Hi Bob,

This is all useful info.  I guess the idea of an accessibility review is to
pas your experience onto a blind op, who will have no idea if something can
be used or not.  Just knowing another blind person uses a piece of equipment
is very reassuring <smile>.  I use a solid state amp myself, and there is
actually no way a blind op can use it without an Icom TX or a PC.  There is
no accessible way of manually band changing <smile>.  An assessment of the
Ameritron amps might be as simple as this! 

How does the ASL-1300 physically differ from the ASL-600?  I know the
ASL-600 is in two units, and the separate PSU makes lifting it much easier.


How do you band change?  I understand the amps have a rotary knob?  Does the
band selector need marking, or does it click as it rotates?  
Can you easily find which band you are on by touch, or do you have to move
the knob to a known position and count clicks from there.  I'm assuming that
band selection is always manual?

What happens if the match is poor?  Does the amp fold back, or does it trip?
I regularly hear a blind op who uses an Expert 1, and when it trips, he does
not hear the very high pitched alarm, and carries on chatting on 5 watts
<smile>.  How does the ASL-1300 let you know it has tripped?

If you can help me with some info of this kind, it would be great for us to
write even just a few lines on accessibility! 

Best wishes, Kelvin Marsh - M0AID

Working to improve accessibility for radio amateurs with disabilities

www.active-elements.org

For accessibility evaluations of amateur equipment and MP3 manuals

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Bob, K8LR
Sent: 13 April 2013 22:02
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Amplifier for H.F

Kelvin,

On a solid state amp, there isn't much that needs explanation.  One thing 
that I should mention is that I use a Vectronics-512 noise bridge to match 
my amp to my antenna.  I don't like the automatic antenna tuners that I've 
tried as they just get you close to a match, you have to tweak them to get 
them on the money and if you have to do that, I'd rather do it manually. 
The noise bridge goes between the transmitter or transceiver and tuner as it

can't handle more than 300 watts.

Bob, K8LR, [log in to unmask]



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