through a Bluetooth connection using the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile or "Wireless Stereo"). Devices that support the Bluetooth A2DP can provide system feedback similar to the built-in speaker, but may also provide dual channel (stereo) audio media playback support as well.

Note: Archer Field PC units shipped prior to July 2008 (that did not include the "Enhanced Bluetooth connectivity and performance" update as mentioned on our Archer Support News webpage) may need to have the Bluetooth 921Kbps baud utility (included in the Archer Built-in Bluetooth Baud Utilities) installed from our Archer Downloads webpage to fully support A2DP connections.

An alternative Bluetooth audio (such as input) option may be available from the following company.

http://www.vangardvoice.com/

Audio devices that only support the Bluetooth HSP (Headset Profile) or HFP (Hands-Free Profile) may not provide any benefit while using the built-in Bluetooth on the Field PC. These devices are mainly for re-directing audio from a built-in analog cellular voice chipset (such as in cell phones), which does not currently exist in the Field PC.

If you are not sure which Bluetooth profiles your audio device supports, follow the steps below.

Windows Mobile Field PCs (with built-in Bluetooth)

Follow the instructions for setting up a Bluetooth device connection as instructed on our Bluetooth Setup with Microsoft drivers FAQ webpage.

Under Start > Settings > Connections tab > Bluetooth icon > Devices tab, tap and hold the stylus on the name of the audio device, and then select Edit.
If "Wireless Stereo" appears in the services list, check the box then tap Save.
Again, tap and hold the stylus on the name of the audio device, and then select "Set as Wireless Stereo" (if not grayed out).

If "Set as Wireless Stereo" appears grayed out, and/or "Set as Hands-Free" appears as the only option, then your audio device may not fully support system audio connections (only analog cellular voice service re-direction).

Tested Bluetooth Audio Headsets

It would be suggested to use a ruggedized headset, though no immediate solution is known. Just for operating system testing we have used the following headsets, but none are extremely ruggedized to match our products.