Sprinkling

Ha!

There was a small fire at the Methodist Church Sunday. The sprinklers went off.

Everyone was saved.

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) August 31, 2016

Almost Free Shipping

You can ship a lot of Baofengs for $600...

It now costs just $596 to ship a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the U.S west coast. Incredible. https://t.co/9SoAz6bqS4

— Chris Vernon (@clv101) September 1, 2016

All the Light We Cannot See

So not really about ham radio, but radios play a central role in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. The book is set in WWII and tracks a young French girl and German boy as their lives intersect thanks to the magic of radio. I just finished it and it is definitely one of my favorite reads in the past couple of year.

Speaker Mic for Your Phone

And the worst thing about it... it won't work with your iPhone 7 if the rumors are true and the headphone jack is going away.

And the "useless item of the century" award goes to... But maybe I'll give it a try with #Echolink. #hamr #hamradio pic.twitter.com/SvLKBQGTi9

— Christian Diemoz (@Chris_Diemoz) August 30, 2016

Baofeng Tech UV-5X3 Giveaway

Baofeng Tech is giving away a UV-5X3 tri-band HT (Amazon $64.89). Share their post and leave a comment on Facebook to be entered.

The Battle at Bristol

Funny, this is the same view I have from my house in Knoxville...

For those wondering, this is the view from the top row of the end zone for Battle at Bristol 🍊🦃🏈🏁 pic.twitter.com/D2NsQlsbAD

— Darren Reese (@GSunDarrenReese) August 29, 2016

VolTAC

VolTAC (or yet another reason I need a TYT MD-380):

VolTAC is a talkgroup that was created in response to user request, and after carefully considering it we have determined it is a good idea and fits the theme of our network.
This is a local only, unlinked talkgroup and has been approved for usage on the Knoxville, Sevierville, Greeneville, and Kingsport repeaters.

The idea was born out of a discussion that happened on our Facebook group. Many of our users are UT Sports fans (including the Sysop that maintains this website!) and the idea was presented to have a "tactical" talkgroup for fans with DMR radios to use on gameday in or around the Knoxville area.

The current plan is to link the Knoxville and Sevierville repeaters together on scheduled home football games. This is to provide wide area coverage to fans in and around the area. The talkgroup is permissible to be used outside of gameday or other UT events, but please be mindful of system loading as this will be competing for resources on timeslot 1 like everything else.

During non UT events, local on timeslot 1 is still the best choice for local comms.

VolTAC - TG ID 865"

Baofeng at Neyland Stadium

Someone got on top of Neyland Stadium with a UV-5R.

County Comm Dual Band Roll Up Antenna, Government Pack

First a PSA: Be careful deploying the antenna. Based on the images, decapitation is a real risk.

Always interesting stuff over at County Comm... Dual Band Roll Up Antenna, Government Pack ($47.50)*:

The DBJ-2 was designed by Ed Fong for easy deployment in the field to aid in extended portable two-way radio coverage. This antenna is extremely popular with Fire, Rescue, ARES, RACES and Military Contractors. 

The DBJ-2 is true “Dual Band” antenna and is available in two models for either Ham or Fire/Commercial Frequencies.
Ham Model: 144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz
Fire/Commercial Model: 152-157 MHz and 460-470 MHz 

The “Government Pack” comes in a Nylon Antenna Bag and includes the antenna of your choice, 25’ of parachute cord (http://www.countycomm.com/550parapac.html) a 6’ extension cable, and adapters to connect to various manufacturers of portable two-way radios (Motorola, Icom, Yaesu, Vertex, Kenwood, Wouxun, Baofeng, etc). This includes BNC, SMA (male), SMA (female) and BNC to PL259 . 

Technical Specifications: 

VHF: 1/2 wave radiating element
Maximum power: 50 watts
SWR: less than 1.5 to 1 over a 3 MHz bandwidth and less than 1.7 :1 over 4 MHz bandwidth.
Gain: 2.1 dBi
Impedance: 50 ohms 

UHF: 1/2 wave radiating element
Maximum power: 50 watts
SWR: less than 1.3 to 1 over a 6 MHz bandwidth and less than 1.5 :1 over 10 MHz bandwidth.
Gain: 2.1 dBi (6db gain over a 2 meter J pole used at 450 MHz)
Impedance: 50 ohms 

Package Size: 7.75 x 8.75
Weight: 10 Ounces

VolNet DMR and TYT MD-380

Putting the logo on the TYT MD-380 might be enough reason to buy one! Tennessee and ham radio for the win!

@travisgoodspeed Long overdue, but it finally happened for me, a BIG thank you for all the hard work done on this! pic.twitter.com/b02yTf3feY

— VolNET (@VolNET_TN) August 26, 2016