Anyways, hello all! Name is Shawn. Just bought my very first ToughBook a few weeks back (info below) Had the bells and whistles come with it. Ive never really imagined owning one but a few things turned me on.
First off as my name username implies, im an amateur tower climber. Its not my profession but I previously worked in the natural gas drilling theater and got my training for climbing drilling rigs and just figured towers are not much different, just skinnier. The towers I usually climb have amateur radio equipment on them and I climb for free for ham clubs. I am an amateur radio operator, or as some call us, a ham. Thats where me deciding owning a ToughBook came to play. Needed something durable to take to these remote sites. I love being able to access the internet via WWAN (Gobi 1000) in the middle of nowhere. Also a big plus is ToughBooks come with a serial port. Where can you find a modern laptop with a serial pot now a days huh. Im not sure why, but radios, even new radios, still use serial ports to program. Before my TB, used to lug a desktop around, this is WAY better. Im just now starting to see USB programming cables but its usually a premium upgrade. GPS is also a plus as I run some location based beaconing known as APRS, so it saves having external peripherals. Everything else on the laptop, like the Bluetooth and touch screen was just a plus.
So far im in love with my TB. It seem to fit the niche i needed. I just hope this beast isnt too hard to maintain as some of the things i have read were kinda frightening. Makes me feel better though knowing this forum is here to help if I run into trouble. If theirs anything I can help out with on my end just let me know!
I program with a CF-27 pure DOS and CF-30 K for the mobiles and new portables. Just a handful for the Fire Dept. nothing serious. 