[handiham-world] Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 16 April 2014
- From: Pat Tice <Pat.Tice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "handiham-world@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <handiham-world@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:11:44 +0000
[Logo for Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, part of Allina Health]
Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the
week of Wednesday, 16 April 2014
This is a free weekly news & information update from Courage Kenny Handiham
System<http://handiham.org>. Our contact information is at the end, or simply
email handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> for changes
in subscriptions or to comment. You can listen to this news online.
MP3 audio:
http://handiham.org/audio/handiham16APR2014.mp3
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[Subscribe to our audio podcast in
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________________________________
Welcome to Handiham World.
Two new apps get our attention!
Let's start with the ARRL Repeater Directory App for Android.
[Screenshot of ARRL Repeater Directory app showing stations nearby WA0TDA QTH.]
This is a screenshot of the ARRL Repeater Directory app showing stations nearby
the WA0TDA QTH. The "nearby" tab is selected and the app automatically
displays the stations that I've filtered by band preference. The free version
of the app only displays 220 MHz repeaters, but this screenshot shows the paid
version displaying 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters near my home, along with the
direction from me and the distance, in case I want to point a directional
antenna.
For years and years I've been buying copies of the ARRL pocket-sized Repeater
Directory. I like having a directory with me when I travel, but our household
has three vehicles, and that means either remembering to grab the most current
directory when I hop into the car or use whichever older version happens to be
in the car already. While on the road I can check to find out which repeaters
are in the vicinity, but that isn't always easy. You have to choose the
section of the print directory for a given band, then look by State or
Province, narrowing down the search by geographic region of a given State.
This is time-consuming and inexact, since you might have to also pull out a
road atlas to figure out exactly where the repeaters are on a map and where you
are in relation to them. The print in the pocket edition is necessarily very
small, making it difficult to read. It is time-consuming to find exactly what
you need.
That's why when I saw that ARRL is offering the Repeater Directory app for
Android, it literally took me seconds to decide that I had to have it. A quick
search on the Play Store, and there it was: A trial version for free and a
pay-for version with full capabilities. It was easy to find, and it installed
automatically on my Google Nexus 4 phone. The full version is $9.95, which is
cheaper than a pocket directory, and installing the registered upgrade was a
snap.
The ARRL Repeater Directory app is easy and intuitive. The function I like the
best is the "Nearby" tab that uses the phone's GPS to return a list of
repeaters that are in your vicinity, no matter where you are (in the USA or
Canada), and you have your choice of a list view or a map view. With the
phone's accessibility speech (screenreader) turned on, the list view is easily
read by the screenreader. The list is the most likely way the app would be
used in most cases, whether a user is blind or can see the screen. From my
home QTH the list is sorted by nearest to farthest. I found that the closest
repeater receive site is in Oakdale, MN about 3.5 miles away. The information
given is basic: The callsign, frequency, offset, subaudible tone, and whether
the repeater is open or closed and any other special information, such as WX to
indicate use for weather watches.
QRZ callsign lookup app for Android
[Screenshot of Play Store QRZ app]
Next we have a callsign lookup app from QRZ.com. It's a free callsign lookup
that is also easy to use. Simply gain focus in the form field and type in the
callsign of the station you want to look up, hit the "search" button, and the
information is returned in great detail, almost as much as the website version.
The DXCC entity, license expiration, location by county, street address,
latitude and longitude, and grid square are all displayed.
[Screenshot of QRZ lookup showing W0ZSW information.]
In this screenshot of the QRZDroid app, we see a lookup result for W0ZSW that
includes the owner of the callsign, the location, the offset from GMT at the
station location, the County, the Grid Square, and more.
Both of these apps use an internet connection, so you do need to have a data
plan with your cellular carrier or be in a Wi-Fi area. I tested both with my
Nexus 4's built-in screenreader by going to the accessibility settings and
enabling the "Talkback" feature temporarily. While I am not the most reliable
tester since I can see the screen, to the best of my knowledge these apps did
both pass the screenreader test and should be usable by our blind members.
Nonetheless, I would appreciate hearing from blind users who have actually
tried these apps on their own Android phones. Given the large variety of
phones out there, I expect that "mileage may vary", so to speak. I'm also
assuming that eventually both apps will be available for iPhone, so when that
happens we want to hear from VoiceOver users.
Given that the smartphone is going along with us everywhere these days, it is
important to have highly-portable tools like callsign and repeater lookup. We
are already hearing smartphone check-ins every day on our nets, because
Echolink is so handy and works so well. Both of these new apps will put new
tools in your toolkit, and your phone will still weigh exactly the same.
That's a toolkit I don't mind toting everywhere.
For Handiham World, I'm...
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Kenny Handiham Coordinator
________________________________
Bulletins
[Code Key]
Worldradio back issues now available on CD-ROM
Several years of Worldradio Online are now available by year at the CQ-Store
website<http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Categories.bok?category=BACK+ISSUES>.
2009 through 2013 are covered in individual discs. All 61 issues are available
in a package as well.
2014 Radio Camp (Saturday, August 16 through Saturday August 23, 2014)
The Equipment Program will be at Radio Camp. Campers will be able to take home
equipment, provided that the Equipment Program has it available. Campers
should let us know what they need to get on the air. Categories of equipment
that can be made available for you to take home from camp are:
VHF/UHF radios
HF radios
Accessories like speakers and tuners
Morse code accessories
Other accessories - Please let me know what you need.
Accessing the bookshelf in your NLS player:
Accessing the Bookshelf feature on your NLS player - a short how-to. Listen in
MP3.<https://handiham.org/audio/Accessing_Bookshelf_Feature.mp3>
CPAP Machines and RFI
This week a member asked me about RFI from CPAP machines. For those of you who
might not have heard of CPAP, it stands for "continuous positive airway
pressure", a device with a face mask "to maintain a continuous level of
positive airway pressure in a spontaneously breathing patient."
(Wikipedia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_pressure>)
RFI is a well-known problem with CPAP machines, which may interfere with AM
broadcast and short-wave band radio reception. The FAA requires an RFI
compliance sticker on CPAP machines that are used in flight. I don't use one
myself, but these machines are very common and we always have several users at
Radio Camp. That would be a nice opportunity for us to set up some tests to
find out what kind of interference we experience under conditions that we can
control. I would expect that RFI is more of a problem with older machines, and
may be worse with some brands than with others. Meanwhile, I have found
several links with may be of interest. (Mind the word-wrap on the long links.)
http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t61807/Strange-request-Radio-Interference.html
http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t96535/Electrical-interference-on-radio-from-CPAP.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_6039892_faa-rules-cpap.html
Dip in the pool dives into the Extra Class:
Today we are checking out a question about interference.
E4E07 asks, "How can you determine if line noise interference is being
generated within your home?"
Possible answers are:
A. By checking the power line voltage with a time domain reflectometer
B. By observing the AC power line waveform with an oscilloscope
C. By turning off the AC power line main circuit breaker and listening on a
battery operated radio
D. By observing the AC power line voltage with a spectrum analyzer
The right answer is C: By turning off the AC power line main circuit breaker
and listening on a battery operated radio. However, before you take that
rather radical step, I'd suggest thinking a bit about the possible sources of
RFI and perhaps turning them off one at a time first. The thing I don't like
about killing the whole house's power is that it can set every digital clock
back to that dreaded blinking 12:00 and possibly reset some appliances and
cable boxes, as well as internet routers and DSL modems. Of course you may
need to do that anyway if the problem is hard to find, but ultimately you do
have to check each device individually anyway if the problem does prove to be
in your home. Be sure to run these tests when the device in question is not
performing a vital task. I wouldn't unplug a CPAP while it is in actual use!
The same goes for a network router that may be in use by others in the
household. I'd hate to be responsible for interrupting one of my son's online
video game sessions.
Field Day coming up - Join us in Oak Park Heights, MN
* The 2014 field day packets and rules are available from ARRL. Visit:
http://www.arrl.org/field-day
* Our affiliated club, SARA<http://www.radioham.org>, will be holding Field
Day on Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29, 2014 at Autumn Hills Park in Oak
Park Heights Minnesota. Details and specifics for this year's event are being
pulled together. Watch this space for details. The Field Day site is
wheelchair accessible and there is paved on site accessible parking. Several
radios will feature voice frequency readout. No overnight operation is planned
- daytime only. Accessible restrooms are on site.
________________________________
Practical Radio
[pliers and wire]
Where can I find Amateur Radio rules and regulations?
In the United States Amateur Radio is regulated by the FCC, and specifically
Part 97. You can get Part 97 at the US Government Printing Office
website<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=336ab7469b61ecbfa15086dbf1bf2c59&rgn=div5&view=text&node=47:5.0.1.1.6&idno=47#47:5.0.1.1.6.1.157.1>,
but the better choice is the ARRL website<http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text>,
which is much easier to use.
Once you are on the ARRL website Part 97 page, use the keystroke combination
CTRL-F to bring up a "find" dialog. Type in a keyword to search for on the
page and you will be taken to as many instances of that word's occurrence in
the text as there are. This can help you find a specific topic, such as
interference.
One word of caution: Since the language of Part 97 is that of a legal
document, you can often be better off checking other sources, such as the ARRL
License Manuals, for a plain language explanation of what the rules mean.
This is practical radio - Know how to use the web for research.
________________________________
Handiham Nets are on the air daily.
[headset]
Listen for The Handiham Wednesday evening net tonight and try to answer the
N6NFF trivia question during the first half hour. Check in later just to get
in the log and say hello. The trivia question answer is revealed shortly after
the first half hour. If you are up to a challenge, see if you can correctly
answer this week's question.
We are scheduled to be on the air daily at 11:00 USA Central Time, plus
Wednesday & Thursday evenings at 19:00 USA Central Time. A big THANK YOU to
all of our net control stations!
We maintain our nets at 11:00 hours daily relative to Minnesota time. Since
the nets remain true to Minnesota time, the difference between Minnesota
Daylight Saving time and GMT is -5 hours and the net is on the air at 16:00
hours GMT.
The two evening sessions are at 00:00 GMT Thursday and Friday. Here in
Minnesota that translates to 7:00 PM Wednesday and Thursday.
The official and most current net news may be found at:
http://www.handiham.org/nets
________________________________
This week @ HQ
[Cartoon robot with pencil]
How to use the bookshelf feature on your NLS player
Accessing the Bookshelf feature on your NLS player - a short how-to. Listen in
MP3.<https://handiham.org/audio/Accessing_Bookshelf_Feature.mp3>
Email changes coming April through May
We will be making some changes this Spring in our email systems. Watch this
newsletter and the Handiham website<https://handiham.org> for any changes in
our contact information.
I'll be taking Fridays off for a while. Our office will be closed Fridays.
Our usual hours are 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM CDT, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM EDT. Outside
those hours, you may email us or leave a voice message.
Events
Be sure to check the Events column by N1YXU.
<https://handiham.org/drupal2/node/313>
Digests & Lectures
Reminder: If you use the NLS cartridges, please return them to us by the first
week in the month so we can include your cartridge in the next mailing. We have
April audio available for our blind members, including the QST Doctor column,
the new 2014-2018 Technician Question Pool in DAISY format, read by Jim, KJ3P,
and another chapter on VoIP, read by me, WA0TDA.
CQ Plus April 2014 digest is in DAISY format. Log in and check out the new CQ!
This will be included in this month's NLS cartridge.
QCWA Digest for April 2014 is available in MP3.
I have started a recording project for Operating Skills, based on the ARRL
book, "Internet Linking for Radio Amateurs" by K1RFD. The goal is to make more
information on VoIP available to our blind members.
Jim Perry, KJ3P, Bob Zeida, N1BLF, and Ken Padgitt, W9MJY do the volunteer
digest recording. Thanks, guys!
Secure, blind-friendly Handiham website login:
https://handiham.org/user#main-content
* We ask that you please log in securely if you are using any kind of a
public network or unsecured wireless.
* To the best of our knowledge, the Handiham website was not
compromised by the Heartbleed bug.
* Test your own or other websites for Heartbleed at this
website.<https://filippo.io/Heartbleed/>
* I also use a Chrome extension called Chromebleed to detect visited
sites that may be
compromised.<http://lifehacker.com/chromebleed-notifies-you-if-a-visited-site-was-hit-by-h-1562512336>
Remote Base News
One station is operational.
[W0EQO station in the server room at Courage North.]
Handiham Remote Base internet station W0ZSW is on line for your use 24/7.
W0EQO is off line this week after an update failure.
* If you use Skype for audio, please connect and disconnect the Skype call
to the remote base manually. The automatic calling and hang up is no longer
supported in Skype.
* 200 watt operation is restored on 160, 80, and 40 meters for Extra and
Advanced Class users on W0ZSW.
* Outages: Outages are reported on
http://handiham.org/remotebase/station-status/.
Digital Cartridges now Stocked at Handiham HQ:
Nancy now has the NLS 4GB digital cartridges and mailers available at our cost.
She says:
We now have a supply of digital Talking Book cartridges and mailers available
for purchase for our Handiham members. The total cost for a set is $15.50. We
will download any digital study materials from the Members Only section of our
website onto your cartridge at no additional cost. Minnesota residents please
add $1.13 MN Sales Tax.
[Pat holding up NLS digital cartridge and mailer]
Want to log in instead? Let's go:
Secure, blind-friendly Handiham website login:
https://handiham.org/user#main-content
If you have trouble logging in, please let us know.
* All Daisy materials are in zip file format, so you simply download the
zip file you need and unzip it so the Daisy book folder can be accessed or
moved to your NLS or other Daisy player.
* Tip: When in the Daisy directory, it is easy to find the latest books by
sorting the files by date. Be sure the latest date is at the top. The link to
sort is called "Last Modified".
* You can also find what is on a web page by using CONTROL-F. This brings
up a search box and you can type a key word in, such as "September". You may
find more than one September, including 2012, but you will eventually come
across what we have posted for September 2013.
Digital mailers are important: If you do mail a digital cartridge to us, please
be sure that it is an approved free matter mailer. Otherwise it will quickly
cost us several dollars to package and mail out, which is more than the cost of
the mailer in the first place. Not including a mailer will result in a long
delay getting your request back out to you.
DAISY audio digests are available for our blind members who do not have
computers, playable in your Library of Congress digital player. Handiham
members who use these players and who would prefer to receive a copy of the
monthly audio digests on the special Library of Congress digital cartridge
should send a blank cartridge to us in a cartridge mailer (no envelopes,
please), so that we can place the files on it and return it to you via free
matter postal mail. Your call sign should be on both the cartridge and the
mailer so that we can make sure we know who it's from. Blank cartridges and
mailers are available from APH, the American Printing House for the Blind,
Inc.<http://www.aph.org>
Digital Talking Book Cartridge, 4GB, Blank; Catalog Number: 1-02609-00, Price
$13.00
Digital Talking Book Cartridge Mailer Catalog Number: 1-02611-00, Price: $2.50
Order Toll-Free: (800) 223-1839.
The Library of Congress NLS has a list of vendors for the digital cartridges:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/cartridges/index.html
Get it all on line as an alternative: Visit the DAISY section on the Handiham
website after logging in.
________________________________
Stay in touch
[Cartoon robot with cordless phone]
Be sure to send Nancy your changes of address, phone number changes, or email
address changes so that we can continue to stay in touch with you. You may
either email Nancy at
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> or call her at
612-775-2291 If you need to use the toll-free number, call 1-866-426-3442.
Nancy Meydell, Handiham Secretary: 612-775-2291 (General information about the
Handiham program, membership renewals)
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA: 612-775-2290 (Program Coordinator, technical questions,
remote base requests, questions about licensing)
Mornings Monday through Thursday are the best time to contact us.
The Courage Kenny Handiham Program depends on the support of people like you,
who want to share the fun and friendship of ham radio with others. Please help
us provide services to people with disabilities.
Call 1-866-426-3442 toll-free. -- Help us get new hams on the air.
Get the Handiham E-Letter by email every Wednesday, and stay up-to-date with
ham radio news.
You may listen in audio to the E-Letter at Handiham Weekly E-Letter in MP3
format<http://handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3>
Email us to subscribe:
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
That's it for this week. 73 from all of us at the Courage Kenny Handihams!
Pat, WA0TDA
Coordinator, Courage Kenny Handiham Program
Reach me by email at:
handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Nancy, Handiham Secretary:
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Courage Kenny Handiham Program<http://handiham.org>
3915 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55422
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
ARRL is the premier organization supporting Amateur Radio worldwide. Please
contact Handihams for help joining the ARRL. We will be happy to help you fill
out the paperwork!
[ARRL diamond-shaped logo]
The weekly e-letter is a compilation of software tips, operating information,
and Handiham news. It is published on Wednesdays, and is available to everyone
free of charge. Please email
handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> for changes of
address, unsubscribes, etc. Include your old email address and your new address.
Return to Handiham.org<http://handiham.org>
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