               Braille 'n Speak and Kurzweil Personal Reader
               Robert Carter, Ph.d.

                          Introduction

     By complying with the following instructions, you can transmit
all or part of the text that is read by the Kurzweil Personal
Reader directly to a Braille 'n Speak file.  This is particularly
useful to anyone who is using the KPR in a library or other public
setting because you can take a Braille 'n Speak copy of whatever
the KPR was reading upon leaving the library.  This text can, of
course, be edited or manipulated on the Braille 'n Speak in the
same ways that any Braille 'n Speak file can be worked with.  These
instructions are relevant only to the stand-alone Kurzweil Personal
Reader.  They do not apply to the PC-based KPR.

                       What You Will Need

     In addition to the BNS and KPR hardware, you will need the
Braille 'n Speak's interface cable and a universal null modem
adapter.  This adapter can either be purchased from Blazie
Engineering as part of their interface kit or as a single item.  It
can be found at many computer stores as well.  The serial ports on
the BNS and KPR are configured as Data Communications Equipment
(DCE) and without a universal null modem adapter they cannot
communicate with each other.

                     Step By Step Procedure

1. With the power turned off on all equipment, plug the small end
     of the BNS interface cable into the Braille 'n Speak's serial
     port.  This port is located on the left side of the BNS just
     in front of the round battery charger connector.  Plug the
     other end of the cable into the female side of the universal
     null modem adapter.  Plug the adapter and cable into the
     serial port on the back of the Kurzweil Personal Reader's
     Electronics Unit.  Note that this is a vertical female serial
     port located on the left side of the back of the Electronics
     Unit.  Do not get confused and try to plug the cable into the
     Automatic Scanner.

2. Power on the KPR's Electronics Unit.  When the system says "hand
     scanner input," locate the "keypad selection" key on the KPR's
     keyboard.  This will be the left most key on the second row
     from the bottom.  Press this key three times or until the KPR
     says "communications setup keypad."

3. Locate the "message" key. It is the second key from the left on
     the bottom row.  Hold this key down and listen to the KPR
     speak its current communications settings.  If it is set to
     the factory default settings, you will hear: "communications
     setup keypad; block serial output mode; speed is set at 9600
     baud; data word length is 8 bits; 1 stop bit; no parity;
     xon/xoff handshaking; end of line reported as carriage return
     line feed; end of paragraph not reported; end of column not
     reported; end of page reported as form feed."  Remember that
     it is necessary to press and hold down the message key to get
     all of this information.  For this interface to work, it is
     critical that baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, and
     handshaking are set to these default settings.  It is possible
     to use the keypad to change any of these settings
     individually.  An easier alternative is to reset the KPR back
     to its factory default settings.  To do this, locate the "save
     and restore settings" key.  It is the left most key on the
     third row from the bottom.  You can either press this key
     several times until the kpr says "restore factory
     communications settings.  Press the top left key on the keypad
     to confirm."  Or, you can hold down the large "backward shift"
     key (the bottom right key on the keyboard) and press the "save
     and restore settings" key once.  In either event, follow the
     KPR's instructions to confirm the restoration of factory
     settings by pressing the top left key on the keyboard. 
     Assuming that the Braille 'n Speak is set to the factory
     default settings, the interface will now work properly.  There
     are two changes that you may optionally wish to make to this
     setup.  By default, the KPR sends a carriage return linefeed
     pair at the end of each line.  You may wish to have it send
     only a carriage return since the BNS does not require a
     linefeed.  This can be changed by using the "line end markup"
     key, which is the top left key on the keypad.  Press this key
     until the kpr says "end of lines reported as carriage
     returns."  Finally, by default, the KPR is set to send user
     defined blocks of text out the serial port.  If you simply
     want everything to be sent as it is being read, change this
     default by using the "transmission mode" key.  This is the
     right most key on the third row from the bottom of the KPR's
     keyboard.  Press this key until the KPR says "continuous
     serial output mode."  Again, change this last setting only if
     you do not want to use the block transmission mode.

     Now you are ready to return to the KPR's reading keypad. 
     Locate the "keypad selection" key.  It is the left most key on
     the second row from the bottom.  Press it until the KPR says
     "reading keypad."

4. Power on the Braille 'n Speak and make certain that it is set to
     the factory default communications settings.  Do this by
     entering the status menu with chord-st; that is, dots 3 and 4
     along with the spacebar.  Use chord-a and chord-dot 4 to make
     sure that baud rate is set to 9600, data bits is set to 8,
     stop bits is set to 1, parity is set to no, and handshake is
     set to software.  Remember that in the status menu, numbers
     are entered in the lower part of the cell without a number
     sign.  Before exiting the status menu, locate the "serial port
     active" option and turn on the serial port with a letter "y." 
     Next enter a chord-e to exit the status menu.  Finally, open
     a new BNS file that will contain the text that is sent from
     the KPR.  Remember to make this file big enough to accommodate
     your text.  You can, of course, make the file bigger if
     necessary.  Answer no to the question about the grade two
     translator.  You will be working in computer braille with this
     interface.

5. The next step is to begin reading with the KPR.  If you are
     using the hand scanner, simply proceed.  If you are using the
     automatic scanner, you will need to select it.  Locate the
     "input device selection" key.  It is the second key from the
     left on the second row from the bottom.  Press this key until
     the KPR says "automatic scanner input." Keep pressing the key
     until you have the appropriate scanning mode for your document
     selected.  That is, either select "left side up," "right side
     up," or "autoflip" depending on your document.  Place your
     document on the scanner and press the scanner's "start" button
     to begin reading.

6. If you selected "continuous serial output mode" with the
     "transmission mode" key, as the KPR reads, data will be
     automatically transmitted to the BNS.  Note that only text and
     not messages from the KPR will be sent out the serial port.

     If you left the "transmission mode" key set to "block serial
     output mode", nothing will be transmitted as reading takes
     place.  In this mode, it is necessary to use the KPR's
     "reading keypad" to block whatever portion of the text you
     wish to transfer to the BNS.  A detailed discussion of how to
     use the keypad is beyond the scope of this document.  See the
     KPR manual for complete details.  In brief, however, you will
     need to use the keypad to locate the beginning of the text to
     be transmitted.  Once this is done, press the "text marking"
     key. It is the second key from the left on the third row from
     the bottom.  Press this key until the KPR says "set mark." 
     The KPR is now waiting for you to tell it which mark to set. 
     You can use any of the eight keys on the top two rows of the
     keyboard.  The top left key is considered mark 1 and the right
     most key on the second row is considered mark 8.  Remember
     which mark you set at this time.  Next, move the KPR speech
     cursor to the end of the block of text that you wish to
     transmit.  Go back to the "text marking" key and press it
     until you hear "transmit from mark."  The KPR is now waiting
     for you to press whichever key you used when setting the mark. 
     The KPR will transmit the text and will tell you when it is
     finished.  You can now mark other sections of text and
     transmit them to the BNS in the same way.  When all desired
     text has been stored on the BNS, remember to deactivate the
     Braille 'n Speak's serial port.

     As mentioned earlier, even though this file was not created
     using the bns keyboard, it is now identical to any other bns
     file.  This means that it can be edited, printed, and saved on
     disk just like all other Braille 'n Speak files.