New Kid on the Block

There is a new kid on the block making waves in the stock market. International Business Machines is about to pass Microsoft to become number two in market capitalization. I think the company makes typewriters or something. Wait, that can't be right.

Human Antenna

A neat article about using the human body as an antenna to control your lights, HVAC, or even act as a remote control.

"The experiments showed that electromagnetic noise is so predictable that it can be used it to figure out where a person is standing, what the person is doing, and even where a hand is placed on a wall. The team used a simple sensor that was essentially just a piece of metal, but Morris said that ultimately a sensor could be placed in the user's hand or anywhere else that the radio signals being picked up by the body can be gathered."

It wasn't what I was expecting based on the headline... I was hoping to run full legal power through my fingers to make contacts on 80M. Okay, that's unreasonable. How about 40M QRP?

Via AdaFruit

Baofeng UV-3R: A French Perspective

I took several years of French in high school and college, so I will take a shot at translating F5IYJ's quick review.

"BAOFENG UV-3R: a Y***u VX-3R for 38 of those European Dollars?

I found a small VHF/UHF transceiver (1.85" x 3.19" x 91" - the same measurements as the VX-3R), that delivers 2W, comes with VHF and UHF antennas (SMA adapter), a charger (French adapter) and base, belt clip, and strap [BRICK - process of elimination to get strap, since I know what is in the box] - see pictures.

For the price equal to a certain national brand will sell you a house [BRICK - that can't be right], I now have made several contacts on the local repeaters [BRICK - some guessing here].

It has 1750Hz and CDTSS/DCS which is indispensable for me because I am often in the US.

Briefly, for 38 Euros, a no brainer [BRICK - my wife said it was litteraly "no idea"]. The same Yaesu brand costs 200 Euroes with accessories here."

I checked my work on Google Translate. Yeah, "housse" is a bag. That was fun.

Baofeng UV-3R: Battery & AA Battery Case 2

Today, I got the AA battery case that is based on the Yaesu FBA-37 and should fit the Baofeng UV-3R. I already had a Yaesu case, so I am comparing it to the cheap eBay version. I hate to give away the surprise, but you get what you pay for... The $21 FBA-37 is clearly better made than the $10 eBay version.

The eBay case (right) had a film all over it. It wiped off easily, but it looked like it came from a dirty plant.


The Yaesu (left) is much better engineered. On the eBay case (right), the metal strips that run between the contacts are just roughly covered with some plastic tape.


Here is the eBay case on my VX-3R. It is hard to tell in the photo, but there is a gap along the side where it does not fit well. I think the batteries do not sit flush against the base of the case and this keeps it from close snugly.


As usual, once I get the actual Baofeng UV-3R, I will update when I try this case on it.

Previously Baofeng UV-3R: Battery & AA Battery Case

Baofeng UV-3R: My Orders

So far I've placed three orders from RadioShop888 for the radio, AA battery case, and the USB programming cable. I got the battery case today. I'll update as the others arrive.

UV-3R
Ordered May 6
Shipped May 6

FBA-37 (AA Battery Case)
Ordered May 11
Shipped May 11
Delivered May 18

USB Programming Cable
Ordered May 14 (Sat)
Shipped May 16

Gun Expert

Unless I missed an announcement about a completely restyled Walther P22 I think someone got copy and paste happy.

WB4GBI 147.075 Repeater is Down

Tim's 147.075 repeater is down because it is causing interference with W4KEV's 145.370 repeater. Repeater owner's are a special breed - donating their expertise, time, and money to provide a service for other hams. Tim may be in a class all his own. I'd like to have a fraction of his radio knowledge.

Speaking of Tim, he is going to be a guest speaker at tomorrow's Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville (RACK) meeting. Oddly enough, W4KEV will be there, too. Maybe they are going to duke it out!

Unintentionally Funny

The Katy Perry loving football player reminded me of another unintentionally funny guy... Season 1 Winner of the Last Comic Standing Dat Pahn.

"The plan was to play hide-and-seek. Ralphie, reading his book, said that he'd read three pages more and then seek. At the "go" signal, everyone left the room -- and everyone but Dat came back right away. Dat took off like a bullet down the corridor. "I don't know how fast he thinks Ralphie is," Dave told the camera, "but he was just a streak." Ultimately, Dat landed in a hiding place in their theater, under the curtain.

What followed was mean. Juvenile. Cruel, almost. But absolutely drop-down hysterically funny. I laughed even harder than I did at last week's rat-hunt. The mainstay of the comics stayed in the living room, playing cards or just hanging out, while Dat hid and a graphic displayed how long he was there. Four minutes. Ten minutes. At 17 minutes he whispered to the camera, "Here's the thing. When he comes up, he's going to see you point that at me, and I'm dead. So point it somewhere else."

At 19 minutes, Dave narrated in a deadpan manner that it's been about 19 minutes that Dat has successfully hidden from Ralphie, and that Ralphie was intent on finding him. Cut to Ralphie intently and solemnly reading his book and everyone else collapsing in laughter.

At 23 minutes, Dat muttered that this was taking forever. Tess said in interview that at first she'd thought that they should get him out, but later changed her mind to leaving him for an hour, saying an hour would be enough time for him to think about how much he'd been stressing her out. (What is it about Dat?)

At 42 minutes, Dat said that he was trying to pretend there was an axe murder in the house who'd chop him to pieces if he knew his whereabouts, so he was trying to stay silent.

At 53 minutes Dat left his hiding place. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?" he asked. Cory explained that Ralphie looked everywhere. "You had the best hiding place."

At last they told him the joke, and roared with laughter."

What I remember next is Dat telling the other comics that he would never play with them again. I about fell on the floor laughing. I really don't think he had any idea how funny that statement was.

I did not enjoy the other seasons nearly as much as the original. It is hard to top Rich Vos and Dave Mordal bathes, Rich's interviews while ironing, and Ralphie May's girlfriend.

Life Lesson: Cinder Block Bars

Never stop for a beer at a cinder block bar with no windows.

No More Social Security Statements

So the government is going to save $70 million a year by ending the practice of mailing out annual social security statements. (One more nail in the USPS coffin!) My church also went through a similar exercise. First, they asked members to sign up for the electronic version and stop receiving one via postal mail. Secondly, they cut the newsletter mailing to every other week. So we get the same information - just in a different format and schedule.

If you read the article, the SSA is not providing any sort of on-line reporting tool as a replacement. Since the data exists electronically, one would think they could take part of the savings and build a system. They do provide an on-line estimator, but it wouldn't even recognize that I existed.