Cement Pond Ballistics Testing

You might be a redneck if you do your ballistics testing in your cement pond. Love it.

Repeater Websearch

It is tools like the Amateur-Radio.net repeater websearch that make me doubt the need for a dead tree list of the repeaters. Of course, if the lights go out, I'll might be real glad I have a list on paper.

Baofeng UV-3R: LCD Modification

On Tuesday, I discovered that you could order the UV-3R in blue or red. Today, I stumbled on a blue LCD modification for the UV-3R by tucsok50. I did not see anything about the parts he changed or the steps required, but now we know you can get a blue radio with a blue LCD. Here is a link to the original picture. (You have to me a member of the Yahoo Group to view it.)

Update 2011-07-13: Tucsok50 provided links in the comments, so I'm adding them here, so they are clickable by all.

http://gallery.site.hu/d/18036473-1/DSCF3090_v1.jpg
http://gallery.site.hu/d/18036476-1/DSCF3091_v1.jpg
http://gallery.site.hu/d/18036479-1/DSCF3092_v1.jpg
http://gallery.site.hu/d/18036484-2/DSCF3100_v1.jpg

My training kicked in... I called mommy.

This is a serious video, but the 12 year old in me couldn't resist posting about it when I read the comment by Gunfan50BMG:

"My training kicked in... I called mommy."

The comment will make more sense once you hear him tell what happened after the negligent discharge. Scary stuff. As others point out, it does help the argument for learning one system and sticking with it.

KYD NC-5H, KYD UV-5H: Availibility

Steve (K8SAR) e-mailed KYD about the availability of the UV-5H and was told it would be out at the end of July:

"The UV-5H will be ready at the end of this month. Once the goods is ready, you will be informed.
If you have any requirements for this item then, you could contact with me directly.

Hope to have a nice cooperation with you SOON.

Best regards,

Vicky Huang"

I will give the Chinese manufacturers credit. They are very good at responding to e-mails. I have always gotten a quick response from Vero Telecom - usually withing 12 business hours. That's especially good considering the time difference.

Baofeng UV-3R: Colors

Looks like some of the UV-3R colors are starting to become available directly at 409 Shop or via eBay.

Red
Blue

I still want a yellow one. Although these are pretty garish looking, so they might suffice.

Baofeng UV-3R: Car Charger

Some call it a battery eliminator and on my Wouxun it does replace the battery. For the UV-3R, it is just the same DC plug on one end and a cigarette lighter plug on the other. You can get them now from the 409 Shop or others though eBay.

KYD NC-5H, KYD UV-5H: Yahoo Group

That didn't take long... a Yahoo Group for the KYD NC-5H, KYD UV-5H.

What we know so far about the KYD NC-5H and KYD UV-5H.

Baofeng UV-3R: USB Charger

[ UPDATE and a WARNING: Luis points out that USB will only do up to 500mA. The wall charger pictured below is 1000mA. He says newer computers build in protection for this, but that he would not recommend trying this with older machines. USB power info on the Wikipedia page here. ]

Several people have said they built USB chargers for their UV-3R, so I thought I would give it a try. This worked for me, but I'm not an electronics expert, so proceed with caution - and I'm always open to suggestions/corrections.

The first thing to note is that the charger has non-standard wiring - the tip is negative and the sleeve is positive. TNJeff verified that with a meter, but it is printed on the label on my charger.


Next I cut the wire half-way between the wall wart and the plug. If you don't want to carve up your charger, you can order the 2.5 x 0.7mm plugs or even an extra charger on eBay.

After stripping the wire, I used the meter to figure out the tip was connected to the red wire and the sleeve was connected to the yellow. The opening in the tip is very small, so I had to work carefully to insert the probe and test continuity.

I took a spare USB cable and cut it in half. As you can see in the diagram below, black is ground and red is the 5V connection.

I connected USB black to plug red then USB red to plug yellow and then applied some electrical tape for my testing. (If you think the diagram below is ugly, you should see my actual cable. I'll get it dressed up and post some pictures then.) Make sure you have the USB logo on top, so that the ground is on the far left and the +5V is on the far right when you test your continuity.

You should be able to confirm continuity using your meter between the ground on the far left of the USB and the tip of the plug. Likewise, you should be able to confirm continuity between the +5V on the far right and the sleeve of the plug.



I plugged the USB connector into my laptop, inserted the plug into the UV-3R, and the radio began charging! I know this may be a super simple project for many, but I hope it is useful to someone.

A Good Week

I bought the running shoes and actually ran more than once... 3 runs for about 3 miles on average. The last run was probably the easiest despite the heat.

I went to Coal Creek today and shot about 150 rounds of 9mm in the CZ. The only good thing I have to say about that is that no one got hurt. Even a little practice makes a lot of difference. I need to figure out how to get to the range more often.