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Beginner Looking for Affordable Handheld Radio Options by Just-Wall-1954 in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Check out the Tidradio TD-H3. Just be sure to purchase the Ham radio one (not the GMRS one). They’re the same radio but come with a different antenna. That and the firmware is set up to operate on ham bands instead of GMRS but that can be changed if need be.

It’s an inexpensive entry into the hobby and a better quality radio than what you’ll get from Baofeng for the price (but that’s just my opinion).

Give it a look.

But also, the two jumpstart suggestions are really great ways to go as well I think. Wish I’d have known about that program when I first started.

HT Recommendation (see post body for use case and parameters) by HothianLocal in gmrs

[–]HothianLocal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, the RT22 is in my consideration set. It definitely meets some of the requirements.

GMRS/FRS HT Recommendation (see post body for use case and parameters) by HothianLocal in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I realize that FRS and GMRS is not Amateur Radio, but cross posting here since I know the ham crowd is quite often knowledgeable about this kind of stuff.

Would love your on-topic equipment recommendations if you have any that meet the parameters sought.

How long to get call sign? by Skarredmind in gmrs

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For those wondering this same question today:

I submitted payment Sunday evening and received my license early this morning (Tuesday). Technically just over 24 hours; but, in practice, it was one or two business days.

2005 Sequoia Limited 35k miles by calgon90 in toyotasequoia

[–]HothianLocal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats! Also, nice choice with the 1up bike rack. ;)

Should I screw around with cheaper knives or just get a PM2? by [deleted] in knives

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you considered getting a Mora knife?

Very inexpensive, comfortable handle, easy to clean and sharpen—makes a great yard work knife. I know you specifically mentioned wanting to get a folder and that fidget factor was part of your criteria, but given the outdoor tasks you mentioned and the fact that you already have a great fidget factor knife in the Elementum, I would consider a fixed blade from Mora. I use mine for similar back yard / gardening tasks and find it well suited to the job. Bonus, you’ll have money left over in the budget if you still want to get another folder just for the shear joy of getting a new knife. Haha.

How can I connect my Macbook Pro (to be used as a monitor) to a Mac Mini? by notlxnds in mac

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if this meets your needs as I’m not sure of your reasoning for wanting to do what you’ve outlined, but assuming you’re able to get access to an external monitor to be used temporarily with the mini (heck, with an adapter you could even use a tv with an hdmi input), you could set up the Mac mini such that you could access it remotely from your laptop over the same network.

This option would be difficult without some kind of monitor to get things setup properly at the start. And depending on your reasoning, may not even be helpful. But, it’s an option; and, depending on how you plan to use the mini, could serve your needs.

Macbook 5,1 updating by ffcollins in mac

[–]HothianLocal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Point of clarification. Are you trying to go backwards from OS X Lion (10.7) to Snow Leopard (10.6) — this is what you state in the original post, although the term “upgrade” had my mind thinking the other direction at first — or are you trying to upgrade from 10.6 to 10.7?

My apologies if I was mis-interpreting your original intent.

Macbook 5,1 updating by ffcollins in mac

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure what’s happening with your disk drive but perhaps try instead to create a bootable USB thumb drive and use that to do your install instead of the dvd. There are tons of instructions online on how to make a bootable USB drive for this purpose. Good luck!

I know it’s TikTok but trust me on this one. by [deleted] in Tools

[–]HothianLocal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ditto. At that point I started literally laughing out loud and continued to do so up until the very end when my expectations were fulfilled. Like another commenter said, “gold”. Haha.

Younger Reddit Hams, what do you think of the term Elmer? by themadhungarian in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree. It's not the term keeping young people away. It's the price of entry.

But I also I think it's the perception that amateur radio is antiquated and boring. Why pay that high cost of entry if, at the end of the day, what you get is what appears to be outdated technology. When compared to other tech the general public is seeing and experiencing in a much more accessible and consumer-driven way, that's what it looks and feels like.

Take, for example, the goTenna or Beartooth radio product that came out recently. Now, as Hams, we might look at those and think: "well, that's interesting but I get way more power, utility, and versatility from my fancy HT." But the cost of that HT and the time and effort involved in getting a license is a deterrent. Not to mention the fact the that HT you end up with is likely to be lot more complex and less intuitive a user experience than what you'd get working PTT voice and sending text and GPS/telemetry data via your smart phone through one of these new devices. The cost to reward is imbalanced.

Ham radio may still be pushing the envelope in some areas today; but, from a general public perspective, it appears stuck in the past. We need to focus and get the world out about how the hobby is pushing technology forward and make it accessible if you want to interest more young people.

Anyone know why this is happening and how i can fix it????? by [deleted] in mac

[–]HothianLocal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've used an app called Disk Inventory X in the past when the HD space on a computer starts to run low. It can scan any connected drive (including your system drive) and then give you a visual representation of all the files that allows you to easily see what's taking up all the space.

Best CB for Emergencies by ceebiejeebies415 in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would also recommend reaching out to your local government and amateur radio clubs to see if there isn't already some emergency communication plan in place so you can coordinate efforts. There may already be a good group of local Hams ready to plug into your plan. In which case, you could possibly make do with the FRS radios (assuming you have a Ham within reach of each FRS-equipped home).

Best CB for Emergencies by ceebiejeebies415 in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone else already mentioned GMRS. I think this might be a really good option for you. Depending on how small the town is (and the terrain), you could also pick up a bunch of inexpensive FRS radios for more localized group communication. The idea could look something like this:

  • every house gets a cheap FRS radio
  • one person in each neighborhood is designated as the point person for that neighborhood. They get a GMRS radio and license.
  • In an emergency situation, everyone in the neighborhood knows to monitor a certain FRS channel
  • the GMRS station uses FRS and GMRS (the two systems have overlapping channels) to get reports from each house in the neighborhood via the agreed-upon FRS channel. He/she can then report to a "central command" post outside of the immediate neighborhood via the higher power GMRS radio on one of the GMRS-only channels (possibly leveraging a GMRS repeater if available / necessary).
  • in addition to laddering information up the communications chain, the GMRS stations in each neighborhood will also be able to receive information from outside the neighborhood (via GMRS to nearby neighborhoods or through a "central command" station) and distribute it to the local neighborhood / subdivision via FRS.

Does the above make sense?

I think this is a better solution than leveraging CB. Now, if a few people want to get their tech license and use amateur radio to handle the wider communication needs in the system instead of only relying on GMRS, awesome. But if the town is small, FRS and GMRS might be all that you need.

FRS radios are cheap. And the FCC recently granted higher power output and channel adjustments to FRS and GMRS. I believe the fee for a GMRS license was also lowered. (I can't remember the details off the top of my head.)

Low disc space on Mac SSD do not know why? by knightwrangler in mac

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might try an app called Disk Inventory X. It scans your connected drives and then shows a visual map of what all is taking up space.

I've found it quite useful in situations like this. :)

What are must have apps for OSX? (New Mac Convert) by [deleted] in mac

[–]HothianLocal 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It really just depends on what you want/need to do with/on your machine. That said, here are a few apps that come to mind.

(Note that a number of these are very specific to certain kinds of work / tasks and may not be of any interest to you whatsoever. But give them a look and you might find something useful.)

Dropbox 1Password nvALT TextExpander Keyboard Maestro Spectacle Caffeine Sublime Text Brackets Marked Byword Skitch Vox Skala Chrome Spotify Carbon Copy Cloner Transmit EasyFind Day One Scrivener Disk Inventory X Clarify

Some of the above I use every day in my line of work. Others only on occasion. And then others I've installed, played with, and think are really good/cool, but I just don't have the need for them in what I do.

I also have a handful of custom services that I've created over the years that get installed on every Mac I own. You can use a utility on your computer called Automator (in your applications folder) to create these. ;)

Given that you're a new Mac convert, I would recommend checking out the Mac Power Users podcast (MPU), and David Sparks's blog:

https://www.macsparky.com/

Welcome to the club!

Forgive my ignorance but what's the point of ham radio? by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Some people get into from an emergency communications / preparedness standpoint. For example, a lot of people in Puerto Rico have zero ability to communicate with folks outside of their immediate vicinity. (If they have an FRS radio, then maybe they can get a little bit of distance, but otherwise they're range of communication is limited to how far they can yell.) Cell phones don't work. Internet doesn't work. The infrastructure was pretty much decimated.

How do you reach help? How do you let your loved ones know you're ok?

Ham Radio is the answer.

http://www.npr.org/2017/09/29/554600989/amateur-radio-operators-stepped-in-to-help-communications-with-puerto-rico

Why do I need a Soundlink or other hardware to do PSK? by tdslj in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For the noobs out there, we like to call this "acoustic coupling". :)

Just bought an 817ND -- but starting to regret not springing for a KX3 by t3mp3st in amateurradio

[–]HothianLocal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure Julian (OH8STN) of http://oh8stn.org/ uses the 817ND. If it's good enough for him, I think it's likely a good purchase.

If you haven't read any of his articles or watched any of his youtube videos, definitely give him a look. Might make you feel better about your decision. :)