4 Meters

Difference between 2M and 6M.

I should teach.

Baofeng UV-5R: Noise Canceling Feature

Hans has the details.

I say just move the slower processing unit a few inches closer to the source. That should take care of it and, if you position yourself correctly, you will have stereo sound!

Football

"Seriously, explain offsides to me!"

Chromecast

Some have complained that the Chromecast is too limited, but I bought it to stream Netflix. If it does anything else, than that is just gravy.

I hooked it up this morning. It took about 10 minutes. Like my thermostat, it advertises a wireless network that you connect to from a laptop/phone/tablet. Once you've connected, you supply the information for your home network and the Chromecast will connect to it.

Once I got it on my network, I opened Netflix on my iPad and told it to send the stream to the TV. It worked like a champ!

The only thing that is a bit clunky is that you have to plug the dongle into a USB charger for power. That keeps it from being 100% wireless all the time, but that's a minor quibble in my book.

Feel Good Friday

From Ben via Twitter:



And Hallerin via Twitter:

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

Life

Sorry about no updates today. I'm up to my neck in stuff to do. If I find sometime, I'll update this evening.

Digital Radios and Preppers

I talked some about ham radio and prepping after reading "Patriots - Surviving the Coming Collapse," but did not think about the potential benefits of something like the Kirisun S780:

"Preppers usually like to have communications equipment prepared for possible times of disaster.In a WROL situation, where someone could loot you for all your preparations if they knew about them, I'm sure preppers would like to have encrypted communications, so that anyone with a scanner can't find out where they keep their food stores or secret stash of fuel. 

These Kirisun radios provide inherent security, in that not many people will have radios that use the same vocoder, and it is unlikely anyone around you will have one. This could be called "security through obscurity". That is even if you don't turn on the encryption. To a scanner listening in analog, these radios just sound like a load of noise. Now, if someone were to buy a radio the same as you, and program it up to the same frequency, they would be able to listen in to any unencrypted comms. That's where the encryption comes in handy. Switch over to an encrypted channel, and they will not be able to understand it at all. All you hear when listening to an encrypted channel on a radio without encryption, is a few funny digital noises."

Modular Radios

Looks like Nate isn't alone.

Kirisun S780: Undressed

People keep taking things apart - don't they know how risky this is?!?! And this is an expensive radio. (Well, I guess my Leixen VV-808 is expensive now, too.)

Via the S780 Yahoo Group - more pictures there.

Baofeng UV-B5: Flashlight Mod

You know I like opening radios up for no apparent reason. This UV-B5 was especially attractive to me - look two rotary encoders with that easily breakable blue plastic!

But that's not the point...

See, this enterprising soul has discovered that you can add a flashlight to the UV-B5:

"Just underneath where the rotary knob is the two holes for the flashlight L.E.D. on the UV-B6 model. 

Even though the circuit board is printed UV-B5; I assume that both radio's have the same circuit boards? 

It also look like the switching transistor for the L.E.D. next to it. I wonder if you put an led in here whether it would light up? If so maybe a backlight mod can be done as the button under the monitor IS wired in circuit (On the B5). I take it that the flashlight on the UV-B6 is either ON or OFF and doesn't flash? if so then this has given me food for thought!"

Then:

"Just temporarily put an L.E.D. in the holes and it works! So a mod can be done to have a UV-B5 with a flashlight!! All the components ARE already in circuit on the PCB."

Now some may ask "Why?" when you could get a UV-B6. To them I say, why not? Also, you could have both a flash light and knob for changing channels.

Via the UV-B5 Yahoo Group