Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Elecraft KX2

Elecraft is going to announce the KX2 tomorrow.

I saw this multiple places, but Cale's note popped up first on my radar.

Vivosmart HR Update

So after about a week, I can't say that I love my Garmin Vivosmart HR fitness tracker. It just doesn't seem to be that accurate.

Sleep
It says I got 10 hours of sleep last night. Ha. I went to bed at 11:30 PM and got up at 5:00 AM to run. I took it off around 8:00 PM to wash some dishes and somehow that was recorded as sleep.

Heart Rate
I thought it was reading high on both my resting and running heart rate. I did a track workout yesterday and it had my heart rate at 200 bpm for a lot of it.

I'm going to try some of the recommended troubleshooting (tighten the band, swap arms, move it up the arm, have it face the inside the wrist, etc.), but I really wanted it to just work.

Phone Notifications
The phone notifications are a nice. I didn't think I would care, but there is some value in being able to glance at my wrist and not pull the phone from my pocket.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Hyperion Cantos Series

I finished Dan Simmon's Hyperion over the week-end. It's the first book in the Hyperion Cantos Series. I really like the stories within a story. I got sucked in early even though the pace indicated that all this book was doing was setting the stage for the others in the series.


DV4mobile: More Pics

Monday, May 16, 2016

Vivosmart HR Plus GPS

Timing...

So, I just bought the Vivosmart HR and today they announce the Vivosmart HR+ - basically the same fitness tracker, but now with a built-in GPS. I'm not sure if I would want to spend the extra $100 to get the GPS functionality. I'd have to think about it, but, shooting from the hip, I'd save that money to spend on the Forerunner 235.

If you want the Vivosmart HR+, you can pre-order it at Amazon.

DV4mobile

In a similar vein as the NEW RADIO post earlier... DV4mobile:
"DV4mobile - first all mode digital tri band transceiver plus LTE with GPS

- The DV4mobile supports all digital modes: no need for multiple radios, saving space and money.
- It is programmed from the cloud: no need for programming and updating code plugs.
- It is a software defined radio: future modes are just an update away.

The DV4mobile is another member of the successful family of DV4 products. 
It operates in the 2 meter band, at 222 MHz and the 70cm band. 
All modes are supported: C4FM, D-Star, DMRplus, dPMR, P25 (NXDN later via software update)Voice over LTE and of course, FM! 
C4FM both narrow and wide band modes 
D-Star (DCS,CCS,REF,XRF,XLX) 
DMRplus (TS1 all / TS2 Reflectors or talkgroups) 
dPMR(All Systems and codecs transparent mode) 
P25(Phase 1 Only and all NAC transparent mode) 
FM with PL and DCS tones and RDS for call sign transmission in the background 
DV4LTE is a new voice over LTE mode that connects the radio to the reflector using an LTE connection. 
The LTE modem connects to the CCS7 reflector system supplying codeplugs in the cloud, there is no need to program codeplugs any more. Any changes in the network, be it on the reflector, repeater or user side are instantly updated. Private settings such as local channels can be maintained on the web.

When no repeaters are in range, the radio can revert to LTE (DV4LTE) for reflector connection (i.e. between metropolitan areas) 
The GPS module provides location data for APRS and automatic display of repeaters in range. When a repeater is selected, frequency and mode is already in the radio, no programming!

The DV4mobile can also be used as a dual band, dual mode simplex repeater.
For example you can use it as a D-Star repeater on 2m and simultaneously as a DMR repeater on 70cm while conducting FM QSO on 222 MHz (USA version only)"

Specs:

Frequency range (USA)
144-148 MHz, 222-225 MHz, 420-450 MHz
Output power
2 x 20W simultaneously
Modes
FM, D-Star, C4FM, DMR+,,dPMR,P25*,NXDN*, DV4LTE
Microphone
DTMF, Electret with modular connector
Antenna
N
Speaker
3.5 mm, stereo 2 x 4W at 8 Ohms
Connectors via adapter cable and 2 x 12 pin connectors:
Ethernet
RJ-45 via adapter 10/100 MBit/s
serial
USB
External Monitor
HDMI
Internal display
240 x 320 pixel, 262k color
Power
10.5-15V, 5A
GPS
Antenna combined into main antenna
Temperature range:
-40C - + 85C

AWS IoT Button

Amazon is selling an IoT Dash-like button:
The AWS IoT Button is a programmable button based on the Amazon Dash Button hardware. This simple Wi-Fi device is easy to configure and designed for developers to get started with AWS IoT, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon SNS, and many other Amazon Web Services without writing device-specific code.
A tear-down of the Dash:



Via @kfalconspb

And perhaps a fitting comic to accompany the above: