Author Archives: Dan

July 20, 2010
14:10
by: Dan

Jolly Jeepers Rally 2010

This past Saturday, Taylor and I participated in our second Jolly Jeepers “Back to Basics” Rally event.  Unfortunately, we had firm commitments to other things on Friday and Sunday, so we didn’t camp or do both days.  This has become … Continue reading →

Posted in News Tagged

July 11, 2010
18:34
by: Dan

Kenwood TK-380 Self-Programming Modification

I recently purchased a Kenwood TK-380 UHF handheld radio on eBay.  This is a commercial UHF FM transceiver used by public safety organizations.  It will do 4W output, narrow or wide band transmission, and conventional or trunking operation. This radio … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Radio Tagged

June 29, 2010
13:53
by: Dan

Custom UPS External Battery Bank

When we moved into our current house, I had a Matrix 5000 UPS that I used to power my server room.  This 5kVA unit was a really impressive device that ran on 220V and could have its “brain” replaced without … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware Tagged ,

June 17, 2010
19:24
by: Dan

The IBM “Jeopardy Challenge”

Most people don’t think of working at IBM as a very exciting endeavor.  At times, I’d be hard pressed to convince them otherwise.  However, there’s something very special about what a large (country-sized) company with a wealth of talent and resources … Continue reading →

Posted in News Tagged , ,

June 9, 2010
22:20
by: Dan

CHIRP gains Yaesu VX-7 Support

Until now, CHIRP development has been focused on ICOM products.  In fact, you might even be tempted to think that the “I” in CHIRP was for ICOM.  Lately I’ve been using my Yaesu VX-7 and VX-8 radios a little bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged , ,

March 28, 2010
21:59
by: Dan

Jabber.com DNS record issues

Recently a friend of mine signed up for and started using a jabber.com account to chat with me.  I have run my own jabber server for almost ten years now and I’ve never had problems with the server-to-server (S2S) aspect … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous

March 3, 2010
14:47
by: Dan

Oregon ACES

In just about all areas of public safety, training and certification plays an important role in making sure that the people you trust with critical tasks in emergency situations are able to perform.  They have to have to knowledge necessary … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged ,

February 19, 2010
16:56
by: Dan

Survival Guide for Linux Hams

This is a bit of old news, but since it’s now available publicly, I suppose it’s a good time to post about my recent article in the January 2010 issue of Linux Journal.  I was approached late last year to … Continue reading →

Posted in News

January 18, 2010
18:15
by: Dan

2010 Eagle Cap Extreme Dog Sled Race

Last week, Taylor and I were in Joseph, OR for the 2010 Eagle Cap Extreme dog sled race.  This is the second year that the race administration used ham radio as its primary communications mechanism.  Without us, they are limited … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged ,

November 9, 2009
18:29
by: Dan

All hail Winlink 1988!

Winlink 2000 is a hot topic in the amateur community right now.  It provides a mechanism to access Internet email over several different transports, including an Internet connection, local V/UHF packet radio, and long-distance HF Pactor.  The idea is great, … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged ,