Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year in 2013!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

This Robot Can Jump!

Check this jumping robot that can go 30 feet high in the air.

 

Wonder how it would work with a long antenna wire attached going over a tree branch?

Roku Review

A few weeks ago I purchased a RoKU on sale at Radio Shack.

For those not familiar with Roku, it is a small box that lets you stream video from the Internet to your TV. It comes with a few basic channels and includes a channel store to add your own. Most of the channels are free and the offering is very large depending on you interests. Hookup takes a few minutes and is very simple.

 

Two are my favorites are Ham Nation and AmateurLogicTV. Watching these on the TV beats the small screen of the computer any day. If your a fan of old B type movies Roku offers a large selection also at no additional cost. Even caught one of The Bowery Boys movies last Sunday, classic TV. Trying out my free Netflix subscription for a month and the family seems to enjoy it.

The only thing it does not include is any live free stream major sports. The various NHL, MLB, NBA, packages are available but your local teams would be blacked out.  It seems like streaming video is the wave of the future. Cable TV and Verizon Fios reports large numbers of customer cutting the cord. In my house the majority of TV viewing is on the major networks, CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, WOR, and WPIX. I am a big Rangers hockey fan but with the strike my sports viewing is very low now. My Fios offers a few 100 channels but if your not watching them its a waste of money.

The Verizon Internet is extremely fast, no complaints with the speed. In the new year I want to pick up a antenna and experiment and see what free TV has to offer in my area. Between free antenna TV, Roku, and Netflix, this will offer more than enough content to watch and hopefully save a few bucks in the long run.

Very Sad.....

 

Say a prayer for the kids.

Key Ideas

In my quest for a super compact field station go bag I am in search of a small straight key. Right now I have a cheap Philmore key and a very sturdy Junker key.

I love the Junker key with the lid but that has a permanent home in the shack. Morse Express offers a line of hand-crafted keys from LTA. I have my eye on the GMP series straight key with an affordable price under $50.00.

http://mtechnologies.com/lta/

The ARRL straight key night is a few weeks away, this key would sure come in handy.

Happy Holidays NOAA Style

We all heard this voice before.

Real Big Brother Stuff

Just read Verizon went in for a patented DVR that can watch and listen to everything in your living room. This sounds like the ultimate spy tool.

http://sourcefednews.com/big-brother-is-coming/

Cameras everywhere now they want to come inside your house.
I am sure there would even be an extra charge for the box.

Time to cut the cable cord one of these days.

Its getting out of hand!