Welcome to HAMPod!
Accessibility for Amateur Radio
What is HamPod?
Finally! A device to enable blind and visually impaired operators to be able to use their equipment almost as well as a fully sighted user! Even better, all this accessibility without the need for a personal computer. Each HamPod is custom designed to work specifically with the supported gear to provide an efficient and enjoyable experience. The HAMPod series of Amateur Radio station accessories are stand-alone, micro-processor based text-to-speech devices designed to provide speech output and accessibility to common station equipment such as transceivers, antenna controllers and rotor controllers, SWR/Power meters and other equipment capable of serial data exchange. In addition, with the HamPod SteppIReader, we are able to grab the data as it is sent to the LCD display. The voice synthesizer utilizes the popular "Double Talk" voice synthesizer and is customizable to your personal preferences. The standard HamPod is equipped with two serial ports and most configurations will support two individual devices. Click on a button in the navigation bar above to see about specific device implementation
HamPod front view
HamPod rear view
HamPod Hardware Description
The rear of the HamPod has two male DB9 serial ports and a DC power jack. The firmware is upgradable in the field through one of these ports by connecting to a computer to flash the firmware in the HamPod when an upgrade is available. The power jack accepts 9 to 12 volts dc and has a positive center pin. There is a 16 button keypad on the top of the unit on the left side and the speaker grill is on the right. The dimensions are 5.3" x 4.0" x 1.5" plus about 3/8" of additional height for the keypad
Currently supporting Speech output for:
Elecraft K3 transceivers
SteppIR Antennas (Both original and new SDA-100 controllers)
HyGain Rotor controllers using the Rotor-EZ interface
Green Heron and M2 Orion 2800 controllers
More device support is currently under development.
Contact: Info at HAMPod.com