THE BEST BUY THESE DAYS IN HANDHELD TRANSCEIVERS ARE THE ONES FROM HONG KONG. THE HTS ARE BEING PURCHASED BY AMATEURS, PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND OTHERS IN GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS. SOME VERSIONS HAVE FCC AND OTHER TYPE ACCEPTANCE.
THE TRANSCEIVERS SELL FOR A FRACTION OF THE PRICE OF COMPARABLE UNITS FROM THE BIG THREE YET CAN WORK ALL THE AMATEUR AND PUBLIC SERVICE FREQUENCIES FROM THE CIVIL AIRCRAFT BAND TO THE TOP OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE UHF BAND. THEY HAVE MANY MEMORIES AND FEATURES AND CAN BE PROGRAMMED FROM A PC. POWERED BY BIG LITHIUM ION BATTERIES (INCLUDED) THEY ARE A STEAL FOR $55.00.
OR SO IT WOULD SEEM.
I WORK FOR DIGITAL GLOBE INCORPORATED. AS OUR CORPORATION IS AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR WE ARE WORKING WITH THE USG TO RESOLVE ISSUED AS THEY APPEAR WITH REGARD TO COMPUTER AND INTERNET SECURITY. THE SOFTWARE TOOLS WE USE ARE AMONG THE STRONGEST AVAILABLE ANYWHERE (AND AS A RESULT, THE MOST INTRUSIVE AN PAINFUL!).
SO WHEN I PUT THE TINY DRIVER CD THAT CAME WITH MY [CHINESE] HANDHELD TRANSCEIVER'S PROGRAMMING CABLE INTO A MACHINE TO SCAN IT I HAD NO IDEA THAT THE DISK WOULD PULL AN IMMEDIATE ALERT. THE ALERT WAS SO STRONG.
THE CD WAS GIVEN TO OUR COMPUTER SECURITY DEPARTMENT. THEY WILL PROCESS IT AND FORWARD THE RESULTS TO THEIR USG CONTACT. THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND TIME I HAVE SEEN AN ALERT THIS STRONG. THE OTHER TIME (LAST WEEK ACTUALLY) WAS WHILE DOWNLOADING A .PDF RESEARCH PAPER FROM A UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER'S SITE.
LEST ANYONE THINK OTHERWISE, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. ONE MIGHT SUSPECT THAT THE "REAL" OBJECT OF THE EXERCISE WITH REGARD TO THE VERY LOW COST OF THE HONG KONG HTS IS THE UNSEEN PRESENT ON THE CDS. I'M NOT A CONSPIRACY THEORY SORT OF GUY; WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THIS AT SOME POINT.
I MIGHT SUGGEST A NEUTRALLY WORDED WARNING TO DESTROY ANY DRIVER CDS THAT COME WITH HONG KONG HTS; THE PROLIFIC USB/RS-232 DRIVERS ARE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE FROM US SITES AND THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OPEN SOURCE.
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!
