I didn't even bother to look it up because things like that are
living proof that you can sure pour a lot of cash down the rat
hole and have not much to show for it.

	We bought a battery charger to recharge those 14 and
18-volt battery packs that go on Black & Decker tools. It
doesn't talk, but it is accessible with a light probe and,
unfortunately, on any HF receiver if tuned to between 20 and 10
meters. It really puts out some interesting junk. It is a
switching power supply with a microprocessor in it and not a
single RF choke. Well, maybe a few; I haven't had it apart
because it does still work.

	When it is charging, it knows whether you plugged in a
14 or 18 volt pack by the plug on the pack. A LED blinks about
once per second which makes your probe sound like a busy signal
on drugs. If the pack is shorted as they sometimes do when they
go bad, it starts blinking much faster. When charged, I think it
burns steady.

	I plugged ours in to one of those line filters and the
RF noise went way down.

	I don't remember the cost of the charger, but it was less
than you might think for what it does.

	I think the real breakthrough in accessible technology
is closer than ever with all the bluetooth and infrared remote
technology and the growing availability of hand-held computers
that have enough horse power to support speech and actual audio.
Linking some of this technology together is the secret to future
accessibility.

	The talking battery charger is a perfectly good idea,
but the market is always going to be so small that it either
needs a subsidy or it will cost an arm and a leg. It's the old
economy of scale problem.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK 
Systems Engineer
OSU Information Technology Department Telecommunications Services Group