I was reading about QST again in the latest ARRL letter. I am sending it to
work and will call them on Monday. What I want to do is find the first
issue they put on digitally and try to read it both on my computer and my
IPhone. Then, if it proves inaccessible, I will be glad to work with any
group of us who are willing to try to work out a peaceful solution with them
before we begin a battle that may or may not need to be fought. I have
found over the years of working in the field with blind persons that it is
usually preferable to try to work out a solution but that sometimes in the
end you do have to firm your stance.
Take care all and very 73.
Kevin :)
Amateur Radio: K7RX
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Ron Miller
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2012 10:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Man O Man
Hi,
I'm not trying to be inflammatory, or anything, but we've really got to keep
in mind that it is often necessary to find the work-arounds that will let us
access the stuff we want, when we want to. You can certainly argue that a
rig that doesn't talk "right out of the box" isn't accessible, but blind
hams have been accessing in-accessible rigs for the last seventy or eighty
years, or more and they never talked, beeped or provided morse code
readouts. My scanners have never talked but they've been usable, nowadays,
with software to program the thousands of frequencies and talkgroups needed
to follow modern radio systems. If you're reading the current communications
and scanning magazines, you'll notice that mainstream, sighted scanner users
are resorting to computer programming of their scanners because it is much
faster and less tedious than working through the multi-layered menu systems
used on today's scanning receivers.
I'm all for talking radios, microwaves, scales, TVs, stoves, washer/dryers,
computers, cell phones, caller IDs, and anything else I can get, but I am
darn sure not going to wait for industry to catch up to me whenever I can
leverage whatever tips, tricks and make-do's I and all of the rest of you
discover as we go for the things we want to do.
This group is full of prime examples of this attitude. Lots of you have
built your own stuff, put up antennas and towers (often with the help of
sighted hams), some of you have read through the SmithKettlewell articles
and have built the audible oscilloscopes, continuity checkers and other
projects presented there. We're hams who are blind and pursuing the hamming
hobby and communications are to the best of our ability and extent of our
interests.
I hope that we don't forget the lessons learned in the past as we take
advantage of the technology developed in the future.
73
Ron Miller
N6MSAClearwater, Fl. USA
SKYPE: arjay1
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Harry Brown
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2012 6:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Man O Man
Hi Martin,
I'll give ya one, currancy!
Well my friend, I will never quit about getting things that talk, that's =
for sure, whether hf rigs, you name it.
Also, it's rediculous to control an hf rig with a computer, just =
absolutely rediculous.
I know the sighted use computers to control rigs, but what a waste. What = I
mean by saying "what a waste" is, it's just one more piece of = equipment to
drag around. I have no interest in controling an hf rig = through a
computer, because I don't want to have 2 pieces of equipment = in my shack.
I just want an hf rig that I don't have to hook up a = computer to.
I don't want to have to use something in a backpack to control my hf = rig.
Now controlling an hf rig remotely, awesome, but I don't want to = have to
use a computer or smart phone to control my hf rig, which would = be sitting
in my shack in front of me.
If a rig doesn't talk out of the box, it's not accessible.
Trippy, ac8s
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Martin McCormick=20
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: Man O Man
And after the fight, you may have lots of flies and still no
job. I challenge someone to name one major societal change that
helps us which resulted from a law suit. I get just as mad as
the next person about the fact that the ADA did very little
about information technology even though that would have been
much easier to fix than bricks and mortar which it actually did
do a lot of good in.
The older I get, the more amazed I get about unintended
consequences. If any of you get a chance, read the Freaconomics
books which talk about the economic factors that influence human
behavior and you will have an appreciation for what I am talking
about here.
We may, for example, never get anywhere asking for
amateur radio gear that talks to us, but gear with USB or RS-232
serial ports that allow for complete remote control would be
just as useful in that they have a door open for us to access
their controls and displays by whatever access device we like to
use.
There is a project in the works called Raspberry Pie
which is a very cheap Linux-based computer that may possibly
give us very cheap speech access to anything you can connect a
computer to.
I would be thrilled to have a fifty-Dollar portable
computer in a back pack that could program a hand-held
transceiver or base rig. That's almost as good as having it talk
to me right out of the box.
Personally, I don't care that much for Raspberry
flavoring, but if this project flies, they can call it any name
they like.
-----
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