[MIham] Re Michigan Path To Japan?
Hank Greeb
n8xx at arrl.org
Fri Nov 23 09:17:23 EST 2007
Duane:
If you want a "screen reader" for the internet, contact Kitty Hevener,
WB8TDA. She is sightless from early childhood, and has worked at the
Veterans' Administration as a counselor for sightless people who needed
assistance of all sorts. She has a reader which doesn't read the
screen, but reads the source code underneath, translates what it "sees"
and only "talks" when something from the underlying text appears on the
visible screen. I don't know the limitations of whatever program she
uses, but I've been at her place and I know it does a fantastic job for
what she needs.
BTW, she listens to the computer at a reading speed which is so fast I
cannot understand it. She says the program can be slowed down, but
after a while she got used to the fast speech.
If you can't find her e-mail address send me a private message and I'll
forward a message to her.
73 de n8xx Hg
Duane Fischer, W8DBF wrote:
> Hi Hank,
>
> Please do not take this the wrong way, as I definitely appreciate your
> most gracious offer to help with a screen reader.
>
> I worked as a third party software developer with Texas Instruments
> Inc. in 1980-1982 when they developed TTS - Text To Speech. I still
> have the original 90K diskette in my bottom desk drawer that has all
> the program language in Assembler.
>
> All that 'talks' via synthetic speech is a direct result of this
> software.
>
> I have used JFW (JAWS For Windows) since it was first released by Ted
> Henter who owned Henter-Joyce Inc. in FL. Prior to that I used the DOS
> screen reading programs JAWS For DOS $495 and G.W. Micro's Vocal-Eyes
> for $450. In fact, I still use them every day!
>
> The problem is that the characters you see on the CRT are not solid,
> such as the ones in DOS using ASCII were. What Windows has is GUI
> (Graphic User Interface) and the letter "A", for instance, is upper
> case and composed of dozens of tiny graphic symbols that have no
> language sound. That is, the human voice and English language do not
> contain auditory sounds for the graphic characters. Hence, they can
> not be spoken.
>
> While it looks just fine to you on the CRT, it looks a lot different
> to the computer!
>
> When DOS was the OS, the blind - sight handicapped - print handicapped
> had a fantastic device! DOS offered almost 'NO' limits! What it could
> not do, I could make it do! Windows is exactly the reverse!
>
> The DOS based screen reading programs, and external speech
> synthesizers, were the best thing to come along for the blind, as well
> as other forms and kinds of physical handicaps, since the invention of
> Braille. But Windows may take it all away Hank! Nobody really cares,
> as the totally blind are a small percentage of the number of blind,
> most are legally blind. The market value for the blind, well it is
> mighty small, so companies do not want to waste R&D time and money
> when they are only going to get back a few million for their
> investment of a quarter of a million, when they could do something
> else for the same investment and make fifteen to fifty million!
>
> I am in Genesee County east of Flint toward Davison Hank. Perhaps we
> can get together here and I can show you how my three dedicated
> computer systems work and sound. If you see it, understanding is much
> quicker and far more comprehensive.
>
> I use the original Icom 756 transceiver. I bought it used in August of
> 1998 and love her! I have the UT-102 speech module installed, but all
> it speaks is the frequency on demand and the incoming signal strength.
> It does not tell me the mode, menu items etc.
>
> I also have the Millennium QSYER external keypad connected. It has one
> small cable using 1/8 inch male plugs on each end. One goes to the
> Millennium QSYER and the other to the 'data port' on the back of the
> Icom 756. It operates off an internal 9 VDC battery.
>
> Although the Icom 756 has a keypad, it is vertical. The keypad is
> horizontal! Using the transceiver keypad you must use two hands: one
> to press the 'input' button and the other to enter the desired
> frequency, then press the 'input' button again. All of this must be
> done in X seconds or ... Very tedious! The keypad is a touch tone
> style pad with four buttons across and four up/down. Sixteen in all.
> The four that form the column on the far right are special functions;
> memory number, VFO A/VFO B, split on/off and "Speak". The "Speak"
> button only works when the speech module, the Icom UT-102 is
> installed, and the transceiver or receiver supports it. My original
> Icom 756 does not! But the 756 Pro series, the 746 and Pro series,
> R-75 and others do. No big deal! I just press the "speak" button on
> the Icom and it does the same thing!
>
> I do NOT have a computer in the Ham Shack Hank. On purpose! I am
> trying to listen to a Ham talk and I do not want to be distracted by
> the computer suddenly starting to speak telling me what is now on the
> CRT as a line has scrolled up! (Unlike the program you mentioned for
> your friend Hank, JFW or JAWS For DOS or Vocal-EYES 3.0 for DOS or
> Windows-Eyes all read the screen any time any thing changes!)
>
> I know we can help your friend get better speech and give him full
> control of it Hank! I will be glad to help out if you so desire.
>
> If you explained to me "what" the DX cluster looks like, I may be able
> to figure out some way to get enough data from it to enable me to use it.
>
> I was blinded on the ee of my eighteenth birthday in October of 1964
> by a stranger who was Pheasant hunting. He and his buddy, were on my
> parents property, and it is zoned residential! You must be so many
> hundred feet from houses to hunt, legally. A bird went up, he turned
> and hip shot from sixty feet away. He hit me with number six shot from
> a twelve gauge shotgun from the chest up. I lost all eyesight instantly.
>
> I was blessed with many talents, including a near photogenic memory. I
> can recall almost everything I ever saw still. This is very helpful to
> me, as I can visualize in my mind what things look like, their
> physical placement, their colors, their size in respect to some other
> thing etc. I understand length, width and depth, as well as inches,
> feet, yards, miles or meters. Once a sighted person helps me create a
> visual picture in my 'minds eye', I can do many things on, and off, a
> computer that I could not do otherwise.
>
> Thank you very much Hank for your tips and suggestions. I will give
> them a try and see if I can work Japan etc.
>
> I was a Short-Wave listener in 1959-1963 and sent airmail letters I
> bought at the post office for eleven cents each, I think. I wrote my
> reception report on one side, folded it into thirds, wrote the address
> it was going to on the other side. It was already stamped Par Avion,
> airmail, which was eleven cents then.
>
> One of the most beautiful QSL cards I ever received was from the time
> signal station JJY in Tokyo Japan. It came by "boat mail"! They
> spelled my name wrong, got the street address wrong etc. But it got
> here! Now with a nine digit zip code it would be forever lost! (LOL!)
>
> Back then the QSL cards, Ham or SWL, almost never came in an envelope,
> just bare, like a postcard was. They almost never got lost either.
>
> Hank, I used Whites Radio Log which was in Popular Electronics each
> December, I think! No mailing addresses, just frequencies, country,
> station call etc. So I mailed my airmail letters to Radio Moscow,
> Moscow, Russia or Radio Station JJY, Tokyo, Japan. Every single one
> arrived! Won't happen nowadays!
>
> The JJY card was a bright yellow with an image of an Oriental doll.
> The doll was in full color. The main lettering was in bright red. The
> regular print was in black. It was gorgeous! I still have it.
>
> Where do I find a "DX Cluster" Hank? I know that the Icom 756 has a
> fancy scope and all sort of DX data displays, but since I can not see
> it, it does me no good. I know that some of the Hams I talk with have
> some way that they are alerted when a band has an opening or a
> predetermined beacon, or whatever, suddenly is audible. I think some
> of it is from their transceiver and the other is from some web site
> their computer is keeping an eye on.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
>
> Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
> dfischer at usol.com
> HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
> http://www.w9wze.net
> HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
> hhrp.w9wze.net
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "hank k8dd" <k8dd at arrl.net>
> To: "Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <dfischer at usol.com>
> Cc: <miham at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 8:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [MIham] Re Michigan Path To Japan?
>
>
>> I don't operate much SSB - Mostly CW. But I do see the DX spots for SSB
>> on the DX clusters. I think I have somewhere over 200 countries on
>> Phone,
>> but I don't keep track of them like I do with CW and Mixed D X C C
>> . I would
>> believe that the propagation for SSB would be the same as for CW.
>> Generally
>> 17 through 10 meters would open to JA in the late afternoon to early
>> evening
>> and on 20 meters it would open in the morning, just after dawn.
>>
>> The only screen reader I am familiar with is Read Please which won't
>> read the
>> scrolling lines. When I was working I saw a program called JAWS that
>> was used
>> as Social Security Administration, but I don't know if it can handle
>> the scrolling.
>> I also visited a ham in Oak Ridge Tennessee last month who has no
>> sight. He
>> uses some kind of a hardware board in the PC that he uses for logging
>> that
>> speaks every letter that he types and everything he receives - that
>> was really
>> neat.
>>
>> I helped my cousin in Wisconsin who has macular degeneration set up Read
>> Please and he is quite happy with it. If I run across anything that
>> will work with
>> the DX clusters, I'll let you know.
>>
>> 73 Hank K8DD
>>
>>
>>
>> On Nov 22, 2007 12:34 PM, Duane Fischer, W8DBF <dfischer at usol.com>
>> wrote:
>>> Thank you Hank.
>>>
>>> I am totally blind, now. I was blinded the eve of my eighteenth
>>> birthday in
>>> October of 1964 by a stranger who shot me instead of a Pheasant from
>>> sixty
>>> feet away.
>>>
>>> Because of being totally blind, and using a software based screen
>>> reading
>>> program, many times I am not able to 'read' the screens on DX groups
>>> etc.
>>>
>>> I noticed most of your contacts were done using CW, which I can do,
>>> but it
>>> tends to bother my hearing after a while. Hence, I prefer SSB when
>>> possible.
>>> Any success there? The days of AM DX are nearly gone! Fun to do though!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
>>> dfischer at usol.com
>>> HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
>>> http://www.w9wze.net
>>> HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
>>> hhrp.w9wze.net
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "hank k8dd" <k8dd at arrl.net>
>>> To: <miham at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 8:51 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [MIham] Re Michigan Path To Japan?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> > Last night, about 9:45 Local, 0245 UTC, I worked E51MMM on So. Cook
>>> > Island at 355 degrees on 20 CW
>>> > A couple of nights ago I worked VK6HD about 4:45 PM, or 2145 UTC long
>>> > path on 80 CW.
>>> > JA and BY have been spotted on the DX cluster between 2300 UTC and
>>> > 0200 UTC on 20 meters.
>>> > I haven't heard much in that direction on 15 meters. The signals
>>> that
>>> > way from the far east have been decent on 20 meters.
>>> > I've also worked the Pacific on 30 meters with a dipole at 60 ft in
>>> > the evenings - usually from 8 to 10 pm, or 0100 to 0300 UTC.
>>> > You might try connecting to one of the DX packet clusters and listen
>>> > to the spots. On some of them you can filter the spots so that you
>>> > only get spots from the SE Asia. Or you can filter so that you only
>>> > get spots from the midwest. Lots of options!
>>> >
>>> > 73 Hank K8DD
>>> >
>>> > On Nov 21, 2007 11:27 PM, Duane Fischer, W8DBF <dfischer at usol.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Hello All,
>>> >>
>>> >> I realize that we are just emerging from the depths of the sun
>>> spot >> sewer
>>> >> cycle and propagation paths are a real puzzle. But I am wondering
>>> if >> any
>>> >> of
>>> >> you in Michigan have had any success in working Japan and the South
>>> >> Pacific
>>> >> as well as India, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Pakistan etc.?
>>> >>
>>> >> If so, would you please tell me the band, the aprox. frequency of
>>> the
>>> >> activity and the time of day using UTC?
>>> >>
>>> >> Did you point the directional antenna directly at the country or
>>> use >> an
>>> >> over
>>> >> the pole path?
>>> >>
>>> >> I have had absolutely zero success on fifteen and twenty meters so I
>>> >> would
>>> >> really appreciate your suggestions of the best way to work the
>>> >> aforementioned countries. Thank you very much for giving the old
>>> blind
>>> >> dude
>>> >> a hand.
>>> >>
>>> >> Duane W8DBF
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
>>> >> dfischer at usol.com
>>> >>
>>> >> HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
>>> >> http://www.w9wze.net
>>> >>
>>> >> HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
>>> >> hhrp.w9wze.net
>>> >>
>>> >> _______________________________________________
>>> >> MIham mailing list
>>> >> MIham at mailman.qth.net
>>> >> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/miham
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> >
>>> > 'Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their
>>> > level then beat you with experience.' -anon
>>> > --
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > MIham mailing list
>>> > MIham at mailman.qth.net
>>> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/miham
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
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>>> > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.2/1142 - Release Date:
>>> > 11/20/2007 5:44 PM
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> 'Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their
>> level then beat you with experience.' -anon
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.2/1142 - Release Date:
>> 11/20/2007 5:44 PM
>>
>
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