Spurious Emissions

Over at /r/amateurradio...

"Apparently the ARRL set up a Spectrum analyzer at Dayton the last few years and offered to test attendee HT's for spurious emissions." 

"At Dayton this year, only 25% of the Baofengs that were tested, complied with Part 97. 21% of Baofengs were borderline, and 54% of Baofengs were non compliant. 86% of Wauxon's were compliant and 14% of Wauxon's were not compliant. Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, and Connect Systems: 100% were compliant with the Part 97 standards. 

The ARRL concluded that many of the radios that did not comply, would cause harmful interference with other radio services. 

The article is on page 74 & 75 of the November QST."

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Cheaper Tech Except...

The trend is for tech to get cheaper over time... with the exception of your cable bill.

I've been thinking about cutting the cable cord and going a la carte - $40 gets me lots of channels including ESPN(s), SEC Network, and HBO.  I should probably pick up an ARRIS SURFboard SB6183 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem and quit renting, too.

ARRL asks FCC to Clarify Rules

"The ARRL has asked the FCC to make clear that Amateur Radio licensees may modify non-amateur equipment for use on Amateur Radio frequencies. Some hams have expressed concerns that recently proposed rules would inhibit post-sale modification of Wi-Fi equipment, now sometimes altered for use on Amateur Radio frequencies."

Vibroplex and Inrad

With the uncertain long term future of Ten-Tec, I'm happy to see more ham radio businesses coming to East Tennessee - and Knoxville in particular.

From the Vibroplex Facebook page:

"October 6, 2015 – Vibroplex LLC of Knoxville, TN announces the acquisition of International Radio Corporation of Aptos, CA. The sale was finalized on September 23. International Radio, commonly referred to as “Inrad”, is the leading manufacturer of aftermarket and OEM crystal filters for Amateur Radio transceivers and receivers with some 250 different models currently available for present day equipment and obsolete gear dating as far back as the 1950's. Inrad is presently the OEM roofing filter supplier for the popular Elecraft K3/K3S series of HF transceivers. The last day of operations in California was September 22. Inrad is now up and running at the Vibroplex offices in Tennessee but the backlog of present orders on hand will take several more days to fill. The former and new owners say thank you to the Amateur Radio community for more than 40 years of Inrad business. Inquiries about Inrad can be directed to the main Vibroplex email address at vibroplex@vibroplex.com or sales@inrad.net"

Previously, Vibroplex acquires Bencher.

Also, Vibroplex.com.

Runner's High

Dude, let's go for a run...

To Your Brain, A Runner’s High Looks A Lot Like Smoking Weed

Baofeng or Pofung

The BaofengTech guys make sense of the introduction of the Pofung brand:

"It was simple exploitation of the trademark system. Way back in 2012; right after the US introduction of BaoFeng radios; an individual realized that the ‘BaoFeng’ name had not received a US trademark. The individual applied for the trademark and in January of 2014; was granted the trademark."

As Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know the rest of the story."

Going downhill and gaining speed

The end of civilization will be captured in a selfie. https://t.co/XtORAa7VDr

— LNVF (@LoneNutVolFan) October 1, 2015

And he's referring to...

Hey girls, if you hadn't noticed, there's a game going on https://t.co/7pxeSDYafH

— The Sports Quotient (@SportsQuotient) October 1, 2015

Two Wrongs

Black Lives Matter protesters to block finish line at the Twin Cities Marathon.

I don't think this will help bring support to their cause. Attention, yes. Support, no. I'd be most upset if this happened to me.

Yanton Radios

Another brand to check out... Yanton.

Walt Disney World Repeaters

I didn't realize the Walt Disney World (WD4WDW) repeaters existed. Some responses to the original question about them on reddit below.

jonny290:

"I hear they used to be populated with a bunch of prince charmings, but then a couple of dumbos got goofy with it and now all the regulars went back to SSB transmitters and AM receivers 

p.s. if you do go you'll notice the best coverage over in the water parks -the little mermaid section is renowned for its aerial"

_Bitwise_

"Hm, no idea but it's interesting to note that that call is registered as Disney Emergency Amateur Radio Service. 

I don't reckon that actually restricts use of the repeaters to emergencies only."

Disney Emergency Amateur Radio Service = Disney EARS! Ha!

The club website is here.

Wired's Ghost Gun

I Made an Untraceable AR-15 ‘Ghost Gun’ in My Office—And It Was Easy:

"I looked down at the fully built rifle and something in my brain shifted. I realized that the abstracted parts I’d been fiddling with had turned into an object capable of killing someone. My lower receiver had transformed from a “gun” in a legal sense to a “gun” in a very practical sense."

Abstracted parts... an object capable of killing someone... that could be said of many things. I'm not sure why guns seem to have some magical power that makes them so different from other tools - from hammers to cars - that can be used to hurt or kill someone.

Blackbox Base Station Unboxing

From the guys at BuyTwoWayRadios... the Blackbox Base station that I've posted about a couple of times.

Baojie BJ-218: Manufacturer's Web Site

A link to the manufacturer's page for the Baojie BJ-218. There is a download section, but it only contains a brochure and a spec sheet at the moment - no software. And nothing on their download pages either.

The 409Shop does have a download link [.rar], but I like to see if the manufacturer has something different.

Weather Alert Radio System

This seems like a crazy deal... an Eton ZoneGuard+ Weather Alert Radio System with Wireless Alert Modules for $10. It's weather alert radio plus modules you can place throughout your house, so you can be notified anywhere.

Cheap Amazon Prime

You've probably seen this elsewhere, but if you want (need?) Amazon Prime, you can get it for $67 today only.

Selling Used Phone

Wished I'd known Amazon will take used phones. I think I would have gotten a few more dollars for my iPhone 5.

A Six Pack of Tablets

Forget sharing with friends and family, you can have one for every room in the house!

Get a six pack of Amazon Fire 7" tablets for the price of five:

"To take advantage of this offer, select 6 in the quantity dropdown and add to your Shopping Cart. Enter promo code FIRE6PACK at checkout where you will see the discount applied."

Baojie BJ-218 2M/440 Mini Mobile

BJ-218 136-174/400-470MHz Mini Mobile Radio Transceiver at the 409Shop for $95.       

Frequency Range VHF: 136.000 - 174.000MHz
UHF: 400.000 - 470.000MHz
System F3E(FM)
Antenna impedance 50Ω
Frequency stability ±2.5ppm @ -10°C ~ +60°C
Working environment temperature -20°C ~ +60°C (-4°F - +140°F)
Input voltage Direct current 13.8V (±15%), negetive grounding
Output power High Power : ≤10W
Middle Power : ≤6W
Low Power : ≤3W
Max Frequency deviation ±5KHz
Noise radiation ≤-60dB
Flexibility ≤0.2uV(12dB SINAD)
Max. Audio output 2W
Working current Receive 0.3A(SQL)
Transmit 5A(Max.)
Dimension 105 x 30 x 106mm (width x high x depth not including the outparts)
Weight about 0.5kg
PACKAGE CONTAIN
1 x Baojie BJ-218 136-174/400-470MHz Mini Mobile Radio Transceiver
1 x Microphone
1 x Car Power Cable
1 x Power Cable
1 x Mounting bracket
1 x Screw
1 x User"s Manual

Marketing

This is how you do it...



Via @K0NR

Ham Radio Twitter Fun

Some fun tweets...

Club Votes: Bob Should Buy New Radio http://t.co/DUtb9DPhnv #HamHijinks #hamr

— Ham Hijinks (@HamHijinks) September 2, 2015

My good friend WS9V had some help over the weekend installing new ground radials! @DXEngineering pic.twitter.com/dTZrOXNEi5

— Kelly Jones (@N0VD) August 31, 2015

Little Known Fact: Phil Collins "In the Air" is about the heartbreak of trying to work a rare DXpedition https://t.co/ufB2OdXefP

— BobW (@K0NR) August 29, 2015

#MoreChicksThanAshleyMadison vintage Heathkit parts warehouse

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 27, 2015

"Ham radio is like Chatroulette, except the ionosphere decides which old guy is on the other end." - Anon via @reddit pic.twitter.com/zgih0SFphp

— AmateurRadio.com (@amatradio) February 19, 2015