Hi, Ron. I fully agree with your comments. Either we need to be
willing to pay for what we need (which can be tough), or we try to
make do with what's out there. That said, that's why I try to buy
mainstream equipment, such as PC's or Macs and have written off
braille displays - and I'm an avid braille reader. Just can't afford them.
The other way to look at this issue is that, either knowingly or
unknowingly, Kenwood is exercising a great concept, that of universal
design - what works for sighted folks happens to work for us, e.g.,
the VGS boards. Now, if only I could get a talking SWR meter
...--Matt, N1IBB.
At 09:40 AM 4/2/2015, Dr. Ronald E. Milliman]\\\\` wrote:
>I am glad that Howard was able to talk to someone in LDG. I am going to make
>another attempt to contact someone in LDG again today, either Dwayne or
>Jennifer Kincaid. So far, I have left messages on their phone system, and
>nobody has returned my calls. The last message I left specifically for
>Dwayne Kincaid, and he didn't return my call. I am not being negative or
>offensive in any manner when I call. So, I do not see any reason why I am
>being ignored. Further, just because certain parts are no longer available
>today does not mean the general circuit cannot be duplicated with presently
>available parts and chips. My Son has done this with numerous other obsolete
>circuits. Millitronics, Inc. currently specializes in cell phone repeater
>systems, and we have updated several devices that employed obsolete parts
>with new IC's.
>
>We are currently evaluating several different devices, researching how they
>can be made to talk. However, in general, designing products just for blind
>hams cannot be done profitably, and nobody is in business to lose money.
>Blind hams is a relatively tiny subset among blind people, and blind people
>is a relatively small segment of the total population. That is why firms
>have no other choice but to either charge much higher prices for products
>aimed at the blind market segment or obtain some type of subsidy, e.g. a
>government grant to design and produce products for the blind. Again, blind
>hams is even a very small subset within the market segment of blind people.
>Kenwood can incorporate speech technology into their equipment because the
>equipment is really designed for the broader ham market, and to make their
>equipment talk, we blind hams have to purchase an additional optional
>plug-in board, and even then, the plug-in board is not designed just for
>blind hams to make their radios talk. The speech boards are designed to also
>appeal to sighted hams that want the other features, such as the recording
>and playback features, that the optional plug-in boards provide. Thus,
>Kenwood is able to produce the boards in large production runs to keep their
>costs down and be able to sell the boards at a reasonable price and still
>make a little money on each board they sell. However, I doubt if they are
>making very much on the VGS-1 boards.
>
>I'm writing all of this to share with all of you the challenges of providing
>some of the specialized equipment and devices we blind hams want. Often it
>makes more sense to take an off the shelf product and somehow modify it or
>create an add-on that makes it assessable rather than design a total product
>from the ground up.
>
>Ron, K8HSY
>President: Millitronics, Inc. (www.millitronics.biz)
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: howard kaufman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 10:06 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: RE: My response back from LDG Electronics...
>
>I had a nice call from ldg tonight.
>I think it was Dwayne, but since I missed his name, I didn't want to ask for
>it again.
>He said he would e-mail me the rest of the story, and I promised to forward
>it to the list.
>Basically, he taught a ham radio class for blind students while in school.
>This got him interested in us and our needs for talking stuff.
>They made the tw-1 and tw-2 for years, and sold it at cost. Ibelow 1 unit
>per month. Now, the programming is here, but many of the parts are
>unavailable. This includes the voice chip.
>I think he would be more comfortable talking to an engineer about the idea.
>It sounds like even if he gave somebody all the information, it wouldn't
>help, given the current technology.
>I wonder if a ham-pod type of aproach would work, accessing off the shelf
>meters?
>So given that LDG was the only company to make a unit that we could
>independantly and accureately use, I tend to believe him.
>Ron, your son given his background may have better luck.
>t was discontinued when sales dropped
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>On Behalf Of Dr. Ronald E. Milliman]\\`
>Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 5:43 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: My response back from LDG Electronics...
>
>John, do you know how Jennifer Kincaid is related to Duane Kincaid? He is
>the contact person I have, but I have not been able to reach him.
>
>Ron
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>On Behalf Of John Vernaleken`
>Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 5:17 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: My response back from LDG Electronics...
>
>Ron
>
>I don't know who you sent the email to, try sending it to - Jennifer Kincaid
>President and CFO of LDG. She has always been very helpful.
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>John KC2QJB
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>On Behalf Of Steve Dresser
>Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 5:41 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: My response back from LDG Electronics...
>
>Sounds like that was the designer's decision, but not the company's. Too
>bad, since they probably won't attempt another one.
>
>Steve
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Colin McDonald" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: March 31, 2015 16:54
>Subject: Re: My response back from LDG Electronics...
>
>
> > Yeah it's an odd response since they happily sent out the schematics
> > shortly after they stopped producing the meter to anyone who asked.
> > Several people on list obtained the schematics that way at the time.
> > The actual designer of those meters at LDG personally sent the
> > schematics out from what I recall.
> > He's probably not there anymore, and you likely got a standard party
> > line type response.
> >
> > 73
> > Colin, V A6BKX
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dr. Ronald E. Milliman]\\`
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 2:34 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: My response back from LDG Electronics...
> >
> > First, I thank all of you who provided me with the information on the
> > LDG
> > TW-1 and TW-2 units. Unfortunately, none of the materials I was sent
> > included the schematic diagrams for the devices. Therefore, I
> > contacted LDG and asked them if they would send me the schematics.
> > Below is the response
>
> > I
> > just received back from LDG. Needless to say, I am not impressed, and
> > it will be a cold day in hell before I ever purchase another one of
> > their products!
> >
> >
> >
> > ***###***
> >
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> >
> >
> > Sorry, we don't send out schematics. We also do not send out the
> > source code or the voice codes.
> >
> >
> >
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> >
> > LDG Electronics
> >
> > www.ldgelectronics.com
> >
> > www.yahoo.com/groups/LDG-auto-tuners
> >
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> >
> >
> >
> > ***###***
> >
> >
> >
> > This is totally rediculous, especially since the TW-1 and TW-2 are no
> > longer in production and have not been produced now for several years.
> > Many of the other manufacturers include schematic diagrams of their
> > equipment with the users' manual or at least with the
> > technical/service manual. Wow, does this ever piss me off!
> >
> >
> >
> > Ron, K8HSY
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr. Ronald E. Milliman
> >
> > Retired Professor of Marketing
> >
> >
> >
> > President: Millitronics, Inc. (millitronics.biz)
> >
> > President: A3 Business Solutions (a3businesssolutions.com)
> >
> > President: M&M Properties
> >
> > President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB.ORG)
> >
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