Thursday, February 9, 2017

Needs Another Stamp

Novice License Coming Back?

ARRL Seeks Opinions Concerning Possible New Entry Level License:

"An Entry Level License Committee was established by the ARRL Board of Directors and appointed in September 2016. As part of its ongoing work, the committee is gathering member input and will make recommendations to the Board for possible rules changes to submit to the FCC. 
The result could mean changes to the Technician license, but it could also be an additional, but simpler, license with privileges that would give a newcomer a taste of most facets of ham radio from HF to VHF and UHF. 
The committee has created an online member survey. Please complete and submit the survey no later than April 7, 2017. Survey results will be published."

Via W2LJ

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Baofeng Tech UV-5X3: KD8DVR Review

John, KD8DVR, reviews the BTECH UV-5X3 HT. Read the whole thing at the link, but to cut to the chase:
"All in all, a great radio.  Most of the issues have been resolved that plague Baofengs.  All I'd improve, I covered in the "sucky stuff" section.  None of that is really a deal breaker.  The lack of an FCC ID makes me a little hinky; but, hopefully this will be resolved.Personally, I recommend the radio.  It is a great way to get three band capability at a budget cost.  You add this to their level of customer service and wow.... perfect combination!BTECH made a winner."
Get one at Amazon or the BTECH website.





Posting

Sorry about the lack of posting last month... sometimes there is just too much going on. Plus my computer was busy downloading stuff...


Radiosification: DMR Tier 1 and Tier 2

DMR Tier 1 and Tier 2 explained:

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Make Signal Reports Great Again

Ha!

Farmbot

I don't grow anything, but my okra. It would be nice to have a robot do it for me.


Via Business Insider

Strava Emojis

My life is now complete - Strava will allow emojis in the titles of my activities.

Hams and Runners

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday about hams and the half the marathon that I often try to thank the volunteers as I run - at least when I have enough breath to do it. Usually it is simple "thanks" for people at a water stop, a course monitor, or policeman stopping traffic. For the hams, I toss out a "73" as  I go by. It really caught one ham off guard on Saturday. I could hear him excitedly telling his buddies what I said. I think this Venn diagram explains his excitement.