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:

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."