Monday, November 26, 2012

Two Years of Brick O'Lore

I missed the actual two year anniversary on the 14th, but this is close enough for government work.

Not too much has changed since last year's review.

I still don't have an AR (but I do have two lowers!) or an M&P9. I've not been shooting in a long time.

I rarely even turn on the ham radios - partly because my KG-UVD1P that I was using in the car has died. Anyone know anything about a good, cheap Chinese mobile radio I could buy? (HA!) I did spend a little time with WSPR, but would like to invest some more. I haven't even cracked the book for the Extra Class exam.

I ran a marathon this year. I'm just crazy enough to think about doing another one. The bad news is I would need to start training now for an April race. Ugh.

I'm also getting a lot more involved at church. One week, between services, meetings, and fellowship, we were there four days out of the week.

Between family, exercising, church, work, and blogging; my days tend to be pretty full.

The radio posts are still the most popular, but that doesn't stop me from posting about anything I find interesting or funny. The blog has had 539,362 page views since I started it - around 112,000 in 2011 and 427,000 in 2012. I posted less in 2012 - 727 vs 856 in 2011 for a total of 1,583. SaysUncle is still the single largest referring URL thanks to a story about ninjas (of all things!). Makes me think I should resell radios under a zombie ninja brand.

The most popular post (15,555 views) is about the software for the Baofeng UV-3R Software. Given the endless discussion on the Yahoo groups about how to get the software to work with your Baofeng/Wouxun KG-whatever or UV-xxx, this really isn't a surprise. I think almost all of this traffic is driven via searches.

Given so much of my traffic is via search, the biggest surprise for me this year has been the jump in my RSS subscribers. Last time I checked, I think there were about 8. I could even account for half of those - me, my wife, probably Linoge, etc. I looked and found I have 100 subscribers - wow! I was and am floored. Thanks so much for reading my ramblings. If any of my RSS subscribers would do me a favor, please leave a comment on this post - anonymous is fine. I'm just curious as to how many people actually follow and would read a long post like this one.

Goals for next year... I need to build at least one of the lowers in to an actual rifle. I want to get my Extra Class license. I'd like to run a sub 20 minute 5k.

I will close the same way as I did last year...

Thanks for reading!

10 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Not sure why I came here originally, probably something related to the wouxun mobile.

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    2. Thanks for commenting - and visiting. So far you are my favorite subscriber!

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  2. RSS subscriber. Signed on about 1 year ago when I earned my Tech ticket. Use Google Reader to check your posts, and then hit the website to follow all the links. Found your site from a Baofeng search I believe. I own a UV-3R and a UV-5R original design. I enjoy about 99% of your posts. What I don't like is you not firing up a radio, even just to listen. The 5R with a non-oem antenna works nicely sitting in a cup holder in the car. :-)

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    1. Okay, you've shamed me into grabbing the UV-5R and putting it in the car. I will even order a battery eliminator for it this evening.

      Thanks for commenting and reading!

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    2. Have you been waiting to install a Wouxun/Anytone mobile or just have no interest in a permanent install in the car?

      I want it for 50w since I live in the Nevada desert and can get out of cell phone/5w HT range without too much trouble.

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    3. Yes - putting the KG-UVD1P was just a stop gap. But, it was an upgrade to tossing the Yaesu VX-3R in the car - it moves around in the cup-holder too much. I kept waiting for the mobile - and waiting and waiting. Until it stopped, the Wouxun worked great. With the WB4GBI repeaters (the 470 and the 940 specifically), an HT had enough power to meet my needs. I have a mag mount antenna that is a big help, too. http://www.brickolore.com/2011/01/quick-look-at-my-mobile-rig.html

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    4. I have an external Larsen NMO dual band hooked to me KG-UVD1P in the truck and I get good range, but it is a bit of a hassle. Someday I'll have a mobile, someday.

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  3. This is the 2nd RSS reading Brian checking in, and your reviews of the Chinese HT's also brought me in. I don't read all of your posts as well, but for those I bother to review they are always well written and informative.

    PS, Did you ever get your hands on the PX-888k, I am strongly considering these over the UV-5R based on its signaling features. Just curious to hear your take on it.

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    1. Thanks for posting and reading! Also, thanks for reminding me about the PX-888K. I had forgotten about it and missed Hans first review of it once he got it in his hands. I made some notes and will have a post tonight about what I know. The short of it - if you don't have a problem with the TX audio being muffled, then you've got a great radio for a better price than the KG-UVD1P!

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