WSEZ864

I don't know, I will look further into this. Your situation seems unique, with no prior call sign shown before your upgrade. Did you go from unlicensed to AE in one session?

Sometimes the existing vents are designed to direct airflow over certain components. Seems like the fan has to be pulling air from somewhere.... If you pull the speaker, you may provide additional ventilation throughout, but you may lose an important airstream over components like the processor or amplifier. IMO, if the existing vents are clean and clear, not blocked by anything externally, that's likely the best you can do for it.

Since this is the technical forum, what you are really interested in is the impedance of the speaker, expressed in ohms (unit of measure for resistance and impedance). An impedance match (amplifier:speaker) is important to both power transfer efficiency, audio fidelity and component longevity. "What is the pound of that pack of hot dogs?" vs "What is the weight of that pack of hot dogs?" (expressed in pounds). I would agree with @WRUE951that it is usually more important to match impedance than max power, since most applications never need max power. Answer to OP: Yes, using a 5 watt speaker in place of a 2 watt speaker is fine, although, depending on the speaker, you may require slightly more power to achieve the same sound level.

This is 100% correct. EVERY new licensee is issued the next sequential call sign for that zone. If you want a vanity call, you have to first get your license, then apply to change. What you were told is not fully correct. Yes, they stopped sequentially issuing call signs according to license grade years ago, but there have not been dedicated call signs "per license level" for many years. This means there is no such thing as an 'Advanced' or 'Novice' call sign format anymore. The current format for a new licensee, regardless of grade, is xxXxxx. There are certain call sign formats you need to be AE to apply for, but none of those are new calls and are recycled from dead people and people who failed to renew for 2 years, thus giving up their right to retain their call. Even at that, xXx, xXxx and xxXxx calls are very hard to find, in the sense that anything decent (easy to key, easy to say, cool, unique, etc.) is snapped up if/when it ever becomes available. There is also a preference system, in which you would get first dibs on your deceased father's call sign for example.

If one passes their AE exam, they keep their original call sign unless they can find a vanity call they like that's available and apply for the change. You won't get issued anything automatically just because you passed the exam. Getting AE only qualifies one to apply for any available call and one will not automatically get reassigned a new or shorter call.

If one is already licensed, changing to a PO box will not completely wipe your old addy. It will be another layer or two back, but your old addy is still there.

When I was an electrician in 1980, I bought a new Fluke hand held digital multimeter. It worked perfectly until about 2 years ago, when it was inundated with saltwater in a flood. I found it several days after, soaked/rinsed with fresh water, then 90% alcohol, but when it dried out, all the control buttons were fused with corrosion. Total loss. I bought a bench model Fluke DMM among some other used test equipment about 20 years ago. It was at least 10 years old when I got it. It too worked perfectly until about six months ago. I turned it on and the display was crazy and it would not respond to the controls. Have not yet decided what to do with it, I may send it back to Fluke because a direct replacement is over $1k. Meantime, I bought another new Fluke hand held DMM. As with the other Fluke instruments, it was pretty expensive, but if it provides the same level of service my other two Flukes did, it will outlive me by a decade or two.

None, all are located within and service the central Maryland area.

I'd have to wonder if the OP's battery is deteriorating and causing the high voltage as the regulator is trying to charget. No matter, the whole system should be checked. Here, we have a "Battery Warehouse" battery store that provides free testing of both the battery and charging system - takes 10 minutes while you wait.

Sounds like the violator had better be VERY careful in his response letter to the FCC. Should probably send them a pic of the radio with a bullet hole through it, LOL.

No, not GMRS, ham. Sorry for the crossover.

Our club owns several repeaters, which operate under the club call sign. A "trustree" carries the club license (and responsibility) for their operation. ETA: Clarification - referring to amateur radio repeaters.

True, the small ones definitely do have their limitations when used alone. I've standardized my 12VDC items with Anderson PowerPoles and made up a bunch of PowerPole 'Y' pigtail connectors along with several 'extension cords' so that I can parallel several of the smaller capacity batteries if need be. Also handy when topping off multiple batteries

Gotta be careful with Google AI with these technical/administrative questions. I've been trying to help a blind Canadian immigrant get his US ham license. Due to the difficulty in studying, he is having great difficulty with the Tech exam and after unsuccessful several tries, he was looking for an easier way. Google AI told him his existing Canada license can be 'converted' to an equivalent grade US amateur radio license, which, after much legwork and investigation, we determined is NOT true. The actual situation is that one must pass the US exam to get the US license. Period. The corollary is that he CAN operate under a reciprocal agreement using his Canadian ticket while in the US until a) his Canada license expires, or b) until he becomes a US citizen. I think this is the point Google AI misunderstood and misrepresented - reciprocation vs conversion. Bottom line: Google AI rendered incorrect information that gave the guy false hope and took us a couple weeks to clear up.

I've been lucky to have a friend in IT that services corporate computer systems. They are always having UPS units dying off, most of the time due to one 12v9ah battery in a bank of four going bad. Most mid-size UPS units have a two (12ah) to four (9ah) battery pack that is replaceable, but often costs almost as much as a new UPS. The corporations typically just want to replace the entire dysfunctional UPS rather than making internal repairs, so my buddy just swaps them out and saves the bad ones for me. I check them out and once in a while can make a repair, but usually just strip the batteries out, test them and dump the bad battery. As a result, I have couple working UPSs laying around, plus about 175ah capacity in small 12v batteries, mostly 9ah I've scavenged, but also a few 18-22ah batteries I've bought. About once a month I'll rotate the individual batteries through a quick charge and top them off by plugging them into my bench power supply as I run radios. Most stay near 12.8v between charges, but as soon as I see one go below 12v, I know it's on it's way out.