MEASERL(1)

πŸ’– MEASERL(1) πŸ’–

okay bestie, so this is measerl from the Voicetronix Telephony Tools set, and it's literally the page where we measure echo-return loss on Voicetronix telephony hardware. sit down, grab a strawberry, we're doing this together πŸ“


✨ NAME ✨

measerl β€” Measure the echo-return loss on Voicetronix telephony hardware. that's it, that's the whole name section, and it ate πŸ’…


🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

measerl [options]

no positional args, no drama, just vibes and flags. iconic honestly.


πŸ¦‹ DESCRIPTION πŸ¦‹

So the measerl utility tests the echo-return loss on the phone line. For hardware that supports it, it can scan through bybrid balance register settings to help establish a lower ERL. And lowkey that matters, because having a lower ERL improves DTMF cutthrough and audio quality. periodt.

Also, the software echo cancellation needs at least -6dB before it can make a difference. no -6dB, no difference, fr fr. 😭

FXS (station) ports should perform this test using the --nohook option with the handset already off hook and the microphone muted. yes, muted. do not skip that part bestie, the test will be a whole mess.

FXO (trunk) ports will answer to an incoming call. they just do that, main character energy.

A series of tones will be played down the line to determine the ERL in several parts of the audio spectrum. 🎡

You should avoid creating any other noise on the line while this test is running, or the results may be skewed. so like… please be quiet. 🀫 the line is having a moment and it needs silence.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

The following options are available. there's a LOT of them, but we're getting through all of them because we don't skip. πŸ’ͺ

  • --help, -? β€” Show summary of options. the classic "wait what does this do again" button.
  • --card number β€” Explicitly select the card to test. Default is card 0.
  • --port number β€” Explicitly select the port to test. Default is port 0 of the card being tested.
  • --nohook β€” Use this option for testing station (FXS) ports. this is THE FXS one, remember it.
  • --offhook β€” Take an FXO port off hook immediately. Don't wait for an incoming ring. no waiting around, we're going now πŸ’…
  • --bal1 value β€” (part of the hybrid balance register trio below)
  • --bal2 value β€” (same trio, same rules)
  • --bal3 value β€” Set codec hybrid balance registers. Only for hardware which explicitly supports that. if your hardware doesn't explicitly support it, this is not for you and that's okay 🫢
  • --ec β€” Enable the echo canceller.
  • --pg gain β€” Set codec play gain. Values may range from -12.0 to 12.0.
  • --rg gain β€” Set codec record gain. Values may range from -12.0 to 12.0.
  • --dial port β€” Dial out another port on the same card.
  • --dial port number β€” Dial number from port on the same card.
  • --scan file start end step β€” Scan the hybrid balance register settings from start to end in increments of step, recording the results to file. Only for hardware that explicitly permits setting these registers. Valid values for the start and end are in the range 0 - 255. yes, 0 through 255, both ends included, don't get cute with it.
  • --autoscan β€” Automatically scan the codec balance values. let the machine do the walking πŸšΆβ™€οΈβœ¨
  • --handset β€” Proto handset mode. proto. like the prototype one. yes really.
  • --loop β€” Enable software loopback.
  • --hostecho β€” Enable the host based echo canceller.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

go read those too, they're in the group chat. iykyk πŸ’œ


πŸ‘‘ AUTHOR πŸ‘‘

Ron Lee, Peter Wintulich, David Rowe, Voicetronix <support@voicetronix.com.au>

This manual page was written by Ron <ron@debian.org>, for the Debian project (but may be used by others). shoutout Ron, absolute legend, thank you for your service 🫑


and that's the whole page bestie!! this one came from the VPB driver package, dated Jan 4, 2007, and yeah the header and footer both said MEASERL(1) but you already knew that because you read the top. mwah, go measure some echo-return loss, slay πŸ’–βœ¨πŸŽ€