Xiegu X108: Owner's Manual

Ed (Import Communications) has posted an Owner's Manual for the Xiegu X108 (PDF).

Alinco DR-438H: Review by Hans

Hans takes a look at the Alinco DR-438 monoband UHF mobile. This is the radio that looks like a rebranded Anytone AT-588. Read his article for the details, but it sounds like Alinco took the time and effort to make sure their version had several improvements. The bottom line for Hans is a) that it is worth the extra money over an AT-588 and b) he likes it well enough that he's going to buy it.

Watching the Watchers

Target Blu Eye:

"The £999 system (plus £100-£200 for installation) monitors the frequencies of emergency services’ Tetra and Airwave radios and, according to the manufacturer, listens for the distinctive regular pulses sent by the radios every four seconds. These could be emitted by marked or unmarked vehicles; by radios worn by beat officers or mobile speed camera operators; or by radios in police helicopters. When a transmission is detected, the driver is alerted."

And I agree they really wouldn't like this if someone created a network of dectors and publicized their locations.

Via Slashdot

Dropbox Personal and Business

I had this in my queue before I just posted about the OneDrive unlimited space. I will note that I am already running my personal OneDrive account side by side with my OneDrive for Business.

Tip of the week: Connect your personal & work @Dropbox accts to keep everything in its place http://t.co/90RUzB8Kp7 pic.twitter.com/YseDKimq7E
— Dropbox for Business (@dropboxatwork) October 24, 2014

OneDrive - Unlimited Cloud Storage

Wow... Microsoft is going unlimited on its Office 365 OneDrive cloud storage.

G4ILO SK

One Foot in the Grave: 25 October Sad message:

"Julian died yesterday on 24 October in the presence of his wife Olga and two Hospice nurses at home at 19-45 peacefully and painlessly. He will be always loved and always remembered."

Julian was the first ham radio blogger that I started following. I remember reading his article about antennas in April of 2011. It was only a couple of months later that I read about his tumor. Prayers for all that will miss him, but especially his wife, Olga.

I'm not alone in offering condolences...

W2LJ
PA2OLD
G3XBM
PD0AC
PC4T
G4VXE

Bricking FTDI Driver Pulled

So the driver that bricks the fake chips is being pulled from Windows Update:

"As you are probably aware, the semiconductor industry is increasingly blighted by the issue of counterfeit chips and all semiconductor vendors are taking measures to protect their IP and the investment they make in developing innovative new technology. FTDI will continue to follow an active approach to deterring the counterfeiting of our devices, in order to ensure that our customers receive genuine FTDI product. Though our intentions were honourable, we acknowledge that our recent driver update has caused concern amongst our genuine customer base. I assure you, we value our customers highly and do not in any way wish to cause distress to them.

The recently release driver release has now been removed from Windows Update so that on-the-fly updating cannot occur. The driver is in the process of being updated and will be released next week. This will still uphold our stance against devices that are not genuine, but do so in a non-invasive way that means that there is no risk of end user’s hardware being directly affected."

Via Slashdot.org

FTDI Driver Update Bricks Fake Chips

This should be fun... expect the Yahoo Groups to blow up with the "I can't program my radio" posts. The new driver is available using Windows Update, so lots of people will never even realize they are getting a new version.

HackADay:

"This isn’t a case where fake FTDI chips won’t work if plugged into a machine running the newest FTDI driver; the latest driver bricks the fake chips, rendering them inoperable with any computer."

Via Slashdot.org

Power T

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is moving away from the UT System logo. The logo incorporates the image of the state.

They will start using the Power T in 2015. This is the same logo that athletics uses today. This seems to be a move to create more of a local, Knoxville identity.

But Coach Butch Jones has been preaching the idea of "One Tennessee" in an effort to lock up recruiting statewide.

Puxing PX-2R

At the 409Shop... Puxing PX-2R VHF Plus (VHF TX/RX) (UHF RX Only) Dual receive ($38.50):

"New version !!! Dual Receive Mini radio VHF 136-174Mhz (TX/RX) , UHF 400-470Mhz (RX Only)"

• CH 128 , All channel scan and priority channel scan
• Scan types :Carrier， time and search
• VOX sensitivity:0-9 levels adjustable
• Transmitter power：High power and low power switchable
• Squelch opening threshold: Receive field intensity should accurate (use the sq level to show the intensity)
• Led backlight: On/off/automatic
• Beep set: Beep on/off
• Keypad lock function: Manual/auto optional
• Transmit limited: off-270 optional
• Offset set:0-xxmhz optional (confirm the max offset according to the band after adjusting)
• CTCSS and DCS setting
  ． Receive only
  ． Transmit only
  ． 50 CTCSS and 104 DCS
• +/-offset:+/-frequency optional
• Offset step optional:12.5k/25k
• Use Dot Segment to display on LCD
• Select the LED/emergency call by programming software
• Volume control knob to turn on/off the power
• PC programming and store channel
• Can use car charger
• DC 3.7V single li-ion battery compatible with mobile phone battery
• MINI compact size 84*48*25 cm
• Output power: UHF 400-470mhz 2w
• With most competitive price