Ham Radio Software for OS X

Machamware
As a ham operator with a Mac, I’ve found that there isn’t all that much software available for OS X.

In addition, such software isn’t all that easy to find. Mentions of “OS X” on a page are usually accompanied by “not supported” or something similar.

So, as I find useful ham software, I’ll keep this list updated.

Note that this won’t be a list of all the Mac software I can find, instead, it’ll be a list of software I am using and have found to be useful, stable and can actually recommend in good conscience.

To begin with, there are three applications I’m using regularly. One serves as an excellent audio characterization tool; one as an SSTV send/receive tool; and one as a RTTY monitor.
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The perfect Apple tablet

Oh well. I came back after the liveblog and dashed out the “no-haves”. Plus it’s FAT… that bezel consumes enough square inches to hide an entire iPod in. Sad, really. features that enhance the iPad over the Touch are in bold:

o iPod Touch interface
o iPod Touch compatibility for apps
o all good with iTunes
o accelerometers
- front camera for communication These 2 are really bad screwups
- rear camera for prod id, pics, etc.
- resolution drop from 163 ppi to 132 ppi(-19%)
+ adds GPS for location (optional, part of $135 3G option)
o compass for static direction
o microphone for song-id, comm, etc.

- programmable tactile feedback for keyboard, etc.
o bluetooth for headphone(s)
o able to emit mono audio

o tiny, tinny, silly speakers, just because
- IR emitter for use as remote
- battery lasts (at least) 12 hours (reading) (10)
o low model: 16 gb high model: way more
- memory UPGRADABLE (card)
- understands and works with stylus or fingers
o high resolution (same dpi as iPod Touch)
o Wifi
+ 3G cellular interface (optional, $135, includes GPS)
- L/R lcd angular polarizer for stereo vision
- OSX mode for the hardcore
- charges on a pad – NO cables
- syncs via wifi – NO cables
- runs with OR without backlight
- user replicable battery
o $450 entry price (16 gb) ($499 — not bad at all. $699 for 64 gb. Add $135 for 3G+GPS)

Yeah, I know, I know. But that’d be my ideal tablet, right there.

Some other things you might like to know… the iPad is 1024×768, about 5x the total resolution of an iPod Touch. On the other hand, the iPod Touch is 163 ppi, and the iPad is only 132 ppi, which is going to create quite a drop in perceived sharpness. It’s still a step up, device-wise; it’ll go like this: The iPad is 1024 across, the iPod is 480 across, so we’re at 2x the dots (speaking one dimensionally)… you’ll simply have to be about 20% further away with the iPad for them to look as good as the iPod, which means that the 100% gain in resolution will drop by 20% in size. So you’re going to “feel” like you’re up about 80% in total.

The complete lack of cameras means no using barcodes to library your cds, dvds, blurays, etc. No id’ing products and heading out on the web to compare prices and availability. No snapshots of your friends, no face-to-face webcamming, no photobooth, no make-up apps, no photography apps (at least, none that have any immediate use.)

My bet is we’ll see cameras in the next generation, because it was such an act of mental midgetry to leave them out. Perhaps that bezel will shrink as well, and we’ll get a charging system that doesn’t require wires.

One can hope.

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AGW skepticism is warrented. Here’s why.

Science – The path from unsubstantiated hypothesis to experimentally-verified theory, more to the point – requires that we come up with models, which then lead to predictions of the result of experiments in the realm of the hypothesis. These predictions, if borne out by experiment (the model is not falsified), validate the hypothesis and then we have a theory with laws (that is, rules for models we can use to predict.) If the predictions are wrong, they falsify the model and we are back to, or still have, an unsubstantiated hypothesis. We get to try once again, if we still think the hypothesis has merit, hopefully with more information at hand the next time around.

Now, the problem with the AGW hypothesis is that the models which are making the predictions are not matching the actual results. These climate models never worked well at both the poles and the mid-latitudes; they failed to predict the current long-lasting stall; the rates of temperature rise predicted don’t match, when rise actually does occur; and so what we have here are hypothesis that are not producing rules that we can use to predict their notional basis. With regard to predictions made of future performance, as that future has not arrived, as the near-term predictions have failed, there is no basis to presume that the models are verified long term.
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Review: 4 Port 250 Mhz VGA Splitter

splitter I purchased this VGA Splitterto drive multiple monitors from the VGA output of a 16-channel security DVR. It’s a small, flat black box with all connections on the rear, nothing on the front but a single red LED indicating it is powered up.

At this point, I’ve set it up with two monitors on outputs one and two, each on a 100 foot standard VGA cable. Fidelity is good; no hum or other interference is visible, and the resulting display is very sharp. However, my application is not as demanding in terms of sharpness as normal computer output is; I’m only using 640×400 resolution. Other reviews agree that output is sharp for computer use, and the claim in the marketing materials is that it is good up to 1920 horizontally. Odds are excellent that it will provide a sharp display in your application, but again, I can’t vouch for that, only for what I have seen.
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Review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

100mm Generally speaking, the Canon EF 100mmis a great lens. The bokeh is fine. The lens is pretty fast. f/2.8 to f/22 is useful as a creative range. The optics are sharp and the all-time focusing is a boon. So what’s not to like? Well, here’s the thing. The Canon EOS50D, which I use, has the ability to use the viewfinder in “live preview” mode, and when doing so, will allow you to zoom in on your focus point (or anywhere else, but that’s irrelevant to my point here) such that you can see extremely fine detail. At which point you can manually focus the lens so that it is exactly right. Marvelous, right?

It would be. But the lens has some mechanical backlash problems. Let me explain backlash; if you’re not familiar with it, it takes a bit of describing.
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My camera is back!

Here’s a shot I took with it today. The RAW image is definitely very pinkish-red, but as I was told, it’s not a rough job to correct for the additional red sensitivity. I think, because the red is so hot, I’m losing a little dynamic range in the normal regime as well, but as you can see here, it’s not a severe problem. Now if the weather will give me a break, I’ll give the camera a real workout on some emission nebulae!

Southern Pacific number 4449

Southern Pacific number 4449

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3D displays – Not here yet.

There’s been a lot of hype recently about “3D displays.” Unfortunately, that’s all it is –– hype. This is because we are a long, long way from 3D display of anything but artificially generated materials.

A 3D display actually produces a 3D representation; that is, if you change your angle of view, what you see changes accordingly. Look at the display from the side, and you see the scene from the side. Likewise, if the display is turned 180 degrees, you’d be looking at the back of the scene being displayed.

Stereo displays provide a fixed perspective generated by providing two single-angle images of a scene that are designed to replicate the angles your eyes would achieve from the (single, unchangeable) desired vantage point. Changing your angle of observation will not reveal other portions of the scene in any way, nor will moving the display.
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Review: Phoenix 500m Catadioptric Lens

phoenix500 The Phoenix 500mmis a catadioptric lens. That means that it is very similar to a reflex, or mirror, telescope, and that it mixes mirror elements with refractive elements. The light comes in the front of the lens, goes right to the back of the lens, where it hits a large (full lens circumference) concave mirror, which then focuses all that light more tightly back in the direction it came. In the middle of the business end of the lens is another mirror, which then sends the light down the center of the lens back toward the camera, where standard refractive optical elements further magnify and focus the incoming light prior to hitting the film or sensor. A lens of this type is not only similar to a reflector telescope, it can actually perform as one, and you can find eyepiece attachments for just that purpose.

One of the significant benefits of a catadioptric lens is that you get less chromatic aberration, and so with subjects like the moon, which you expect to be grey, you actually get a grey image. With a standard refractor telephoto, you’re quite likely to get colored fringes on sharp bright/dark boundaries – this is an area where reflectors can and do excel, and this lens is no exception.
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