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The Braille Monitor

April, 2002

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Hearing

Enhancement and Spanish Translation

Available

At National Convention

Spanish

Translators Needed

by

D. Curtis Willoughby

Curtis

Willoughby staffs the FM equipment table at convention.

From

the Editor: Curtis Willoughby is a member of the NFB's Research and Development

Committee and head of our Ham Radio Interest Group. Here is his announcement:

Again

this year at National Convention we will offer special arrangements for severely

hearing-impaired people attending convention sessions and the banquet. This

will consist of transmission of the public address system signal over a special

short-range radio transmitter for the severely hearing-impaired. A Spanish language

service will also be offered to Spanish‑speaking people who cannot easily

understand English. The special receivers required for these services will also

be provided.

In

cooperation with several state affiliates (notably Colorado, Louisiana, Utah,

and Virginia), the NFB will provide special receivers for these special transmissions

to those needing them. Receiver-lending will be managed by the Ham Radio Group

and will be operated from a table just outside the meeting room. A deposit of

$25, cash only, will be required of anyone wishing to check out one of the Federation's

receivers. The deposit will be returned if the receiver is returned to the check‑out

table in good condition by adjournment or within thirty minutes of adjournment

of the last convention session. Batteries for the receiver will be provided.

Upon request, anyone checking out a Federation receiver will be given a miniature

earbud loudspeaker‑type earphone to use with the receiver.

Along

with explaining what will be available, it is important that we explain what

will not be available. The miniature earbud loudspeaker‑type earphone

will be the only kind of earphone offered. No means of connection to a hearing

aid will be available from the check‑out table. The receiver does not

have a built‑in loudspeaker. The receiver requires a 1/8-inch earphone

plug, in case you want to use your own earphone(s), neck loop, adapter cable,

etc. You are advised to arrange for such things well ahead of arriving at the

convention. While earphones and even neck loops are sometimes available in the

exhibit hall, you cannot be certain of getting one there.

Many

severely hearing-impaired people already use radio systems that employ FM radio

signals to carry the voice from a transmitter held by the person speaking to

a receiver in the hearing aid. Many such hearing-aid systems can be tuned to

receive the Federation's special transmitters. In this case the hearing-impaired

person may simply tune his or her own receiver to receive the Federation's transmitter

and will not need to check out a Federation receiver.

The

transmitter for the hearing-impaired will be connected to the PA system so that

the signals from the head table and the aisle mikes will be transmitted on channel

36 (74.775 MHz narrow band FM). (People must not operate their personal transmitters

on channel 36 or on channel 38, because that would interfere with the reception

by others.) This means that folks wishing to use their own receivers (rather

than checking out one of the Federation's receivers) need to have their personal

receivers arranged so that they can switch between their personal channels and

channel 36. Some people may need to purchase replacement or additional receivers.

We

are publishing this announcement now to allow as much time as possible for those

interested to make the necessary arrangements before convention. It is detailed

enough so that any audiologist who works with this type of equipment will know

exactly what capabilities a person's FM hearing system must have to work with

the Federation's system at convention.

Even

if you do not use an FM hearing aid, you may be able to purchase a neck loop

or an adapter cable to couple the signal from a Federation receiver directly

to your hearing aid. Your audiologist should also be able to help you do this.

The

service for Spanish speakers will be similar, except that a live Spanish translator

will speak over a separate transmitter on channel 38 (75.275 MHz narrow band

FM). We do not expect people to bring their own receivers for the Spanish service,

unless they are also hearing-impaired and use an FM hearing-aid system.

Norm

Gardner from Utah will be coordinating the Spanish language interpreters, and

he would appreciate hearing from anyone willing to volunteer to interpret. Please

call him prior to convention at (801) 224‑6969, or send him e‑mail

at <[email protected]>.

Finally,

if other state affiliates or chapters are interested in purchasing this type

of equipment for use in state and local meetings, we encourage them to purchase

equipment compatible with that which we are using and to allow it to be used

in the pool of equipment that the Ham Radio Group administers at national convention.

I, Curtis Willoughby, would like to help you choose equipment compatible with

that the NFB is using. I may also be able to help you get the good prices the

NFB has been getting. You may contact me at (303) 424‑7373 or <[email protected]>.

The

Federation is pleased to offer these services to our severely hearing-impaired

colleagues and to our Spanish‑speaking colleagues, and we hope and believe

that it will again significantly improve their convention experience.

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