Leixen VV-898: Dual Band Mobile

Leixen will soon be releaseing the VV-898 dual-band mobile. Picture and specs below.

Main Feature :
1. Dual band: 136-174MHz/400-470MHz/245MHz(Receive only)
2. Dual Reception/Dual Display
3. Voice Companding and Scrambler
4. Multi silent mode (QT/QTADT/QTXDT) 107 groups DCS/58 groups CTCSS
5. DTMF encoding and DTMF decoding
6. PTT ID（Voice broadcast PTT ID）
7. All calls, group calls and selective calls
8. Monitor, RX Inhibit, RXTX Inhibit and Emergency Alarm
9. FM Radio（87.5MHz-108MHz）
10. Scan/Scan add
11. Channel name edit available
12. 199 memory channels
13. High/Low power(10W/4W)
14. APO(Auto Power Off)
15. TOT(Time-out timer)
16. Font Set(Big/Small)
17. VOX(Level adjustable)
18. Busy channel lockout
19. Keyboard lock (Auto/Manual)
20. Multi scan mode (TO/CO)
21. Channel steps (2.5K/5K/6.25K/10K/12.5K/25K)
22. Wide/Narrow band selection (25KHz/12.5KHz)
23. TX Stop
24. Talk Around
25. Beat frequency
26. Reverse frequency function
27. 1750Hz burst tone
28. Four key programmable
29. Lease Function(can program lease time of the radio at a exact time)
30. Input frequency by using Keypad
31. Wireless changing frequency
32. Timepiece
33. PC software disable frequency input
34. Passwords for menu functions Set
35. PTT Times per Minutes Set
36. All/Function reset
37. 13.8V DC Power Supply
38. Size: 120*85*40mm

Wouxun KG-UV8D: Demo Units

BuyTwoWayRadio reports that the Wouxun KG-UV8D demo units have landed. A few notes...

- confirmed 999 memory channels
- has a real color LCD
- includes a flashlight
- SMA female antenna connector
- bonus stopwatch function
- two multi-function keys on the side

Busy - Please Try Back Later

Sorry... lots of life going on right now. I'm way behind on posts, reading, and e-mail. Hope to catch up soon.

Honest Trailers - Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones starts back on HBO on Sunday... Don't watch the video if you aren't caught up as there are spoilers.

Mozilla and Gun Control

I see what you did there...

GUN-TOTING MOZILLA EMPLOYEES DEMAND CEO “STEP DOWN”

Novena

Despite my current condition of chronic non-employment, I may be in the market for a new laptop. It is kind of a cobbler's children with no shoes situation. The battery doesn't last very long, but I could replace it. However, the laptop occasionally shuts down completely - just a power off. That is probably a loose latch for the battery which I have fixed I think. A couple of times a month, Windows just freezes. And the newest problem; max volume is just above a whisper. None of these items would push me over the edge, but I see them as symptoms of age on this thing. If I do discover I need to buy a new one, I probably won't go with the Novena despite the hacker cred it would give me.

"A new open-hardware computing platform, flexible and powerful, designed for use as a desktop, laptop, or standalone board. 

Novena is a 1.2GHz, Freescale quad-core ARM architecture computer closely coupled with a Xilinx FPGA. It's designed for users who care about open source, and/or want to modify and extend their hardware: all the documentation for the PCBs is open and free to download, the entire OS is buildable from source, and it comes with a variety of features that facilitate rapid prototyping."

The Wil Wheaton Project

Evil Wil Wheaton is doing his own show starting May 27th. The Will Wheaton Project:

"a weekly roundup of the things I love on television and on the Internet, with commentary and jokes, and the occasional visit from interesting people who make those things happen. It’s sort of like Talk Soup for geeks, with a heavy focus on those hilariously bad paranormal reality shows (in fact, that’s where the whole thing started a year ago, but as we worked on the show more and more, we discovered that there were lots of scripted paranormal shows that provided a ton of comedic material. When we expanded to cover the scripted shows, we discovered that nobody was doing a show like this that was just focused on the genre shows that nerds like us love, and we decided that we’d make that show because of reasons.)"

Via Slashdot

PMP - What Comes Before Game

After watching the videos from Dave Litton, I am back to reading PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam book. It makes a ton more sense now then when I started it the first time. I'm still using the on-line version of Rita's Process Game, but a recent chapter had be looking for an on-line version of her "What Comes Before" game. These flashcards do the trick pretty well.

Back to the grind...

Marathon Results

Well, I hit my silver goal by running a marathon in less than 4 hours. That puts me in the top 25% for my age group at the Knoxville Marathon. (The winner finished in under 2.4 hours.) I'll take it - especially since it was a huge improvement over 2012. And I ran the whole way without having to stop to walk at all.

I started out too fast and as a result I struggled the last few miles. It was hard to slow down when I was being passed by so many people - most of which I strongly suspect were running the half. I saw several friends along the way. I even ran with one for about two miles which was a nice break/distraction. I made a new friend around mile 18 and ran with him until about mile 23. He needed me to help slow him down and maintain his pace. I needed him to pull me a long. He left me around mile 23 when I started to fade and he started to push.

I really did just have to grind it out from 23 on. I kept playing mind games...

- just a 5k left
- just 2 miles
- 1 mile
- up this hill, down this hill, and up a hill to finish
- doing the math assuming a 10 min pace (that's a nice round number for someone who is not functioning mentally at full capacity) to see what my time would be when I finished

After I stopped, I felt okay except for my shoulder. It was really hurting. I must have tensed it up because of the cool weather. Some heat, food, shower, ibuprofen, and laying down for a couple of hours and I was good as new. I only have a little soreness in one quad.

A couple of notes..

Many of the spectators near the end of the race are liars. Even at mile 25, they kept telling me that I was "looking good." I'm quite certain that was not true.

There were the usual signs along the course. This one, held by my daughter, was my favorite. She's a rascal, but I only have myself to blame.

Baofeng Tech Bluetooth Adapter

You need your own Bluetooth headset, but if you want to go wireless, you can try the Baofeng Tech Bluetooth Adapter for your Baofeng, Wouxun, or Kenwood radios for $85.

Via Hans