I was having that happen to me when I first got mine.  My problem was operator error, tone, ct, and dcs has to be set up in the vfo before saving to memory.

That is certainly something to take into consideration.  I am sure it would probably cost a fortune to build something to hoist that much weight up and down.  But if someone had the time and resources to do it, it would be pretty cool.

If you are the creative type, you could build the desk so it raises and lowers for your optimum height, standing or sitting.  Haven't seen it in a hamshack, but that is how our county dispatch center is set up, thought it was kinda neat.

I've used a acer 10.1 netbook everyday for about 2 years now, just for internet and work.  I am a mechanic, and it gets covered in dust, dirt, grease from sitting in the shop.  Good basic light weight computer.  As long as you don't need any cd/dvd drives or plan on doing any extreme computing, you would probably like one.  I certainly wouldn't hesitate purchasing another one.  I should note about 99% of my usage is internet.  When out of town I use Skype and Netflix which works good, but I haven't tried running a bunch of programs simultaneously.

Check out youtube.  There are lots of videos of mounts people custom built.  With a bit of money and a few tools you could have quite a nice setup.

I would do it with a 5 post relay.  Pin 85 on the relay to ground, pins 86 and 87 together with your B+ switch.  Pin 87a to reverse light feed, and pin 30 to camera.  But that's because I don't have diodes laying around, and have plenty of relays laying around.

I miss those days

I'm not telling him to get a single band radio.  But if he was going to, the TH-K20 is a good radio to get.

I can't say whether a single band or dual band would be better for you, but the TH-K20 is a fantastic radio.  My TH-F6 has been collecting quite a bit of dust since I got the new one.

I suspect they don't because it is not cost effective to pay for that certification when they already have a commercial line.

Do you have an eye on any particular rig?  Certain rigs have common flaws that may or may not be expensive to fix, or may not have part availability.  I'm no expert myself, but a lot of folks here have had a lot of rigs.

Yeah, prius owners get a little upset up here when they only get 30 mpg during the winter.  If I was using a prius for what you are suggesting I wouldn't get too carried away with what you are running,  the 12 volt system isn't designed for constant high current draws.

The gasoline engine will also run periodically to maintain coolant temperature and air fuel sensor temp,  regardless of the hv battery state of charge.  So it may be efficient on a warm day,  but at 20 below the gas engine is almost constantly running.

I completely agree.  Ham radio is all about the fun of experimenting, but i don't depend on it for everyday stuff.