First look at HALO, the POLO replacement and One Mic for a lot of QRP radios.
If you have not heard the news, Sebastian the creator of POLO, has decided that the application needs to grow. The single most requested feature was to be able to run the application on a personal computer. Sebastian has had some time to dedicate to that with a rewrite of the program to allow for it to not only run on Android and IOS, but Windows, Mac, and Linux have been added to the list. Because POLO, Portable Logger, was only intended to be used on portable device, Sebastian has decided to name the new application HALO for Ham Logger. HALO is still in the Alpha stage of development, so it is not publicly available yet, but it is moving ahead at a fast pace as Sebastian is converting the various features between the platforms. So this will have the same look and feel that you are used to with new features added.
I took HALO on the road the other day and activated a park using it. Not only did I run it on Window, I ran it on the original Jankapotamu, the Evolve III with the Intel Celeron processor @ 1 GHz and 4 GB of RAM and it kept up.
If you are like me, I am always tinkering with inexpensive small QRP radios. As I travel for work around the country, I like to take a radio with me to work in a few POTA activities while I am there. I have settled on a Elecraft KX2 as my go to radio for those trips, but the KX2 shares something in common with several of the other small QRP radios like the (tr)uSDX, zBITx, the QMX(+), PebbleHF and others that use the 3.5 mm TRS connector. The problem is there are two different common wiring standards between the various radios. I was getting tired of have to carry multiple mics and needing to remember which standard was used by each radio. I solved that problem with the Mini Mic Pro V2 from Xtenna. One mic that has a select switch that allows you to switch between the two standards on the fly so you can easily switch between radios and sound exactly the same, plus cut down on the extra weight by eliminating the need to carry extra equipment.
XTenna 'Mic Mini Pro v2' - Fully assembled and tested.
Exclusive XTenna designed fully assembled -24dB mini microphone that works for any radio that uses a 3.5mm TRS mic connection. Fully configurable using the simple A-B switch on the side. No longer do you have to carry/purchase 2 mics in your go bag. Uses highest quality -24db AOM electret mic element.
QRP Labs - QMX, QMX+
DL2MAN - uSDX, (tr)uSDX
HF Signals - zBitx
Elecraft - KX2, KX3
Pebble HF
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