Well my Invisible Fence Battery Subscription has run out, and I am going to need new batteries soon. While I can say that I am very happy with the Invisible Fence and the installation, however the batteries cost a fortune. For 1 year renewal battery plan, where Invisible fence ships you their batteries, the cost is $49 for 4 batteries. You do the math, you can go about 4 months before having to replace the batteries but they do last about 3 months. I found some instructions on taking the battery apart since the only thing unique about the battery is the housing. About the only thing you have to do is remove the black ring that is at the two prong (contact) end. You can use a small jewelers screwdriver or use a xacto knife. I used a stanley knife and stuck the tip of the blade in between the black ring and the grey housing. Be careful because the ring can fall off and is fragile. The battery is a Duracell 3V DL1/3N, which you can probably get at radio shack. Be sure to place the + end on the inside of the housing and the—(negative) end on the end where the two prongs are. I will post price and pics later.

This has got to be one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time. Although I am a fool for conspiracy theories, I eat them up like there is no tomorrow, but this is a fair movie. More than anything the movie was educational and informative. Katy rented this movie on netflix, but I’m sure you could find this movie elsewhere if you looked hard enough. Please don’t turn this movie down if get the chance, it was #7 on the Nielsen Top 10 Box office Documentaries for 2006. I find this impressive since the movie was limited release at the box office. I never heard it was going to be in the theaters, did you? Also on IMDB it is rated a 7.6 out of 10 with ~1300 votes. Definately check this movie out if you get a chance! Also for your humor check this out for a good laugh Driver’s License Prank

Is this the end of morse code as we know it? 3 days ago the FCC and ARRL met and decided that the Morse Code requirement is hindering Hams from advancing and that it is to be dropped. You will not need to learn morse code for General and Extra classes of amateur radio. With dropping the morse code requirement Technician Class amateurs now get privilages to operate CW on HF. The word is that it’s going to take about 30 days for this to take effect. It looks like I will be taking my General Class Exam next month some time! Here is the full Article which was released by the FCC 2 days ago. I wonder if there is going to be an increased interest into Ham radio because of this. I guess we will find out! For Ham Radio Exams check out a previous post HAM EXAMS

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I have been recently obsessed with hacking my E815 again. My Previous E815 was replaced my Lockline Insurance who work with Verizon Wireless. After doing some Seem edits I noticed that instead of saying 1x next to my signal strength it now said EV. The EV stood for EV-DO or Evolution Data Optimized which is just another wireless standard that gives you internet speeds 2-3 times faster than the 1xRTT standard. The only downside to being stuck with using the EV-DO is that it sucks juice 2-3 times faster as well. To me having a longer battery life is more valuable to me than being able to connect to the internet on my phone faster. If I wanted to surf the internet I would find a computer! So anyway, I found a way to disable EV-DO altogether with my phone. Here are the instructions. Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible if you FUBAR your phone. This can/will void your warranty. Please take this into consideration before messing with your phone, especially if you don’t know what the hell you are doing!

Enable TEST MODE:
1. Hit the menu button
2. Quickly enter 073887*
-A dialogue box should open stating, “Enter Security Code:”, if not
retry steps 1-2.
3. Enter the Security Code
-Default code is 000000
4. Scroll to option “Test Mode” and select it
5. Choose “Enable” and exit to the main screen

Turn on TEST MODE and change settings
1. Hit the left soft key and the menu key simotauniously until a white screen appears with the letters “FTS” on top.
2. Hit the right soft key three (3) times
3. Scroll down to “HDR Pref:” and select “CDMA” with the right soft key
4. Scroll down to “HDR Hybr:” and select “off” with the right soft key
5. Push the left soft key and “EXIT”
6. Exit test mode by the same key combination as you did to enter it (left soft key and the center menu key.)

Power phone off then on.

Disable TEST MODE: Follow the same steps that you used to enable it.

Your phone should now only display 1x and no longer show EV indicator. USE GREAT CAUTION IN THE SETTINGS THAT YOU CHANGE! You can seriously mess your phone up by playing with the TEST MODE.

Another TIP:
I thought I’d share a little shortcut to make life a little easier when needing to access test mode:

1. Enter ##33284 (rapidly). If you did it properly, the ‘4’ won’t appear in the display. Test Mode access is now enabled.
2. Now press the menu key, followed by the left soft key. You are now in Test Mode, ready to do whatever changes you’re intending.
3. To end Test Mode, again press the menu key, followed by the left soft key (as you can see, it works as a toggle).
4. Test Mode access is still enabled, so it’s a good idea to shut it off. You do it the same when you enabled it (rapid pressing of ##33284).

This technique makes access a little faster and easier.

NOTE: When doing *228 (remote phone programming, which Verizon suggests to do at least once a month), Verizon will switch you back to EVDO. Again, if you don’t subscribe to the costly and useless VCAST service, there’s no reason to have EVDO enabled. Just follow the steps outlined above.