Ron Hashiro

• If I have to buy a new computer and buy my software all over again, why not buy it for a robust, solid platform.
• The user interfaces are simple and clean. You see only what you need to see in order to get things done. While surprising at first, it actually becomes quite welcome and addicting.
• No more unresponsive windows, especially when browsing the web or composing emails. I now get annoyed with XP at work when it does that to me several times a day.
• No more Blue Screen of Death!
• No more monthly Windows patches! There's patches for OS X, but not as frequent or intrusive.
• The Mac asks nicely BEFORE it updates the software if you wish to be bothered with a system reboot. It gives you a chance to close all your programs BEFORE you install the updates and reboot.


• I get a lot of performance and throughput for a Core 2 Duo processor. My programs start quickly.
• You can start programs such as a web browser before the user interface has fully completed populating the desktop, etc. It gets to that point faster than Windows.
• It shuts down faster than Windows. About 3 seconds, compared to 6-8 for Windows.
• Pretty decent battery life. Lasts over 1.5 hours easily.
• The speaker audio on the MacBook is pretty darn good. No need for external speakers.
• The Mac is more expensive, but it has audio and video software built-in.
• Has a built-in web cam and microphone. The microphone did such a good job that I didn't need to hook up wires to transfer audio from an audio recorder to the laptop. I'm impressed, and so's the recipient.
• I like the way and ease of setting up backups using the built-in Time Machine. Real easy and simple. Once you've set it up, it automatically backs up once an hour -- right out of the box. I actually back up my Mac once a week by connecting the external hard drive, canceling the anti-virus scan, then click Time Machine > Back Up Now. One click, one move of the mouse, and the ending click. Let it run while I read web pages and emails, and I'm done.
• The MacBook has WiFi and Bluetooth built-in. It auto discovers devices in a very clean user interface. It found the Apple Mighty Mouse bluetooth device very nicely and so easily I forgot how I did it.


• If you're into HF ham radio, you've got to see MacLoggerDX in operation with it's station automation features. It's amazing!
• MacDoppler has a full screen mode that looks like a real-time screen saver. Very beautiful!
• I'm working on installing XASTIR when I have time. If you've done it, send me an email.
• I'm looking forward to installing a dual-boot option for Windows, so I can run some previous ham radio and non-ham software. That should speed up my migration from Windows to Mac OS.


• Instead of downloading dozens of small programs to view files, the Mac has one "Preview" program that can handle many file formats. So, if it's not an Office download file like a .doc or .ppt, there's a good chance of viewing the file by letting it default to "Preview". Handles .jpg, .PDF, .png, etc.
• It has Unix built-in, and you can download development tools for free.
• The menu bar is consistently at the top of the screen, not jumping around in each window. As a result, you get to see all the menu choices available.
• If you like to do screen shots, the Mac allows you to select the area and size of the screen shot right out of the box. (Command+Shift+4), drag and select the area. When you let go the mouse button, you hear the sound of a camera shutter, and it leaves the screen shot as a file on your desktop as a .png file. You can then attach it via email. How simple.


• In short, it does things so well, I'm not wasting any more time on Windows.

These links point to sites which have hardware and software I've incorporated into my Mac.

• RAID Level 1 External Hard Drive for backups
• Built-in Backup Software for OS X - Time Machine
• Anti-virus - Norton
• Web Browser - Firefox
• Email Program - Thunderbird
• Zip and Unzip Utility - Stuffit
• Windows Media Viewer for the Mac - Flip4Mac
• Word, Excel, Powerpoint - Microsoft Office
• Cyberduck - FTP Software
• Logging Program and Ham Shack assistant - MacLoggerDX
• Satellite Tracker - MacDoppler for Cocoa
• TNC Terminal program - MacTNC V1.2


• Open Source APRS Program - XASTIR


• Mac software for Ham Radio

A few words about the Mac keyboard. What is marked as Backspace on the PC keyboard is marked as delete on the Mac. To get the traditional Delete function on the Mac, press and hold the fn (function) key while pressing the delete key, and you'll delete the character to the right of the cursor.

Instead of pressing ctrl and the x, c, and v keys for cut, copy and paste, you use the command key instead of the ctrl key.

A word about MacDoppler, MacLoggerDX and West Mountain Radio RIGTallk.

I previously bought a West Mountain Radio RIGTallk for Windows XP to control an Icom IC-910H. Since I migrated platforms to the Mac, I needed to find a way to move the connection to Mac OSX. The technique is to install the Mac OSX software driver from West Mountain Radio (which is not officially supported, but it seems to work). Go to their support website and download the Mac OSX Drivers for RIGTalk. When you open the .zip file, it'll ask you confirmation to proceed, as it will do a shutdown or reboot. You should close out your other applications before proceeding. As usual, it'll ask for the password, prompt you for a shutdown or restart, and continue. The driver installation has to update the boot caches, which will take about 25 seconds.

When the reboot completes, open your DogPark software application, select the menu option Preferences > Radio > Serial Port, and pick WMRRIGtalkRT1. Set the to the default address of C0, or whatever address you choose. Set the baud rate to 9600 baud, or whatever speed you choose.

I just happen to have a Cables Unlimited USB-2920 USB 2.0 to RS-232C DB-9M Serial Adapter lying around. The following documents what I did. It is not an endorsement or recommendation. Also, check the web site for the latest and appropriate versions.

I installed the VCD Drivers. The PDF instructions are here.

Download the Mac OSX (Intel) driver on this web page. Download the V2.2.9 driver DMG volume. Follow the instructions, and start the installation program. The install process requires a restart. Allow for more time at the blue screen upon startup.

When the desktop appears, plug in the device. To verify that the device is visible, go to Application > System Preferences > Network. It should show a new USB Serial device detected. Modify the configuration as needed. You can then configure MacTNC as needed. Works fine with the Kantronics KPC-3+.

These are some of the hams in Hawaii running the MacIntosh.

• Ray, AH6LT
• Ron, AH6RH
• Rich, KH6DAD
• Teddi, KH6TS
• Ernie, NH7L
• Joe, NH7WL
• Forrest, k7cmk