107 Days

I missed it by a little, but good news anyway... you have now worked enough days (107) to pay your taxes for the year. You can now use the rest to buy frivolous things like food and shelter.

Macs Stink

Despite what some will tell you, Macs stink and stink some more.

And they smell, too.

(I really don't have any problems with Macs - I just cannot let go of the statement by a co-worker at a sister company that they are "impervious" to viruses.)

Baofeng UV-5R: Off Frequency Receive Problem?

There have been more than a few reports of an off frequency receive problem (here, here, here, here, here, and there).

Remco, PA3FYM, did some testing and had no problems with his UV-5R. Full results here.

"Hans [1] asked me to measure the frequency accurary of my Baofeng UV-5R too, because some people claim the UV-5R being 'off frequency'. I assumed that the transmit frequency is an indicator for the PLL accuracy for both RX and TX, as I did not open the UV-5R to measure the local oscillator frequency itself. Measurements with a HP-5326A (yes, nixie tubes! ;-) and a homebrew prescaler, in conjunction with a calibrated rubidium standard as time base, revealed the following results (sample time: 10 sec, accuracy 10 Hz):

UV-5R display        frequency
145.000 (MHz)      145.000.040 MHz       (+ 40 Hz)
432.000 (MHz)      431.999.930 MHz       (- 70 Hz)

My UV-5R frequency accurary @145 and 432 MHz is (far) better than 0.5 ppm, which is very good. 

References
[1] http://hamgear.wordpress.com"

Ham Radio Blogs to Follow

As ham radio continues to grow in the US, we can celebrate World Amateur Radio Day!

In honor of this international event, let me recommend a couple of ham radio blogs to check out.

LA3ZA Radio Amateur and Electronics Blog

Ham Radio Weblog PD0AC

PA1SBM

Enjoy!

AA Bang for your Buck

I continue to be amazed at what people can do with the Aruino.

LA3ZA Alcaline battery with most energy/money is RS Power Ultra? Measuring Battery Capacity w Arduino denishennessy.com/2012/04/08/mea… @denishennessyTue, Apr 17 01:43:58 from Tweet Button

Fix Faded Knobs

LA3ZA Now this is something I might wanna try: "How to restore shine to faded knobs" flic.kr/p/bMrGdZTue, Apr 17 22:20:23 from Tweet Button

QuanSheng TG-UV2

More than once, I've seen people post about the Quansheng TG-UV2 as an alternative to the Baofeng radios. So, I thought I would actually take a look. The eHam reviews seem pretty favorable for this UHF/VHF HT with a 4.7/5 rating. Hans, PD0AC, gives it the once over in a review - his conclusion:

"Pros: little money, great fun, excellent quality, well built, rain proof construction. I tried to be as picky as possible, but the lack of DTMF is the only con I can think of"

Some odds and ends about the radio on the http://tg-uv2.blogspot.com/ site. And, unsurprisingly, there is a Yahoo Group for the TG-UV2.

Baofeng UV-5R: SC33 Case Review by KC9HI

Jim, KC9HI, reviews the $11 USD SC33 Case for the UV-5R from the 409Shop:

"The case is definitely designed for the UV-5R and is a real snug fit. Almost too
snug. The radio loads into the top of the case. A top flap goes over the top of
the radio and snaps in the back. The top flap is notched for the antenna, but is
easier to put in place if the antenna is removed first. This is especially so
with the Nagoya NA-701 aftermarket antenna because the base is a little bigger
in diameter than the stock antenna. I was worried that the case might put
pressure on the antenna and eventually stress the antenna jack. There is also a
cutout for the On/Off/Volume switch and the flashlight LED.

The front of the case has a cutout for the VFR/MR button and TX/RX LED.There is
a small hole for the mic and a 3x3 hole grid for the speaker. There are plastic
covered windows for both the display and keyboard. I could easily read the
display through the display window. I never tried to operate the keyboard
through the keyboard window, though.

The PTT side of the case also has a plastic window to let you see and operate
the three buttons on that side of the radio.
The speaker/mic port side of the case has an opening that lets you open the port
cover so a speaker mic can be plugged in.

The back of the case is notched so it will also fit if the belt clip has been
installed.

Unfortunately the case covers the charging terminals on the back of the battery
and the charger base guide slots on the sides of the battery, so removal of the
case is necessary in order to charge the battery. For me, this pretty much makes
the case impractical so I decided very quickly that I wasn't going to use it."

409Shop SC33 for UV-5R

Failed North Korean Missile Test Video

I'm a little behind in my current events.

ConanOBrien The North Korean missile test has failed. Video here: bit.ly/HF5dXn Sat, Apr 14 14:51:12 from web

UV-3R: Prevent Transmit

If you are using your UV-3R to monitor frequencies where you do not have transmit privileges, you can program the transmit frequency to "0" or NULL. If you press the PTT, then the radio beeps at you, but nothing is transmitted.