Just a survey of a very skewed sample of the ham population at large.
Prompted by some discussions at work with respect to things like
AMSAT ground stations and the FlexRadio SDR1000 and FLEX-5000, and
what hams are willing to buy, as opposed to what they say they'd like
to see. (Why sure, I'd love a 5 element SteppIR with adjustable
everything for $200). Has relevance to antennas too (think about
things like controllers and autotuners)
What's your preferred approach to using a new technology:
1) Read about it in QST, etc., scrounge up the parts from your junk
box or stores, and build it from scratch
2) Buy a kitted set of parts and assemble it
3) Buy the whole thing all assembled, but with no formal support
(i.e. you get all the stuff, documents, etc.)
4) Buy it as a fully integrated commercial product (warranty, service
organization, etc.)
Now, does that change if the technology uses a PC?
It throws in the alternatives of:
Supply your own PC, you install the software, deal with any
compatibility issues, etc.
- sub question: if there were a free configuration checking program
you could download to see if your PC will work ahead of time, would that help?
The widget comes with a preconfigured PC dedicated to the new
thing. The included PC isn't necessarily powerful enough to do anything else.
The widget has a PC embedded inside it, but you have no access to it
(think in terms of the new test equipment from Agilent and
Tektronix), at least as a PC.
And, another question about price points and quality of build. Preference for:
MFJ - inexpensive parts, rough and ready build quality, some
percentage of DOA to deal with
Big 3 radios - automated build quality, lots of mfr QA, unlikely
you'll have blobs of solder rolling around inside.
And design margins:
Consider a product like the battery boosters similar to W4RRY or MFJ
units (takes wide DC voltage in and generates 13.8 out, all the time)..
Inexpensive design, not much margin, but it works for 90% of the
cases, but if it gets too hot, or the wires are too long, or the load
impedance it's looking into isn't right, it might oscillate and fail.
Bulletproof design with lots of margin, works all the time,
everytime, but costs 3x as much.
All comments become grist for lunchtime conversation!!
Jim, W6RMK
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