Things that are related to – but not specifically for – amateur radio. Items tagged with a (❤️) indicate my personal favourites.
Note taking / PKM Apps
Keeping track of all your cheat-sheets, spec lists, checklists, research, projects, tips, etc is a challenge.
These are some of the note-taking tools I’ve used. While there’s no “best” solution, my absolute hands-down favourite is Obsidian. In the end, the “best” is whatever works “best for you”.
- Obsidian (❤️)
- Evernote (NOTE: Evernote has been going downhill for a few years. I’d avoid it if you’re starting fresh.)
- Microsoft OneNote
- Notion (VERY powerful and flexible, but everything is stored remotely…)
- Google Keep (Very basic, but very easy to use.)
- Simplenote
- Dropbox Paper
- Joplin
Navigation & Mapping
Public event route planning and positioning. It’s hard to pick a real favourite because I use all of these. 🙂
- CalTopo (❤️)
- OSMAnd (❤️)
- Open Street Map (A free OSM account also lets you edit/update the maps, which are often used as a source for other mapping apps.)
- Organic Maps
- Google Earth Pro
- Garmin Basecamp
- Garmin Explore
- Magic Earth (❤️)
WEATHER APPS
If you’re providing radio support at public events, keeping an eye on the weather can provide helpful info for the event coordinators.
- Accuweather
- Alberta Air Quality Health Index
- Alberta Wildfire Status
- Blitzortung (live lighting)
- MerrySky
- Real Time Lightning Map
- Ventusky
- Weather.com
- Weather information – Environment Canada
- Weather Underground
- Weatherbug
- Windfinder
- Windy (❤️)
- Zoom Earth (weather satellites)
Miscellaneous
Assorted “stuff”. (Eg. Animated Knots – knowing what kinds of knots to use with antennas is handy.)