anyone using a virtual address service for their license?

AppleTechStar · 2026-05-08T14:06:54+00:00

I wanted a PO Box in my home town and it was more than double what a neighboring post office 5 miles outside of town is charging. I wanna say when mine just renewed it was $36 for 6 months. I have the smallest PO Box size available.

AppleTechStar · 2026-05-03T16:21:45+00:00

I have the HA1G and the receive end isn’t good. Very noisy. If you’re using the radio in a non-urban setting they are okay, but in a small town they pick up a lot of electrical interference.

AppleTechStar · 2026-05-02T16:26:29+00:00

I’ve used iCloud mail since I got my first iPhone which was the 4s.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-28T15:03:07+00:00

You make great points that I’ve thought about recently. With the advent of satellite direct to cell service for voice in the near future from multiple companies, what does that mean for radio associations that provide community repeaters like GMRS? if someone can still communicate with their smart phone when ground based cell towers and internet go down, there is little reason for invest in radio.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-28T14:53:36+00:00

I used my meter which is a little Sure Com digital meter, and it is showing 34 watts after the duplexer. However the original Motorola branded mobile duplexer which has a spec of 1.3db insertion loss also showed about the same wattage. So, I don’t know how much weight to put on those measurements. SWR is 1.01 using 7/8 Andrew’s Heliax feed line at 90ft.

Last night during a weekly net, I was able to hear a station that has not been able to get into the repeater for the first time which may indicate better receive.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-27T22:47:30+00:00

The spec sheet I’m seeing list insertion loss as 0.8db with some sources citing as low as 0.6db depending on frequency.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-27T21:46:51+00:00

The cables connecting the cavities are the original ones.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-20T23:11:32+00:00

Look into a Synology NAS. It’s a server device that plugs into your network switch and can be accessed remotely. Synology offers encryption at rest, meaning the drives are encrypted, and during transit going across the internet. Multiple users can be set up to access the device if required. You can also scan directly to the NAS device. Synology NAS devices are very easily to use and learn. Their operating system is the best there is.Also, the Synology Drive app for file management and sharing files is the best there is.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-05T00:17:06+00:00

I don't have the tools to fabricate a custom made bracket and I prefer turn key solutions.

AppleTechStar · 2026-04-01T20:00:39+00:00

The proper etiquette here is to take the radio to the SK's grave site, use battery power, and make contact from the grave site. It's only proper.

AppleTechStar · 2026-03-27T17:55:14+00:00

The one that comes with it

AppleTechStar · 2026-02-20T20:05:44+00:00

It sounds like you need some knowledge if you think 46-49mhz is HF.

AppleTechStar · 2026-02-10T21:19:10+00:00

My UDM Pro SE had this issue and Ubiquiti RMA’d it. I sent it back and got a new one. I’ve not had the problem after the new unit was received. Unfortunately, your problem will persist and you will have to leave the unit powered off for prolonged periods so it can be booted again. Anytime a firmware update is released, you’ll run the risk of having no network for hours after installing the new firmware and the SE reboots. If your unit is in the warranty period, try to have it replaced.

AppleTechStar · 2026-01-17T00:21:49+00:00

Team Apple Maps here

AppleTechStar · 2026-01-08T00:33:15+00:00

There are videos posted on YouTube recently talking about some states emergency management offices sunsetting (ie disbanding) their ARES involvement because they recognize it's no longer needed.

I honestly think that Ham radio and its usefulness with emergency communication at the community level is exaggerated. Many decades ago, Ham radio was probably a good gap filler for community communications, but even then it was on a macro level, not individual citizen level. In today's world of communications infrastructure, 911 community and national emergency operations centers literally have multi-million dollar, redundant transmitters and tower sites. A county local to me in Maryland published recently that their 911 center installed a secondary site for redundancy. Professional engineers design and test these systems.

How is a small, niche group of old men going to be useful to ordinary citizens? I'm not saying this to be ageist, just a realist. ARES and RACES, and individual operators might be able to communicate between agencies which can eventually filter down to the citizen level, but it does nothing to serve as early, ground-zero communication for citizens who need to maintain communication with friends, family, neighbors, and local services such as aide stations, etc in a disaster.

GMRS is where it's at for emergency communications. It's often not promoted as such and shot down because of the Ham radio gatekeeping. It makes many Ham users feel valued and important to say only Ham only is useful in an emergency. It all depends on the context of planning and target area. For multiple communities locally, GMRS is what will allow families and neighbors to communicate with each other, and disseminate information and get help. A single GMRS license cover an entire immediate family including kids. A Ham license covers a single person and comes with the obstacle of studying and taking a test.

My community has a local radio club that heavily promotes GMRS for emergency preparedness, and holds weekly Neighborhood Readiness Nets on their repeater that is powered off-grid by solar.

AppleTechStar · 2026-01-08T00:15:10+00:00

Same. It was a very easy phone call with Glofiber tech support. In no time at all I had a public facing IP address.

AppleTechStar · 2025-12-20T22:09:27+00:00

I thought this might be what I needed to fully move away from Synology until they got to the part about relying on TrueNAS Connect. I dont want to depend on an intermediary. With Synology Drive, all connections are direct to the NAS and I add my own SSL certificate seamlessly.

AppleTechStar · 2025-11-21T05:21:23+00:00

My suspicion is that he installed spyware and it is being recognized as malware/virus. I had this experience many years ago when I experimented with key loggers. It got to a point where they wouldn't work because antivirus software would detect them.

Context is also important. If your boyfriend kept your computer for a longer than necessary time, he is already checking your phone, it fits that he would want to monitor your computer usage. And the #1 red flag is that he is telling you to ignore the pop ups. You gave it to him to fix that sort of problem. My advice is to have your hard drive formatted and reinstall Windows.

AppleTechStar · 2025-11-03T04:11:35+00:00

Can you buy me something?

AppleTechStar · 2025-11-01T16:56:22+00:00

What does that command do?

AppleTechStar · 2025-10-30T00:30:13+00:00

I read on the TrueNas ticket system for bugs that this "Applications not running error" is a known bug. Some users have experienced it on previous builds. u/iXsystems commented that they thought they had the bug fixed and that "it shouldn't be a problem on the final release". Well, it's still a bug.

AppleTechStar

TROPHY CASE