SYTYCD

So I admit it. I like So You Think You Can Dance. I've never had much interest in dancing, but this show has been very entertaining and I have been amazed by the athleticism of the dancers. Last week the episode included a mom who was trying to balance her family and her dream of dancing. That alone was a touching story, but then her little girl got on stage and was dancing. It was so cute, I thought I might have to give up my man card for liking it so much. The episode also included this guy doing what he called "exorcist style." I thought it was going to be really weird, but it turned out to be very powerful. You don't see it in the video, but the dancer himself was humbled and moved to tears by the response from the judges and the crowd.

I didn't need to worry about my man card as this week's episode included this young lady demonstrating aerial pole dancing. (Unfortunately, not in the video.) She is clearly a very talented dancer.

Note: I was going to embed the videos, but the Fox embed code is very lame. For one, it auto-plays. Boo. Also, I embedded two videos, but it just plays the same video in both boxes. I never understand why people want to make things overly complex. Don't they want me to share the content and promote their show?

TYT TH-9800: Dual/Quad Band Mobile

I'm finally getting around to doing a real post about the TYT TH-9800.

First, I do not see it listed on the TYT website.

The KC2RA site posted some info about the TH-9800 when they did the review of Chinese mobiles.

Kight Radio does have it listed, but labels the radio as a dual band mobile. It hints at a surprise and suggests reviewing the spec sheet where the frequency ranges are 28.000 - 29.700, 50.000 - 54.000, 144.000 - 148.000, 430.000 - 450.000. Also, on the 25 MAY 2012 update from Kight Radio, they report the TH-9800 will also have "AM Reecieve on the Aircraft band."

Andrews Communications Systems has the TH-9800 listed on their site with an expected price of less than $499 AUD/$485 USD. Given a price in that ballpark and the quad band capabilities, this would not appear to be a direct competitor to the KG-UV920R. This picture on the Andrews site doesn't look anything like the others below.

This post on the TYT-USA Yahoo Group mentions a unit at Dayton. Martyn (K4TEC) gives a little more detail:

"Re the Quad Band mobile transceiver, this is still under development, a dummy rig was seen at Dayton, Sam (from TYT China) let one float around, this will be an exciting rig and a good price but it is not going to be available until very late in the year if at all this year."

From the 21 MAY 2012 update, Kight Radio also talks about a unit that they had, but it was the dual band. They do specifically mention that the TH-9800 should ship in October. Image from Kight Radio:

Earlier in the month, Nate pointed out in the comments that there could be some photoshop action going on in the TYT TH-9800 Dual/Quad band - a Yaesu FT-8800R screen? It doesn't mean the radio is fake by any stretch as I can image the marketing designer grabbing something convenient to complete the image.

For what might be the single band versions of these radios, there is already Type 90 acceptance by the FCC (ID: X24-MOBILE-V). Again back to the pictures, nothing matches so I don't know what to expect. This is the picture that is linked to the TH-9800VHF documents on the FCC site.

I've copied the features list from Sparky's blog here. He mentions a price of $375 - $450 USD and says it will be available "Winter 2012." I'm not sure of his source, so I am leaning towards Kight's price and date, since he talks about going to China and seeing the various manufacturers and sellers.

Features:

• Outstanding 0.2uV sensitivity across 10m/6m/2m/70cm bands

• Brilliant crossmodulation, intermodulation rejection and strong signal performance – similar to commercial radios!

• Commercial quality and commercial performance, too!

• 256 memory channels

• DTMF mic included!

• Digital FM broadcast band radio

• High/low output power levels

• Reverse frequency selection

• Dual (V/U) squelch set levels

• Dual repeater offsets selectable

• Multi-function scanning

• Repeater offset selectable

• Keypad lock function

• Channel name editing

• CTCSS/DCS encode/decode

• Dual Band/Dual Receive: (Full Duplex)

• Cross Band Repeat

• TX Power: 5-50 Watts

• Memories: 256

• Antenna Connection: Two SO (UHF)

For the quad-bander, two antenna connections makes a lot more sense.

Given the lessons of the KG-UV920R, I'm not going to hold my breath for this one either.

Revisions

I've not been tracking the TYT TH-UVF1, but I did notice that people are now getting a TH-UVF1A. I wish all the manufacturers would make it that easy to identify the newer revisions of their radios.

Chinese Radio - Ham Users Group

Kight Radio has started a web forum for Chinese Radios at http://www.chinaradiousers.com/. You never know if these things will take off. The Yahoo Groups have a lot of traction, but these radios are so popular I think there is plenty of room for more ways to discuss the crush of ham radios that are making their way out of China.

How To Make Money Blogging

An interesting read that says monetizing your site isn't the hard part any more. There are plenty of off-the-shelf solutions. All you need is 100 million active users. I'm no Uncle, so I'm a little short of that number.

Big Apple Says Bye to Big Gulp

Just like guns laws don't prevent criminals from getting guns, banning large, sugary drinks won't keep obese people from drinking lots of calories. I say let's just ban everything, but water.

Welcome to the nanny state.

RT Systems Advanced Radio Programming Software

I know it comes with a cable, but $50 is expensive when you could just use CHIRP to cover the basic programming functions.

Powerwerx New Item: RT Systems Advanced Radio Programming Software for KG-UV3D. Many improvements over the factory software! bit.ly/JCB6Sn Fri, May 25 17:22:20 from web

Powerwerx New Item: RT Systems Advanced Radio Programming Software for KG-UV6X. Many improvements over the factory software! bit.ly/KRq6j8 Sun, May 27 17:50:05 from web

TYT TH-UVF9: Unboxing

Water

The article is spread out over a hundred pages to boost their hit count, so I will save you the trouble of reading The Worst Drinks for Your Body:

Drink water.

Business 3.0

The goal used to be to "cut out the middleman." Now the middleman is a requirement.

The End of An Era

No More Rick Rolls.

12 Signs You Need An Internet Break

12 Signs You Need An Internet Break... #10 hits a little too close to home.

TYT TH-UVF9: Now Available

Kight Radio has updated their site today with the news that they are taking orders for the TH-UVF9:

"The TYT TH-UVF9 4 watt HT is Available Now. We have these in stock in our China warehouse and all orders will be shipped from China until we receive stock in the USA Office. If you want one NOW, you can order and delivery time is about 7 - 10 days from China. We should have stock in the US Office in about 2 weeks. I will be adding specs and more pictures today to the site."

The site says out of stock, but has the note about shipping directly from China. Link here, but I cannot see the price on the product page. It is only on the main page: $89.95.

Import Communications

I just saw this note on Ed's Import Communications website:

"Wouxun.US is my domain name. It is not connected with Wouxun-China other than the fact I sell over 500 Wouxun radios per month.

China does not like the fact that other brands of radios are associated with this web site.

Any questions about products on this site should be directed to info@wouxun.us or info@importcommunications only."

I assumed that the name change from Wouxun.us to Import Communications was driven by Ed's desire to sell more brands with a more generic web site/company name. It never occurred to me that Wouxun/China wouldn't like seeing the Baofeng and TYT along side the Wouxun radios. Duh.

Kight Radio - Post Dayton Updates

More updates from Kight Radio posted on 21 May 2012:

"We are back from a long trip to Dayton. We have the TYT Dual Band Mobile now (This was displayed at Dayton Hamvention) I will be taking pictures of it in the morning and then its going back to TYT in China. Thank you TYT for letting us have this to show at Dayton. (TYT was happy to supply the Dual band Mobile, Wouxun was not interested in having theirs on display ???)"

I'm not sure which specific model he is referring to when he says the "TYT Dual Band Mobile." I thought the TH-9000 was a single band radio. The TYT TH-9800 is supposed to be the quad band mobile. He mentions it below. I need to finish my post about the TH-9800. I spent a few minutes looking and didn't see the dual-band pictures on his site either.

I thought there might be some news from Ed about the Wouxun KG-UV920R - I was predicting that he would have a demo unit. Based on the current chatter (here and here), no response from Ed (to his credit he is usually really good about engaging with the on-line community), and comments like the above, maybe we should be looking at TYT or Vero for the amazing value in mobile rigs.

"We also had the New TYT Th-UVF9 4 watt HT. Ed and I both have one and testing it now. This will be available within a couple weeks. I will post detailed pictures of it on this site in the morning. I will also post the New Specs for the TYT mobile too on the catalog page. They added AM receive coverage for the Air Band. This F9 HT does have the dot matrix readout."

Air band. Cool. Dot matrix readout. Also cool. I don't see the pictures and specs on the catalog page. Maybe I need some glasses or more coffee.

"TYT DUAL BAND MOBILE expected to ship in October. This is the mobile to watch for ... its actually a Quad Band Mobile covering 10, 6, 144 and 440. The other Chinese mobiles are only 144 and 440. Those of you that have waited for the Wouxun mobile should wait for the TYT first before buying one."

Earlier in the month, Nate pointed out in the comments that there could be some photoshop action going on in the TYT TH-9800 Dual/Quad band - a Yaesu FT-8800R screen? It doesn't mean the radio is fake by any stretch as I can image the marketing designer grabbing something convenient to complete the image. At least there is hard date for availability - October.

I'll keep looking and see if he posts any additional information.

Really Worth

I think this applies to ham radios, too.

If I die, someone please...

DIY Arduino

It almost seems like EXTREME DIY!! hacking when you build your own Arduino.

Ham Radio Deluxe

I've given up on trying to keep tabs on Ham Radio Deluxe. There has been way too much drama since the new owners took over. The transition has been a little bumpy to say the least. The Yahoo Group has been flooded with complaints about the pricing and bugs in the newer releases. It seems to have brought out the worst in some hams. From a development perspective, it appears they took the classic "ready, fire, aim" approach.

I expect that things will level out and some lessons learned will make things smoother going forward, but hold on to your hats for now.

4,000+ Android Devices

Wow. More than 4,000 different devices are running Android. Contrast that with a few models of iPhones and iPads.

Baofeng UV-5R: Type 90 Accepted

Chris (NH7QH Radio Supplies) sent me a note saying that the Baofeng UV-5R is now Type 90 accepted by the FCC. He says he has them on order and will be selling them soon.

Quansheng TG-UV2: CHIRP Support

Looks like CHIRP support for the TG-UV2 may not happen in the immediate future:

"Dan replied to my inquiry with the following: " It depends on the radio, of course, but if it is going to happen, it would take less than a week of development time. "

He didn't venture when that week might occur. And that tiny word "if" looms large.

Ian"

I didn't see a way to vote/show support for a particular radio on Dan's site. He's doing this for free, so whatever he decides to do next is clearly up to him. As a quick data point, the relative Yahoo Group memberships are:

TG-UV2 - 431
UV-5R - 1,126
UV-3R - 3,118

[Updated June 29, 2012 - I meant Quansheng not TYT.]

TYT TH-UV3R: Giveaway

AmateurRadio.com and Import Communications are at it again. This time they are giving away a TYT TH-UV3R. Click on over for rules and details.

Stay On Call

My world...

Yaesu FT-1D

I'm gonna have to do a little research on this one... I'm behind the curve.

moleculo A leaked Yaesu fT-1D P25 digital HT photo: bit.ly/JeMTlN #hamrWed, May 09 13:23:57 from TweetDeck

TYT TH-UV3R: Shipping May 15

Ed will be shipping the TYT TH-UV3R radios beginning May 15. He's got them here for $65 + $7 shipping in red or black. He also mentions that:

"Display will be regular LCD, not dot-matrix.
(Disappointing news; takes away from its coolness factor.)"

I agree with him. Is there anything else (keypad?) that makes this radio standout now?

And early adopters should be aware the specs say (emphasis mine):

"2.5 kHz Tuning Step (this feature will be added to later model)
DTMF -- CTCSS -- DCS (DTMF feature will be added to later model)"

SDR Game Changer?

I think the Baofeng SDRs have been a game changer, but let's see what FlexRadio Systems rolls out at Dayton on the higher end of the scale.

Spoons Are Evil!

Funny protest picture of the day.

Via Uncle

Strength

Recently a friend of my family lost an 11 year battle with cancer. At the celebration of life service, the bishop spoke of this friend's ability to savor life. He had the strength to fight the cancer and continue to do all the things he loved - support the church, the Pride of the Southland marching band, and the Boy Scouts in addition to being a father, husband, and a lawyer.

We see examples of this sort of strength all the time - including this 12 year old boy who fought cancer almost all of his life. You see the strength in the individual, but also reflected in the actions of those around them like the Marines in the story.

It gives me hope.

Link via Uncle

Baofeng UV-5R: Extreme Receive Modification

[ Don't have a UV-5R yet? Get one here. ]

Alvin and b1gslacker have been editing the .dat file to expand the receive frequencies of the UV-5R. As usual the results are a big of a mixed bag given the limitation of the hardware and software involved. Steve, WB8GRS, details the limiting factors:

"There are two components (the DSP and MCU chips) in the UV-5R that determine the band limits.

 1. The RDA1846 DSP chip is the chip that generates all the transmit and receive functions and it specifies the band limit as follows.

134 MHz to 174 MHz200 MHz to 260 MHz400 MHz to 500 MHz

This information is provided in the RDA1846 documentation in the file area. Many have reported the UV-5R will operate outside of these band limit on the 134 to 174 and 400 to 500 MHz bands (no one has reported any success using the UV-5R on the 222 MHz band), so my guess is the above band limits are not "hard coded" in the DSP chip, but are just guaranteed band limits and in fact some chips may operate outside these band limits to some degree.

2. The MCU which I believe is a custom version of the EM78P568-44 microprocessor tells the DRA1846 DSP chip what frequency to tune. If the MCU does not send the correct commands to the DSP chip the right frequency will not be received or transmitted. If for example you load in a 222 MHz frequency, the DSP chip is capable of receiving and transmitting on 222 MHz, but only if the MCU provides the correct commands to the DSP chip. If the MCU does not provide the correct commands, the display may should the correct frequency, but the DSP chip is doing nothing. Even if the MCU send the correct commands to the DSP chip, the RF pre-amplifiers and RF amplifiers external to the DSP chip are not designed to operate on the 222 MHz band so even if the DSP chip was commands correctly by the MCU, the power output and receiver sensitivity would likely be very bad."

b1gslacker gives the details of how to make the change here. The usual warnings apply - do this at your own risk.

"For those of you who would like to attempt to destroy your brand new shiny UV-5R, here are the instructions for "slightly modifying" CHIRP to accept frequencies WAY outside of the manufacturers recommended operating boundaries. These instructions are for windows XP only (but will probably work for others also)

1) Download the UV5R.pyc file in the files section.

2) Using your favourite zip utility (I recommend winrar) open the library.zip file located in your C:\Program Files\CHRIP\ directory (location may slightly differ based on your flavour of windows, but you get the idea).3) Delete the UV5R.pyo file from the zip4) Add the UV5R.pyc file5) Save the modified library.zip

I know that your thinking, but if you don't understand the instructions, you should definitely not be trying this, so don't even ask.

Now that you have installed the "ever so slightly enhanced" version of the UV5R CHIRP module you should be able to program frequencies between 10MHz-999MHz in the CHIRP application.
NOTE: Even if the radio accepts the frequency and displays it on the LCD display, this does not mean that the radio will actually work on that frequency (in fact we do know that there are definitely limits)"

The Math Must Work

Verizon won't waive a $30 fee, so they lose the long term revenue stream worth much more than that. On the face of it, this makes no sense. I can only assume for every person that leaves Verizon there are more than enough people that will just pay the $30 to offset the other lose. It is tough being one of the few that want to fight against silly policies that are not logical, but may make financial sense to Gigantic Corps.

Favorite HT?

Rob Law, MW0DNK: Icom IC-E92D – Why This Is My ‘Staple’ Handheld

I really like my Yaesu VX-3R because of its size and ability to receive on so many frequencies.

Could You Go Offline for a Year?

Could You Go Offline for a Year? Yes. I could also go without electricity or air conditioning, but why in the world would I want to do that? I remember my early days at work where we either figured something out, found the answer in a thick manual, or got in a queue with tech support. Now I can google an answer faster than I could try one thing, find the manual, or dial the support number.

Just Try

A dead last finish is greater than a did not finish.
But a did not finish trumps did not start.

Khaleesi the Dragon

Someone at the zoo is reading George R. R. Martin...  Khaleesi the Komodo dragon debuts today at the Knoxville Zoo.

Running

If it hurts, run faster.

The pain won't go away, but you will be done sooner.

Updates from Kight Radio - TYT and Baofeng

Kight Radio updates from 05 May 2012:

"Great News - The TYT TH-UV3R is in stock and shipping. I have been using one for the past 2 weeks and I love it. The size is about the same size as the Baofend UV3 but construction is much stronger."

 "The New TH-UVF9 Dual Band HT (4 watts) will be available soon. I will have 2 of these to test within the next week and I will update everyone on this new radio. I have pictures posted on this site."

This is the first I've heard of the TH-UVF9. Here is the link to the listing. No price yet on this dual band, dual display 4 W unit. He does mention he will have one at Dayton.

"Baofeng UV5 - They report that the problems have been fixed and shipping the updated ones now. We will wait to test them and then release them to sell at that time. If ordering from other companies you might want to wait until they get rid of their old inventory before ordering."

Amazing how quickly they can respond with fixes. They are getting a lot of free testing from the hams that are early adopters.

"Just in case your wondering, the Baofeng UV5 looks like a TYT radio however it is not. TYT did not sell or mft the radios for them, They simply took TYT's case design and copied it. There have been some questions on who makes the TYT radios for them .... TYT is the MFG!"

I am beginning to think the cases are a core competency for China. They can make copies faster than anyone and in any color you like.

Marathon

Mile 20: I thought I was dead.
Mile 22: I wished I was dead.
Mile 24: I knew I was dead.

Mile 26.2: I knew I had become too tough to kill.

Joggers and Runners

Joggers bounce up and down at stop lights.

Runners just stand there looking pissed.

H555: Colorful?

An anonymous comment sent me to eBay to check out the H555. I like being able to pick different colors for my radios, but these just don't do it for me.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Dayton Appearance?

In response to a post on the Wouxun KG-UVD1 group, Ed said this about the KG-UV920R:

I would say, don't give up yet. If you happen to be at Dayton this year, stop
by North Hall spaces 175-176.

Regards,
Ed Griffin
www.Wouxun.US

I'm guessing that means a demo unit, but nothing for sale. Not sure why Ed is choosing to be vague. If he is under an NDA then he is dancing near the line. If he isn't, I don't see what it would hurt to say either he has a demo or that he will have them for sale.

Long Live the Runner!

WIREDInsider Study reveals joggers live five years longer: bit.ly/JKzbZ8Sat, May 05 13:21:19 from SocialOomph

Cloud Storage

Lifehacker has a good comparison of the various cloud storage options. Also via Lifehacker, Otixo provides a tool for unified management of all your cloud storage. I'm still developing my own strategy for where I put my files. Since I have 25 GB with SkyDrive, it is in the lead, but I use lots of Google services. Clients might be the tipping point since I would like to have Windows, Android, and iOS.

Priorities

More people have mobile phones than electricity or drinking water. I would assume part of the reason is it is harder to run big pipes than a little wire to some towers.

QuanSheng TG-UV2: Unboxing Video

I usually have the sound muted when I watch the 409Shop videos, but noticed they've jazzed this one up.

QuanSheng TG-UV2

Not a Dual Band Chinese Mobile Part 2

The Ten-Tec 539 QRP Transceiver gets a little closer to shipping. An update from Ten-Tec via the QRPer:

"We will have a fully functional 539 on display at Dayton. Pre-orders at Dayton? I don’t think I will be confident enough on a real ship date yet to be able to take orders at Dayton. I don’t want to take orders at Dayton, promise a ship date, and then have it delayed for parts reasons."

Not a Dual Band Chinese Mobile

If it was a certain dual band Chinese mobile, it wouldn't actually be shipping.

moleculo Just got word that the 1st #Elecraft KX3 kit is shipping for field test tomrw. I suppose I should have mine next week if all is well #hamrTue, May 01 19:50:01 from TweetDeck

Gun Tips for Writers

Avoid the Glock safety mistake.

No Blake Lewis

andrewchen awesome beatboxing app: INCREDIBOX bit.ly/IwpdKhMon, Apr 30 15:01:09 from Timely by Demandforce

Pretty fun app, but you can't quite do this.