Licenses

High-water marks for Extra, General, and Tech - I'm still not on board with the hobby is dying crowd. Novice and Advanced can only go down - deaths, expirations.

Month	Extra	Advanced	General	Technician	Novice	ARS Total
Oct-15	139,309	48,631	172,276	361,564	11,104	732,884

Source

Happy Blogversary to Me

Five years today... 3,000+ posts and 2,000,000+ hits.

Garmin 620

I've enjoyed my Garmin 610 for years now. It's had a few hiccups, but it works and the battery is still going strong, so I'm not inclined to shell out for an upgrade. If I was in the market, I'd definitely grab the Garmin 620, since it is discounted to $200 now.

Via The Wirecutter

Do I feel lucky?

Well, do ya, punk?

Command line Russian roulette. pic.twitter.com/qk09i8O1LY

— John Fitzpatrick (@j_c_fitz) November 6, 2015

Wouxun KG-UV9D (Plus)

BuyTwoWayRadios has announced a new version of the KG-UV9D:

"The KG-UV9D (Plus) has all of the standard features of the KG-UV9D, plus cross-band repeat capability. It also has 6 additional menu items, most of which are related to cross-band repeat configu
ration.

While the Plus does look nearly identical to the standard 9D cosmetically, on closer inspection there are noticeable differences. The buttons on keypad of the UV9D are somewhat square, but the buttons on the 9D Plus are rounded. The speaker grill on the Plus is wider, and the knobs on top are shorter and wider. The PTT button looks and feels different as well, with a bit more play on the edges. The chassis of the UV9D Plus is also a little thicker, measuring about a millimeter or so more than the regular 9D.

However, both radios use the same battery, belt clip, desktop charger, case and other accessories, plusthey use the same Kenwood K1 accessory connector, which means if you already have a 9D, adding a 9D Plus to the mix really won't be much of an issue."

The radio is being sold as part of a special package that includes:

• The Wouxun KG-UV9D (PLUS) Two Way Radio
• Two Li-Ion Battery Packs - yes, two of them
• Multi-Band High Gain Antenna
• Dual Band Stubby Antenna
• Two Belt Clips - one for each battery
• Charger Tray
• AC Adapter
• 12V DC Adapter - to charge in a vehicle!
• Battery Eliminator - to power directly in a vehicle!
• C-Ring Earpiece with PTT - nice!
• Speaker Microphone - another nice extra!
• Leather Case
• SMA Male to UHF Female (SO-239) Adapter - to connect a mobile antenna!
• USB Programming Cable/USB Driver CD/Programming Software CD

The package is only being sold as a limited edition and you get everything for $229.99. 

Baofeng UV-5RE: Special Function Problem Sale

Marketing is key!

Special Function Problem Sale

Bike Generator

My wife made me get a bike generator to power my rig. I showed her... I only run QRP now!

@HamHijinks this type of irresponsible "reporting" only serves to give disgruntled spouses new ideas https://t.co/EKx7ohj6bA …

— BobW (@K0NR) November 6, 2015

Telnet Star Wars

So there was the Star Wars traceroute... now you can see A New Hope in ASCII via telnet. Telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl.

OneDrive Changes

So unlimited space didn't last long with OneDrive...

"Since we started to roll out unlimited cloud storage to Office 365 consumer subscribers, a small number of users backed up numerous PCs and stored entire movie collections and DVR recordings. In some instances, this exceeded 75 TB per user or 14,000 times the average. Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users.
Here are the changes:

• We’re no longer planning to offer unlimited storage to Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers. Starting now, those subscriptions will include 1 TB of OneDrive storage.
• 100 GB and 200 GB paid plans are going away as an option for new users and will be replaced with a 50 GB plan for $1.99 per month in early 2016.
• Free OneDrive storage will decrease from 15 GB to 5 GB for all users, current and new. The 15 GB camera roll storage bonus will also be discontinued. These changes will start rolling out in early 2016."

Scooby Doo Meets Buffy

Cool photos of a re-imagined Scooby Doo. Happy Halloween!

Racing!

VIDEO: This is what it looks like when Sumo wrestlers race https://t.co/Hbbl2LWWhK pic.twitter.com/0wu0Rb28zW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 22, 2015

2 Million Served

As of a few minutes ago, that's two million page views - despite a dearth of significant blogging in recent months.

Two million in five years.

New Tech Demographics

W0LTM/K0NR did a survey of new technicians to capture some demographics. To sum up, almost 90% of the new techs are 30+ and they got their license because zombies. Or, something like that.

Radio Tube USB Drive

We love these handmade glowing radio-tube USB drives https://t.co/NqvNCaqkHA pic.twitter.com/1nuAebAfdQ

— Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) October 27, 2015

Via K0NR

Secret Marathon

If you don't tell anyone, it's just a long run.



And I forgot to mention I did Ragnar this last weekend. Two hundred-ish miles as a team over about a 30 hour period. No sleep. Spending lots of time in a van. And my first leg was up a mountain. Good times.

Random Windows 10 Hint

If you want an application to show up in the Start Menu's Most Used list... don't pin it to the Start Menu as a tile. I like the Most Used for things like Excel, so you can then access pinned documents from it.

Experience

Dilbert on "Experience."

Mine vs. Yours

K0NR:

"We need to get the religion out of ham radio. No, I am not talking about the HF nets that support missionaries or similar activities. (Those people might actually be doing something good for the world.) I am talking about the religious debates concerning new technology…this technology is better than that technology."

 "What other religious debates are out there? Android versus iOS, Open Source Software versus Commercial Software, My favorite rig versus Your favorite rig, … what else?"

A few come to mind...

.45 vs. 9mm (or whatever)
Glock vs 1911 (or whatever)
AK-47 vs. AR-15
SEC vs. Other Football Conference
Coke vs. Pepsi
Ford vs. Chevy
Beans vs. No Beans in Chili
Manhattan vs. New England Clam Chowder

Halloween Costume

The scariest part of this is the idea of a sexy ham costume.

Baofeng UV-5R: Extreme Testing

More via /r/amateurradio: