Original Author: David Beazley (http://www.dabeaz.com) Copyright (C) 2010
Updated 2022: Greg Strike (www.gregorystrike.com)
Updated 2023: Green Codes
This is free software. You are free to use it however you wish, but if you decide to include it in some other package, please give me some credit.
This package provides a pair of scripts, kcs_encode.py and kcs_decode.py that encode and decode WAV audio files containing data encoded in the Kansas City Standard as used on some of the first home computers. In my case, an Ohio Scientific Superboard II from 1978. For more information on KCS encoding, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_standard
First of all, you need to install Python-3.1.2 or newer on your system.
To encode a text file into a WAV file suitable for playback, do this:
% python3 kcs_encode.py input.txt output.wav
This reads the file 'input.txt' and writes a WAV file 'output.wav'. The resulting WAV file is encoded in mono with a framerate of 9600 Hz.
To decode a WAV file containing KCS data that you have recorded, do this:
% python3 kcs_decode.py input.wav
Decoded text contained in the WAV file will be printed to standard output. This decoding process will strip NULL bytes and convert line endings to the native line endings for your platform.
If you want to decode raw binary data, type this:
% python3 kcs_decode.py -b input.wav
In this case, output is still directed to standard output, but is exactly as found in the audio (including all NULL bytes).
Live encoding/decoding depends on the PyAudio library, which must be installed first.
To encode to a live audio sink (e.g. line out), do this:
% python3 kcs_encode_live.py input_file
Use the -h flag to see the full usage information of this script.
To decode from a live audio source (e,g, line in), do this:
% python3 kcs_decode_live.py
The output is directed to standard output by default.
Use the -h flag to see the full usage information of this script.
See the following blog posts for more information:
http://dabeaz.blogspot.com/2010/08/using-python-to-encode-cassette.html http://dabeaz.blogspot.com/2010/08/decoding-superboard-ii-cassette-audio.html https://www.gregorystrike.com/2023/01/07/kansas-city-standard-decoder/
The kcs_encode.py and kcs_decode.py are standalone programs that should work with any Python 3 installation (version 3.1.2 or newer). If you decide to install the scripts, they are simply placed in the Python scripts directory.
This is just a fun personal project for me. If you use these scripts for a vintage computing project, send me email (dave@dabeaz.com) and let me know about it. --Dave