Hi y'all,
So, with Wayne's comments below, who's in? Let's see what we can get together for Wayne's article and this FDIM project. For the piggies, I'm pasting in Wayne's original proposal at the bottom of this.
Vy 73 and OO,
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Wayne Burdick <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-hams] Fwd: Idea for 2012 FDIM building contest
> Date: August 11, 2011 12:01:52 PM EDT
> To: Buddy Brannan <[log in to unmask]>
> Cc: Eric Swartz <[log in to unmask]>, Ken Evans <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Buddy,
>
> Ken's very excited about the idea, and he suggests announcing it in the next issue of QRP Quarterly. He's asked me to write the article. But first we need to get input from a few potential designers and builders. We can then come up with a set of rules and guiding principles to make it fun for everyone.
>
> Ken is busy most of today but said he'd get involved in the discussion later tonight. You might think about a couple of your friends who'd also like to join the conversation -- guys who are interested in building and could contribute some ideas.
>
> This challenge should be fun for designers partly because it's completely the opposite of creating a mass-produced electronics kit: instead of trying to make all the parts the same size (to save on assembly cost and parts cost), you'd be trying to make all the parts as unique as possible to make them easy to differentiate by feel.
>
> At the end of the day, this project is about communication between a designer and a builder who have different skill sets. In fact it will be interesting to watch blindfolded "sighties" try to build the kits :)
>
> Wayne
>
And here's the original post from Wayne:
We have a number of blind customers using K3s, etc. I was discussing with one of them (Buddy, copied on this) the fact that there are no radio or electronic kits (that we know of) that could be constructed entirely by a blind hobbyist. I then mentioned that I'd think about how to do this :)
Then I realized this would be a novel theme for the FDIM building contest in 2012, assuming it hasn't already been tried. It would be a challenge for both the kit designers and target builders. For best results, they'd need to work together.
The most important thing about such a kit is the sense of empowerment it would provide the blind builder. From all my conversations with blind hams, it's clear they feel left out being unable to participate in some basic hands-on aspect of the hobby. I'm sure that's true of would-be blind builders in other genres as well. (Buddy may have thoughts on this.)
Even a simple kit would be a challenge. Here are some potential constraints (again, Buddy will know better than I):
- probably no soldering (safety concern)
- suggest twisting component leads, or use spring terminals
- no high voltages
- all components that have the same size/shape must be carefully tagged or bagged
or have a tactile label
- all components with more than two leads (e.g., a transistor) must have
an asymmetrical package so leads can be clearly identified; better yet,
one lead can be extended beyond the others
- no use of color codes (obvious!)
- nothing sharper than a component lead
- hardware should be large (#4 or larger)
- if a PCB or other substrate is provided, it should be asymmetrical or have
tactile guides
- if knobs are used, they should have tactile pointers
- manual either in Braille or in accessible electronic format (use with a PC screen reader)
With care, one could build a simple transceiver that satisfies all of these constraints.
Anyone entering such a kit into the contest should pair up with a blind builder -- or try building it blindfolded -- to prove that it works.
Any interest in this idea?
Thanks,
Wayne
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