Parrot
Parrot is the quickest way to hear how your transmitted audio sounds through the network. It records and replays your call, identifies your callsign, and now provides an audio-level and clipping report to help you set microphone gain correctly.
How to test
Call TG 9990, pause briefly after key-up, then speak normally for five to ten seconds. Use your usual voice and microphone distance. Parrot plays the recording back, announces your callsign phonetically, then reads the audio report.
Where it works
Parrot is supported on repeaters, simplex hotspots and duplex hotspots. Group and direct use are handled so the reply goes back in the same logical style you called it with. If your callsign cannot be found from your radio ID, parrot will speak the full radio ID instead.
The target result
Aim for Level normal and no clipping detected. If the replay is clear as well, the radio is normally set correctly. Do not increase gain simply to produce a larger percentage.
What the spoken report means
Level
Low means speech is quieter than preferred. Normal is the target range. High means the audio is too hot or clipping is present.
Clipping
Clipping means the audio repeatedly reaches near full scale. It removes speech detail and often sounds harsh or distorted after AMBE encoding. Aim for no clipping.
Peak amplitude
The highest brief audio peak in the test. It can expose sharp peaks, but it is not the average loudness and should not be adjusted in isolation.
Average RMS
The effective level of active speech. This is more representative of normal microphone level than one brief peak and is used for the overall level result.
If level is low
Check the selected microphone and accessory settings. Speak toward the microphone at the normal distance, then increase microphone gain one step at a time and repeat the same test.
If level is high or clipped
Lower radio or accessory microphone gain, avoid speaking directly into the microphone opening, and do not shout. Radios with excessive clipping or consistently high level should be adjusted before normal use because they reduce audio quality for every listener.
View the detailed report
Open Last Heard Radios, search for your callsign or Radio ID, then review Audio Reports between Last Heard Radios and Call History. It retains each Parrot test with level, peak, average RMS, clipping, duration and decoder details.
The report measures decoded network audio. It is not RF deviation, BER, RSSI or a calibrated transmitter alignment. Always listen to the replay as well as reading the result.