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Check out the first post Field Day update podcast. Though some details and results are included, this is not the promised final Field Day episode. It has been a fun though exhausting weekend. 73

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Check out this Saturday afternoon update live from the EOC. Unfortunately, due to poor cell coverage underground, the audio is quite broken.

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Listen to this podcast covering final Field Day preparations and DNS issues with blindaccessjournal.com. As an update, it appears the registrar may already be acting on my trouble ticket, as my name server now seems to point to the right place. Interesting.

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There appear to be serious DNS problems with blindaccessjournal.com on some name servers around the world at the moment. A ticket has been opened with the registrar. In the meantime, please access the journal at http://journal.shandrow.com. Realizing that those having difficulties may not see this post, I will also be publishing a short podcast to the RSS feed containing the same information. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Dear Milog support,

My name is Darrell Shandrow. I have been a ham for almost twenty years now. I happen to be blind. This year I will be participating in Field Day with the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club. The club uses your Milog software for logging QSOs. After downloading and installing a demo of the software, I have found it almost totally inaccessible to either the JAWS or Window-Eyes screen readers. These are the two leading applications for a blind person to use in order to gain access to the applications running on a PC. There is minimal tab key navigation in dialogue boxes and menus, and the focus is not tracked as I utilize the arrow keys. I am hoping that an “accessibility” option exists in the program which might enable this application to work for blind hams. If so, could you please explain how I may enable Milog to be usable with my screen reader? If this is not currently available, please, by all means, start working with blind hams to make your software accessible.

At best, the inaccessibility of Milog is going to force me to log contacts in a manner that will be different from the other three operators in our 4F classification. At worst, an attempt could possibly be made to exclude me from participation due to this inaccessible technology. I’m leaving for Field Day tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM Pacific time. Please respond by e-mail before that time or feel free to call me by telephone anytime this evening or tonight at 480-966-0922. If you have to leave a voice mail, rest assured I’ll call you back right away. Thanks in advance for your consideration.

73

Darrell Shandrow

NU7I

The radio club with which I am involved for Field Day uses the Milog software for the purpose of logging contacts. After downloading and trying a demo, I have found it to be completely inaccessible with either JAWS 6.2 or Window-Eyes 5.0! Though it is possible to use tab and shift+tab to navigate in some data entry situations, there is absolutely no dialogue box or menu navigation and the focus is not tracked correctly. I have contacted our Field Day coordinator to see what can be done and will very shortly be writing an e-mail to the developers of Milog to see if there is some sort of “accessibility” setting I have missed. Obviously, I will not permit anyone to barr me from Field Day participation over this technology inaccessibility issue. It’ll be interesting to see how this all works out. You can bet I’ll be keeping everyone updated.

This afternoon I tested the ability to use the PAC Mate to listen to ACB Radio Interactive with great success. GS Player was used on the PAC Mate to listen to the MP3 modem stream. No choppiness or other quality problems were observed during a ten minute test. Karen and I will be going out to dinner and picking up a UPS package later this evening, while listening to Jeff Bishop’s The Desert Skies show on ACB Radio Interactive between 5:00 and 9:00 PM PDT.

Featuring PAC Mate desktop, enforced write protect, typing mode for Focus Braille displays, enhancements of Microsoft Office functionality and various bug fixes, Freedom Scientific has posted JAWS 6.2 for free download by current owners of JAWS 6.0 or 6.1 and holders of current software maintenance agreements. With the impending release of version 3.0 of the PAC Mate’s firmware, PAC Mate desktop enables the accessible PDA to be used to remotely control a computer running JAWS over a Microsoft ActiveSync connection. Enforced write protect may enable a blind user at work to protect his or her copy of JAWS from the potential consequences of inaccessibility caused by the accidental tampering by coworkers or IT staff who may lack sufficient knowledge to competently manage assistive technology. Typing mode enables users of Freedom Scientific’s new Focus Braille displays to enter text into edit fields in their computer applications using Braille entry keys on the display hardware. Enhancements to support for Microsoft Office and numerous bug fixes make this update a worthwhile download. If you own JAWS and are eligible to receive this update, we strongly recommend that you learn about and download it from Freedom Scientific’s web site.

After speaking with my contact at the EOC a short time ago, I have learned that Field Day is a go after all. Despite activation of the primary facilities, we will be able to operate in another room in the EOC bunker. I will schedule transportation so that I arrive sometime around 10:30 tomorrow morning and return home shortly after 11:00 Sunday morning. The EOC facility itself is an underground bunker built in 1953 to withstand a nuclear blast. Obviously, the amateur and other radio antennas are located on the roof of the facility. There is minimal cell phone and Internet access. A passive antenna is available for cell use, but signals from underground remain spotty. Expect occasional short live podcasts from outside the facility, with a much longer podcast posted a few hours after the end of the event on Sunday. This longer podcast will most certainly include audio coverage of Field Day operations as they happen. I’ll be contributing use of the following equipment: Icom IC-703 Plus HF radio, power supply, Code Warrior paddles for Morse Code keying, SGC SG-237 antenna coupler and my trusty Dell Enspiron 600M laptop equipped with JAWS for logging the contacts. We will actually be operating from standard commercial AC power. The Field Day requirements for operation from an EOC facility dictate only that an alternative power source be online and ready for immediate implementation in case of a power outage.

Sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, the national association of amateur radio operators in the United States of America, Field Day is an annual operating event (contest) in which we test our abilities to communicate in the midst of emergency conditions where conveniences such as commercial electricity, cellular telephones and the Internet are not available. While setting up our radio equipment in less than a day and powering it from electrical sources such as batteries, generators and solar panels, we contact as many other ham operators located in the United States and Canada as possible who are running under similar circumstances. Check out the ARRL Field Day 2005 Rules page for further details.

As a semi-active amateur radio operator, I try to do what I can to stay involved. That effort includes participating in Field Day. Last year, I operated with another ham friend from his house, using exclusively battery power to run two radios, an antenna coupler and two computers. We made 242 contacts. This year, I had planned to participate with the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club operating from the Maricopa County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). EOC facilities (either fixed or mobile) are often used for the Field Day exercise, as it represents an excellent opportunity to test the on board amateur radio equipment and the skills of available volunteers and emergency radio communications personnel. Sadly, it is looking more and more likely that this will not be possible, due to the fact that the EOC has been activated frequently over the past week as the result of wild brush fires and potentially dangerous weather. Obviously, if the EOC is activated to handle real emergencies, we will not be able to use it to conduct the Field Day exercise.

I am currently working with other amateur radio clubs in the area to discover their Field Day plans and how I may be able to participate. Field Day begins at 11:00 AM PDT Saturday, approximately 23 and a half hours from now. Wish me good fortune in my quest to find a way to participate in the event this year. If everything works out, watch for short audio podcasts live and direct from the Field Day site and possibly a longer podcast a few hours after the end of the contest at 11:00 AM PDT on Sunday. If you are a licensed amateur radio operator who will be participating in Field Day this year, please share your thoughts on the event by posting a text comment or calling the comment line at 206-350-6925.