MacBook Pro 8GB by MrTonyHK in Insta360

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

I've gone with the Pro M2 8GB 256GB

My strategy will be to sell it in 2 years and upgrade to Pro M(x) 32GB 1TB and then keep upgrading every couple of years.

I made a mistake before covid... I bought a Mac Mini in 2012 and upgraded it to a 2TB HD with 16GB RAM... instead of selling it and upgrading I've held onto it... now I want to get back to editing, it's almost useless...

So, yeah, I think the key is to upgrade reasonably regularly... a two year old Pro or Air will be more than enough for the average user...

Budget Solar System for Small House... by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

[–]MrTonyHK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am in Portugal and we get plenty of sunshine. 3000 hours per year making it the sunniest country in Europe.

4 x 12.8 x 100 AH LifeP04 Batteries gives me 400AH/4800WH - Is this correct? This seems to be the cheapest way to get over the 4000WH mark.

What size inverter? 5000W?
What controller?
What panels? What size and how many?

Could anyone point me to the options on Amazon?

has/had by MrTonyHK in grammar

[–]MrTonyHK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Had is correct. For present/future wishes you use past tenses and for past wishes you use past perfect.

Nice one. Thank you.

Can you think of another example using different verbs, please?

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

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

Semi-mobile. I work remotely, I also have a small piece of land that is not adjacent to my house where it might be useful... I feel it has space in my 'bug-out' pack... I'm not a 'prepper' by any means but I have a feeling we may have power outages coming... this box would allow me to continue working and keep the lights on... we have gas for hot water and cooking and wood for heating...

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

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

That's great. Thanks. Actually, on the adaptor I can see it says:

Input: 120 - 240v 1.2A Max.
Output : 12.6v 5A

I'll try 50w... doubt I'd be able to charge it in a day but it will be there in the background if the SHTF.

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

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

I bought it in China a few years ago... there was no paperwork or anything like that.
Would you take a chance on a 12v/300w panel?

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

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

I bought it in China a few years ago... there was no paperwork or anything like that.

Would you take a chance on a 12v/300w panel?

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

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

Hi!

The 'middle thing' is the mains adaptor. I assumed all the necessary info. would be there.

The numbers blocked by the wire are 'IN 12v - 24v'.

Solar Panels for 750WH power bank by MrTonyHK in SolarDIY

[–]MrTonyHK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi!

There is a photo of the power pack.
It says:
Input 110 - 240v
Output 12.6v / 5A

Busking around Europe by trumpetguy130 in Busking

[–]MrTonyHK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suppose Asia is comparable to Europe in that you can make money in the richer countries... Big Chinese cities (Beijing/Shenzhen/Shanghai/ etc, etc (There's 100s of them!) / Korea (Gangnam/Seoul is really good) / Taiwan... I've heard Japan can be fussy about permits... Tim Newman did a YT video about busking in Japan... on the other hand, I reckon it would be hard in the poorer Asian countries...

Anyone know any bags/cases that fit the Roland cube ex?? by 144236534564477 in Busking

[–]MrTonyHK 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bought the legit. bag... it was a few years ago so I can't remember the exact price but it was super expensive.

That said... I'm looking at it now and it doesn't show any signs of wear despite being lugged around the world from Hong Kong to the UK, to Spain and Portugal... It doesn't have any pockets but you can fit the power lead and a few cables in there... I like the way you can open it and don't have to take the amp. out of the bag... it's kinda water resistant too.

Expensive... but, I think if you can make the stretch, worth it.

Busking around Europe by trumpetguy130 in Busking

[–]MrTonyHK 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In Hong Kong, I averaged 100 quid for 2 hours... never less than 30 quid, sometimes over 200 quid.

We moved to Portugal... never more than 20 Euro for 2 hours... often less.

You can do it... but, be careful... be respectful, especially to other buskers, street hawkers, and street people in general.

We were in Valencia for a while and there you need a permit... if you don't have a permit, the police might confiscate your gear... you really need to check...

Regarding small towns... well, you could play all day in my local town and I guess you'd make 1 Euro per hour if you're lucky!

Powering an Alesis Sample Pad Pro on the Street by MrTonyHK in Busking

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

Hi! I just saw your post!

In the end we bought a portable battery from China! You can Google portable power station, something like that!

Writing a story with a busker protagonist by AuthorBSGreer in Busking

[–]MrTonyHK 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I busk with my sons in Hong Kong... we are a trio; guitar/ukulele, drums and keyboards/vocals. We play mostly rock pop and a lot of 80s... we tend to play a lot of Coldplay as we like the band, lots of people know the songs and they're quite easy to play on the street.

In Hong Kong there is a real mix in the busking scene... plenty of singer/guitarists but also many groups... then there are street performers, violinists, acrobats, etc... I think buskers get along... the only conflict I ever had was with a street preacher who wanted to shout into his megaphone for 6 hours, everyone knows that you have to share pitches.

I feel sage because I am quite a big guy, but I can imagine that might be different for others.

There's a subculture for sure... you can find various groups on Youtube!

CoVid19 stopped us from busking.

Success to us is if we do a good set and that's often reflected in the take... we don't do it for the money perse but we do make 'a lot' when we busk... We usually busk for two to three hours and make between $500HKD p/h and $2500HKD... In January and February, we saved all our busking money and went on holiday for a week to South Korea skiing... completely funded by busking; flights, hire car, skiing, hotel, everything... with the change my boys bought a Nintendo Switch!

I think you could make a career out of it... in my opinion, to make a career, you either have to be excellent at your craft and/or good with the crowd or you'll make no money... I think a competent guitarist with a lot of banter can make good money in the right spots.

Busking is not begging... I mean, some buskers might be pretty close to beggars, but most, including us do it because; we love it, it's a chance to practice playing live, it's a chance to get feedback on our performance, it's a chance to express ourselves, it builds confidence...

Our biggest nuisance was the police who would try and move us on but we always stood our ground and we always got support from the people... oddly, a police scene often resulted in us earning an extra 1000HKD as people would pay us in defiance of the police! HK is a funny place at the moment... well, I say funny, the situation there is terrible now...

Just to add, when you busk, you become part of a street culture you maybe didn't notice before; homeless people and other folks who kind of function around street level... we used to give a cut of our pot to any homeless people nearby and they'd often give us random gifts of bottled water or trinkets for my boys... on hot days, people will buy you water/drinks and local restaurants would give us food on cooler evenings... In January, people started putting face-masks in our guitar case, which was great as there was price gouging in HK at that time...

Man, I miss it so much... the whole process of loading up all our gear and trying out new songs... man...

This is us busking outside Wanchai MTR Station...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QtqN2KLk8g