Hello, I'm going to try to get the software to work on my iMac. The author claimed that he is able to get the software to run on a Mac with some work? My question is will it work with voiceover. I will let you all know what I'm able to do, and/or not do. Wish me luck on getting this to work. I have two radios. I have the vx8r, and the kilo volt one to be. 73, and hope everybody has a good evening. PS a hope to check in on handing him net this evening.
On May 4, 2011, at 3:35 PM, John Miller wrote:
> there was a link on the page about using it with a screen reader,I haven't
> used it yet though did download it to try it, did you check out using it
> with a screen reader first? I'm just curious because if you did I may not
> even bother trying it, I did it more as something to try on a rainy day and
> I didn't check out that link yet. I have so many radio programming programs
> around now it's not even funny I just wondered if it was worth adding to the
> collection.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Dresser" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 5:15 PM
> Subject: Observations on Chirp
>
>
>> For those who don't know the background, Tom Behler alerted us to a =
>> program called Chirp, free software that can edit data stored in the =
>> memories of several different radios from the "big three" manufacturers, =
>> as well as Wouxon, Alinko, and a few more. He expressed interest in the =
>> program, but said he didn't have time to look at it, and hoped that =
>> someone else could, and would report their findings. Since the program =
>> got good reviews from www.hamradioandvision.com, and the price was =
>> right, I downloaded and installed it on my laptop which runs Windows XP =
>> Pro with JAWS 12. Here are a few observations:
>>
>> 1. Although the program responds to some keyboard commands, it is by no =
>> means a standard Windows user interface. For example: although you can =
>> activate the Radio menu with Alt+R and read the menu items by pressing =
>> the arrow keys, once inside the menus you will have to use the JAWS =
>> cursor to navigate. JAWS will occasionally read items, but most of the =
>> time you don't really know where you are, and entering data requires =
>> using the JAWS keystroke for left-clicking the mouse. It took me almost =
>> an hour to figure out how to select the com port and radio make and =
>> model, which is ok if you only have one radio, but a royal pain if you =
>> have more than one and want to switch between them.
>>
>> 2. Although Help was one of the menu choices, I was unable to access =
>> anything in the Help system. I looked in the program folder and didn't =
>> find anything even remotely resembling either a .HLP or .CHM file, both =
>> of which are standard Windows extensions for help files. Since I found =
>> no other documentation, I have to assume that you're pretty much on your =
>> own when it comes to figuring out how this software works.
>>
>> 3. Once I set up the COM port and manufacturer (in my case Kenwood), I =
>> was able to use the program's auto-detect feature to find the correct =
>> model. This would have been more impressive if it hadn't taken so long =
>> to figure out how to select the port, etc.
>>
>> 4. Once the data was read from the radio, a message popped up advising =
>> me that since the TM-V71A operates in "live mode" (whatever the hell =
>> that is), any attempt to change the data will send the altered data to =
>> the radio immediately, and that for best results, I should export the =
>> data to a .CSV file and edit it somewhere else. Incidentally, I had to =
>> look around with the JAWS Cursor to find this message (not my idea of a =
>> good time).
>>
>> 5. The data from the radio was presented in a table with each row =
>> representing the data from one memory. I didn't try to change anything =
>> (see above), so I don't know how easy that would be, but given the rest =
>> of my experience with this software, it just didn't seem worth the =
>> bother. Btw, JAWS couldn't recognize this as a table, which isn't much =
>> of a surprise given the non-standard user interface.=20
>>
>> I can't speak for programming software from other companies, but the =
>> programs from Kenwood are far more screen-reader friendly than Chirp, =
>> despite whatever quirks they may have. Based on my experience thus far, =
>> I'd have to say that Chirp is about to be thrown into the bit bucket.
>>
>> Steve
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