AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote

>> For about the same footprint, consider keeping a HAM radio on the
>> charger.
>
> I do have an Advanced Class ham ticket but haven't used it in years.
> Think the Internet spoiled things...

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the neat FM radio you showed.
<https://www.radioddity.com/products/raddy-rf75a>

It's similar in footprint to this radio I got from a neighborhood event.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1zvGYNZt/hamradio.jpg>

I like your FM radio. You need it because your phone OEM saved a few
cents (at your expense) by not providing both the radio & the jack.

I was just clarifying that, in emergencies, HAM is nice in addition to FM.

The Apple iKooks are stupid in that they don't realize Apple lies to them
when Apple claims to care about their emergencies (with SOS subscriptions).

If Apple really cared, they'd let them have FM radio's for free also.
But FM radios would cut into lucrative music-streaming subscriptions.

>> I live in the boonies in a high fire danger area with windy mountain
>> roads and with the San Andreas Fault line within eyesight and we
>> have outages.
>>
>> While the PG&E power goes out monthly, we only get evacuation orders
>> once every few decades - but it's going to happen. Again. And again
>> it will.
>
> I live in a gated retirement community with around 8000 homes (will be
> 10K on buildout) in a metro area of 6M folks. The power hasn't gone out
> in over a year. We live in vastly different settings...

Understood. We are subject to EPSS which is PG&E's way to punish us for
making them go out of business years ago when they burned a whole town.

So now, the power goes out two and three times a month in the dry months
(which, in California, is most of the year) but only about once a month on
the winter wet season (which started today, by the way, as it's raining).

Of course every one of us (thousands upon thousands of homes in the
mountains) has a 240VAC generator or two, plus battery backups, etc.

We even have special meters from PG&E that we can hook our generators up
_directly_ to the meter when the power goes out. Fancy that from PG&E!

I think they give them to us for free because our power goes out that much
so the CPUC forced them to do it as PG&E has the same attitude as Apple.

>> As a neighborhood, we went down to the local fire station years ago
>> to get our HAM radio licenses and each of us is tuned to the same
>> repeater freq.
>
>> In an emergency, the ability for two-way communication can be
>> important. And it's about the same cost & footprint as your (rather
>> nice) FM radio.
>
> If you're talking using 2 meter repeaters the handhelds are quite a bit
> more than 50 bucks...

I am one person who is not afraid to say I'm ignorant, where you saying
that means you know more than I do and I accept that and learn from you.

The only thing I know about HAM radio is what I needed to learn to pass the
test and after that, like you, I forgot about most of it over time.

So you know a lot more than I do as I only did it as a community event
for safety reasons (given we live in the highest fire danger area possible,
and we can see the San Andreas Fault, and our PG&E power goes out two and
three times a week in the dry EPSS periods but only monthly in the winter).

Is my radio any good?

If you look at the picture I provided you, the radios I have are
BAOFENG UV-5R
Are they any good?

The reason I don't know is _everyone_ in the neighborhood has them.
That's many hundreds of people who all have the same HAM radio as I do.

What happened is one HAM enthusiast aficionado long ago sent out a
suggestion we all chip in twenty-five bucks each and that would cover the
radio and the testing - which was why those two radios plus two tests cost
me only fifty bucks (one for my wife and the other for me).

We have sequential federal Id's (ain't that sweet) where I don't remember
them so since they have to be used, I write them on the back of the radio.

Are those BAOFENG UV-5R radios any good?
--
Usenet is an approach to find people who know more than you do, & then to
discuss things with them such that you learn from their added knowledge.

On 11/18/23 17:02, Wally J wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote
>
>>> For about the same footprint, consider keeping a HAM radio on the
>>> charger.
>>
>> I do have an Advanced Class ham ticket but haven't used it in years.
>> Think the Internet spoiled things...
>
> Don't get me wrong, I really liked the neat FM radio you showed.
> <https://www.radioddity.com/products/raddy-rf75a>
>
> It's similar in footprint to this radio I got from a neighborhood event.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/1zvGYNZt/hamradio.jpg>
>
> I like your FM radio. You need it because your phone OEM saved a few
> cents (at your expense) by not providing both the radio & the jack.
>
> I was just clarifying that, in emergencies, HAM is nice in addition to FM.

Options are definitely nice.

> The Apple iKooks are stupid in that they don't realize Apple lies to them
> when Apple claims to care about their emergencies (with SOS subscriptions).
>
> If Apple really cared, they'd let them have FM radio's for free also.
> But FM radios would cut into lucrative music-streaming subscriptions.

I miss the days when they had a FM radio included with the iPod..

>>> I live in the boonies in a high fire danger area with windy mountain
>>> roads and with the San Andreas Fault line within eyesight and we
>>> have outages.
>>>
>>> While the PG&E power goes out monthly, we only get evacuation orders
>>> once every few decades - but it's going to happen. Again. And again
>>> it will.
>>
>> I live in a gated retirement community with around 8000 homes (will be
>> 10K on buildout) in a metro area of 6M folks. The power hasn't gone out
>> in over a year. We live in vastly different settings...
>
> Understood. We are subject to EPSS which is PG&E's way to punish us for
> making them go out of business years ago when they burned a whole town.
>
> So now, the power goes out two and three times a month in the dry months
> (which, in California, is most of the year) but only about once a month on
> the winter wet season (which started today, by the way, as it's raining).
>
> Of course every one of us (thousands upon thousands of homes in the
> mountains) has a 240VAC generator or two, plus battery backups, etc.
>
> We even have special meters from PG&E that we can hook our generators up
> _directly_ to the meter when the power goes out. Fancy that from PG&E!
>
> I think they give them to us for free because our power goes out that much
> so the CPUC forced them to do it as PG&E has the same attitude as Apple.
>
>>> As a neighborhood, we went down to the local fire station years ago
>>> to get our HAM radio licenses and each of us is tuned to the same
>>> repeater freq.
>>
>>> In an emergency, the ability for two-way communication can be
>>> important. And it's about the same cost & footprint as your (rather
>>> nice) FM radio.
>>
>> If you're talking using 2 meter repeaters the handhelds are quite a bit
>> more than 50 bucks...
>
> I am one person who is not afraid to say I'm ignorant, where you saying
> that means you know more than I do and I accept that and learn from you.
>
> The only thing I know about HAM radio is what I needed to learn to pass the
> test and after that, like you, I forgot about most of it over time.

At least the test is pretty easy to pass.

> So you know a lot more than I do as I only did it as a community event
> for safety reasons (given we live in the highest fire danger area possible,
> and we can see the San Andreas Fault, and our PG&E power goes out two and
> three times a week in the dry EPSS periods but only monthly in the winter).
>
> Is my radio any good?
>
> If you look at the picture I provided you, the radios I have are
> BAOFENG UV-5R
> Are they any good?
>
> The reason I don't know is _everyone_ in the neighborhood has them.
> That's many hundreds of people who all have the same HAM radio as I do.
>
> What happened is one HAM enthusiast aficionado long ago sent out a
> suggestion we all chip in twenty-five bucks each and that would cover the
> radio and the testing - which was why those two radios plus two tests cost
> me only fifty bucks (one for my wife and the other for me).
>
> We have sequential federal Id's (ain't that sweet) where I don't remember
> them so since they have to be used, I write them on the back of the radio.
>
> Are those BAOFENG UV-5R radios any good?

Well, the BAOFENG stuff works, I guess. I got mine for 30$
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote

>> If Apple really cared, they'd let them have FM radio's for free also.
>> But FM radios would cut into lucrative music-streaming subscriptions.
>
> I miss the days when they had a FM radio included with the iPod..

I have a bunch of iPods, which is when I was first exposed to Apple's
shenanigans where to install iTunes made the computer _less_ functional
than to _not install_ iTunes (if you don't understand why, just ask).

It was shocking to me, at that first exposure to the insanely unexpected
walled-garden restrictions that you couldn't just copy all the non DRM
songs off of any iPod in the world onto any other iPod in the world.

of course, I solved that problem by uninstalling iTunes, and then I _could_
easily copy every non-DRM song off of any iPod onto the computer and then
onto any other iPod (or even from one iPod to another) at will...

But it was my first exposure to the incredible restrictions that Apple
owners put up with - like sheep led to slaughter - they just give in.

It's kind of the same with FM radio and the loss of the aux jack which
Apple tells its gullible customers they're supposed to feel courageous
about.

And guess what.... they "feel" exactly as Apple tells them to feel.
*Courageous*

As if it's a badge of honor to have a phone functionally crippled such that
it can't do the simplest things that almost every other phone easily does.
--
Never forget that Apple is a BIG MARKETING company - like Big Tobacco is.

Wally J <walterjones@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote
>
>>> If Apple really cared, they'd let them have FM radio's for free also.
>>> But FM radios would cut into lucrative music-streaming subscriptions.
>>
>> I miss the days when they had a FM radio included with the iPod..
>
> I have a bunch of iPods, which is when I was first exposed to Apple's
> shenanigans where to install iTunes made the computer _less_ functional
> than to _not install_ iTunes (if you don't understand why, just ask).
>
> It was shocking to me, at that first exposure to the insanely unexpected
> walled-garden restrictions that you couldn't just copy all the non DRM
> songs off of any iPod in the world onto any other iPod in the world.
>
> of course, I solved that problem by uninstalling iTunes, and then I _could_
> easily copy every non-DRM song off of any iPod onto the computer and then
> onto any other iPod (or even from one iPod to another) at will...
>
> But it was my first exposure to the incredible restrictions that Apple
> owners put up with - like sheep led to slaughter - they just give in.
>
> It's kind of the same with FM radio and the loss of the aux jack which
> Apple tells its gullible customers they're supposed to feel courageous
> about.
>
> And guess what.... they "feel" exactly as Apple tells them to feel.
> *Courageous*
>
> As if it's a badge of honor to have a phone functionally crippled such that
> it can't do the simplest things that almost every other phone easily does.

Bluetooth connection to my car or headphones work. Are you still longing
for Steely Dan?

https://youtu.be/HV3zWSawJiw?si=8bLMFO_ln1I278ob

candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote

>> If Apple really cared, they'd let them have FM radio's for free also.
>> But FM radios would cut into lucrative music-streaming subscriptions.
>
> I miss the days when they had a FM radio included with the iPod..

I have a bunch of iPods, which is when I was first exposed to Apple's
shenanigans where to install iTunes made the computer _less_ functional
than to _not install_ iTunes (if you don't understand why, just ask).

It was shocking to me, at that first exposure to the insanely unexpected
walled-garden restrictions that you couldn't just copy all the non DRM
songs off of any iPod in the world onto any other iPod in the world.

of course, I solved that problem by uninstalling iTunes, and then I _could_
easily copy every non-DRM song off of any iPod onto the computer and then
onto any other iPod (or even from one iPod to another) at will...

But it was my first exposure to the incredible restrictions that Apple
owners put up with - like sheep led to slaughter - they just give in.

It's kind of the same with FM radio and the loss of the aux jack which
Apple tells its gullible customers they're supposed to feel courageous
about.

As if it's a badge of honor to have a phone so functionally crippled that
it can't do the simplest things that almost every other phone easily does.
--
Never forget that Apple is a BIG MARKETING company - like Big Tobacco is.

*Hemidactylus* <ecphoric@allspamis.invalid> wrote

>> As if it's a badge of honor to have a phone functionally crippled such that
>> it can't do the simplest things that almost every other phone easily does.
>
> Bluetooth connection to my car or headphones work. Are you still longing
> for Steely Dan?
>
> https://youtu.be/HV3zWSawJiw?si=8bLMFO_ln1I278ob

Hi Hemidactylus,

I always make well-reasoned sensible logical assessments from the facts.

Hence, thank you for your reference to that Youtube music m4a file titled
"Steely Dan - FM (No Static At All)"
(which I easily ripped to Android using a GUI that is impossible on iOS).
<https://i.postimg.cc/4y1hNBs5/newpipe06.jpg> D/l video & rip audio>

SIDENOTE: You can't do that on iOS - nor can you do 1/2 of what I can do.

In the end of this analysis of your comment, I will ask you the scariest
question you have ever heard, Hemidactylus. It will frighten you to no end
because that simple question exposes your entire belief system wide open.

I study you strange people but I don't know you as well as I do Jolly Roger
and Alan Browne (as Snit & Alan Baker & Rod Speed are all in my killfile).

You are gloating that you figured out a way to overcome that Apple punched
you in the gut by removing basic hardware functionality all other phones
had at the time (which most Android phones still have as 3/4ths is a lot of
new phones with the aux jack, is it not).

The only Android phones which removed the industry standard basic
functionality were those trying to copy Apple's marketing strategy.

Which means two things that you need to know, Hemidactylus:
1. Android owners have plenty of choice
2. You don't. (i.e., you're fucked)

To put it in blunt terms, Apple fucked you.
Apple told you to feel "courageous" about being fucked by Apple.
And you do feel courageous, now don't you.

I see from your strange post that you feel "courageous" that you have
overcome the punch-in-the-gut removal of the basic functionality.

That's great.
But here's the question which you can't answer because the answer scares
you so much that you no longer feel "courageous" answering this question.

Q: *What does your phone do that a phone with an aux jack can't do?*
A: ?
--
The answer to that question is why iKooks _fear_ that very question.