Geochron 4K Is it Worth it ??

[BC_Scan]

As its a pretty penny the 4k version, alone without subscriptions bundle is it worth it ?
while those premium services look great I hate paying annualy or monthly for anything that is seemingly frivolous to some , while some of the information is available free elsewhere.Earthquakes, Air Quality etc
Looking for opinions /observations
I also appreciate its US conceived etc , not elsewhere...

 

[iMONITOR]

Personally I think it's a rich man's toy. I guess if someone "needs" it, then it's worth it. If someone buys it for a pretty conversation piece I would say, no it's not worth it. As you say, some if not all this information is available elsewhere for free or at a much less price.

I admit I always wanted one, and yes I can afford it, but I won't buy it.

 

[n3vj]

I always wanted one, but I ended up settling for HamClock - HamClock I have it running on a Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu Linux, and a Mac. I purchased a number of Pis for various things when they were cheap. It works great on a Pi 3b. HamClock has the option to set it up for multiple resolutions.

 

[vagrant]

Perhaps take a look at Simon's World Map. It is now at version 1.38. The web page provides info on configuring various things on it. It supports 4k. - Introduction — G4ELI

 

[N9JIG]

I agree with iMonitor, it is pretty and desirable but at $400 plus the display it is expensive. I have drooled over it for years but even I can't justify that to myself much less the wife. The next time I drag her out to HRO (where they have one set up) maybe that will convince her.

That said, I am using a Raspberry Pi 3 that I bought several years ago for about $30 and a spare 27" monitor I had to run HamClock. I don't know if there is anything other than aesthetics that would get me to buy a GeoChron.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Had an early model (possibly the original). It was buggy and updates usually caused new problems. It really didn't have strong ham features. I sold it and went to HamClock on a Pi.

Fairly often you can find these listed on QRZ in the swapmeet.

 

[N4DJC]

One of my former employers had one (I think it was a mechanical version) in our conference room to impress clients (DoD, NASA, Boeing, etc). It was impressive at the time…mid 90’s.

 

[N9JIG]

There was the original mechanical units, they were works of art and a status symbol. They showed up in every TV show and movie involving spies, the White House Situation Room and the like.

They will still maintain and update them and they often go for thousands of dollars. They pop up on eBay from time to time.

 

[AK9R]

An elementary school in my town has one of the mechanical Geochrons in their front lobby. I think it was donated to the school.

 

[GlobalNorth]

I've had one for a while now and I like it. I gave up the subscriptions and simply use it as a clock. I expected to use it more as a TV monitor, but I have grown far more indifferent to what is on TV than what time it is.

I find it more useful than the Davis weather station in my backward that monitors the local weather.