[chirp_users] Using CHIRP Without the Mouse

[Dave Nathanson]

Hi Catherine, 

Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news. 

From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ
 "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?

CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely." 


Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect. 

Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same. 

After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful. 

I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that. 

After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP. 

Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. 
When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar. 

Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select. 

Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. 
Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK. 

This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio. 

After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio. 

The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. 
There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. 
Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit. 

Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit. 

Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are:
Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. 
It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence. 

Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections. 

Those are the most important CHIRP commands. 

I hope this helps, please let us know. 

Best,
 Dave Nathanson
 KG6ZJO


On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell <cgtrumpet at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> I'm new to the list.  I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5
> because programming it is a beast using the radio itself.  I am
> totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes
> what's on the screen.  I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all
> computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
> 
> When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way
> to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard.  Does anyone
> have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this?  It may not be
> possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query
> to see what's out there.  Thanks.
> 
> Catherine KE4LAM
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