Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary

Late last Friday evening (US Eastern Standard Time), the new Icom IC-7110 was revealed at the JARL Ham Fair in Tokyo. This is what until Friday was referred to by the internal Icom project name, X-026. 

Of course we don't know everything about this radio, but what we do know indicates that Icom has a solid hit into deep left field. Is it a home run? Perhaps, but right now we just don't know enough about this rig to make that call. What we do know makes it seem like a winner, and you can read about the good stuff in the brochure at the attachment below. 

But what about what we don't know, or doesn't sound so good? Right off the bat, no internal tuner. What? Icom's historically had an on again, off again relationship with the idea of built-in tuners. When they do it, they do it very well. The tuner in the IC-7300 is a great example. On the surface the 7300's tuner looks ho-hum, only able to handle a 3:1 mis-match. But put the rig into Emergency mode, and the tuner can handle up to 10:1 mismatches at reduced output. That's exactly the tuner design that belongs in the 7110, and shame on Icom for not building it in. I think Icom's plan is to name the new AH-6 external tuner as the 'official' tuner solution, but that thing is $650, likely 1/3 or more the cost of the radio itself! I'm sure the aftermarket will step up with cheaper solutions.

The tuner is the only obvious negative about the radio at this point, so let's talk about the unknowns. Of course we don't know anything about pricing or shipping dates. My guess is $2k and February 2027. I've never known Icom to make a Christmas shipping date for a new product; they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

There are a lot of questions right now regarding wi-fi capabilities. The literature says the rig has wi-fi, but little else. Can I remotely connect the head to the main unit via wi-fi? Can I get the main unit on wi-fi similar to how the IC-705 works? Is the server software built into the radio firmware the same way it is on the new IC-7300 Mk II? 

Speaking of connectivity, hey Icom, can we finally get drivers for ARM-based processors? They are not going away.

Can you outboard video via the USB-C port(s). There's two of them - one on the main unit and one on the remote head. Does one of those support video out?

There's a built-in GPS receiver, there mainly for DSTAR, but will the radio all you to outboard the NMEA data stream for location and time synchronization for applications like WSJTX?

Speaking of DSTAR... naaah, I'm over it. I couldn't care less if it was there or not. To me, at this point, DSTAR is just a parlor trick. 

How easy is it to do a MARS mod? Will it operate in the 'silent scan' mode for use with ALE applications?

Is there a remote head stand included in the box?

I expect the usual digital mode capabilities. Icom has always done an excellent job here.

Let's spend a minute considering capabilities and pricing. Nothing about this radio is revolutionary. This is an evolutionary product that builds on the SDR radios Icom has been selling for over 10 years, and that's a good thing. It means that Icom repurposed already mature hardware and firmware designs. The R&D costs for this radio were likely quite low. My hope is that this repurposing and low R&D costs (and the lack of an internal tuner) means Icom will hold the line on pricing. The 7110's direct competitor is the Yaesu FTX-1, in its full- up Optima configuration. While the two radios represent different design philosophies, they both target the same audience with very similar features. Icom has to know that if there's more than $100 in daylight between retail pricing many hams will reflexively pick the Yaesu. Icom has been loafing in this mobile all-mode market segment for a while now, and every FTX-1 sold is a lost 7110 sale. So I think Icom has a lot of motivation to set the retail price to right at, or just below, what the FTX-1 is currently selling for. 

You will find the the pre-release IC-7110 brochure at this link. It's a little thin on details, but it provides a good overview of the radio and its capabilities.

And hey, we finally get back-lit buttons!

W8BYH out

Finally, A Backlit Keyboard!

I picked up a Framework 12 laptop earlier this year, mainly out of frustration that the otherwise excellent Surface Pro line was (and largely still is) unrepairable. I've had about eleven Surface Pro and Surface Go models, and a few Surface laptops, pass through my hands over the last decade. We standardized on them at work and it was my job to spec them out and support them post-purchase. It took Microsoft a few years to get the Pro and Go lines figured out, but from at least the Surface Pro 7 generation they were great machines. As long as the batteries held up. And... they didn't. The batteries were too small in capacity, and Microsoft struggled to get the hardware and firmware dialed in to keep power draw reasonable. We never saw the advertised runtimes in real-world use. New units with fresh batteries were OK, but within a year we would see a significant drop in battery performance. That was OK for business use - we were never far from a charging port. For my personal use, however, I felt I could never really trust them since I couldn't replace the batteries.

I wanted something that I could easily upgrade or fix myself - something designed from the ground up to be user repairable. There was (and still is) only one company offering this kind of a product - Framework. I focused on the new Framework 12. When I wrote about the computer back in February, I had two major complaints. First, the battery capacity is too small. Second, no backlit keyboard. But I bought the Framework 12 on faith - faith that the company would address these issues in a refresh. And they have!

Yesterday Framework announced the next generation of the Framework 12 line, and it offers a backlit keyboard and improved battery life. Too bad I don't need a new laptop. But this is Framework, and everything is backwards compatible. When the new generation is released, the company will also make the backlit keyboards available as a drop-in replacement for first generation owners like me. The power pins for the backlight are already built into the first generation motherboard. Framework was thinking ahead.

As to the power issue, that's a bit more involved. They didn't release a higher capacity battery. Better battery performance requires a motherboard swap for a new motherboard that has lower power draw. Again, there is backwards compatibility with the first generation units - pull out the old, drop in the new. You even get to re-use your old system memory and RAM. The lower power draw of the new motherboard is supposed to provide up to a 50% improvement in battery life. I think I'll wait on this to see what impact the backlit keyboard has on my current battery power draw.

I know these Framework computers are expensive compared to a similarly spec'd Dell or HP. I've already discussed this in earlier posts. My going with Framework is more a statement of support for their philosophy of owner repairability. I'm more than willing to pay a little extra for that. Plus, this is a hobby, and if you can't spend money on your hobbies what's the point?

W8BYH out

Au Revoir CHU Canada

This just in from the land of polar bears and Moosehead Lager. The government of Canada recently announced that they will end their shortwave-based time signal broadcast service on 22 June of this year.

The service, which uses the callsign CHU, has operated in one form or another since the  1930s. CHU is the Canadian equivalent of the US's WWV & WWVH time signal services that operate from both Colorado and Hawaii.

Canada's National Research Council, the government agency that runs the time signal service, states the shut-down is necessary because the analog signal is no longer needed in the era of the internet and things like GPS and network time protocol (NTP) servers. I also understand there's an issue with the age of the transmitters used at both of the transmission sites. It's a cost-cutting measure.

To be fair, the US's terrestrial time signal services have been a target of government cost cutters in the past, as recently as the first Trump administration. Federal bean counters argue that nobody tunes in to listen to the 'beep, beep, beep' of the signal anymore. The push-back was always pretty immediate, from sources as varied as the US Department of Defense, the ham radio community, maritime services and the scientific community, which uses the signal to test things like minute changes in the atmospheric layers during severe storms or eclipses. As a result, the US National Institute of Science & Technology has done a lot to modernize the WWV & WWVH signals to deliver more than just audio beeps. There's a digital component to the signal that is used by automated systems for time synchronization, and the the NIST will add short voice broadcasts that provide information about ongoing experiments involving the time signal, announce system maintenance activities, coordinate government exercises, and more. The service also acts as something of an old-school 'dead hand' alert - if one or both stations suddenly go off the air, various federal agencies are instructed to come up on their own radio frequencies for information and instructions. Very Doctor Strangelove-ish 😄. So, I think the US-based time signal service is safe, for now.

Back to Canada. Oh, Canada, is this headlong rush to internet-based services a wise move? Remember, Canada shut down their broadcast weather alert system back in March, claiming the internet was the solution to all things, and the old weather alert service (similar to our NOAA Weather Radio) was redundant and unnecessary. Plus, it was, as federal bureaucrats love to say, 'too expensive to maintain'. Since something like 80% of the Canadian population lives within just a few miles of the US/Canada border and can receive NOAA weather radio broadcasts, I expect a lot of Canadian weather geeks are buying NOAA weather radios and programming in the nearest US county SAME codes to help maintain situational awareness. Canada seems headed down the path of many countries in shutting down older terrestrial transmission services in favor of that new solution to all problems - 'the cloud'. While this makes sense for small countries like Belgium or Costa Rica, for countries with vast territories, terrestrial broadcast services still make a lot of sense. Think of countries like the US, Canada, Australia (which is a land mass as large as the US lower 48), Russia, China, and even the small island nations that are dotted across thousands of square miles of the Pacific Ocean. Many of these countries have fragile infrastructure and isolated population centers scattered across their territories. For them, old-fashioned terrestrial broadcast services still make a lot of sense, in large part because all that's needed to receive the signal is an inexpensive battery powered radio. 

Sadly, the internet and the web services delivery paradigm has caught the eye of cost-cutting bureaucrats across the developed world. Why keep a cranky, expensive radio transmitter running when you can just 'go to the cloud' with the same service?

So, goodbye to the Canadian time service. You served faithfully for almost 100 years. Here's hoping nobody south of the border looks at your example and says, "Hey, that a good idea".

W8BYH out   

Third Time's The Charm?

Another day, another Icom IC-7100. Wait, what?

A month or so back I picked up my third IC-7100. No, I don't have three of them in my shack, I just buy them, use them for a while, then sell them or trade them off for something different. In all this trading around I never lost my respect for the 7100. It's just that I'm something of a crow, and shiny new objects catch my attention. To get something new I need to sell something old, and the IC-7100 is an easy sell, particularly to those who understand what this rig is capable of.

The path to this new (used) 7100 was pretty straight. I wanted a rig that I could take camping that offered 100 watts on HF, 50 watts on VHF, has a built-in sound card interface and is easy to run on digital modes via USB. Oh, and I also wanted back-lit keys for use in low light conditions like at night in the outdoors. The Japanese seem to have forgotten about this important feature, the Americans never did get it, and I don't buy Chinese. As far as I know, the IC-7100 is one of the last 100 watt HF rigs currently manufactured that has back-lit buttons. The Yaesu FT-991a and the FT-891 are the other two. The 991a offers the VHF and UHF capability I'm after, but I much prefer Icom's command set. 

Before you laugh at me over this button thing, go read product reviews of currently manufactured laptop computers. If one doesn't include a backlit keyboard (like the new Apple Neo) the reviewers and fanboys start bitching, loudly. Backlit keys seem to be vitally important to laptop computers, so why not modern HF rigs? No back-lit keys means the manufacturer has gotten lazy. Screw DSTAR and C4FM, I want back-lit keys.

Ever try to work the world from a darkened campsite? You'll come to appreciate back-lit buttons and keys.

Can the IC-7100 compete in the world of modern SDRs? Sure, it competes just fine. I admit that I've become as addicted to multi-color real-time band scope displays as the next ham, and the 7100's monochrome display looks dated. However, if you are OK working without a band scope, the radio's information display is quite well done. It follows Icom's well proven command set layout, so if you've operated any of the current generation of Icom HF rigs, you can easily and quickly find your way around the IC-7100.

I'd been casually haunting the QRZ.com used equipment pages for a few months, watching IC-7100's pop up and almost immediately get sold. My frustration peaked when I went camping back in early March, and took along my IC-705. It became a huge PITA as I tried to get it working properly with a new laptop. Actually, the radio was fine. It was Icom's RS-BA1 software and wi-fi settings that frustrated me. I've beaten Icom up enough over the issues with the IC-705 and RFI in the past. I'll just say this - I'll never go through what I experienced on that camping trip again. My IC-705 is now on a short list of rigs to sell for some quick cash.

Last month I got a message on one of the Groups.io sites I follow. A member was selling an IC-7100 in great condition, along with the accessory Icom HM151 microphone, something I already knew I wanted. The price was good, we struck a deal, and I was the owner of yet another IC-7100. The user interface on the IC-7100 is so intuitive that I didn't even bother to open the manual when I set it up for HF digital modes and programmed in the local repeaters. 

When I bought this radio, I already knew Icom would be announcing its replacement at the upcoming Dayton Hamvention. I also knew that whatever it was, its release in the US was still at least a year off. I wanted the IC-7100's capabilities now. At Dayton, Icom did tease out what's known as the X-026 (certainly an in-house design designation), and it will be the 7100's replacement, but all Icom had on display was a plain plastic box and a mock-up remote head. For details we'll have to wait for the radio's official release at the Japanese Ham Fair in late August. Then we go through final product design, FCC certification, manufacturing, and shipping delays. I'm sure it'll be a crackerjack product and I may even buy one, but in the meantime the still very relevant and generally outstanding IC-7100 is in my shack handling digital traffic and repeater calls. A bird in the hand and all that.

W8BYH out.

What's The Oddest Thing You've Bought At A Hamfest?

I've got a real affinity for the unusual and the quirky. It can be radios, time pieces, dogs, tropical fish, computers, you name it. If it's quirky and catches my eye (and I can afford it), it often follows me home.

So it is with hamfest finds. Time was, I'd go to a hamfest and fill my truck with all sorts of odd stuff, often stuff with zero connection to ham radio or communications in general. Radiation detector? Check. Rifle bayonet? Check. WWII British 'Brody' helmet? Check. Military backpack? Check. Old National Geographics? Check. An old rotary-style pay phone? (Almost) check. 

So it was, years ago at a local hamfest, that I was wandering the boneyard and spied a large cardboard box labeled '$10 for anything in this box'. I peeked in and found a bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with ham radio. But boy, what neat stuff! The seller said everything in the box was from an SK estate and he wanted to get rid of it all, fast. I only bought two items - a set of binoculars (more about those in a minute), and this beauty, a Swiss made Bolex D8L 8mm camera:

I don't shoot 8mm movies (although you can still buy the film), but I am a great admirer of optical instruments and exquisite industrial design. Let me tell you, this little jewel registers a full 10 on the industrial design meter. Built at a time (between 1959 and 1961) when manufacturers could lavish time and materials on practical items, and sprinkled with just enough Rube Goldberg (look him up) inspired meters, setting switches, levers, winding keys, triggers and lens ring adjustments to keep even the non-Asperger's among us fascinated for hours. All wrapped up in polished aluminum, chrome and Morocco leather

For me, the icing on the cake are the lenses. Manufactured by Kern in Switzerland, they are high end optics and were, I'm sure, a large part of the overall cost of the camera. Never heard of Kern? At one time they competed with another Swiss company, Wild, as a world-leading manufacturer of optical surveying equipment, binoculars, and other high end optical instruments.

I displayed this on a shelf for a time, then tucked it away in a camera bag. A few days ago, while doing a major clean-out, I stumbled on it and almost tossed it on the junk pile (after all, I only paid $10 for it), but as I got it in my hands I once again was captivated by the craftsmanship and design. No, no junk pile for this beauty. I'll likely mount it on a table tripod and offer it to my granddaughter as a classic example of what was once possible without microprocessors, wi-fi and the internet.

Now, the binoculars. These came out of the same box and, again, for just $10. A pair of very dusty/grimy Bausch & Lomb 7 x 50 binoculars. I recognized the design instantly, and I hoped they were US military marked (both the Army & Navy used this design from WWII through the 1980s), but they carried only commercial markings. This meant they were likely made soon after WWII for sale on the civilian market. I took them home, cleaned the grime off of the outside, then carefully cleaned the optics. I expected scratches, rub spots and/or damaged coatings on the glass. To my delight, the optics were in great shape, almost perfect. The eyepiece focus rings were a little stiff but, considering the age, that's to be expected. I shipped them off to an optical repair shop in Arizona with instructions to inspect and provide an estimate of repair. Late one Friday afternoon I got a call from the shop. They had inspected the binoculars and told me they were in nearly perfect condition, physically and optically. The only thing the shop recommended was to do a routine service, make sure there was no fungus starting to grow on the inside (a common problem with binoculars of this era), check the collimation (the alignment of the two halves of the binoculars) and seal everything up. A few weeks later I had my binos back, and they have been one of my go-to pairs ever since.  

So that's my odd hamfest find story. Do you have one? Let's hear it!

W8BYH out

Playing Doctor

"Dr. Hackenbush, I presume?"

A few days ago I went rummaging through our closet looking for a specific type of bandage to cover a boo-boo. Nothing major, no blood on the floor, no protruding bones, just a minor injury in an unusual spot that needed a specific type of bandage. I was sure we had what I needed, because I remember putting them in the first aid supply box a few years ago. But they were not to be found. OK, no problem, I went out to our camper (parked in our driveway), rummaged through the camper's first aid kit, found what I needed, poached a few other items from the box, checked the expiration dates on some of the meds and then headed back to the house. It dawned on me that I'm in the 'rob Peter to pay Paul' stage of medical readiness, and it was time for a refresh on all of our first aid supplies.

We have three separate first aid supply stashes - one in the house, one in the camper and one in my truck. The house kit is really a pile of supplies that sits on a shelf in our linen closet, and it's the supply that gets used most. Lots of band aids, gauze, wraps, tape, antibiotic ointment, etc. We probably completely turn over that supply every 18 months, particularly band-aids and antibiotic ointment (Neosporin).

The first aid kit in the camper has a slightly different focus. That kit is specifically stocked to support my wife and I with a higher level of care while on the road and camping. The idea is to be as self sufficient as possible for a week or more with no access to regular non-prescription supplies like you'd find at Wal-Mart. So, more gauze, more tape, more bandages, but also things like OTC pain killers (Tylenol, Motrin, Imodium, aspirin, etc.), betadine wipes, burn gel, electrolyte powder, cold packs, splint rolls, oral tooth pain killer, oral thermometer, even water purification packs. We don't want minor bumps, bruises and scrapes to grow into something that impacts our camping adventures.

The first aid kit in my truck is a subset of the camper kit. It travels in a smaller box and leaves out a lot of  the more esoteric components of the larger kit, like the dental care items and the electrolyte powder. Plus it's easy to transfer to my wife's car if we decide to use that for traveling.

So... hi-ho, hi-ho, off to Amazon I go, and I'll say this - thank the Lord for generics! While this re-stock wasn't cheap, the price could have almost doubled if I bought name brands vs. generics. Just price Neosporin ointment against a generic of the same compound. The generic is roughly 20 - 30% cheaper. And antibiotic ointments like Neosporin get used a lot in my house.

Many would say, "Hey, things don't really expire, you can keep them around longer and they'll be just fine". I'm on board with that thinking when it comes to things like gauze, tape, etc. But medication I have in my truck kit are subject to some wild temperature swings - below freezing in the winter, well over 100 degrees in the summer. Medications in the truck kit get tossed on schedule. I check the non-medications (again, gauze, tape, band-aids, exam gloves etc.) to make sure they are still securely packaged and haven't degraded due to heat and cold, and I'll toss those too if they look a little suspect.

These mobile first aid kits get stored in clearly marked waterproof containers. For years I'd just buy the pre-stocked kits like those offered by Johnson & Johnson and the Red Cross. They are a good way to get basic supplies in a single purchase, but I've always found the box or container they come in to be less than ideal. Down through the years I've tried other options like tackle boxes (first got the idea watching the great Jack Webb series 'Emergency' when I was a kid), ammo cans, backpacks, tool boxes and more. 

"Dammit Roy,  you grabbed the wrong box.
 It's full of spinner baits, not bandages!"

But what I've settled on are clearly marked hard cases made by a Canadian firm called Nanuk. Nanuk is a competitor to Pelican, but in my opinion the Nanuks are better designed and built, and cost about the same. The cases are just simple empty waterproof boxes, so all the supplies get put into Ziplock bags and labeled by content type (roll gauze, tape, medications, adhesive bandages, etc.). 

Nanuk makes excellent cases that beat Pelican in design and quality

There's one key supply item that I can't get for myself, and that is oral antibiotics. In my serious prepper days I explored getting a supply of oral antibiotics as part of my apocalypse preparedness, but never perused it. It would have required going to my family doctor, explaining I was preparing for the end of the world, and gee, wouldn't it be a good idea to have a supply of antibiotics on-hand just in case? 

Last summer my wife and I went on an extended camping vacation up through Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, with a lot of stops along the way. The goal was to get to western Michigan for a family wedding, and we were scheduled to camp there for about a week. The campground was crowded, the heat was awful (it was during the 2025 summer heat dome that impacted much of the eastern US). We had our three dogs with us, and they were on edge because of the heat, the campground noises, the lack of a yard to play in. One of our dogs, while he's great with humans, can be aggressive towards other dogs, particularly other males who also think they rule the world. One day while out walking him, he got into an argument with another aggressive male. The lady holding the leash was incapable of controlling her large dog, and the two tried to lunge at each other. I pulled my dog back, and stepped between them to try to break things up, but in the mele my dog managed to nip me good on the calf. It was an accident - he was going for the other dog, not me. My calf just got in the way. Accident or not, I had two puncture wounds. So, we're in a state far from Georgia, and one that might not look too kindly on an 'aggressive' animal from out-of-state with no verification of vaccination other than a collar tag. And, we had a wedding to attend the next day. No way was I going to head to an ER or urgent care center unless absolutely necessary. I knew my dog was vaccinated, so there was no threat of rabies. I had plenty of Neosporin, bandages, gauze and tape to handle the two puncture wounds, but there was a serious threat of infection. Dog's teeth, and all that. I flushed out the two bites, applied pressure bandages, and remembered that I had brought along some 'left over' amoxicillin that had been prescribed to me for dental surgery a few months prior. There was enough for a 5 day round of treatment. 

The decision to not go to an ER was a carefully calculated one. The wounds were clean and well bandaged, the pain was under control, and my mobility was fine, I knew the dog didn't have rabies.  On the other hand, if I did go to the ER an unnecessary chain of events could have kicked off that would place my dog in quarantine, causing us to have to extend our stay in Michigan by weeks, add additional cost to the trip, and ruin the back half of our vacation. The single factor that tipped the calculation in favor of continuing without an ER visit was the availability of antibiotics. If I hadn't brought those along I think my wife would have forced me to the hospital.

There are lots of other ways to get hurt while camping - burns, puncture wounds, cuts and scrapes, falls, walking into tree branches, twisted ankles, etc. Pretty much the kinds of things that can happen around home. But when camping you are not around home (that's the whole idea of camping, right?), and you are not around the medical system that you depend on for support. This means non-critical self-care is more important than at home. So, a robust first aid kit stocked with supplies and medications specifically chosen to treat camping-related injury and health issues is important. 

I now consider prescription antibiotics a key component of this first aid kit. But how to get them (legally)? There's a few ways. One is to ask your family doctor. Another is to turn to one of the on-line pharmacies. These have been operating in the US for years (they are the same kinds of outfits that will sell you the 'little blue pills' after asking a few 'discreet' questions). Prices are a higher than if you get them through your family doctor, but nobody's going to ask you why you need them, or require an office visit. Some companies like Jase Medical will sell pre-packaged kits of a broad range of medications for survival or emergency use, but geeze, those are expensive. I'm a believer in buying generic and in bulk, and being aggressive in tossing out expired medications. A few days ago I bought a supply of amoxicillin from an on-line provider called TelyRx, and the cost came out to about $1.80 per capsule after the medical review fee and shipping were calculated in. This will ensure my wife and I have enough medication for each of us to have a regular 7-day course of treatment.

But what else goes in the kit? On this, I rely on the advice of a few close friends and relatives who work in emergency medicine. Two in particular have long term ER and trauma center experience, one serving as a SF combat medic in Afghanistan. The secret is... nothing exotic or fancy. Lots of gauze, tape, Ace bandages, hand sanitizer, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment (Neosporin), lots of Band-Aids for the small but very common ouchies, anti-itch cream, some Quick Clot for small cuts, cold packs, burn gel, exam gloves and face masks, and a selection of common OTC medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Motrin), low dose aspirin and Imodium. I leave out all the prepper and apocalyptic silliness like decompression needles, combat tourniquets, suture kits, IV starter kits, iodine tablets for treating radiation poisoning, etc. 

Also important is an inventory sheet, one that stays in the kit so you know what and how much to re-stock. I maintain a list in spreadsheet format and print it out and tape it to the inside of the case lid. As you see below, I also segregate most of the kit components into ziplock bags. This makes sure the individual contents are easy to find and identify, and the bags keep the individual contents dry and clean. 

The kit I keep in my truck, under the passenger seat. Note the two hand sanitizer
packets taped to the inside lid. A neat trick I picked up that allows the user to easily clean
his/her hands before rummaging around in the kit contents

As mentioned above, medical supplies are subject to heat and humidity damage, especially if the kit is stored in a car or truck where temps can range from sub-freezing to well over 100 degrees. This is why my vehicle kit holds only the minimum amount of medications. Some antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream (for bug bites), antiseptic wipes, burn gel, hand sanitizer and quick cool packs. Everything else is gauze, tape and bandages, which are less susceptible to heat and cold. The larger camper first aid kit gets stored in the house when we're not camping, since the camper can get quite hot and humid when in storage over the summer months. 

By now I know many of you are yelling at your screen, "What about training?!" Excellent question, and I'll admit it's been a while since I've taken a first aid course. But I've taken basic and advanced first aid all through my military career (it was an annual requirement in most of my jobs), and kept up with it in a fashion after retirement from the Army. While I could use a refresher, I think it's fair to say that the basics really haven't changed in the last quarter century (check for a pulse, clear the airway, stop the bleeding, etc.), and the goal of these kits isn't to be able to perform emergency surgery, but treat minor wounds and if necessary stabilize for treatment at a hospital or clinic. No picnic table appendectomies or treating 50 caliber gunshot wounds. But I promise, I'll get more training before the end of the year.

W8BYH out

Framework 12

A few months ago I tested a laptop with an ARM-based Snapdragon CPU, an experience that left me frustrated as heck. First off, it was a very good laptop (an HP Omnibook), and offered everything I was looking for - snappy performance, excellent battery life, a great keyboard. It was a really good all-around laptop. But, compatibility quickly became an issue. ARM processors are not built on the conventional Intel x86 architecture, the architecture that has dominated the Windows PC industry for decades. The Snapdragon processor is built on a RISC (reduced instruction set) architecture designed specifically to optimize speed and low power consumption. An ideal combination for laptops. Apple's incredibly successful M-series processors (M1 - M5) used in its MacBooks and iPads are also a type of RISC processor.

Since the Snapdragon is not an x86 architecture, it achieves x86 compatibility a few ways. The ARM compatible version of Windows 11 will do an on-the-fly conversion of x86 instructions to ARM instructions, many large software developers (like Microsoft) have released ARM-native versions of their applications, and there are hardware emulators built into the newest versions of Snapdragon processors to handle the translation. Any way you look at it, running a native Windows application on a Snapdragon-based computer is a fancy parlor trick, but it's a parlor trick that works... mostly.

What I quickly found out is that Icom has not developed ARM-compatible versions of their COM port drivers, and based on internet chatter doesn't intend to. This means that you can't connect with and control any current production Icom radio using a computer running a Snapdragon processor. I can drive my Elecraft, Kenwood and Yaesu radios using this laptop, but not my Icoms. And I'm an Icom guy. Grrrrr....

Back to an Intel x86 computer, and the star of this post.

I've got a stack of aging Windows laptops. Some can't be upgraded to Windows 11, others work just fine but have dying batteries. I figured it was time for an x86 refresh, but I didn't see anything in the general laptop lineups from Dell, HP, etc. that would cause me to spend my money. My want list was pretty simple, except for that last bullet item:

• Small form factor - 12" - 13" screen
• Intel x86 compatible processor
• Above average battery life (whatever that means)
• Touchscreen
• Backlit keyboard
• Minimum 16 GB of system memory
• Minimum 512 GB of storage
• Rugged construction
• Easy to open for repairs and upgrades, particularly for battery replacements

I refuse to purchase any laptop that I can't easily open for upgrades and repairs. After spending 18 years at the World's Busiest Airport managing generations of laptops and field data collection devices, and seeing most of them die before their time due to battery issues, I'm not going to buy anything I can't easily fix myself. Note the emphasis on easily. There are plenty of repair shops that, for a few hundred bucks, will crack open your dead Surface Pro or MacBook to do a battery replacement, but the disassembly process is akin to open heart surgery, and just as risky.

Several years ago, while watching a post on the popular Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel, I heard about a new startup that was going to manufacture laptops that were fully repairable and upgradeable. In fact, they were being designed so that, with a single screwdriver, the owner could easily and safely open the laptop and replace the storage, the battery, the keyboard, the display, and even the motherboard. The idea was that you would buy the 'frame' of the laptop - the shell - and fill it with the components you wanted. Hence the name of the company - Framework. Framework's first product was a 13" laptop. The reviews and comments were very interesting, almost polar opposite in many respects. Half of the  reviewers said it was an interesting product, but the specs were middle-of-the-road (they were), it was more expensive than it should be given the specs (it was), and for the average laptop buyer probably wasn't worth the investment (I'd agree). The other half gushed over it. saying that the design philosophy was revolutionary (it was), that the laptop delivered on it's promise of complete repairability (it did), and that Framework would eventually come along with easy to install upgrades that improved system performance (they did). The Framework 13 quickly struck a chord with a large user community that, like me, was fed up dealing with expensive laptops that could not be economically repaired. The Framework 13 took off, and became such a strong seller that Framework often reported availability issues. 

Framework continued to develop new products, and recently introduced both 12" and a 16" models. It's the 12" model that caught my eye. It's a 2-in-1 design, with a touchscreen that can be folded back to create a tablet. This is touted as Framework's 'education' model - ruggedly built with a plastic encased metal chassis built to MIL-STD-810 standards. It's not waterproof, or even water resistant, but it can take a few knocks. It can be had with Intel i3 or i5 Lunar Lake series CPUs, a variety of system memory and storage options, and Framework's unique interchangeable connector modules (for USB, HDMI, audio, Wi-Fi, etc). Like with the Framework 13, reviews of the 12 ranged from it being little more than a toy that offered poor performance for the price, to the greatest thing since sliced bread. During my research I kept coming back to a few level headed reviewers that said the Framework 12 wasn't perfect, but within a well defined use case, it's actually a very good option. It just so happened that the 'well defined use case' closely matched my requirements (bulleted above), with one major omission - the back-lit keyboard.

Buying the Framework 12 was a leap of faith, but a carefully considered one. It gets good reviews from people I trust, has a strong user community, and the company operates with a remarkably open philosophy and actively listens to its customer base. I figured if it failed to live up to my expectations it would be an easy sell on the Framework used market (one person-to-person used sales stream is actually hosted by Framework itself, on their website). 

I've had it for a few weeks now, testing it out and running it mainly for digital mode operations, JS8CALL and Winlink. My impressions so far:

• Since it's using an Intel CPU, no compatibility issues with Icom's COM port drivers
• Build quality is actually very good. The chassis doesn't flex any more than other, far more expensive laptops I've owned (i.e., MacBooks)
• The keyboard is a sore spot. The typing experience is very good, but the fact that it's not backlit is aggravating. In fact, within the user community the lack of a backlit keyboard is one of the biggest complaints. But here's something interesting - apparently there is an unused power pin on the keyboard connector that could be used to power back lighting. Speculation is that Framework may develop a backlit keyboard, and it would be a simple matter of popping out the old and dropping in the new. Try that with your Dell or HP laptop.
• The screen resolution, color balance and touch responsiveness is very good. Far better than many reviewers would have you believe
• The modular port design (USB, HDMI, Wi-Fi, etc.) is brilliant. You can have up to four external ports on the Framework 12, but because they are all swappable modules, you can move ports around. One of the neat features is the ability to place USB-C charge ports on both sides of the laptop, a common complaint on even high end models from other manufacturers. And if a module breaks - say a USB-C module fails - we're not looking at a motherboard-level repair. Just buy another USB-C module from Framework (for a whopping $11), plug it in, and keep chugging along
• Battery life. Well, not bad, but not great. The i5 Lunar Lake CPU is well regarded for its low power draw, so I think the issue is the battery doesn't have enough capacity. Now, the laptop will run for almost 6 hours, but I was hoping for something closer to 8. The battery is easily replaced, so perhaps Framework will make a higher capacity battery available?
• Overall performance. I'm not gaming, running SolidWorks or retouching photos with Photoshop. My computing needs are fairly pedestrian. Ham radio apps, office apps, web browsing, basic stuff. So far, the Framework 12 is more than adequate. In fact, it's downright snappy. No complaints there.
• Repairability is best in class. See what the iFixit folks have to say:

On to the single biggest complaint about the entire Framework lineup - the price/performance ratio. I'll be honest - for the specs they offer, Framework is at the high end of the price range when compared to Dell or HP offerings. But there are good reasons for this. First, volume. Framework is a niche manufacturer. For every laptop they sell, Dell and HP sell thousands. Framework can't take advantage of the economies of scale that Dell and HP enjoy. Next, bloatware. Framework sells computers. HP, Dell and even Apple sell gateway drugs, hardware devices loaded with bloatware specifically designed to squeeze money out of you at every turn by selling entertainment, gaming and cloud services. You are paying for the delivery platform, then paying for the content the delivery platform delivers. Manufacturers can shave their hardware margins knowing they'll make it up in on-line sales platforms, and they'll also broker your personal data for extra cash. This is why an HP or Dell laptop will always cost hundreds less than a similarly spec'd Framework. There's just no way around the cost differential - Framework's will always cost more. If you are interested in one of their laptops, you'll just have to accept that. 

To sum things up, I really like this little laptop. With a few exceptions, it's meets all of my requirements and the repairability aspect provides me a lot of peace of mind. I'll pop back in the future with any updates, good or bad, but expect to see this laptop showing up a lot in pictures of my field operations.

W8BYH out