The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File

The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File, edited by William Gerrey (WA6NPC), was a publication by and for blind and visually-impaired electronics professionals and enthusiasts. It was published by the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute from Fall 1980, through Spring 1998 and was at various times available in Braille, large print, audio cassette, and 5-1/4" floppy diskette.

Although The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File is no longer in active publication, we offer this online archive as a resource of both current and historical value.

While many of the articles about devices and techniques remain relevant for blind DIY makers, many of the details regarding component sources and other contact information are outdated. Occasionally we include updated links to component sources. When absent, a web search will often locate a modern supplier.

Questions regarding content can be sent to sktf@ski.org

Special thanks for assistance in the digital migration of this valuable resource go to David Vásquez, Laura Eberly, Charity Pitcher-Cooper and Joshua Miele.

Chronological List of SKTF Issues 

Winter 1980

• Top Matter
• Dedication
• Preface
• Foreword
• Checking Diodes for Maximum Peak Inverse Voltage
• Soldering (Part I)
• 3 Terminal Monolithic Voltage Regulators
• The LM 386 High-Gain Audio Amplifier
• Point-To-Point Wiring on Perforated Board
• Editor's Corner

Winter 1981

• Top Matter
• Soldering (Part II)
• Solderless Breadboards
• Auditory Volume Level Indicators Old and New (Part 1)
• Smith-Kettlewell Universal NiCad Battery Charger
• Correction
• Editor's Corner

Spring 1981

• Top Matter
• Auditory "Gimmick" Circuits,Old and New
• Basic Analog Meter Reader
• Making Braille Dials
• Auditory Volume Level Indicators (Part II)
• Soldering (Part III)
• Wire Wrapping, A Construction Technique for IC Projects

Summer 1981

• Top Matter
• Gabbing About Gates
• Inside Gates
• Flip-Flops
• Counting in Base Two
• Technical Innovations Bulletin
• Editor's Corner

Fall 1981

• Top Matter
• GABBING ABOUT MINI SPEECH BOARDS
• A TALKING METER USING THE ICL7107 AND THE MINI SPEECH BOARD
• NICKEL-CADMIUM CELLS AND BATTERIES
• SCA DEMULTIPLEXER FOR RADIO READING SERVICE BROADCASTS
• BULLETIN BOARD
• THE EDITOR'S CRYSTAL BALL

Winter 1982

• Top Matter
• Corrections
• Soldering (Part IV), Popular RF Connectors
• Singing Chips
• A Tactile Read-Out for Digital Instruments
• Earphones for the Blind Traveler
• Vocational Aids Catalogue
• Editor's Corner

Spring 1982

• Top Matter
• Splicing and Editing Open-Reel Audio Tape
• Cassette Repair
• Soldering (Part V), RCA and Motorola Plugs
• Hints and Kinks
• Bulletin Board
• Lexicography

Summer 1982

• Top Matter
• Introduction to Phase Lock Loops and the RCA CD4046
• The Little Go Beep, I
• The Little Go Beep, II
• The Fowle Gimmique
• The K3VTA Auditory Gizmo

Fall 1982

• Top Matter
• CONTINUITY TESTER CIRCUITS--OLD & NEW
• CONTINUITY TESTER USES
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL AUDITORY COMPASS
• HINTS AND KINKS
• LEXICOGRAPHY
• BULLETIN BOARD
• EDITOR'S CRYSTAL BALL

Winter 1983

• Top Matter
• Operational Amplifiers
• The Smith-Kettlewell Active Light Probe
• The Smith-Kettlewell Receptionist Mat--An Introvert Detector
• The Handling and Storage of Magnetic Recording Tape
• Hints and Kinks
• Lexicography
• Editor's Corner

Spring 1983

• Top Matter
• Operational Amplifiers II
• The National LM317 and LM337 Adjustable Voltage Regulators
• National Semiconductor Stereo Power Amplifier IC's
• The Editor's Evaluation of the DRI Industries' One-Hand Soldering Iron
• The JA3TBW Solder Guide

Summer 1983

• Top Matter
• OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS III
• THE RETICON R5620 PROGRAMMABLE FILTER IC
• A TUNABLE AUDIO NOTCH FILTER USING THE RETICON R5620
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL TRAINING AID FOR PIANO TUNERS
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL AUDIBLE STROBE TUNER
• EDITORS CORNER

Fall 1983

• Top Matter
• The Intersil ICL 8038 Function-Generator Chip
• A Highly Portable Function-Generator using the ICL 8038
• The Smith-Kettlewell Universal Tone Indexer
• The Smith-Kettlewell Speaker Phase Tester
• The Silkiest MCW Signal on the Air
• Save Your Batteries with a Timer Switch
• Summary of SKTF Survey
• Editor's Crystal Ball

Winter 1984

• Top Matter
• A Versatile Electronic Braille Dial Maker
• An Audible Speedometer for Your Exercycle
• Pedal Your Portable Music System
• A Simple Cable and Pipe Finder
• The Simplest Auditory Capacitance Bridge
• List of Electronic Aids Designed at N.R.C. Canada
• Bulletin Board

Spring 1984

• Top Matter
• My Sunshine Station
• The Simplest Auditory Resistance Bridge
• A Counter and Other Improvements for the Thermoform Copier
• Soldering, Part VI
• Using Heat-Shrinkable Tubing

Summer 1984

• Top Matter
• The Smith-Kettlewell Auditory Oscilloscope
• Logic Probes
• The Simplest Audible Transistor Checker
• Additional Notes on the Dial Maker
• A Toy Train Whistle for the Smith-Kettlewell Express

Fall 1984

• Top Matter
• The Turn of the Screw
• Soldering, Part VII
• The G3JYT Solder Guide
• Making Technical School Accessible to the Blind
• Editor's Crystal Ball

Winter 1985

• Top Matter
• The National Digitalker
• RS232C Line Driver and Receiver Chips
• The Signetics NE566 VCO Chip
• Transmission-in-Progress Alarm
• The Smith-Kettlewell Auditory Breakout Box

Spring 1985

• Top Matter
• Bels And Decibels
• Choosing Appropriate Speech Technology
• From Paper to Project, Part I

Summer 1985

• Top Matter
• From Paper to Project, Part II
• A Transistorized Wide-Range Crystal-Controlled Test Oscillator
• A Great Gift Idea for Someone Else's Kid
• The In's and Out's of the Jameco Catalog
• Editor's Corner

Fall 1985

• Top Matter
• From Paper to Project, Part III
• The National LM3909 Flasher Chip
• "Marklites" - A Burglary Deterrent System
• The Editor's Anniversary
• Merry Christmas

Winter 1986

• Top Matter
• Timer Chips
• A Smith-Kettlewell General-Purpose Auditory Thermometer Circuit
• The Archer 277-1012 Radio Control Set
• A Simple-to-Construct Burglar Alarm Circuit
• A Feeder System for the Japanese Tubular Solder Guide

Spring 1986

• Top Matter
• From Paper to Project, Part IV
• The Smith-Kettlewell Timing-Tones Generator
• An Audible Multi-Microfarad Meter
• The Tweedle Dump
• The "Kings Central Catalogue" of Books

Summer 1986

• Top Matter
• Introduction to the Smith-Kettlewell Note-a-Braille
• A User's Guide to the Smith-Kettlewell Note-a-Braille
• The Smith-Kettlewell Note-a-Braille and How to Build It
• LATER INSERT: The JFD "Universal Interface Converter"

Fall 1986

• Top Matter
• Shift Registers and the 4034 Series Shift-Register IC
• A Digital Peak-Reading Circuit for the Smith-Kettlewell Auditory Thermometer
• The Cheapest High-Isolation Headphones
• Soldering Kinks
• Computer Braille Cheat Sheet
• Editor's Crystal Ball

Winter 1987

• Top Matter
• Inside the 555 Integrated Circuit
• Bernie's Little Blue Box: A Multi-Function Qualitative Circuit Analyzer
• The Vinther Fingertip Soldering Iron
• A Maverick Passes Through

Spring 1987

• Top Matter
• THE SILICON-SYSTEMS SSI202 TOUCHTONE DECODER CHIP
• FROM PAPER TO PROJECT, Part V
• FINALLY, A 9-VOLT BATTERY HOLDER

Summer 1987

• Top Matter
• The "Ram-Talker": A Practical Speech Digitizer and Recorder
• Modifying the TDI Electronic Carpenter's Level
• "The Eggs Are Ready," or The Alexy Appliance-Alert System

Fall 1987

• Top Matter
• AC POWER PROTECTION
• ADAPTING THE ZIRCON "STUD SENSOR"
• CRYSTAL CALIBRATORS AND MARKER GENERATORS REVIVED
• BERNIE VINTHER'S VISUAL/NONVISUAL AIDS
• EDITOR'S CRYSTAL BALL

Winter 1988

• Top Matter
• A NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR SERIES OF VOLTMETER CHIPS
• PARALLEL FIFO's AND THE IC's OF INTEGRATED DEVICES TECHNOLOGIES INC
• A GENTLE LOW-RESISTANCE BRIDGE AND CONTINUITY METER
• AN AUDITORY LOCATION MARKER
• EDITOR'S CORNER

Spring 1988

• Top Matter
• REFINING THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL AUDITORY OSCILLOSCOPE, OR POLISHING A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
• TEMPERATURE CONTROLLING THE VINTHER FINGERTIP IRON

Summer 1988

• Top Matter
• Survey of Sensym Pressure Transducers
• The Smith-Kettlewell Auditory Barometer
• Assorted Smith-Kettlewell Vacuum- and Pressure-Gauge Circuits
• The Jameco XY168 Solder Station

Fall 1988

• Top Matter
• NOTES ON BLOOD-PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
• SMITH-KETTLEWELL BLOOD-PRESSURE GAUGING CIRCUITS
• A NOVEL VCO CIRCUIT USING A GARDEN-VARIETY OP-AMP
• BULLETIN BOARD
• EDITOR'S CORNER

Winter 1989

• Top Matter
• THE ADDRESSABLE NATTERING RAM: A SIXTEEN-WORD, FIELD-RECORDABLE SPEECH BOARD
• INTERFACING THE NATTERING RAM WITH THE ADC3511 VOLTMETER CHIP
• BULLETIN BOARD

Spring 1989

• Top Matter
• A GREATLY ENHANCED "LITTLE BLUE BOX"
• THE PEST-BELL: A DOORBELL WITH GOOD MANNERS
• THE GRABOPHONE
• BULLETIN BOARD

Summer 1989

• Top Matter
• A KNOWLEDGE OF CAPACITOR SUBTLETIES HELPS SOLVE CAPACITOR-BASED TROUBLES
• THE 4051, 4052, AND 4053 ANALOG SWITCH CHIPS
• THE COMMERCIAL KILLER
• THE TINKER

Fall 1989

• Top Matter
• The Ring Detector: A Telephone Interface
• Accessing the Fluke PM2525/623 Multimeter
• The Smith-Kettlewell "Talk & Tones" Volt/Ohm/Milliammeter
• The Robert W. Gunderson Memorial Fund
• Editor's Corner

Winter 1990

• Top Matter
• Notes on Tactile Drawings: Back to the Drawing Board
• The Smith-Kettlewell Battery Tester: Where Silence Is Golden
• Bill's Box of Knowns

Spring 1990

• Top Matter
• REFORMING ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
• ENCAPSULATING ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS AND CIRCUITS
• THE W8DIL AUDITORY GIMMICK: A SIMPLER CIRCUIT
• A TELEPHONE BEEPER THAT MEANS "THIS CALL IS BEING RECORDED"
• A CAPACITANCE-MULTIPLIER CIRCUIT
• BULLETIN BOARD

Summer 1990

• Top Matter
• DESCRIBING THE VIDEO ON TV
• MULTICHANNEL TELEVISION SOUND--INCLUDING STEREO AND SAP
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL AUDITORY COMPASS USING A FLUXGATE SENSOR

Fall 1990

• Top Matter
• ENERGY-FREE RADIO: THE CRYSTAL RADIO SET REVISISTED
• A GENERAL-PURPOSE, EXPERIMENTAL MEDIUM-WAVE TRANSMITTER
• A GENERAL-PURPOSE VHF TRANSMITTER
• EDITOR'S CORNER

Winter 1991

• Top Matter
• MUSIC MINUS 1 PLUS MORE
• THE MAXIM 680 AND 681 CHARGE-PUMP DC-TO-DC CONVERTERS
• MAXIM RS232C RECEIVER/DRIVER CHIPS
• A FIRST PASS AT DIABETIC APPLIANCES

Spring 1991

• Top Matter
• FURTHER NOTES ON THE ISD SPEECH
• SIMULATING THE "NATTERING RAM" WITH THE ISD1016 SPEECH RECORDER
• THE "PRANKOPHONE"--A JOKE BOX
• TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 75451-75454 ACTUATOR/DRIVER CHIPS
• THE LINEAR TECHNOLOGIES LT1004 LOW-POWER BAND-GAP VOLTAGE REFERENCE

Summer 1991

• Top Matter
• INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERIZED MUSIC
• SYNTHESIZER HISTORY AND FEATURES
• INTRODUCING THE MIDI LANGUAGE
• SOFTWARE SEQUENCERS AND THEIR FORMATS
• SOURCES AND RESOURCES
• STANDARD MIDI FILE

Fall 1991

• Top Matter
• INTRODUCTION TO TALKING SIGNS (TM)
• CONFIGURATIONS OF TALKING SIGNS ALREADY IN USE, AND GUIDELINES FOR FUTURE INSTALLATIONS
• INFRARED RECEIVER CIRCUITS COMPATIBLE WITH THE TALKING SIGNS (TM) SYSTEM
• INFRARED TRANSMITTERS COMPATIBLE WITH THE TALKING SIGNS (TM) SYSTEM --FROM NAME TAGS TO BLOCKBUSTERS
• INFRARED SIGNAGE FOR THE DEAF-BLIND
• THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 75476-75479 SERIES OF DRIVER/ACTUATOR CHIPS

Winter 1993

• Top Matter
• MUSIC MINUS 1 PLUS MORE
• THE MAXIM 680 AND 681 CHARGE-PUMP DC-TO-DC CONVERTERS
• MAXIM RS232C RECEIVER/DRIVER CHIPS
• A FIRST PASS AT DIABETIC APPLIANCES

Spring 1993

• Top Matter
• A SURVEY OF MIDORI FRICTIONLESS POTENTIOMETERS
• A SMITH-KETTLEWELL AUDIBLE CARPENTER'S LEVEL BUILT FROM SCRATCH
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL VIBRATORY BATTERY TESTER FOR THE DEAF-BLIND

Summer 1993

• Top Matter
• STEPPER MOTORS
• A SURVEY OF PHILIPS/AIRPAX STEPPER MOTORS
• A SURVEY OF STEPPER-MOTOR DRIVER CHIPS

Fall 1993

• Top Matter
• DIGITAL MAGNITUDE COMPARATORS
• A REVIEW OF THE MICRONTA 22-182 DIGITAL MULTIMETER WITH COMPUTER INTERFACE
• FOLDING CANES AND MODIFICATIONS THEREOF

Winter 1995

• Top Matter
• THE ANALOG DEVICES' AD7111 DIGITALLY CONTROLLED ATTENUATOR CHIP
• A NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR FAMILY OF ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL (A/D) CONVERTERS
• A NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR FAMILY OF DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG (D/A) CONVERTERS
• EDITOR'S CORNER

Spring 1995

• Top Matter
• INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL: THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL "KIDSTART COURSE" IN ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
• INSTRUCTION COURSE: THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL "KIDSTART COURSE" IN ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

Summer 1995

• Top Matter
• A Simple Appliance Timer Using Two Talking Alarm Clocks
• Evaluating the Cobolt "Speech Master" Timestat as an Appliance Timer
• A Rejuvenator/Evaluator for Talking Book Batteries

Fall 1995

• Top Matter
• Connecting the Ohaus CT600 Electronic Balance to the Braille 'n Speak
• Connecting the Oakton 59003-10 Ph Meter to the Braille 'n Speak
• Accessing the Radio Shack 22-168A Multimeter with the Braille 'n Speak
• The RF Applications P-2000CW Audible Power/VSWR Meter

Spring 1998

• Top Matter
• "PROBOND" POLYURETHANE GLUE
• PAGER VIBRATORS AS TACTILE OUTPUT DEVICES
• THE "VACUVIBE" -- AN ATTACHMENT FOR "TANK" VACUUM CLEANERS -- A VIBRATING NEGATIVE AIR-FLOW ALARM
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL VIBRATORY VOLUME LEVEL METER FOR OPEN-MIKE RECORDINGS

Summer 1998

• Top Matter
• ACTIVE FILTER MAKES COMPONENT SELECTION EASIER
• METAL DETECTOR USES SINGLE IC
• DETECTING SUB-AUDIBLE TONES SUPERIMPOSED ONTO SPEECH RECORDINGS
• THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL "STRAIGHT CUT"-- A CUTTING GUIDE FOR THE PORTABLE CIRCULAR SAW [/collapse] 

Soldering Series

This series, which spanned several years in the Smith-Kettlewell Technical File (SKTF), describes how blind people do electrical soldering. Bill Gerrey, Editor of the SKTF, originally intended this series to be the beginning of a book on soldering and the techniques used by blind technicians. Since there are as many different soldering systems as there are fabrication processes and materials, the compilation of an exhaustive blind soldering tutorial would be a monumental undertaking. Since such a thorough tutorial has never been compiled, we offer the next best thing: Bill Gerrey's own experience and recommendations about blind soldering, along with the suggestions and input from avid readers and contributors to the SKTF.

The following links lead directly to the Soldering Series articles in the SKTF issues in which the articles originally appeared.

• Soldering I, (Fall 1980) 
• Soldering II, (Winter 1981)
• Soldering III: Tinning Stranded Wire, (Spring 1981)
• Soldering IV: Popular RF Connectors, (Winter 1982)
• Soldering V: RCA and Motorola Plugs, (Spring 1982)
• Soldering VI, (Spring 1984)
• Soldering VII: Resistance Soldering, (Fall 1984)
• JA3TBW Solder Guide, (Spring 1983)
• Soldering Kinks, (Fall, 1986)
• Vinther Fingertip Soldering Iron, (Winter 1987)
• Temperature Control Vinther Fingertip Soldering Iron, (Spring 1988)
• The Jameco XY168 Solder Station, (Summer 1988)