On 11/18/23 23:49, Wally J wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote
>
>> On 11/18/2023 3:53 PM, Wally J wrote:
>>> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote
>>
>>> I like your FM radio. I was just saying in emergencies, HAM is nice
>>> too.
>>
>> Agreed. Having both would be better in an emergency. They both have
>> their uses. My receiver would be better at receiving the commercial
>> bands (AM, FM, SW) where most local and national emergency news
>> broadcasts would be found. And your 2 meter handheld ham transceiver
>> (with a mountaintop repeater) would serve communications in your local
>> area with other hams.
>
> Living in the Santa Cruz mountains, we are pretty much used to the
> electrical power going out monthly & fires burning down entire
> mountainsides every few years, landslides blocking the roads during the
> rainy season, and of course, a few earthquakes a year so we know the
> inherent safety value of not only the ubiquitous FM radio in cellphones,
> but also the ability for local area communications via the ham radio &
> mountaintop repeaters (where we have fantastic LOS views to them).
>
> That's my point about the FM radio in the cellphone, which is that it's
> always better to have a flashlight than not to have the flashlight.
>
> The Apple people, for example, not only pay twice as much to NOT have the
> flashlight, but they have to pay Apple to get back the missing flashlight.
>
> And they are told by Apple that paying for missing stuff that Apple took
> away from them is the modern way to do things in the Apple ecosystem. :)
>
>>> 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
>>
>> Things are better here. It's been well over a year since the last power
>> failure. Usually it's a car or storm taking down a power pole and they
>> can usually reroute within a couple of hours or so.
>
> You're lucky. We pay some of the highest electricity rates in the nation,
> and we get nearly the most outages per year in the nation.
>
> The only good thing about that is the CPUC forces PG&E to give us free
> stuff related to the many power outages a year. For example, I got a
> dual-fuel DuroMax XP5500EH generator from PG&E even though I already have a
> built-in Generac that runs on propane.
> <https://www.pge.com/en/outages-and-safety/outage-preparedness-and-support/general-outage-resources/generator-and-battery-rebate-program.html>
>
>>> (which started today, by the way, as it's raining).
>>
>> Yep. Your storm came this way and got my driveway (slightly) wet...
>
> Yeah, we don't normally get rain from about March or April to about now.
> Sometimes we get rivers of rain. Sometimes not. It's fickle. Weather.
>
>>> Of course every one of us (thousands upon thousands of homes in the
>>> mountains) has a 240VAC generator or two, plus battery backups, etc.
>>
>> That would be wise considering the conditions you describe...
>
> I don't know a single person that doesn't have at least one generator.
> Unfortunately, some people use a suicide cord, which is just dangerous.
>
> The funny thing is because we're in the highest fire danger area of the
> country, PG&E will give us a lot of free stuff for the power outages.
>
> If you follow the rules, you get a lot of free stuff like...
> a. A free portable power generator
> b. A free backup power transfer meter to connect it to
> c. A free portable emergency 2KW battery with 120VAC output
> d. A free 4-liter 120VAC/12VDC refrigerator
>
> You have to follow the rules though. For example, PG&E insists our portable
> generators have a NEMA L1430R Locking Outlet which they use to connect to
> their proprietary backup transfer meters, which are really neat devices.
>
> I don't know if anywhere else in the country has these new devices but us.
> <https://energycentral.com/news/first-its-kind-technology-allows-pge-customers-safely-and-easily-connect-backup-power-their>

Hey, at least you get compensated for the bad weather stuff.

>>> 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!
>>
>> Neat. Here some folks have solar panels with storage batteries so they
>> can get a few extra hours from the batteries in a power failure.
>
> BTW, PG&E applied for a patent and says they designed these switches.
> <https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220217005846/en/First-of-its-Kind-Technology-Allows-PGE-Customers-to-Safely-and-Easily-Connect-Backup-Power-to-Their-Homes>
>
> It's a really neat device they give us to connect to the generator.
> <https://solarbuildermag.com/policy/pge-built-a-transfer-device-for-homes-in-high-fire-threat-districts-to-connect-backup-power-sources/>
>
> But you can only get it from PG&E for free if you're in the worst fire
> danger area and if they cut off your power due to frequent EPSS trips.
> <https://www.power-grid.com/smart-grid/pge-develops-backup-generator-meter-for-fire-threat-prone-customers/>
>
>>> _everyone_ in the neighborhood has them [BAOFENG UV-5R]. 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
>>
>> Back in the day (got my first ticket in 1956) you had to pass a written
>> AND a Morse Code test. Guess not anymore...

I think they removed that requirement in 2010?

> No Morse Code anymore. But you do have to pass the written test.
> The way I passed the test was I put on my iPad a zillion free HAM radio
> tests, which contained the EXACT QUESTIONS to the exams (so it was easy).
>
> You can see my Ham Radio folder on my iPad in this old graphic in fact.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/LXzB3Lc0/appleid01.jpg> Apple _forces_ a log in!
>
>> Another back in the day story: Some of our original mountaintop
>> repeaters had autopatches. There was a landline connection at the
>> repeater site. You could actually call someone using your 2 meter
>> handheld. This was pre-cellphone days so very handy. Course it wasn't
>> very private since all of Phoenix hamdom could listen in...
>
> I know what you mean, but I don't know if the repeater we mostly use has
> that, but we have gotten people from extremely far away on the radio.
>
> I don't play with it all that much. Mostly I bring it on my backcountry
> hikes, where it's my emergency backup in case I break a leg or get bitten
> by a rattler or whatever.
>
> An FM radio isn't needed on hikes as much as a HAM radio would be; but if
> there was an emergency, I pity all those Apple iPhone owners without FM
> radios since they have to buy an FM radio just to get back what was
> previously already there for free in the first place (which Apple removed
> to protect their streaming revenue). They have to keep it plugged in or
> with batteries. And they have to find it in an emergency when their phone
> is already in their hands. Apple hoodwinked them. And they ate it all up.
>
>>> - which was why those two radios plus two tests cost me only fifty
>>> bucks (one for my wife and the other for me).
>>
>> Things are apparently a lot cheaper now, though I did used to get some
>> pretty good deals at hamfests.
>
> I didn't do any of the buying but the guy who bought a thousand of them (or
> whatever the number was) got some kind of bulk deal so I'm happy with this.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/1zvGYNZt/hamradio.jpg> $25 bucks, including the test
>
>>> 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.
>>
>> Do you mean licenses with call letters? IIRC California was in the 6th
>> call district. AZ is in the 7th and my call starts with W7...
>
> Oh my. I am glad I told you I was ignorant as I really forgot everything.
> All I know is I need to mention my call sign every five minutes or so.
> I don't remember it. So I taped it to the back of the radio.

It's 10 minutes, I think.

> Lemme look for you... OK... my call sign is of the KMxxxx type, but some of
> my neighbors are ABxxx (notice only 5 characters for them but 6 for mine).
>
> As I said, I stuff the HAM radio into my pack when I do backcountry hiking,
> just in case, but I really never need to use it but, of course, if I don't
> put it in my pack, that's when I'll need to use it (Murphy's Law).
>
>>> Are those BAOFENG UV-5R radios any good?
>>
>> Specs look Ok. If they're reliable as is your repeater then they should
>> work just fine.
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baofeng_UV-5R>
>
> Thanks for checking on that as I wasn't sure how to respond to your first
> suggestion that the radio would not be powerful enough. It works for me.
>
> I talked the 3,500 gallon propane truck into giving me more than 85% as I
> normally run the built-in generator which runs off of propane.
>
> But I have a Nash Fuel hose so that I can fill up the twenty pound propane
> tanks from my 1,000 gallon residential propane tank and then I have the
> Flame King adaptor to fill my one-pound propane tanks from the twenty
> pounder (which is all very convenient). I refuel my cars at home too. :)
> <https://www.costco.com/flame-king-refillable-1lb.-empty-propane-cylinder-tank-16.4-oz%2C-2-pack---with-refill-kit.product.100679019.html>
>
> You learn to be self sufficient in the mountains, where, for example I even
> refill my five pound carbon dioxide tank myself, with dry ice, and then I
> use a high-pressure stainless steel hose to refill sodastream canisters.
>
> As another example, all of us have either a T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon
> femtocell (connected to the router) or a two-piece cellular repeater (I
> have both) so that our signal strength is perfect inside the house even
> though we're miles from the nearest cell towers.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/XJChDCPr/spare-access-points.jpg> cellular repeater
>
> We are so far in the boonies, that we don't have the option of cable, so we
> get all our Internet over the air from a nearby mountaintop too. Which
> makes us pretty self sufficient in an emergency...
> <https://i.postimg.cc/Gh22Sb2N/desktop.jpg> Desktop in shed with MikroTik
>
> Which, to come full circle, is why we know to feel sorry for the hapless
> iPhone users because having an FM radio on the phone is always better than
> not having it (despite Apple convincing them otherwise, somehow).
>
> If you want photos of anything I've said above, just ask. I was gonna snap
> some and upload them as I am a stickler for facts - but it's night and
> they'll suck without good light but in the morning let me know if there's
> any emergency safety item you're interesting in more information on,
> as I have everything that I said above - most for emergency purposes.
>
> Including the FM radio, aux jack & sd card in my free Galaxy A32-5G phone.

Can you send pics?
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