Baofeng UV-3R: Scribd Manual

Someone uploaded the Baofeng UV-3R User's Manual to Scribd, so I thought I would include it here as well as the UV-5R manual.

Vero VR-2200

I got this e-mail from Vero Telecom and others have asked me about the VR-2200, but I don't really know anything about it. Anyone?

"Dear valued customer,Many thanks for your continuous attention!Now, we would like to show you our new products in this year! These products with best value,powerful functions and excellent performance. We have confidence that they will come to be the hottest sellings in current market!

Need offer? Contact us! Need quantity and accessories? We have them in stock!Click here to learn more information about them!"

Men are from Wikipedia and Women are from Pinterest

MarcusLilley 87% of contributors to Wikipedia are male and 87% of Pinterest users are female, startling stat #ftmedia12Wed, Mar 07 09:13:05 from TweetDeck retweeted by tim

At a Price

I will often pay for convenience, but I think I will skip this one.

Powerwerx New Item: Wouxun Software on 2GB USB Flash Drive. Includes drivers, programming software, user manuals for all models bit.ly/xfc1z3Wed, Mar 07 13:15:31 from web

11 or II?

wesrucker247 RT @DesertVol: @wesrucker247 It's obvious now the preseason voters were using Roman numerals: II instead of 11 for UT.Sun, Mar 04 13:53:20 from TweetDeck

The New iPad

andrewchen pro tip: want to order the ipad3? Skip the website and use the "Apple Store" app insteadWed, Mar 07 15:05:11 from web

Baofeng UV-3R: Extreme Modding

I'm not sure if I should compare this to working with Legos, AR building, or customizing a Fast & Furious type Japanese sports car, but RDS_6 went all out with his mods on the UV-3R:

1. Added 47pF missing capacitor to VHF LPF. Improved VHF 2nd harmonic
suppression by 12dB.
2. Added 0.001uF (i.e., 1nF) capacitor from PTT line to ground. Solved PTT
lock-up problem with external mic.
3. Changed R13 in path from RDA1486 transceiver chip to LM4890 AF amp chip from
10K to 33K. To reduce RX audio volume.
4. Changed R10 in path from pin 27 of MC81F8616L MCU to LM4890 AF amp chip from
100K to 1M. To reduce beep volume.
5. Added 1mm thick pad of non-woven polyester fibers between internal mic rubber
boot and front housing. To reduce mic sensitivity and to reduce wind noise.
6. Added 15K chip resistor across internal electret mic element. To reduce
internal mic sensitivity and prevent RDA1486 transceiver chip from overdriving
and limiting/distorting TX audio.
7. Built quarter-wave (i.e., 19.5 inch (495mm)) antenna from 20-gauge (0.032")
music wire. To replace unimpressive dual-band antenna that came with the radio
when I bought it used.
8. Added quarter-wave (i.e., 19.5 inch (495mm)) counterpoise of 22-gauge
stranded wire. To further improve antenna.
9. Bought Body Glove universal cell phone pouch 170-5997 (CRC91777) for $2.97
clearance price at Radio Shack. To protect and carry radio.
10. Punched holes in the cell phone pouch for internal microphone and speaker.
To be able to use radio with internal mic and speaker while in pouch.
11. Bought UltraLast UL-NP60 (230-0485) 1100mAH lithium-ion batteries for $1.97
clearance price at Radio Shack. To have extra batteries at almost no cost.
12. Used only the radio's internal charging circuit, not the external tray
charger, to charge the batteries. To ensure the radio's LTC4054 lithium-ion
battery charge controller chip is managing battery charging.

NoteSlate

Since the new iPad was announced yesterday, I thought I would check on our old friend the "too good to be true" NoteSlate. The last update on their blog was more than a year ago (17 FEB 2011) and no new tweets in months, so still vaporware.

I know I declared it dead, but I can't help still hoping.

Server Names

Fun stuff going on over at Slashdot in a post about how to name servers. I greatly prefer a combination of location and function for my server names. A couple of comments did make me laugh - they hit a little too close to home.

From MightyMartian we have:

"Indeed. After years of enduring networks with servers with tree names or GI Joe character names, when it came for me to come up with names for my servers and other network devices, I came up with functional names that describe physical locations, departments, functions, and so forth. That way I have a descriptive network rather than trying to remember which one of the Power Rangers the last IT guy liked the best."

And from Dave Emami we get:

"The Naming of Servers is a serious matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games.
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you a server has three different names...

... those being DNS entry, IP, and the one which "the server itself knows, and never will confess."

Game Of Thrones Season 2: "Power And Grace" Trailer

About 20 days out now...