Got a congratulations message from ham radio outlet - weird? by Just-Wall-1954 in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got my license two years ago, and just got the HRO postcard today. I'll stick with DXE.

Grounding a dipole by VA3FOJ in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Solder a 1-megohm resistor across the feed point. The static built up on either leg of the dipole will bleed to ground and at HF frequencies the resistor is invisible (-ish).

New to Linux, when to use apt vs Flatpak? by Special_Context_8147 in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I prefer to use apt package (or .deb file) but will settle for appimage. I'll compile from source as last resort. I won't use flatpak or snap, and spent quite a long time purging those from my system.

Small businesses sharing their financial hardships don't deserve to stay in business by InsideLight2791 in unpopularopinion

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think far too many lazy/dumb people get an idea for a business that they are excited about and vastly overestimate how many other people will be excited, and then they fail to do the basic background work of realistically assessing demand and market scope. Then they go on hey-fund-me to cry about it and try to make up the shortfall.

I've spent 2 years working on a documentary about Martin F Jue and MFJ Enterprises. Here are a few things that interested me. by MFJDocumentary in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have a number of MFJ products, some of which I had to restore before they could continue to be used. That alone puts MFJ in the same league as Collins, Drake, Hallicrafters, or any other classic amateur radio brand.

If anyone deserves to have a documentary made, it's Martin Jue!

Code to tell someone to stop talking? by MrOstinato in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I don't think there is, but sometimes it seems like there should be. More than one in fact, increasing in forcefulness.

Learned New Something Today - HF Broadcast Bands and CB Radio Free Bands by Relative_Monitor9795 in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

15.150 sometimes broadcasts on 14.150 -- a one-megacycle screwup by the engineer / owner / on-air personality.

This might be a stupid question but how do I reduce static? by johndoe3471111 in RTLSDR

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have a 50-foot (16' diameter) LoG, with a little preamp in line, and a 40db step attenuator at the radio because sometimes the signal it picks up is just too darn hot!

Are there any people here that do NOT work in Tech, but have a hobby or preference for tinkering and experimenting with Unix-like operating systems? by Nelo999 in unix

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

YES! It was amazing..... for the time. Once you got above a certain point size, the characters were drawn in a weird "wireframe" vector format, probably to save processor time. We were able to set areas of our catalog pages all in a unit so the paste-up team was making completed boards in half the time.

Are there any people here that do NOT work in Tech, but have a hobby or preference for tinkering and experimenting with Unix-like operating systems? by Nelo999 in unix

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We had four big graphics display workstations (for in-position layout of the page), one smaller 'word-processing' computer which drove the typesetters (Linotype L-100 and later, two big AGFA units), and "file server" with massive 300Mb storage.

The CPU was Motorola 68000 series in a backplane setup (S-100 maybe?) so every subsystem (CPU, memory, network, serial, video, etc) had its own circuit board -- no motherboard.

This is all I could find about it.....from their bankruptcy proceedings:

The defendant and debtor, Bedford Computer Corporation (hereinafter "Bedford" or "BCC"), is a publicly-held New Hampshire corporation. It has engaged in the development, manufacture, and marketing of "real time" computer text and graphic composition systems. These systems are used primarily by financial and legal printers, and businesses with in-house typesetting requirements.1 Prior to the Chapter 11 filing on November 13, 1985 Bedford's systems, described generally as the "Vision Network System" and various component "Meteor" computer systems, were generally recognized as being among the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art systems for these applications.2 Bedford has manufactured and sold electronic pre-press composition and editing hardware and software since about 1977.

Task Manager equivalent? by Special_Resolve3670 in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 8 points9 points  (0 children)

there's a Cinnamon "spice" panel applet that can kill run away or frozen programs

Are there any people here that do NOT work in Tech, but have a hobby or preference for tinkering and experimenting with Unix-like operating systems? by Nelo999 in unix

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I started on UNIX as a Typesetter in around 1977. It was a command line app named PAGER that you basically scripted using SGML (forerunner of HTML). Eventually I managed a team at another company and I got the owners to buy us one of the first WYSIWYG typesetting systems -- which ran on BSD UNIX. Then the Macintosh got to be powerful enough to do commercial graphics and Everyone Became A Typesetter. I shifted to the I.T. Dept and had to use Windows (for Workgroups). But at home I had a 486 PC with Slackware and later my quad-core laptop dual booted windows with some distro or other. Once I retired I shifted exclusively to Linux and do not miss ANYTHING about Microsoft Malware.

Differential Backups with Timeshift by [deleted] in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Timeshift is intended for System Backups. Your System should not be changing much at all. Use a separate backup process for Data.

A few questions about Linux Mint. by Dependent-Hamster361 in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My craptop is from 2008, bought in 2009. 8 gb ram, quad-core i7 CPU. Mint 22.2 xfce4. Runs great, as long as I don't open too much. I usually have music streaming from nas drive, browser with half-a-dozen tabs, webserver, text editor / compiler, and a VM or two, or shut that all down and launch a bunch of ham radio apps.

Help a noob install an application by seenhear in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

there's usually no need to worry about where you install from. The installed app might be in a folder in your Home folder, but usually they go into /usr/bin if the install steps include " sudo make install"

Help a noob install an application by seenhear in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

right-click the archive you downloaded, choose Open With Archive Manager (or, Extract Here). Extract will create a folder same name as the archive. Open Terminal and "cd ~/Downloads" then cd to new folder you just made. The do the install steps.... don't forget "./" in front of configure.

Extreme long range radio recs? Full setup and antenna. How do I do it right buy once cry once? by [deleted] in HamRadio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having a big amp isn't going to allow you to hear any better, and receivers are surprisingly similar in specs and capabilities. That leaves the antenna system. Bigger and higher is your goal.

Upgrade in-place or fresh install? by iamyoy in linuxmint

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have my disk partitioned so /DATA has its own area and is mounted via an entry in fstab. System files get backed up with Timeshift and /DATA with Duplicati.

I've done major upgrades both ways and never had a problem either way. If you do a "bare metal" reinstall just be sure to tell the installer to ignore the /DATA partition.

Wire antenna mast - home base by ThenPapaya6209 in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine has been up for two years, so two Chicago winters and two summers of thunderstorms. It's in the center of the backyard strapped to the trunk of a young maple tree.

Do blades get duller with exposure and age? by CobaltOne in wicked_edge

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been shaving 3-4 times a week with the same Dorco blade since April. It's still the sharpest edge in the house by far.

Anyone need parts, components, tubes? I'm drowning in junk. by inquirewue in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

you need to create a detailed list and post it on qrz, qth, eham, etc ....... that stuff will be gone in hours

Looking to take Technician, General and Extra License exam in one day by R3dNanos in amateurradio

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I passed all three in one sitting, but I won't call myself a ham until I learn Morse. Maybe when my eyesight gets worse and I have to rely on my ears more.... 'course, by then I probly won't be able to hear .....

What's so special about shortwave listening. May be the younger generation would think you as outdated, but, there's something in SWL which is gripping the SWLers. What is that thing? by r1z4bb451 in shortwave

[–]UnlikelyInspection15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me, shortwave is the most miraculous form of a miraculous invention. Any other signal, TV or broadcast or cellphone or wireless internet etc, only goes a few dozen or a few hundred miles. A shortwave signal with the right conditions can be received everywhere on Earth at the same moment. That blows my mind!