Monday, July 1, 2013

Puxing PX-UV973: Full Review

John has his full review here. Highlights for me:
"The radio can be set to use both display lines for a single channel. You could use one line to display the channel name, and the other line the frequency and such. When scanning, however, it reverts back to use of both lines of the display. I wonder why they did that. 
The cross band repeater works great. you program one frequency in the upper display, and another in the lower display. If a signal is received on one of these frequencies, the signal is simultaneously retransmitted on the other frequency! One frequency must be VHF and the other UHF. I am unsure if the radio is programmed to disallow same band repeating. The manual cautions against it... so be careful if you set it up wrong. 
The radio has a true dual receiver. You can select the volume levels via the menus and software to differentiate which VFO is louder than the other. 
I didn't test the full duplex option, as I didn't have a satellite pass handy to test. Also, there are no linked VHF/UHF repeaters in my area."
And:
"Volume in all cases can be loud enough in most cases without distortion. BUT, if a signal is not full quieting, it seems the noise in the signal is enhanced if the received signal is very weak. You could receive a faint signal, but only hear noise."
And:
"What I did not like: The battery life could be better; but this can be fixed by getting a more powerful battery. 
The scan speed is terribly slow! If the dual watch function is disabled and the radio operating in single channel mode the scan speed does improve a but; but is still slow. 
This radio does not have a compander, so narrow band fidelity may be lacking. This radio does include a scrambler, which is really more or less something that would be used far less than a compander. 
The annoying amplification of noise is not a deal breaker by any means; but is a real pain at times."
 Overall, he likes it for the features and despite the shortcoming mentioned above.

Baofeng UV-82: Batteries

What is 1000 mAh among friends?

AliExpress and eBay say that the UV-82 has an 1800 mAh battery.

Martyn says his are 2800 mAh.

Hans want to know for sure.

Baofeng UV-82: Yahoo Group

In case you were afraid there wouldn't be one... a UV-82 Yahoo Group.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Baofeng UV-82: Dual PTT

Lots of discussion popping up on the UV-5R Yahoo Group... and there is this tidbit:

It has a dual PTT, so you can transmit on A by pressing on the top of the PTT button or on B by pressing the bottom.




Saturday, June 29, 2013

Baofeng UV-82

Hans spotted the Baofeng UV-82 a while back. He'd seen it on both e-Bay or AliExpress.

Features:
- Frequency Range: 136-174 & 400-520MHz
- Dual Band, Dual Display, Dual Frequency,Dual Standby
- Output Power: 5 / 1Watt
- 128 Storage Channels
- 50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
- Vox
- 1750 Hz Burst Tone
- FM Radio (65.0 MHz – 108.0 MHz)
- LED Flashlight
- Large LCD Display
- High / Low RF Power Switchable
- Wide / Narrow 25KHz / 12.5KHz Switchtable
- Emergency Alert
- Low Battery Alert
- Battery Saver
- Time-out Timer
- Keypad Lock
- Monitor Channel
- Channel Step: 2.5 / 5 / 6.25 / 10 / 12.5 / 25 KHz
- PC Programming

Nate sent me a note with some updates:
"Can be ordered now from a US dealer for $50:
http://www.radio-mart.net/Baofeng-UV-82-Dual-Band-Handheld-Transceiver.html 
It also states that this radio is "Pending FCC approval" (which they probably will get, like they did with the Baofeng UV-5R variety). 
Also, checked the pictures here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-May-New-Arrival-Baofeng-UV-82-Dual-Band-VHF137-174MHz-UHF400-520MHz-Professional-FM-Portable/955846467.html 
Looks like you can unscrew the bolt that holds the Mic/Ear rubber cover, and bolt in an accessory plug, like you do with commercial rigs, which might suggest better build quality.
The two top LEDs on top might suggest dual RX at the same time, but you can't really tell. the display in the brochure isn't very encouraging (Only a single "S-Meter")."
Martyn posted his video of the UV-82 (see below) on the UV-5R Yahoo Group.


Game of Thrones Intros

In the style of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...



And Friends...


Via winteriscoming.net

Friday, June 28, 2013

Cardio Challenge

This was part of my workout today... actually it was after the work-out, but that is the way everyone does it so the playing field is level. I was much slower than I would have guessed. Ego. Twenty reps of each set. Ready... set... go!


"Intellectual" Jokes

Intellectual Jokes

Like...

3 logicians walk into a bar. The bartender asks "Do all of you want a drink?"
The first logician says "I don't know."
The second logician says "I don't know."

The third logician says "Yes!"

And my other favorite...

I'm a linguist, so I like ambiguity more than most people.

RSS Alternatives - At this moment

I like the Digg Reader iPhone app the best, but hate the web page (buggy, won't hold settings).

I really dislike the Feedly iPhone app (too many swipes). The web page is okay. [UPDATE: I didn't realize I could swipe to the side to move to the next item. That moves is up the list.]

I like The Old Reader, but there is no iPhone app and the web page is cumbersome in the mobile browser.

Change is hard.

Ham Radio Encryption

I'm guessing many of you have seen the proposal to allow encryption on the ham bands under certain circumstances. They (Bruce, Bob, Hans) are agin it. I'm fer it - but only if we use ROT26 for the encryption.

I use ROT13 for all my sensitive information.

Or fher gb qevax lbhe Binygvar