Welcome to Handiham World.

You can do it!  
Today, just as we did last week,  we are going to begin with Troubleshooting 101 as part of our initiative to help new ham radio operators (and even some of us older ones) learn how to do some basic troubleshooting for ourselves. Yes, it can be tempting to ask someone else to do things for us.  This can become a bad habit when it keeps us from learning new things, especially things that we could – with a bit of practice – learn to do for ourselves.  Knowing these basic things can serve us well in the future when no help is available. 

Troubleshooting 101

Let’s get to today’s troubleshooting question: 
I sometimes use my handheld radio in the car.  I can hear the repeater just fine, but I have had complaints that other stations can’t hear me.  What’s going on here?  Is there something wrong with my HT?
Yes, I’m afraid there is a problem with your radio. The problem is that it has a terrible antenna.  Before you complain that the radio has always worked quite well when you used it around the house, let me explain.
Handheld radios are meant to be portable so that they are easy to carry around.  Haven’t you noticed that people prefer smaller, lighter electronic devices?  So what was once referred to as “a brick” – the venerable 2 meter HT – has evolved to a multiband miniaturized wonder that fits in the palm of your hand.  The antenna on the old brink was just about the same length as the one on your new radio, though.  These flexible “rubber duck” antennas are the ones that come as standard equipment with a new handheld radio.  They have always been terrible antennas, but they are designed to be flexible so that they can bend without breaking and generally survive being dumped into a backpack, stuffed into a pocket, or crammed into a purse.  A quarter-wave antenna for the 2 meter band should be around 19 inches long (48 cm), but the radio would hardly be portable with that big antenna, would it? The rubber duck antenna is inductively loaded so that it can be physically shorter but still act like an electrical quarter wave. 
This seems like a great solution because now you have the equivalent of 19 inches of antenna in a tiny, convenient flexible stick.  Ha, ha, that is a good one.  Most of these rubber antennas are more like a “dummy load on a stick”.  They are inefficient and lossy. A rubber antenna that came with the HT is probably okay if you are in a good location and not far from the repeater and are not moving around. The rubber antenna can receive okay but is not going to win any awards, but transmitting efficiently is just plain not a happening thing. When you move the antenna around, every slight cancellation of signal from multipath reception becomes a near-dropout.  It is even worse inside a car, where the body of the car can block part of the signal and you are nearly always moving.  No wonder your friends are complaining about your signal – because it is terrible!

I placed my tiny Yaesu VX5R HT with the somewhat bent from years of carrying it in my pocket next to an old Larson 1/4 wavelength magnet mount antenna.  The ACTUAL quarter wave mag mount towers over the HT with its wimpy rubber antenna.  If only there were a way to use a quarter-wave magnet mount antenna, or even a 5/8 wavelength mag mount antenna, with my HT it would sure solve my transmitting problem and make the HT more useful as a temporary mobile radio.
Of course there is a way; you just need to get the right adapter to mate the mag mount antenna’s connector to your HT and you are in business, right?
Well, no – it’s not quite that easy.  For one thing, you might not have a mag mount antenna.  And you may not be familiar with these kinds of temporary antennas, especially if you are not a driver yourself and you ride with a spouse or a friend.  Here are some things to consider:

• If you are going to move the antenna around a lot, such as using it on a friend’s car then removing it after you get where you are going, there are tiny, highly-portable miniature mag mount antennas with small diameter coax (RG-174U) with a connector to fit directly onto your HT.  Actually, I prefer these antennas over other mag mounts because the light, flexible coax will not put extra stress on your radio’s SMA connector.  MFJ makes the MFJ-1722 dual-band mag mount antenna and it is only around $15 – an accessory to your HT that is well worth the money.  
• If you already have a more conventional larger mag mount with RG-58 coax, I recommend an adapter with a short piece of RG-174U coax so that the flexibility of the cable allows for comfortably moving the HT about as you use it.  Stiff coax will put excessive pressure on the HT’s antenna connector and may eventually break it.  
• If you are using an HT with an SMA connector, you may want to consider a special connector adaptor that seats against the body of the radio, taking pressure off the antenna connector. 
• Pay attention to the routing of the feedline out the door.  It may run through the gap between the door and the car’s frame, but choose a spot where the rubber gasket around the door frame will close gently against the wire. 
• Avoid sharp bends when running coax.
• For longer term installations, test the water seal around the coax entry point with a garden hose.  
• Place the antenna on the roof of the vehicle or on the deck of the trunk lid if the cable is to be run through the back seat and out into the trunk.  
• Be sure the magnet has a serious grip on the metal car body!
• Avoid long, flapping runs of wire across the roof or trunk. 
• If you have an antenna that screws onto a magnetic base, be sure it is screwed on tightly before traveling!
• Consider a small, easy to remove antenna that is placed just outside and above a back door.  You can easily grab it off the roof and shove it on the back seat floor under a mat when you want to conceal the fact that you have a radio in the car or if you need the extra clearance to get into the garage. While you’re at it, unhook the HT and put it in the glove box or take it with you. 
• If you are serious about using an HT in the car, you might also pop for the optional car charger.  All the HT manufacturers offer them, and they can be in the glove box with an extra rubber duck antenna when not in use. You will likely need high power while operating mobile, and that can run your battery down quickly.

Once you start using a “real” antenna mounted outside the vehicle, you will wonder how you ever got by with an HT and the rubber antenna. 
Email me at [email protected] with your questions & comments.   
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager

Welcome to Handiham World.

You can do it!  
Today, just as we did last week,  we are going to begin with Troubleshooting 101 as part of our initiative to help new ham radio operators (and even some of us older ones) learn how to do some basic troubleshooting for ourselves. Yes, it can be tempting to ask someone else to do things for us.  This can become a bad habit when it keeps us from learning new things, especially things that we could – with a bit of practice – learn to do for ourselves.  Knowing these basic things can serve us well in the future when no help is available.  

Troubleshooting 101

Let’s get to today’s troubleshooting question: 
I like using Echolink, and I’ve finally figured out how to forward the ports on my home router to my ham shack computer.  The problem is that I can’t use Echolink on any other computer in the house unless I change all those port forwarding settings or use a public proxy, which isn’t always available.  Is there anything else I can do to make Echolink a little more convenient?
Echolink is pretty addictive, and it’s easy to understand why you would want to be able to use it all around the house, perhaps even on your laptop while seated out on the patio one of these nice upcoming summer days. As you discovered, when you set up your home router to forward ports as described on the Echolink website, the application will then only work on the computer you selected.  The router will happily direct traffic through those open ports, but only to that one specific ham shack computer.  As you discovered when setting up your home router, port forwarding is not something you can do on a moment’s notice.  You have to log into your router’s web-based administration page, go to the advanced settings, and then the port forwarding section. When you make changes to the settings, the router may momentarily drop internet connectivity and perhaps even reboot.  Then it will take a while for everything to settle down and work again.  This can be a major aggravation if you have other users in your household or if your home phone is a VoIP system that depends on the internet being connected. 
Let’s examine our Echolink application’s built-in Firewall test.  You will find it by opening Echolink, going to the “Tools” menu, and arrowing to the “Firewall/Router Test”. Once there, press and the test runs automatically.  If you are blind or just like keyboard commands because they are faster and better than the mouse anyway, simply press and the letter “T” for the Tools menu, then and the letter “F” for the Firewall/Router test, which will start immediately. 
Since you have already told us that your ham shack computer has Echolink working, you should get this “Testing Complete” message that says “Firewall test results: PASS”. 

It is important to know about this handy little tool that is built into Echolink because you are going to use it again on a fairly regular basis once you make a few simple changes to your router settings.  
Now it is time to use your main computer, which is connected by a LAN cable (preferably) to the router, to open the router’s administration page. Depending on your router’s setup, you will need to log in, then go to the advanced settings page and then to the port forwarding page.  This should all seem familiar as you have already done it once.  Next, you will need to uncheck the port forwarding boxes that you already set up.  Yes, I know it seems crazy, but it is a necessary step. Save the settings, then go back to the advanced settings page and choose “port triggering” or “application rules” this time.  It is similar to setting up port forwarding, but there is a BIG difference:  You are opening ports when the Echolink application calls for them to carry traffic, no matter which computer on your network is running Echolink.  This means that when you open Echolink on your wireless laptop while on the patio, the ports will be open to that computer.  When you close Echolink on the laptop and later that evening you go back into the ham shack to use your main computer, Echolink will then work on that one because the ports will be opened by the “trigger” of a call for traffic to that machine.  
I happen to have a D-Link router, so a screenshot of the application rules (triggering) page shows that I have triggered ports 5198 and 5199 for UDP traffic and port 5200 for TCP traffic.  

Now I can save the settings and after that I should be able to use Echolink on any computer on my home network without having to worry about port forwarding.  
There are some things to remember:

1. Only one computer at a time can be running the Echolink application.  If more than one computer is running Echolink, only one of them will actually connect properly.
2. When you close Echolink on one computer, it may take a few minutes for the network to resolve itself back to a neutral state.  If you try to connect Echolink on another machine immediately, it may not work.  Always allow a few minutes between switching machines – Both machines may be running and connected to the network at the same time, which is not a problem.  It is only starting Echolink too soon after just closing it on another machine that can cause problems. 
3. This is where we try our built-in Firewall/Router tests again:
   
   If the network is ready, the tests will proceed normally with a “PASS” and you are good to go for Echolink fun!

Email me at [email protected] with your questions & comments.   But for the record, please remember that I am NOT tech support for Echolink or your home networking equipment since you are there at home and I’m here in Minnesota.  Reading the manual will get you way farther than calling me for sympathetic head-nodding.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager

Welcome to Handiham World.

You can do it!  
Today, just as we did last week,  we are going to begin with Troubleshooting 101 as part of our initiative to help new ham radio operators (and even some of us older ones) learn how to do some basic troubleshooting for ourselves. Yes, it can be tempting to ask someone else to do things for us.  This can become a bad habit when it keeps us from learning new things, especially things that we could – with a bit of practice – learn to do for ourselves.  Knowing these basic things can serve us well in the future when no help is available.  This next simple exercise is one that we will be practicing at this summer’s Radio Camp.  You can do it yourself once you learn a few basics.

Troubleshooting 101

I have my General Class license now, so I decided to put up a vertical antenna, which I ground-mounted, in my back yard. I have checked the SWR (standing wave ratio) and it is practically one to one. It is grounded with a ground rod right near the feedpoint, and I have kept the grounding wire short. I am putting out plenty of power with my 100 watt rig, but I am having a hard time making contacts? What is wrong here?
Vertical antennas have long been the subject of derision in many amateur radio circles. It is practically an article of faith that “a vertical antenna is one that transmits equally poorly in all directions”. These operators have either tried vertical antennas themselves and had a poor experience or (more likely) they have heard some know-it-all pontificating on the awfulness of verticals and the awesomeness of just about any antenna other than a vertical.
Yes, the poor old vertical has gotten a pretty bad reputation. But is it justified?
I say no! And here’s why.
The most common vertical antenna design is an electrical quarter-wave long. This means that a simple 20 meter vertical will be on the order of 16 to 17 feet tall (5 meters). There is no problem ground-mounting a vertical in most locations, and this kind of antenna is sometimes disguised as a flagpole in places where there are restrictions on traditional antennas. A ground-mounted vertical will certainly have other advantages, too. It will not require an expensive tower or other supporting structure. It will be easy to install and work on if it needs maintenance or adjustment because you can reach it without any climbing. You can trench the coaxial feedline under the ground to keep it out of the way. If it is mounted in the back yard, it will probably not even be visible from the street. No wonder this simple antenna seems so attractive!
But let’s get back to your troubleshooting question. You have done well with your vertical antenna installation as far as it goes, but you have made a common mistake. You have assumed that a ground rod would suffice as a complete grounding system – but it won’t. When we work with RF (radio frequency) energy, we must remember that RF grounding is not the same as providing a simple electrical ground for low-frequency AC, DC, or lightning protection. Yes, a good electrical ground is an essential part of a well-designed antenna and feedline system. Now it is time to complete your vertical antenna installation with a good RF ground. That means installing radial wires extending from the base of the antenna outward in all directions. The ground rod should work as a common connection point. The coax braid is connected to the ground rod or the antenna’s mounting post, both of which are tied together with a stout, solid conductor.
What is happening in your antenna system is that lots of current is flowing in the vertical element right near the feedpoint. This is normal and expected. There is also a lot of current flowing in the ground beneath and around the antenna, outward in all directions. That is because a quarter-wave vertical is like one side of a dipole system, except that the ground makes up the other half of the dipole. If you recall your General Class studies, you will remember that current in a half wave dipole flows most strongly right near the feedpoint.
Now, answer me this: If you put up a dipole with one leg made of a fully-extended wire and the other a very short wire connected to a big resistor, do you think that dipole would work as well as a dipole with both legs made of wire?
No? Why not?
“Well”, you say, “It is obvious that the dipole with a big resistor in it will not work as well because there will be power lost in the resistor. The resistor will heat up, just like a dummy antenna.”
Yes, you are right! In fact, dummy load antennas are really nothing more than resistors designed to dissipate RF energy to keep it off the air while you run tests on a transmitter. A dummy load will have a near-perfect SWR, even though it is a resistor. Just because it has a low SWR does not mean that it is a good antenna. The problem with your vertical antenna system is that it is like that dipole with a resistor in one leg. The ground beneath the antenna has resistance to the flow of RF energy outward in all directions. The soil does have some conductivity, but it depends on moisture and composition. So the ground can be like a resistor. The ground rod you have installed goes straight down and does nothing to help RF flow in all compass directions outward near the surface of the ground.
The fix: A good radial system.
Radial wires are installed like the spokes of a wheel, outward from the grounded side of your antenna’s feedpoint. They can be cut to a quarter-wave length for every band you plan to operate (if your antenna is a multiband vertical) or – and this is more practical – to whatever length is convenient to fit into the space you have. Mind you, this goes only for a ground-mounted vertical in an area with normal to good soil conductivity. If you are mounting a vertical over quartz rock with almost no soil, the tuned radials might be necessary. If you are in the USA Midwest with its rich soil, you can probably get by with random length radials in your ground-mounted system. The reason is that conductive soil pretty much detunes the radials anyway, so there is nothing to be gained by carefully measuring them. In fact, since most of the RF current will be flowing right near the feedpoint, it makes sense to provide it with a low resistance path there, close to the antenna.
Why? Think of the formula power dissipated = current squared times resistance. The higher the resistance in the ground, the more power will be dissipated as heat. You don’t want that! What you want is for most of the power to be used to make contacts with other stations. The earthworms will be happier, too, because they don’t need the extra heat. If most of the current flows in the ground near the antenna, then THAT is where you need to put the most radial wire. I have always simplified this concept when teaching about vertical antennas by using the following practical example:
You have a coil of wire to use for radials. It is 100 feet long and will provide the radial system for your 20 meter band quarter-wave vertical. The question is which of these choices would be better:
A. One long radial that uses all 100 feet of wire.
B. Two 50 foot radials running in opposite directions.
C. Three 33 foot radials spaced 120 degrees apart.
D. Five 20 foot radials spaced at 72 degrees apart.

If you were thinking about losses near the feedpoint, you would probably pick answer D. The reason is that you are putting more wire near where the loss is actually happening! In fact, the thing with radials is “the more, the better”, not “the longer the better”. Of course you would not want to go to extremes and assume that 100 one-foot radials would work. But in the real world, you want to get more wire down in the ground near the feedpoint. A dozen radials work better than four.
Installing and testing the system:

Stomp the grass back down and you are good to go. Repeat for each radial. If you can go out 33 feet in one direction and only 15 in another, that’s okay. Just make sure that the final installation is solidly connected to the ground rod and coax braid and all of the wires are out of the way of the lawn mower. The insulated wire will last longer in the ground than non-insulated wire. Once you get a taste of a hands-and-knees radial installation, you will not be eager to repeat it to replace rotted out wire any more than you have to. And if you tried to install springy radial wire, well, you know what that is like. Push one part in, another part pops out.

Email me at [email protected] with your questions & comments.  
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager

Welcome to Handiham World.

You can do it!  
Today, just as we did last week,  we are going to begin with Troubleshooting 101 as part of our initiative to help new ham radio operators (and even some of us older ones) learn how to do some basic troubleshooting for ourselves. Yes, it can be tempting to ask someone else to do things for us.  This can become a bad habit when it keeps us from learning new things, especially things that we could – with a bit of practice – learn to do for ourselves.  Knowing these basic things can serve us well in the future when no help is available.  This next simple exercise is one that we will be practicing at this summer’s Radio Camp.  You can do it yourself once you learn a few basics.
Troubleshooting 101

Help! My HF radio is dead!
One of the things we grow used to is turning on the radio and hearing stations, even if they happen to be weak or off frequency.  We quickly learn, as new operators, how to tune around and adjust the VFO to hear stations clearly.  Sometimes we turn the radio on first thing in the morning and hear nothing but static from far-off  thunderstorms, but that is nothing new.  We know that we can tune across the band and find some really strong stations.  
But this morning is different.  You turn the transceiver on, but there is nothing – no sound at all, at least any that is loud enough to detect without headphones.  What could be wrong?

Well, the best thing to do is to follow the advice in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and don’t panic.  Many of our Handiham members are blind, so we will include some troubleshooting steps for them.  We are going to check off everything without making assumptions.  Some of our readers will think that this stuff is obvious, but in the grand scheme of things we must allow for a wide range in the knowledge and experience of amateur radio operators.  Some will be familiar with the “dead radio” problem and others will be experiencing it for the first time.  Let’s cover all the bases.

1. Yes, I know this is obvious, but did the radio really turn on when you flipped the switch?  Did the radio make a telltale sound when switched on?  Even if I could not see the lighted display of my IC-7200, when it is powered up I hear a click as a relay energizes in the connected autotuner and my computer makes a connected sound to tell me that a USB device is now on line.  Keying the PTT in SSB mode and not talking should trip the transmit relay without sending any RF, so you can hear the click of the relay.   Have you checked the power supply switch?
2. Make sure that you have not left headphones plugged into the PHONES jack. Doing so on most radios will mute the speaker. 
3. Check the AF gain (volume) control.  Maybe you turned it all the way down the last time you used the radio.  Don’t laugh – I often do this if I am in the radio room and get a phone call or start listening to something else.  Turn up the volume and if you can hear stations, you have solved the problem.
4. Check the RF gain control.  Sometimes this gets turned down by accident, or perhaps you turned it down in a previous session because you were dealing with a very strong signal.  Turn it back up and try tuning around again.  Incidentally, I often find that users of the Handiham remote base stations leave the RF gain turned down on the TS-480 radios.  No wonder the bands seem dead!
5. Okay, so now we have power to the radio, the RF and AF gains are adjusted, and there is still no sound.  Many radios have squelch controls, and this little feature can cause all but the very strongest signals to be completely muted.  Perversely, this control is sometimes a concentric one that shares the same spot as the volume control.  It is easy to misadjust, by which I mean setting it to anything but completely off!  With the volume turned up to mid-range turn the squelch all the way down.  Note that you don’t want the volume cranked up to max when you do this, as the sound may be startlingly loud!
6. Don’t forget the other adjustments your radio may have to tailor the sound.  Filter settings and pass band tuning might be set incorrectly.  If they have detents, return them to “normal”.  
7. Still nothing at all?  Retrace your steps to make sure there is power to the radio.  Check the power supply and connection to the radio. Check the fuses and breakers at the station equipment and at your home’s breaker box. Make sure everything is connected as usual. 
8. Assuming that you do actually have power and that the radio is powered on, you could have a problem with the radio itself.  Sometimes oxidation occurs on the mechanical connection in the headphone jack.  Push a headphone plug in and out to clear it.  Don’t forget to listen via the headphones to eliminate the unlikely possibility that the speaker coil has opened.  If any of  this resolves the condition, you are good to go.  If not, take further steps to have the radio checked.  Ask for help from your local radio club before assuming that the radio has failed. There are probably club members who are experienced with that radio and who can help you determine what is wrong and whether it needs service.
9. Let’s say that you do actually hear a gentle hiss from the radio but that you can’t tune in any stations.  Check to see if you have locked the main tuning dial by mistake.  If the tuning is locked, you can twirl the dial all day long and the frequency will not change! 
10. Now you have tuned across the band and there are no signals.  Try another band and check again.  Still nothing?  Check to make sure that the antenna’s feedline is connected.  If you have an antenna switch, make sure that it is in the correct position.  Don’t forget the radio’s antenna selector if your transceiver has one!
11. Try WWV on 5 and 10 MHz.  Both put out awesomely strong signals. If you hear a weak or warbling signal, conditions may be poor. 
12. Next, tune your radio to a local commercial AM radio frequency.  You may not be used to doing this, so be aware that to direct enter such a frequency you may need to key in something like zero dot eight three via the direct entry on your keypad to get “830” on the AM radio dial as I do here for local station WCCO.  Of course you will choose your own local station if you don’t live here in the Twin Cities. If you can hear a local AM station it is likely that the radio is fine and that HF sky wave band conditions are just extremely poor.  By tuning the local commercial AM station, you can hear a ground wave signal that does not depend on sky wave propagation. 
13. If the local commercial station comes in fine, try checking the SWR on your antenna system.  If that passes muster, it is likely that your station is intact and functioning normally and that HF band conditions are just really, really poor following a solar event.  If the SWR is terrible, perhaps the feedline or antenna have failed.  That is a separate troubleshooting issue.  
14. If the HF conditions are indeed so bad that you cannot hear sky wave stations, you can confirm this by checking various solar weather and propagation websites. It is generally a matter of waiting a few days for conditions to return to normal.  When I was a young lad and had only recently gotten my General license, I ran into just this situation. I even went out side to check to see if my antenna was still up in the air!  It was the first time I had experienced what amounted to a radio blackout of sky wave propagation caused by a solar event.  Today we can confirm our suspicions about solar weather via the Internet, but back then it was a very puzzling thing.  Eventually I did learn more about solar weather and HF propagation so that the next solar storm did not catch me by surprise and make me think my antenna had fallen down!

Email me at [email protected] with your questions & comments.  
Patrick Tice
Handiham Manager

1. The cable is good and ready for use.
2. The cable is open through the outer shield.
3. The cable is open through the center conductor.
4. The center conductor is shorted to the shield.
5. An intermittent condition exists that causes a short or open when the cable is flexed. 

Photo:  Simple test gear for a continuity check includes a clip lead and a multimeter with a continuity buzzer. 

1. Take one end of the disconnected coax.  Remember, we are NOT able to test continuity with the coax connected to any equipment or antennas. Touch one multimeter lead to the center pin of the PL-259 plug and the other to the outer metal part of the plug.  You should hear nothing, indicating that the cable is not shorted.  This is always the first test, because we must eliminate the possibility of shorts before we can make any assumptions about the center conductors or the shield.  
2. Next, take the clip lead and use it to short the coax at one end by connecting the center pin of one of the PL-259 connectors (it doesn’t matter which one) to the shield side of that same connector.  Take the free end of the coax and touch one multimeter probe to the center pin and the other to the metal shield of that PL-259.  You should now hear the buzzer that indicates continuity.  
3. You have now completed the basic tests, because you have determined that the cable is not shorted and by passing a current through the entire length of the center conductor and back through the shield, you have determined that both the center conductor and shield are intact.  The final test is to flex the cable and wiggle the connectors while performing both of these tests again.  If it helps, you can add two additional clip leads to connect  the multimeter probes so that you don’t have to try to hold them in contact with the PL connectors. This will help determine if the cable is intermittent.
4. If the cable fails any of the tests, feel free to test the shield to shield and center pin to center pin connections separately.  Never use a cable that is suspect, because it could cause damage to your equipment.  
5. Last but not to be missed is a final check along the length of the cable for any obvious bad spots, such as a break in the outer jacket or any suspicious bends or bumps in the cable.  

Welcome to Handiham World.


Goodbye, cassettes.

The old way of doing audio:  Unhappy Pat poses with box of assorted tape cassettes.  Each one holds only a portion of an audio book.

The new way:  Smiling Pat holds up a single Library of Congress digital cartridge.  Each new digital cartridge holds thousands of DAISY book pages or many hundreds of audio files. 
Well, don’t say you didn’t know this was coming.  Learning Ally and the Library of Congress have both made the switch to digital audio.  Bookshare has been digital for a long time already. Now it is time to announce the final stage in the life cycle of the Handiham tape cassette service, one of the few remaining analog special format services that is still active.  
Over the last decade digital audio has steadily overtaken analog tape cassettes in commercial applications.  The old cassette format is no longer supported as it once was in boom boxes, portable players, and automobile audio systems. The tapes themselves are harder to find and many households no longer even have equipment to play cassettes.  Anticipating the need for a digital system to replace this old technology that was also used by people who could not read regular print, the DAISY Consortium has developed the DAISY format book system that can couple audio files read by humans to specific sections and subsections of books.  DAISY can also generate computer speech from computer text of a book, then arrange it all on a DAISY book that includes spoken word audio and all of the text, complete with headings for sections and subsections. Now that the Library of Congress has completed its distribution of the new DAISY-capable digital players to replace the aging 4-track tape cassette players, we feel confident that Handiham members, even those without computers, will still have access to the new digital cartridges.
Make no mistake; the digital audio is far better than the old cassette tape audio.  If you are still using tape cassettes, now is the time to check out that new digital player.  With the new player you can navigate using audio prompts and find the exact thing in a book that you want.  You could never do that with tapes.  In the bad old days of taped instruction manuals, it was nearly impossible to find that part about setting the memories on your new radio! With the new digital system, that is an easy task.  In the old days, your audio had to come by postal mail.  Today you can download it via the Internet and put it on your digital player with a small adapter cable. Even Handiham members without computers can still receive their new digital cartridges in the mail, in special mailers similar to the old Library of Congress tape mailers.  The new system is designed to seem familiar to tape users, so that they can more easily learn it and make the transition.
The digital cartridges themselves are just a bit smaller than the old tape cassettes.  They have a hole in one end to facilitate grasping the correct end of the cartridge, even by a person with some mobility limitations.  The other end of the cartridge has a small USB connector that plugs into the digital player.  It slips into the new player only one way, and the experience feels much like putting a cassette tape into the old player. The USB plug is protected by extensions of the plastic cartridge to protect it from damage. This format also keeps it from plugging directly into a standard computer’s USB ports.  That is why blind users who receive their audio from Library of Congress digital downloads must use an adapter cable between their computers and their digital cartridges.  We can also use such a cable to put Handiham digital audio onto the new cartridges. 
There is a cost difference between a tape cassette and the new digital cartridge.  Tape cassettes usually ran under a dollar, and because they are falling out of use they are available virtually free from people who are simply getting rid of old technology.  The new digital NLS cartridges are around $10 to $12 each, but remember that each one holds the equivalent of hundreds and hundreds of tapes.  And because the new digital cartridge has a different form factor than a tape cassette, it requires a new specialized NLS mailer.  These run about $2.50 each.  
The way the Handiham monthly digest audio program will operate takes into account the cost of these two items.  In the old system, we bought tapes and mailers and sent them to our members.  The members were responsible for returning the tapes and mailers when they had listened to the audio.  The return rate was never 100%, so some tapes and mailers were lost to attrition each month.  
In the new system, we will ask our members who want to have digital audio mailed to them by free matter postal mail to purchase their own digital cartridge and mailer, mark them with their callsign or identification, and send them to us for processing each month.  We will fill the cartridge and return it.  That way each individual has a vested interest in their own cartridge and mailer.  This will make the program easier to manage because we won’t have to maintain a supply of our own cartridges and mailers.  It also spreads the cost among those users who don’t have computers or Internet services.  It has really become labor-intensive to support a smaller and smaller number of Handiham members who use the old tape cassette technology.  As our tape duplicators get older, they are more likely to make recording errors.  It has gotten to the point where tapes are sometimes custom-produced for a single member who needs something like one of our license courses but who has no computer.  So serving that single member can get quite expensive, while hundreds of other members simply download their audio from our website with no staff assistance.  The digital cartridge provides a means of still serving that single member with good quality audio, even if they do not have a computer.  
So what is the plan?
We will continue to support tape cassettes through the end of 2012, but not for new members, beginning immediately.  All new members will be told about the new digital cartridge plan.  They will have a choice of either simply downloading the digital audio they need from our website or providing their own digital cartridge and mailer.  Members who are currently using the old tape system will be notified of the new cartridge plan and they will be given some options about where to purchase the cartridges and mailers.  Members who get their audio via the website will not be affected.
For Handiham World, I’m…
Patrick Tice, [email protected]
Handiham Manager