Need an "Audible Frequency Announcement Feature"

Sun Dec 16 23:51:39 CST 2012

ALCON -

   1. Terry & Frank - I did some research on the potential solutions
      that Danny first offered for consideration - the two PDFs are
      attached.
   2. Danny - Please check to confirm that the blind ham's transceiver
      (the Kenwood TS-140) is capable of responding to "CAT" commands
      being sent to it via an RS-232 cable. 
   3. Danny  Please email me your observations.


Thanks & 73 de

     Terry McCarty
    3t3 at comcast.net
        wa5nti


wb4jfi at knology.net wrote:

> OK Frank.
> I figured that part of this would be easily doable, I have also seen 
> some basic voice synthesis shields for the Arduino, and a Raspberry Pi 
> could easily do this as well, I think.  That is, if the Pi is proven 
> to be reliable enough, which right now I’m not too sure about.
>  
> Querying the rig for operating freq may be easy, there is an FA?; 
> command to do that in the Kenwood CAT protocols.  Converting the ASCII 
> result to voice may not be difficult.  Depends on the quality of the 
> synthesizer required, and how often freq updates need to be announced.
>  
> I was put off helping by the suggestion of specific “things” that I 
> have no idea what they are (FreqMite and Stinger Singer), and I wasn’t 
> sure about that tapping an oscillator in the receiver chain either.  
> If the rig is new and smart enough to have a micro there, and if that 
> micro talks CAT via RS232, I think the project would be much simpler 
> than the proposed method.  If no micro, or no RS232 CAT, then it seems 
> like a lot more work, and something that I could only help in the 
> periphery with.
>  
> I think a desktop would be overkill, but I’m not “tuned into” this 
> project’s requirements as much as I would like to be, before offering 
> an “expert” opinion.
>  
> I’m heavy into a complete kitchen remodel right now, but will do a 
> little research as I can find the time.
> 73,
> Terry, WB4JFI
>  
>  
> From: fgentges at mindspring.com <mailto:fgentges at mindspring.com>
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 11:15 PM
> To: tacos at amrad.org <mailto:tacos at amrad.org>
> Subject: Re: Need an "Audible Frequency Announcement Feature"
>  
> Terry,
>
> I have looked at the marketing sheet for the Kenwood TS-140.  There is 
> an optional PC interface unit that can create an RS-232 interface.  
> Then, we could write or modify software to control the radio and 
> report what is needed by voice synthesis.  No indication is made of a 
> voice synthesizer option.
>
> What we need to find is what Kenwood calls the IF-232C/IF-10C 
> Interface Unit.   I checked eBay and did not find one listed.  We 
> might find enough signals coming out of the radio to generate our own 
> interface unit.  I think we could use a used desktop computer and 
> Ubuntu to do the rest of the job.  There are a bunch of ham radio 
> control programs with source code out there that could be used and 
> modified as needed.  In addition there are speech synthesizers that 
> run under Linux and Ubuntu.
>
> Danny is only asking for an audible frequency announcement feature so 
> we should be able to do that and more with this type setup.
>
> Anyway, these are some thoughts on how we could help Danny.
>
> I have a whole bunch of work going on so I want to find someone in the 
> group to get this together.  I have several small desktop Dell 
> computers that should work for this task and I would be glad to donate 
> one.
>
> Frank K0BRA
>
> On 12/15/12 9:56 PM, 3t3 wrote:
>
>> TO: Anyone at AMRAD interested in helping Danny Dyer (WB4IDU):
>>
>> Danny is looking for a way to get an "audible frequency announcement 
>> feature" added to a Kenwood TS-140 transceiver for a blind ham.
>>
>> His original request for help follows:
>> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Is there A place Anywhere in either the RX or Oscillator chain, to 
>> tap and read-out, Somewhere on the TS140, with a either a FreqMite, 
>> or Stinger Singer, so as to be able to read the tuned frequency, or a 
>> useable multiple there of, so that a blind OP, can determine received 
>> freq?
>>
>> I realize that, if necessary, a lower power xmit read out is doable, 
>> but somewhere in the RX chain would obviously be better !  Any 
>> suggestions are welcome !
>>
>> Your forwarding this to any lists you're part of which might be 
>> helpful is fine as well !
>>
>> To All On These Lists, For All You Are And All You Do,
>>
>> Many Thanks From,
>> And Please Reply Direct To,
>> Danny Dyer, Wb4idu
>> ddyer1 at gmail.com
>> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>
>>-- 
>>     Terry McCarty
>>    3t3 at comcast.net
>>        wa5nti
>>    
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Tacos mailing list
>>Tacos at amrad.org
>>https://amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
>>    
>>
>
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>
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