o m g that sounds like the guy who doesn't want a comptu erihis shack is abou t90 years old lol  computers have been a part of ham radio ever since the first personal comptuer, so live with it... anyway my real question is abotu the scanner and what other cool toys you have come up with    I would LOVE to be able to build stuff, so any ideas youc an give me on buildin gsom eneat accessories please let me know  
sinc eyou build accessories  I wonder if you or anyone lese knows what the plugs are on the microphone part of an aircraft headset. they are like quarter inch plugs for headphones except slightly smaller. if I couldget my hands on matching jacks for those plugs I might be able to get a nice aircraft headset to use on my station for a good price :)
my curent idea is dtmf control that really works with my kenwood ts2000  no tthe pathetic rig control built in that gives you no feedback at all for operating the radio. even witht he voice synth you get no voic eback for what you changed... epic failure since some of the older icom dualband mobiles would speak their freency changes back ot he air.  the only way I found aorund that so far is using an frs radio and vox to speak the synthesier out on a different frequency and run dual recieve on an ht  not exactly elegant by any means, especially if you get too far from the frs radio.  I really should ge tbetter for a radio that cost $1600 or more   even with kenwood  which does more than anyone else for acessiility  it is mostly an aftethought, or made by people who can see because it is what they think we want or need. what I want is real dtmf control with voice feedback from the rig or elsewhere. if I have to use a comptuer to acomplish this I will, but it seems like a basic stamp should do the job  unfortunately that is th limit of my knowledge I am no programmer. last time I tried that was basic on a radio shack color computer 25 ears ago or close to it
73  kb7nla
On Mar 23, 2012, at 9:32 AM, Martin McCormick wrote:

> 	I know exactly how you feel. I hate having to use this
> stupid white cane everywhere I go because it ties up my right
> arm. If my computer would just work out of the box without
> having to spend blood money to add a fix to it that costs more
> than the work station, itself, I would probably use Windows but
> I refuse to get sucked in to that money pit but also respect you
> if that is not a problem for you.
> 
> 	I've yet to see US currency that is identifiable by
> other means than an electronic device so I still have yet to see
> a lawyer Olympic get us anything other than a big bill and lots
> of circular arguing over discussion lists. At lease the
> electronic devices are getting more affordable.
> 
> 	I own a couple of Uniden scanners. One is 9 years old
> and the other is about a year-and-a-half old. Of course, I wish
> they talked or sent Morse Code but they don't. They do, however,
> have a serial port on the back. The older scanner could actually
> be operated in real time by typing rather cryptic commands in to
> the serial port and reading the responses. The newer one uses
> long comma-separated variable sequences so it is really worth
> one's while to write helper programs to assemble those strings,
> but I was able to set up our state's 800-MHZ trunking system
> after much pain and suffering. Actually, I had a severe flaw in
> my program that caused the scanner to not receive what I thought
> I was sending, but my point is that after all that work, I can
> use it and even read the display.
> 
> 	You start by downloading the description of the
> communications protocol and work from there.
> 
> 	When I got in to ham radio, a lot of folks were building
> their own gear. I haven't done that yet, but I do build a lot of
> accessories and stuff that will never be sold anywhere because
> of limited demand. Amateur radio is an exercise in making stuff
> work for you. Beating the odds is 3/4 of the fun of it.
> 
> 	I really don't know what else to say, but if you don't
> want to use alternate means to make it work, that's your choice.
> You'll probably have to wait a very long time before things
> accidentally get the way you want them if they ever do.
> 
> Harry Brown writes 
>> 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