Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes • Hacker News Board

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#211

Post by akira2501 » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 3:49 AM UTC

minikites wrote: post #199

chrisseaton wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These people are idiots. I think 'these people are idiots' is an easy thing to think but almost always the wrong thing. Few people are idiots. Most people are just as smart as you are. More likely, these people fundamentally aren't looking at the situation like you are. Probably, they don't care what you, or the police, or the FBI, or anyone else, think about what they're doing and don't care how they're being trac…

>Most people are just as smart as you are. These people don't believe in objective reality (Biden won the election and there was no meaningful voter or election fraud) and I'm having trouble thinking of a definition of "idiot" where something like that doesn't qualify.

> where something like that doesn't qualify.

Desperate people mislead by skilled con-artists. You can focus on the fact they got conned, and judge them harshly for it; or, you can focus on the fact that they're that desperate in the first place.

I think we only stand a chance at solving the latter problem, so sorting the "idiots" from the enlightened doesn't seem like a meaningful activity.

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#212

Post by stormcode » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 3:56 AM UTC

blhack wrote: post #108

nimbius wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a pinch of salt... If you can get a baofeng to last out of the box longer than a week, and manage to DX a handheld or a repeater further than a parking space away, you should at least win a QRP award and a discount on your technicians test before you get sent to the klink.

Strong disagree, and wish this sort of gatekeeping wasn't present. Go get one of these things. They're $20, and ham radio is a fun and useful hobby. I have many baofeng radios which have been in many forms of being thrown into boxes, backpacks, filled with dust, rained on, abused by drunks, dropped, etc. and they ALL are still working fine, albeit some with dest behind the LCD cover.

Agreed. I've had two $25 baofengs for camping / outdooring for... Four or five years. Both work fine. They don't see a ton of use but they have been banging around camping bins and glove boxes for that time.

Batteries hold their charge well.

Bonus-- they have FM radios. Weirdly the only thing in my house powered by batteries that does!

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#213

Post by OnlyOneCannolo » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #59

“messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning.” The language is troubling, but the laws on the books in US are already ridiculously broad and overbearing. Usually, the question is more along the lines of what stick you want to use. Just in case you never had a chance, "Three felonies a day" gives will give you an idea where US is now.

The amateur bands are not for general use. They're allocated specifically for skill-building and emergency services, and are regulated accordingly. It's no different than how AM/FM bands are licensed and regulated. You can't just get on the air without a license and say whatever.

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#214

Post by jhallenworld » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

sbierwagen wrote: post #160

nimbius wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a pinch of salt... If you can get a baofeng to last out of the box longer than a week, and manage to DX a handheld or a repeater further than a parking space away, you should at least win a QRP award and a discount on your technicians test before you get sent to the klink.

I've had a UV-5R for four years. Receives fine. The handful of times I've used it to transmit on a local net nobody mentioned vomiting in disgust at its poor transmission characteristics. The original battery even still holds a charge, which I really didn't expect, since it's probably spent 3.9 years sitting on the charger being kept at the float voltage.

I had a VX-7R- it was nice, but I didn't use it enough for the amount of money sunk into it, so I sold. I bought a UV-5x3 when I again wanted an HT. It's pretty good- I like that it now has alphanumeric channel memory and I get to see what's happening on 220 MHz. But this is a $90 radio...

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#215

Post by fooey » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:21 AM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #193

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #35

Baofeng's, Baofengs everywhere. Of all the images I have seen of the attempted coup, I have only seen baofeng radios. These are very cheap ($20'ish) radios that work very poorly (they splatter all over the bands) even when equipped with decent antennas. They barely work when equipped with the stock rubber-duck antennas. It's easy to be a snob about the type of radios that they are using, but that's not even the point…

> These people are idiots. I think 'these people are idiots' is an easy thing to think but almost always the wrong thing. Few people are idiots. Most people are just as smart as you are. More likely, these people fundamentally aren't looking at the situation like you are. Probably, they don't care what you, or the police, or the FBI, or anyone else, think about what they're doing and don't care how they're being trac…

They're zealots, and some of them are very capable and very determined.

Writing them all off as idiots is dangerous

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#216

Post by lxe » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:33 AM UTC

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #35

Baofeng's, Baofengs everywhere. Of all the images I have seen of the attempted coup, I have only seen baofeng radios. These are very cheap ($20'ish) radios that work very poorly (they splatter all over the bands) even when equipped with decent antennas. They barely work when equipped with the stock rubber-duck antennas. It's easy to be a snob about the type of radios that they are using, but that's not even the point…

> It's already against the law to use them in a manner that is against the law.

Well said.

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#217

Post by krastanov » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:33 AM UTC

minikites wrote: post #203

ALittleLight wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think so. They were at the Capitol for a few hours. They committed some vandalism and brawled with the Capitol police. Maybe the guy with the zip ties thought he was there for revolution, but most seemed to be taking advantage of an opportunity to run in and see or loot the Capitol.

>loot the Capitol Then they should be shot on sight. The only reason they weren't fired upon is the color of their skin.

This attitude really saddens me. We should be advocating for all protestors to be treated with such gentle touch, not for all protestors to be brutalized the way BLM protestors were. Thankfully, this is the attitude I have heard from most BLM leaders.

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#218

Post by lxe » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:35 AM UTC

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #35

Baofeng's, Baofengs everywhere. Of all the images I have seen of the attempted coup, I have only seen baofeng radios. These are very cheap ($20'ish) radios that work very poorly (they splatter all over the bands) even when equipped with decent antennas. They barely work when equipped with the stock rubber-duck antennas. It's easy to be a snob about the type of radios that they are using, but that's not even the point…

Han anyone recently verified the Baofeng's harmonics output? I got a TinySA and wondering if it's possible to somehow wire it up to test them.

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#219

Post by dane-pgp » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:40 AM UTC

poulsbohemian wrote: post #131

Lammy wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These people are idiots. It makes me uneasy to see how much commentary on recent events seems to focus on insulting these people instead of hearing how society has failed them and why they're upset even if we tend to disagree with their suggested fixes. I think their presence in DC and that "colorful" person they elected are all symptoms of this behavior.

> focus on insulting these people instead of hearing how society has failed them Look, I'm just a guy, with no fancy credentials or research to back this up, but the more I read, the more I try to understand this crowd, the more I talk with other people about this crowd, the more I believe these people are making choices . That is to say, there are plenty of educated and monied people running amok here. To believe th…

> But she also said the GOP played a role, adding that “if we are the party of personal responsibility, we need to take personal responsibility.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/07/nikki-haley-critici...

Re: Radio users reminded not to use radios in crimes

#220

Post by dane-pgp » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 4:49 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #188

Lammy wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These people are idiots. It makes me uneasy to see how much commentary on recent events seems to focus on insulting these people instead of hearing how society has failed them and why they're upset even if we tend to disagree with their suggested fixes. I think their presence in DC and that "colorful" person they elected are all symptoms of this behavior.

This is how we humans think of our outgroup. While your ingroup is unique individuals with good and bad traits, your outgroup is an undifferentiated "them" that is selfish, untrustworthy, stupid, the reason for all these problems we're having, and we really may have to do something about them one of these days!

You're right to remind us about the cognitive biases relating to in-groups and out-groups[1], but let's remember that in the context of this thread, the original comment about "idiots" was:

"These people are idiots. Bringing their cellphones, recording video of themselves committing felonies and then posting them online."

It doesn't seem that the commenter was branding every voter for the opposing candidate an idiot, just the specific group of people who shared evidence of themselves committing crimes.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_attribution_error