Down the Rabbit Hole

A comment on a story on Slashdot about Chinese rockets led me to the Fermi Paradox and a short story, The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model. A fun, little read - free on-line or a buck via Amazon on your Kindle.

A Song of Ice & Fire Teams

Get geared up to cheer on your favorite house from the Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series. (Via Wired)

196

"And .000063 percent -- 196 Americans-- have given more than 80 percent of the super-PAC money spent in thepresidential elections so far."

Quansheng TG-Q5: Wisdom

People have pointed out the "Lucky Stone" label on the Quansheng TG-Q5, but I think it is more important to consider the deep, philosophical message that is also on the marketing materials (see image below):

"Infinite realm begins from communication."

 Either they are talking about radios or prayer. Given the lack of an obvious speaker, microphone, or display, I am going with the latter.

Quansheng TG-Q5: 409Shop

Anonymous pointed out that the 409Shop has the Quansheng TG-Q5 for $38. I wish they would release a video, so we could see more of the radio in action.

Taxes, Transfers, and Voting

Roberta X has an extreme proposal...

"It's simple: if the Feds give you money, from a handout to a paycheck to a bailout, you can't vote."

Alan comments

"I always said you shouldn't get a vote unless you were a net tax payer."

Speaking of "net tax payers," I read this depressing bit of news that the middle class is no longer a net contributor (via Althouse):

"Because transfer payments are, in effect, the opposite of taxes, it makes sense to look not just at taxes paid, but at taxes paid minus transfers received. For 2009, the most recent year available, here are taxes less transfers as a percentage of market income (income that households earned from their work and savings):

Bottom quintile: -301 percent
Second quintile: -42 percent
Middle quintile: -5 percent
Fourth quintile: 10 percent
Highest quintile: 22 percent

Top one percent: 28 percent

The negative 301 percent means that a typical family in the bottom quintile receives about $3 in transfer payments for every dollar earned.

The most surprising fact to me was that the effective tax rate is negative for the middle quintile. According to the CBO data, this number was +14 percent in 1979 (when the data begin) and remained positive through 2007. It was negative 0.5 percent in 2008, and negative 5 percent in 2009. That is, the middle class, having long been a net contributor to the funding of government, is now a net recipient of government largess."

Maybe this means President Obama was 60% right about building things on our own. (Also via Althouse)

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Unboxing Video

My Greek is horrible, but you at least can get a look.

Quansheng TG-Q5

Maybe we can soon have it all. We can get tons of features thanks to Moore's Law and through the miracle of SDR. And we can get some snazy looking radios like the Quansheng TG-Q5. Hams will never have been so well dressed.

Credit to Hans (PD0AC) for finding this radio.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Ed Drops A Bomb!

Wow! Wow. Just wow. I got the following e-mail from Ed:

Dear Customer,

Here is the latest news on Chinese dual-band mobile radios.

Wouxun Dual Band Mobile  -  KG-UV920R

On June 21 I was informed that Wouxun would supply a small number of these radios to selected dealers (max of 10).  At that time they also quoted a dealer costs that I thought was outrageous.  The dealer costs was almost what I have always considered the retail price would be.  In an email I told them sternly that with any dealer markup at all, the radio would not sell in the US and I would decline to purchase samples.

Wouxun response was that when full production began, the dealer costs would be lower.  Since I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars building a market for this company over the past few years, I decided I would not let others bring this radio to market before I did.  I reluctantly placed an order for 10 radios, figuring I would sell them at costs, to get them to market.

After my order was shipped, Wouxun informed me that these sample radios must NOT be sold for less than $320-$330.  They went on to say "If we found you or your dealer's end price was lower this range without our permission in advance, then we will stop supplying this model to you."

For the past two years, I've repeatedly told Wouxun that this radio must sell for no more than $250-$275 for it to be competitive with the big three Japanese companies.  It appears this advice has fallen on deaf ears.

These pre-production radios lack some of the features the full-production radios will have.  These will not be FCC Certified for Part 90 use.  They will have narrow band capability but will not have the 2.5 kHz tuning step required for Part 90 radios beginning in 2013.  The frequency range will be RX:136-174 & 350-480 and TX: 136-174 & 400-480.  They did not indicate if any wide-band receive, such as 118 MHz AM, would be available on these pre-production models.

Although these radios may lack some of the bells and whistles we've expected, I imagine they will still be good dual band radios for the ham market.  BUT, I still don't feel they are worth $325.

Wouxun says I can't sell these for less than $325.  They did not say that I can not include a FREE HT with the purchase.  (Rest assured, they will raise holy crap about it, but I'm used to that)  So here's my plan.  I will place the limited number I have on sale for $350 and include a free KG-UV2D HT in the deal.  I'll profit nothing at this but we'll see what happens.

Anytone Dual Band Mobile  -  AT-588UV

For the past two years, I have consulted with Anytone as they developed their dual band mobile radio.  Anytone send a non-working model of the radio for me to show at the Dayton Hamvention (Wouxun would not send anything).  Anytone is now sending a working model (for free!) and says full production will begin in early August.  Anytone has quoted a price that lets me know this radio will retail in the $250-$275 range.  It will be Part 90 Certified and will have some wide-band receive ranges, including AM aircraft.  I look forward to working with this company and expect their mobile to be a big seller.

TYT Quad Band Mobile  -  TH-9800

This radio covers 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 440 (only FM mode).  TYT sent a semi-working model for me to show at Dayton.  It would light up with menus working and etc.  Those who played with the display said it is a clone of the Yaesu FT-8900.  I have a close contact at TYT and am told they are working hard to get this radio into production in October.

Conclusion

I will continue to do my best to bring quality made Chinese radios to the US market and will only send these emails when necessary.
This particular email is going to about 5,000 people so please don't expect a quick response if you send me a question.

Regards,
Ed Griffin
Wouxun.US  &  Import Communications
www.wouxun.us
www.importcommunications.com

My shooting from the hip response... Ed is fed up enough with Wouxun that he is will to stress the relationship, but he's not done that without a Plan B (name change to Import Communications, Baofeng, Anytone, TYT). It also makes me think that Wouxun may have done us a great service by leading the way, but they may price themselves out of the low cost market - then they will be competing with the big boys on performance and quality. I'm sure the message board will be hopping tonight. I'm going to bed, but there will be interesting reading in the morning I am sure! I'm gonna have to read up on the AT-588UV, too.

Extending Frequencies & Warranty Support

Ed on unlocking and warranty support:

"Is unlock software really needed for the 6D? I know the models I sell are factory set for various ranges and sold at varying prices. Unlock software is not available for the 6D radio and I hope it stays that way. When Jim started working on Commander for the 6D, I personally asked him to leave out the unlock feature. I often get "warranty" request only to find bricked radios with RX & TX set for foolish ranges like 0-999 MHz for both VHF and UHF. China gives practically NO warranty support, so all this comes out of the pocket of the dealers. I hope unlock software for the 6D never makes it to the public because it's been a pain in the rear for the other models.

Regards,
Ed Griffin
www.Wouxun.US"

I understand his point, but I would think he should just have a policy that trying to extend the usable frequencies voids the warranty. It might make some people mad, but those are the people he probably doesn't really want as a customer anyway.