I'm not sure I want regulatory agencies that raise their own revenues by handing out fines.  It's just too tempting to start handing out fines for no particularly good reason just to raise money.  Then it takes years to expose the abuse and crack down on the offending agency.  And then people complain about how stupid government was to fail to anticipate such a problem in the first place.

It reminds me a bit of the constituent who, as the story goes, objected to the salaries in Washington, and asked his Congressman, "Couldn't you guys just live on bribes?"  Well, yes they could, and there are always some who do.  But it's not the kind of thing you want to encourage by making it legal.

I think RSID is excellent, and I tip my ham hat to the fellow who developed the protocol and coded it up.


Out of curiosity, how much would you be willing to pay for such a program?

Geoff, feel free to distribute it.  All I ask of anyone wanting to use it is that the Silicon Valley VE Group be identified as the source.

One of the perks of working with a local VE group is getting to talk to brand-new hams.  Something I've noticed in speaking with them is that there's quite a difference between the mindset of new hams now and the folks entering the hobby back when I did, in the mid 1960s.  Virtually all of my old-time cohorts seemed to pick up a common set of knowledge about what you could do with a ham radio license.  (Then again, it's not as if there was that much to know: CW, AM, SSB, and for the adventurous, RTTY.  Even FM wasn't well-established at the time.)  But some of the folks getting a ham license today seem totally unaware of the various things they can do with their ticket.

To help new hams navigate the amateur radio maze, I wrote up an FAQ that we now give to the newly licensed; it's available online at http://svve.org/newhamfaq.pdf.  See pp. 11-17 for info on the various activities available to hams.  I don't think this will help the OP, but it might be of interest to other new hams.

Units like the SignaLink USB have three advantages:

1) By having two sound cards, you can use the sound card in your computer for system sounds.  For example, when I use DM780 with the SignaLink USB, all of the tx and rx audio goes through the external sound card, while system sounds--like DM780 announcing RSID detection--go through the computer sound card and my speakers.  There's no need to mute system sounds to keep them from going out over the air.  Of course, you can achieve the same thing by adding an extra sound card to your computer.

2) Fewer cables.  The SignaLink USB has one USB cable going to the computer and another cable going to the rig's accessory port or microphone connector.  That's it.  Fewer cables means fewer little antennas that might pick up RF and throw a monkey wrench into the works.  Maybe you've read about lots of problems with USB drivers, but I haven't; most modern OSes have built-in support for external USB sound cards.

3) I like the fact that the SignaLink has pots on the front to set tx and rx levels.  That's a lot easier than searching through the computer settings to find the right software volume control.  (There's nothing to say that you couldn't put pots on a simpler interface.)

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're using now.  If you're happy with it, there's no need to change.

You can do this online at no cost.  Here's how:

http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=cft&id=amateur&page=cft_change_address

OK, on to the next step.  Once you have the laptop connected to the desktop via LogMeIn, can you still go into transmit via DM780 from the desktop?  (I'm trying to see if your LogMeIn connection is somehow affecting operation of your desktop.)

By the way, I'm logged into my shack's PC right now via LogMeIn, and I can drive all DM780 functions through LogMeIn.  So something strange is going on.

You're running DM780 on the desktop, I assume, or you wouldn't be able to control the rig functions from the laptop.

But let's set aside LogMeIn for a moment, and address something more fundamental.  When you're running DM780 from your desktop, can you make your rig go into transmit via DM780?

Try 20 meters between 14.072 and 14.074.  I set my rig at 14.072 USB, which then becomes the frequency at the far left side of the waterfall.  I fire up DM780 with RSID and voice prompts on, then leave the room.  I know there's digital activity when I hear a creepy metallic voice emanating from the shack.  RSID will tell you which mode the other guy is using.  I typically use 16/500, but 8/250 seems popular, too.

They never mention that in the study guides.

Years ago I had a California amateur radio plate, but eventually got rid of it because any visit to the DMV invariably resulted in the folks behind the counter failing to find my license in the database.  If I recall correctly, it appeared in the database as "KG6 AF".

I'm not blaming the folks at the local DMV; in fact, I've found them to be pretty competent.  But it's not clear to me why a license would appear in the database as anything except exactly what it is, with no hidden spaces.  Either enter it that way, or have the license lookup software provide matches that ignore spaces.

If I cut back from 30 watts to 10, that makes my signal ~4.8dB lower, less than a standard S-unit.  How does that help the guy who's complaining?  In all but a very few cases, it doesn't.

That makes sense, but the ARRL VEC seems to disagree.  The following is taken from the 9th edition of the ARRL VEC Manual:

For General written test (Element 3) credit, persons who took a 50-question Technician/General written test before March 21, 1987 receive “grandfather” Technician licensees’ credit. This can be verified if an applicant presents any of the following:

a. Per FCC Rules, an FCC Technician license issued before March 21, 1987, as indicated on the license.

b. An original Element 3 CSCE issued before March 21, 1987, is acceptable as proof.

[...and a bunch of other stuff]

I'm not a lawyer, so don't ask me to explain it.

You're going to need a book for the General exam; the Extra Class book won't cover that material.

Be careful--the General test question pool changes at the end of June, so be sure to pick up a book that covers the new question set (unless, of course, you plan to take the General test before the end of the month).  If a book doesn't clearly indicate the question pool dates, don't buy it.  You should be getting a General book that covers 2011-2015 and an Extra book that covers 2008-2012.  Not being familiar with the theory pack, I can't comment on its value.

There are tons of online test sites as well.  Take a look at http://www.svve.org , and you'll see links to a number of these on the right-hand side of the page.