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Do Not Kill Registry

(Disclaimer - probably only as effective as a no weapons sign.)

Via Slashdot.org

Salsa Cookie!

I will always remember this song from Excalibur. Now I will also always think of salsa cookies.



Via Walls of the City

The Smallest Minority

AtlasShrugged The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. #asp2Thu, Jun 14 11:09:19 from web

Microsoft Tablet Names

harrymccracken Possible names for Microsoft tablet: Tablet PC 2013, WinSlate, iWindows, Metro One, UnPocketable PC, Bing to Go, ZuneTab, TabZuneFri, Jun 15 11:25:03 from Tweetbot for iOS

And my suggestion:

brickolore @harrymccracken The New uPad HD 3.Fri, Jun 15 12:27:53 from web in reply to harrymccracken

TYT TH-UVF9: More Tri-Band Info

Radio-Mart replied back that they are using a combination of hardware and software changes to make the TYT TH-UVF9 work well as a tri-bander. In a response to my question about output power:

"That’s what we’re messing about with before we release them. With a resonant antenna currently 3 watts but know we can tune it but it all takes time."

Sounds good to me - especially if they are already at 3 watts. That's a lot better than some of the other radio mods that only get a few milliwatts out.

Gun Data

Linoge goes all "sciencey" on us and looks at the data. Spoiler alert:

"The hypothesis of 'more guns = more deaths' is demonstrably false over the past 29 years of documented American history."

Seriously, go take a look. He's got two more major points and then he gives you the real kicker in the last sentence.

Quote of the Day

Tam in the comments on Les's post about giving up cable and almost giving up internet access, too:

"Okay, yeah, see, that's just crazy talk right there. :p

Keep your priorities straight, man: I can order bottled water from the internet, but I can't get books out of my faucet."

TYT TH-UVF9: Tri-band

Well, the plot thickens. I got a reply from Radio-Mart about the TH-UVF9. It sounds like they are making a modification to the radio to get 220.

"The model is originally a dual band but we have the correct way to make it work on the 220MHz band also"

I've asked if they get full power out on 220 and if this is a software or hardware modification. I'll let you know more as I learn more.

TYT TH-UVF9: The Story So Far

On 5 May, Kight Radio says the TH-UVF9 will be available soon. This was the first time I've run across anything about this radio.

On 21 May, Kight Radio is testing the TH-UVF9.

On 24 May, Kight Radio has the TH-UVF9 for sale as does the 409Shop.

On 31 May, 409Shop does their usual unboxing video.

On 31 May, Nate comments that Radio-Mart lists the TH-UVF9 as a tri-band radio. The link from Radio-Mart to a brochure shows the radio as a dual band. (I had not posted about this earlier as I could not find the time to review all my notes and surf to the end of the TYT internet to reconcile all this information.) Radio-Mart says they have 494 of the tri-banders available for $111 USD for pre-order and that delivery will be in three weeks. (Three weeks from when?) There is also a note that "the display is LCD and not dot matrix."

On 3 June, Kight radio says the TH-UVF9 is almost ready - just a minor problem with the channel/frequency display.

On 6 June, TYT has the TH-UVF9 listed as a dual band radio on their web page.

Today, I've e-mail both Radio-Mart and TYT to see if they can clarify the situation on the tri-band version.

While we wait, Nate has some other cool finds. Here are some pictures from a Hungarian Facebook page along with a couple of videos.

Thanks to again Nate, Steve, and others for links/info along the way.

Amateur Extra

Well, I had a somewhat arbitrary goal of getting my Extra license before the current exam expired. Since I've not cracked a book in months, I'll miss that target. Too much three year old and too much running to have time for studying... maybe this winter.