Rick, I've had pretty much the exact same thoughts during the past year
while I tested the SDR waters myself (ANAN-100D), while conintually coming
back to my Orions for any serious operating. I'm just waiting for a
company to appear and fill the SDR virtual front panel vendor void. My
fear is that we might be waiting a long time.
73, Barry N1EU
On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 7:26 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
> IMO, the time has come to stop worrying about which "radio".
> It's time to abandon the concept of a radio as being the single stand alone
> device that gets us on the air.
>
> SDR radios such as FLEX and ANAN ARE THE FUTURE.
> BUT NOT as stand-alone devices.
> Most of us will have and use an additional "Human Interface Box".
>
> What most of us don't like about the current SDR radios is their human
> interface.
> ..We want knobs.
> ..Some of us want big knobs.
> ..Some of us want more knobs
> ..Some of us want fewer knobs
>
> The Eagle is a fantastic radio but we can't seem to agree on the knob
> arrangement for the perfect Eagle.
> WHY MUST WE AGREE ON JUST ONE SOLUTION?
> What if we could have a dozen different solutions to the knob arrangement,
> but they all control a black box called "Son of Eagle"?
>
> CONSIDER THIS:
>
> In the future there will be multiple companies offering various Human
> Interfaces.
> Our choice of human interface will be just as important as our choice of
> SDR
> radio that goes behind it.
>
> Before I continue, let me explain what I have in mind.
> I'm thinking of things like the Wood Box interface such as their TMate2.
> See: http://www.woodboxradio.com/tmate2.html
>
> My first impression of the TMate2: "Nice but too expensive."
> But is it really too expensive?
> It is exactly the knobs that this device has which I like so much in my
> radios.
>
> Considering its price, the performance of the FLEX 6300 is phenomenal.
> But who wants a radio with no knobs? I certainly don't.
>
> In the future, that performance level will be available for $1K or even
> less.
> Couple that with a $300 human interface and we'll have a lovely radio at a
> reasonable price.
>
> Each of us can choose which human interface we want, with as many knobs as
> we want, and the radio behind it is a black box engine. We can swap the
> SDR
> black box engine as often as we want, but keeping our own favorite human
> interface. Each new radio will have the same look and feel as the old one.
> No new steep learning curve.
>
> Upgrading to newer technology will be cheaper because we don't replace
> everything.
> We just purchase a new engine.
>
> I believe this will be the ham radio of the future.
>
> This approach will enable each of us to create a radio environment that
> suits our own personal tastes.
>
> Even though I was one of the ones yelling loudest that real radios have
> knobs, I'm ready to jump ship as soon as they build solutions like this.
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
>
>
>
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