New ham here. Looking to buy an HF rig. Are the prices at hamfests generally lower than they are online, or should I just buy the thing I want on eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace?
Thanks!
I love my station wagon. Since I joined the team, it's been *just* big enough for a dog crate and my gear, but I'd definitely like something I could keep packed with my go-bag/crate *and* still have room for the kinds of hauling that daily life requires. I'd be buying a used, late-model version.
I want something I can put rear cargo drawers in (e.g., something like this), sleep in the back of, and that can keep a dog in the heat/AC. Obviously, 4WD is crucial. I'd prefer a locking rear differential, but I can probably live without it for the right price. Here are my thoughts:
Option 1: A midsize, extended cab pickup (e.g., Toyota Tacoma, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier) with a six-foot bed and a topper. Dog would mostly ride in the rear seat with a divider between front and rear. No crate.
Pros: Better mileage, *much* cheaper, probably more cargo space.
Option 2: A full-size SUV (e.g., Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban, GMC Yukon) with rear seats removed or at least folded down. The dog would be in a crate in the back seat area.
Pros: I've just kinda always wanted one. Even though I'm a single guy without kids, deep in my soul, I'm a suburban mother of three. No need to buy a topper.
Since every equipment question on here ultimately has a comment that says "what are other people in your area doing?" I'll say I've seen both. Hell, I've even seen a gal show up to calls in a Mini Cooper. I think midsize pickup probably overall takes a slight numeric lead, though.
Any thoughts?
I had one recently.
Psychologist: "Are you currently taking any medications?"
Client: "Why? What do you got?"
...
Psychologist: "How many times have you been arrested this year?"
Client: "About 20."
Psychologist: "Wow! That's quite a few times."
Client: "Yeah. The cops are doing a good job."
Do you have any good ones?
I always hear people describe consumer bankruptcy as "a volume game." They say, "you better make sure you have good paralegals" and "the margins are super tight." I have some friends in this practice area, and from how they describe their day-to-day, it makes sense.
What's the opposite? What's a practice area dominated by attorneys who make little use of support staff, work a low numbers of cases/transactions, and have high margins?
I imagine it would have to be pretty niche. Telecom licensing? Patent prosecution? Securities class actions? Ultra high net worth estate and trust planning?
What do you think?
Hi! New ham here. I have my general and am noodling my way through a radio stack. I have two things I'm looking for:
A mobile VHF/UHF radio for my dashboard. This is for fun as much as anything else; and
A quick-to-set-up NVIS system. I don't need to work while I'm rolling. So I think "portable" is a better description than "mobile." This could be the same as the UHF/VHF dashboard rig (in the case of a shack-in-a-box like the IC-7100) or its own separate unit.
Here's my use case for the NVIS. I'm a SAR volunteer in the PNW. The reason I want NVIS capability is for up-to-300 miles of communication in case this Cascadia earthquake happens in my lifetime. Plus, we've got some pretty big hills around here, so bouncing a signal over those could be helpful in certain wilderness applications.
Requirements/Nice-to-Haves:
I'm neither a contestant nor a DXer, so I don't need a hot rod. Shock resistance and (especially) water resistance are both big winners, though. I'm imagining this thing essentially living in my truck bed (covered) as part of my contingency kit and getting hooked up only if the need arises (and, probably more commonly, the occasional NVIS net when I'm bored), so cheap is good.
I see definite utility in a face plate/QRP radio (e.g., IC-705 or Lab 599 Discovery) to hike up a mountain or something, but it's not actually a firm requirement. In a perfect world, I'd get an FTX-1 Optima and call it a day. But, at $2,000 before antennas, batteries, solar, etc., that's a helluva purchase for a volunteer (who already supplies a bunch of other gear out of pocket).
This thing is meant to be utilitarian. I don't need all the newest, hottest tech on it, but APRS would be a nice-to-have.
So, here are a few questions:
Do you have a favorite good-for-the-price mobile VHF/UHF rig?
How much power do I really need for an NVIS setup? Is 100W enough?
Do you have a good-for-the-price price portable HF rig (either just a radio or a QRP+amplifier setup) at that power level? This could be the same as the VHF/UHF or a separate rig.
Should this be something I try to build myself? I have no electronics experience, but, since my needs are fairly technologically simple but physically robust, I'm wondering if I could put something together that's cheaper but lesser-featured than might otherwise be available on the market.
Anything else you think I should consider?
Thanks in advance!
... Big sad.
I just got licensed this year. I really wanted to go to field day, but I had another engagement that I absolutely couldn't miss. It's just unfortunate that they conflicted like that.
So, what did I miss?
Deep in my soul, I am a hipster. Not the "top knot and vinyl" kind of hipster, mind you. More the "I'm going to go down bizarre research rabbit holes to figure out what the hardcore "enthusiasts" buy before making even the most minor of purchases (I once spend ~100 hours researching the electrical engineering that goes into flashlights before buying a $40 model as a Christmas present for my mother. It was so over-powered and over-featured that she never used it, calling it "the flashlight from hell" whenever I wasn't around. I've since replaced it with one that's a lot simpler to operate and less likely to start small fires if left on in her purse, which she seems to like better).
I also run my own criminal defense and appellate shop. I wonder if those things are related...
Aaanywho, we use Windows machines right now. Next time I swap out a laptop or hire someone (and thus must buy a new laptop), I'm thinking of switching to Linux. It seems a lot easier to customize, a lot easier to eliminate nannies, trackers, and bloatware (my firm has a strict "No AI. No way. No how. Just don't. Not even once." policy on LLMs); and Linux definitely has that sort of "This is super inconvenient. Why are you so damn weird to buy this?" vibe that I'm always going for.
Is anybody else running their shop on Linux? How do the associates/paralegals feel about it? Pluses? Minuses? Horror stories? Any other thoughts on how to bring a certain steampunk energy to to workplace? Thanks in advance!
Somebody convinced his long-term girlfriend he's a Vanderbilt-trained lawyer-preacher who's dabbled in and out of law and is now pursuing an MBA. Which one of you magnificent bastards managed to pull this one off?
As I lay in bed last night, waiting for sleep to take me, my mind drifted--as it occasionally does--to radio. I'm *very* new to the hobby: Nothing more than an appliance operator with but a Baofeng to his name, so forgive the ignorance.
There's much discussion of optimal sizing for different antenna orientations (e.g., a dipole should ideally be around 1/4 wavelength for optimal resonance, an EFHW should be around 1/2 wavelength, &c.). What happens when you exceed a full wavelength (for example, a 10-foot or 100-foot antenna for use on the two-meter band)? Is there any benefit to erecting a huge tower to play around on 70 cm?
Obviously, the impedance would increase with length, but that's nothing more power can't solve. Is there any other reason not to do this besides the spatial impracticality? Thanks in advance.
Taking my mom on her first backpacking trip and this is what the weather looks like. I know this is far from dangerous weather, but as far as having an enjoyable trip goes, would you postpone or try and suck it up? We’ll be putting down almost 20 miles each day (not a problem for my marathoner mom) but I don’t want her to be miserable and never go with me again. What would you do?
...Apropos of nothing, he's charged with an act of domestic violence in state court, being prosecuted by a *very* liberal prosecutor's office.
Still, this case is obviously about the White House and he's ready for me to do whatever I have to do to make him a civil rights hero.
To this point, I've principally worn Casio/Timex. When the strap on my F91 broke, I decided to trade up. Finally got around to swapping the rubber strap for a bracelet this evening.
I can appreciate being able to organize my backpack without getting mud and dirt all over my stuff. (Pictured is Mrs Buschraft’s stuff, btw)
The small Tyvek can also be used under your chair or sit pad for a clean butt and legs. Or you can put it under your hammock at night so you have a dirt-free mat to slip your shoes on when you gotta get up. (I hate getting out of the hammock to pee.)
BONUS STORY: So this very next night of this trip, we’re sound asleep in our hammocks and both of us were startled awake to a banshee sneezing and it was so loud!! Mrs Bushcraft freaked out at first, but immediately upon hearing the terrifying noise, I knew exactly what it was “it’s a deer! It’s okay!”
The deer was snort wheezing at us because she was mad we were in the backcountry campsite and she was drinking PEE! I always knew you weren’t supposed to urinate on a tree, because I was told it could hurt a deer’s tongue. Never in my life have I witnessed it. We peed on the ground out in the woods near the campsite and the deer found those spots and was licking them. For the salt of course.
I had to get out of the hammock and chase the deer off because she was being so ridiculous! Took a while for our heart rates to drop back down to normal and go back to sleep. Fun times!
This was in the Smoky Mountains btw.
He's a 400-pound, professional creeper.
I've been eyeing this bench from Major Fitness. It's quite inexpensive, comes from a legitimate brand, claims a 1,300 lb weight capacity, and the few reviews I've found online have been positive. The only "con" I see listed in the reviews is that it's narrow at 8-11 inches (it tapers).
I have a 52-inch chest and all the back-girth associated therewith. Will this be an uncomfortably narrow bench for me?
Thanks in advance!
My friends and I like to joke that all practice areas exist somewhere on a spectrum from "more technical" (e.g., environmental law, tax appeals) to "more emotional" (e.g., family law, contested probate). The practice areas on one end of the spectrum are primarily occupied by lawtistic agoraphobes with strong opinions about citation formatting. Those on the other side are populated by dysregulated sociopaths who, despite being only moderately literate, somehow managed to pass the bar exam through rage alone. The rest of us are somewhere in between.
I work in criminal defense, which is definitely closer to the "emotional" side overall. Like, most of my days are spent trying to explain the Sixth Amendment to some guy named "Bird," who is actively withdrawing from fentanyl ("You're right. The postal inspector didn't read your Miranda rights after you hit that letter carrier in the head with your skateboard... No. That doesn't mean you can sue the Postal Service... They didn't interrogate you... Well, because here's the video of you doing it, Man."). But financial crimes, certain forensics, and federal sentencing can all get pretty geeky if you know what you're doing.
I've developed my stereotypes about other practice areas based on how those lawyers behave when they dabble in criminal practice. That only really works for litigators at small-to-medium firms. After all, an ERISA lawyer probably won't try her hand at defending the dude who got naked at the St. Patty's Day parade. I'm not going to run into a fund formation guy at the in-custody docket. Thus, I must learn how to make fun of these people through an alternate means. That's where you come in.
So, you tell me, deal-doers: What stereotypes do you have of practice areas adjacent to yours? Like, what's the "family law" equivalent in transactional practice (i.e., that practice area that everyone kinda dabbles in because it doesn't take too long to get okay-but-not-great at it)? Is there a broad equivalent to my "technical to emotional" scale for litigation? What's it like having a vacation home? Have you anything else entertaining to share with the class about what you do?
Litigators, you can play, too, of course.
Hey, All! I recently posted in r/Watches looking for an especially tough, but also professional-looking watch. One commenter recommended the Citizen ProMaster Tough. I spent a few days down the "tool watch" rabbit hole and decided I *really* like the look of that watch, and especially the bn0211-50e variant. I like the fact that it's tough, simple, and elegant-looking (i.e., no rotating bezel, no flashy dial materials, baton indicators rather than numbers).
Unfortunately, it's been discontinued. I can probably find it online, but the inconvenience associated with discontinuation let me pause to think.
As a small business owner myself, I want to support other small businesses where I can. The watch industry is surprisingly full of micro/independent manufacturers. Are there any independent/micro brand, sub-$1,000 alternatives to the bn0211-50e that can stand up to some serious abuse? I want to make sure I at least consider my fellow small business owners before pulling the trigger on the aftermarket for a publicly-traded company like Citizen. If it's on backorder/out-of-stock, I'd prefer to give it a miss. I need a new watch, and don't want to wait six months.
Thanks in advance!
It seemed universally loved online, but was discontinued.