On the Web : November 2004


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SJRA

Our contributions to the South Jersey Radio Association club bulletin "Harmonics" includes lengthy Web addresses. As the URL's can be difficult or a nuisance to type into your Web browser, the postings here should make it easier to get to the Web sites SJRA members are interested in. Look for the posting at w2xq.com at the time "Harmonics" is scheduled for delivery in the south Jersey area. Questions, suggestions or contributions are always welcome.
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RSS Extra

In recent months perhaps you have noticed the small orange RSS and XML tags on Web sites large and small. The tags are all over Yahoo and computer media sites such as Ziff Davis. In the recent past I have suggested that you read a help file (trsc.com/rss_help.html) that I wrote and that you should subscribe to our news feed (trsc.com/rss.xml)to keep up with what's new on our family of four Web sites. Throughout the Internet, the dissemination of information via XML technology in the RSS format is increasing at an increasing rate.

The pages in the next chapter in Really Simple Syndication are starting to turn, and it is really getting interesting. Have a read.

At RSS Calendar— www.rsscalendar.com — users can set up online calendars that can be syndicated as RSS feeds. You can share the calendar in real-time with an unlimited number of users. Calendar views are by day, week, month or year. Individuals and groups can subscribe to your calendar. What is the advantage of this setup? E-mail delivery is subject to problems of firewalls and SPAM filters. RSS is a "pull" technology, and bypasses all such problems.

Virtually everyone watches television. I found the only Web site that has program listings by channel and time in RSS format. Dial up "Bootleg RSS: TV Edition" at ktyp.com/rss/tv for information. The news reader within your browser — Sage for Firefox or Pluck for IE — or a standalone program, such as our favorite Freereader (Win), on your desktop grabs the data quickly. There is no sign-in, no waiting for graphically-heavy pages to load. The downside of the service is that the detail isn't local; the coverage is limited to the large networks such as shown on Comcast Cable in SJRA-land.

I still haven't convinced you to get with typing into RSS? W2TAG buys and perhaps sells old radios on eBay. I overhear others on the K2AA repeater talk about looking for parts for building transmitters, antenna tuners and power supplies. Searching eBay, wondering if an item sought is properly categorized, is difficult at best just because of the sheer number of pages. Let RSSauction (rssauction.com) do the job for you with custom eBay searches delivered by RSS.

Digital Trunk Scanning

Warren, W3TWZ, asked me the other day about scanners to listen to the Burlington County emergency services. Time is marching on, and the inexpensive 500 MHz analog scanners will soon be useless. The analog system installed in the late 1970's is being replaced by a digital trunking system, and you will need a scanner capable of handling a decoding type called APCO-25. The digital trunking allows more radio services to occupy the spectrum, yet maintain privacy among each agency. My dentist of 40 years asked me for help with his BC785D scanner tuning in the APCO-25 transmissions broadcast by Bucks County Radio. I thought I knew what I was doing, and was I wrong.

Thanks to Jerry, N3RPW, who works with N2ASU, and Clint, WB3EHB, who is one of many installing the Burlco system, I can pass along the following hints and suggestions:

I understand there are two major trunking scanner players in the consumer market. Uniden — uniden.com — produces the BC796D and BC785D tabletop units, and a BC296D handheld unit. All have 1000 memories, 10 banks, and 10 priority channels. Whereas the BC796D and BC296D have the APCO-25 built into the receivers, the BC785D requires an optional board. In very late October I thought I saw an ad, in our pile of mail, for the BC785D that included the optional APCO-25 board at a significantly lower price than usual. Check to be sure; I do not think the Web site is up to date. A nice touch, though: you can download the owner's manual for every model sold. Prices of Uniden scanners could vary as the list of retail outlets on the Web site is huge.

Radio Shack — radioshack.com — is the other player in the APCO-25 capable digital scanner market. The PRO-96 catalog page URL is a bit long, so just enter the model number in the search field atop any page to go directly to the details. The PRO-96 has 5500 memory channels. Again, you can download the owner's manual.

Next: Whatever scanner you buy, get software to load its memories and set scanning modes. Setting up the BC785D by hand was torturous.

Next: The desktop Uniden scanners have speakers on the bottom. Boo! Get a decent external speaker.

Next: Do not depend upon the information supplied with the scanner or by the store (if you purchase the scanner locally) to be accurate. The ID codes and lists change as often as the weather, and the best source of information is Radio Reference (radioreference.com). The Web site has discussion and Q&A forums.

Quickies

On 4 November Matthew Broersma, for eWeek, wrote "US-CERT on Wednesday warned of a fresh hole in Internet Explorer that could allow attackers to take control of a PC via an HTML e-mail message or a malicious Web page. The flaw is all the more serious because exploit code has been published on public mailing lists, according to security researchers." Why am I not surprised? Read the rest of the story at www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1711932,00.asp?kc=ewnws110403dtx1k000059 and consider changing to a better browser. I (and many other users) like Mozilla's Firefox — mozilla.org/firefox — that runs on a number of different platforms, but the choice is yours.

Grab your calendar and a red pen. Circle the dates of March 11 and 12, 2005, and make plans to attend the 18th edition of the USA-based Winter SWL Festival. It is held outside Philadelphia. The gathering the clan is perhaps the largest convention gathering of long-, medium- and shortwave listeners and scanner enthusiasts in the world. Attendees come from all over the world. Statistics show us that about 40 percent of the attendees also have ham radio licenses; last year, for the first time, exams were given and it was a big success. It isn't too early to plan ahead. Watch for the 2005 registration form to be posted on swlfest.com in December or so. You can sign up for an XML/RSS news feed alert as well. I have been to all 17 conventions. Will I see you next March?

The season of extending "Seasons Greetings" to friends and family is approaching. If you communicate with a ham friend far afield, why not help SJRA by promoting this column? In your seasonal note, please consider adding a "stickie" or a QSL with a note to ask that person to read this column on w2xq.com. Club bulletin exchange details with SJRA can be made by contacting directly. Thanks!

And happy Thanksgiving to all.

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Revised 7 November 2004

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