Because Ham's don't seem to like to help those that aren't knowledgeable about the hobby. If you have your license, great everybody is helpful. Don't have it, "get your license, then come back"... "Buy a shortwave, get to know the bands"... "You can't transmit anyway so wait" No wonder the number of Ham Radio operators isn't a large one. What is the best receiver, a $200.00 hand held or a (for example) FT-897D that can do it all... why you asking me? I have NO IDEA. I asked but was told to get my license, well folks, I want my radio now, not months from now, I want to get to know the equipment now, I'm actually pretty good at getting to know electronic things and while I'm getting to know the radio I can study for my Tech and be a few steps ahead...... but ...... no..... no help for me.... get ... the .... license.... first..... I can hear the echo now.....
I have posted on few forums for help picking out new equipment, I also ordered my license books and how to become a Ham Operator. Seems other people have posted complaints about the lack of mentors for the hobby and how people seem more wrapped up in lack of CW requirements and people getting a license than they do in helping people get into the hobby. They seem worried that people will flood the airwaves with unlicensed un-knowledgeable talk. Perhaps some people do this but to assume it, not cool.
So where was I, oh yes, I posted on a few forums wondering what would be a good radio to begin this hobby. The response, get a license first, then you'll understand what you want. Strange, you would think people would step up and say, you interested in 2 meter or strictly HF? My response would be not sure, I would like to talk to people local on the repeaters but am more interested in listening right now. Buying a SW radio doesn't help in this regard much, not the ones I have found anyway. BUT, nope, no help at all from anybody, so I'm on my own and when I do get licensed I'll know who to avoid on the airwaves, if they are that un-helpful online I can't imagine they are much better on the air.
So, I'm going to order a Yeasu FT-897D, the makings of a sloper, buy the CHA-250BX so I don't need an automatic tuner, buy a meter and a good power supply and hopefully find some help installing it and using it properly so it doesn't become a paper weight.
73
Erik
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
HP MediaSmart EX470 Windows Home Server Review
I'm going to be installing a new HP EX470 MediaSmart server for a friend soon. We ordered it from BestBuy online for $599.00, this is the same price everybody else is selling it for so where you buy should probably be dictated by return policy and customer service. Considering what you get, this price is reasonable. We also ordered 3 Western Digital 500gig hard drives to bring capacity to a very respectable 2TB.
I received the EX470 on 1/4/08 and began working on it yesterday the 5th. I installed the drives which a 4 yearld could install. My first impression is the EX470 is a high quality and very easy device to work on. I should mention that I have been testing WIndows Home Server since Beta1 on my own hardware and am still waiting for my own OEM copy but so far this software has been excellent.
Getting back to HP's version of it I powered up the EX470 and put the software setup disk in my main desktop and let it find the server. It found the server and walked me through the initial configuration. It installs a desktop link for the HP Medis Server and a link to the default shares. I completed the setup, no users or other shares have been created yet because I'm going to do that when I install it at my friends house.
I ran some benchmarks to see how fast files would copy using SiSoft Sandra 2008, network speed on my personal home made Windows Home server ran at 70MBps, benchmarks to the EX470 ran about 10MBps which was dissapointing to say the least. I ran a rebuild of the EX470 and benchmarked it again, same result. I have a Buffalo TeraStation here so I ran the same test on it at got about 10MBps, same as the EX470, considering this was to be a primary backup server you'd think they would have paid close attention to this. I have never been impressed with the TeraStation's performance either but it has done its job over the past 2 years. Perhaps since many will be backing up wirelessly after the initial backup they felt this performance was good enough, who knows.
Next I opened the Home Server console frm my WHS box and the EX470, mine opened several seconds faster but the delay wasn't that bad for the HP. Since I'm going to be managing this device over the internet I'll see how it works for remote access after the install. My experience with the EX470 was a very good one and I think most people will be happy with it's performance and features.
I know I'm knocking it for network performance but I doubt the average person will notice it as much as a geek like me would. I'll post a follow up after I install the unit very soon.
I received the EX470 on 1/4/08 and began working on it yesterday the 5th. I installed the drives which a 4 yearld could install. My first impression is the EX470 is a high quality and very easy device to work on. I should mention that I have been testing WIndows Home Server since Beta1 on my own hardware and am still waiting for my own OEM copy but so far this software has been excellent.
Getting back to HP's version of it I powered up the EX470 and put the software setup disk in my main desktop and let it find the server. It found the server and walked me through the initial configuration. It installs a desktop link for the HP Medis Server and a link to the default shares. I completed the setup, no users or other shares have been created yet because I'm going to do that when I install it at my friends house.
I ran some benchmarks to see how fast files would copy using SiSoft Sandra 2008, network speed on my personal home made Windows Home server ran at 70MBps, benchmarks to the EX470 ran about 10MBps which was dissapointing to say the least. I ran a rebuild of the EX470 and benchmarked it again, same result. I have a Buffalo TeraStation here so I ran the same test on it at got about 10MBps, same as the EX470, considering this was to be a primary backup server you'd think they would have paid close attention to this. I have never been impressed with the TeraStation's performance either but it has done its job over the past 2 years. Perhaps since many will be backing up wirelessly after the initial backup they felt this performance was good enough, who knows.
Next I opened the Home Server console frm my WHS box and the EX470, mine opened several seconds faster but the delay wasn't that bad for the HP. Since I'm going to be managing this device over the internet I'll see how it works for remote access after the install. My experience with the EX470 was a very good one and I think most people will be happy with it's performance and features.
I know I'm knocking it for network performance but I doubt the average person will notice it as much as a geek like me would. I'll post a follow up after I install the unit very soon.
New Year = new blog
I have been posting on MySpace and Live Spaces but they aren't really blogs. So, I'm giving this a shot. I'll be writing about technology mostly (EDIT:, changed blog to an RV blog 11/9/10) but during baseball and football season I may rant about a win or a loss here and there. I'm going to do my best to avoid politics even with the '08 election coming up but you never know, I may have to spout off once or twice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)