ICOM 5100a

I am using the kenwood tm-d710 series dual-band radios around here... I really like the Remote Control Head and GPS/APRS features... Have no need for DV, as there are no DV repeaters anywhere around here...The best part is being able to program multiple Radio Services, in the 1000 Memories available... Yea, they cost a bit more, but they are indestructible.... I have programmed some standard messages in the APRS so a single burst can give location, as well as a simple message like “On my way” and time of transmission, so AlaskaChick doesn’t have to be in the cabin when the message comes in, but can read it when she gets back inside... Both Base Stations have AvMap6 Displays, that allow us to see where the messages were Tx’d from, as well as being able to be installed in the White Toyota 4X4 Pickup Truck for. Road-trip Navigation...

 

I bought a refurbished Dell Laptop for $129.95US to use as a radio programmer... I got real tired of using one of my MacBooks running a Virtual XP just to run PC WinDoz software that most OEMs use for programming their radios... It came with 8Gig of Core, a 256Gig SSD, AND WinDoz10... Oh, how I hateWin Doz10... Way to much fluff and they hid all the important stuff behind BS Wizards, and more fluff... But it is what must happen, so I am living with it... Fortunately, I have a BlueRay/DVD/CD Drive in a USB Case, so getting stuff on isn’t to bad... I am trying to not have to connect this box to the Internet, because I do NOT know how to protect it from Downloaded BS... This rig also has an SDHD Slot, to facilitate transfers from my other computers...So far I have all my Kenwood, TechNet, Maxon , and Ritron software transferred over and running.... Going to look for Chirp, and a few obscure hunks of software, tomorrow, and get them loaded and tested... One cool thing is Silex wrote a WinDoz 10 Driver for their Networked USB Server devices...All my radios are connected to my LAN, for Control, BiDirectional Audio, and Programming, via Serial to USB Cables where there is not a direct USB connection... Then the Silex USBServers bring all that on to the LAN, so I can get to all that stuff from any Computer on the LAN, as well as any of my mobile devices thru a VPN Tunnel from the Internet...