At 08:26 AM 8/28/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Today's current crop of digital HF receivers has only marginal improvements
>in receiver performance (to me, receive performance is the key) factors over
>yesterday's. We haven't seen order of magnitude increases in performance in
>a long time.
I have a long standing policy of not debating the merits and demerits of
our equipment in public forums, but this one I couldn't let pass.
The Orion is most certainly "an order of magnitude" increase in performance.
When our competitor's radio's are measuring 69 to 73 dB of 5 kHz spacing
two tone third order dynamic range and we are planning on delivering 100+,
I'd term that a couple of orders of magntiude. HUGE difference!
I'll use the example again of what DSP delivers because the message seems
not to be getting through: more receiver performance for less money.
Period. The discussion is focusing with too much exclusivity on top of the
line rigs only. Most hams don't buy, or don't perceive they need a top
of the line HF rig. That's a fact that cannot be disputed!
>While the Pegasus certainly isn't a top of the line receiver,
Correct - and the Pegasus, an IF-DSP SDR at $895 retail, tops most of
what was considered "top of the line" for RX performance only 15 years
ago. How much was a top of the line HF rig, in 1987, in 2002 dollars?
Approximately 4 times the retail price of the Pegasus.
What was acceptable for "top of the line" then, is only mid-range today.
There's where IF-DSP has made a huge impact on the hobby.
>I could envision a Pegasus II that had performance to rival the Orion (hint,
>hint). However, once I had one of these beasts, why would I ever buy a new
>radio, especially if I could add convenience features with new software
>(either control or firmware)?
Because as time progresses, your current top of the line SDR as described
would someday be woefully inadequate for receiver performance, just as
the top of the line gear from 15 years ago is today. Count on it.
>So if we reach the place where we have a top of the line performer that can
>be enhanced with software upgrades, the market will pretty much dry up once
>everyone has one.
That only holds true if advances in receiver performance vs. price remain
static forever. The wildcard in that equation is price elasticity. If
developments
in IF-DSP receiver performance continue to deliver better performance,
the performance that once was top of the line will be available for less cost
to the end user, and the high-end user will get even more performance for the
same (or less!) retail price. We already see that now: what was top of
the line
receiver performance at $4000 (2002 dollars) in 1987 is now available in the
$1000 range. This isn't going to change!
>One way this might happen would be if a manufacturer would realize that with
>a SDR, they truly are in the software business and found a way to make money
>with upgrades. Would the average ham pay $300 to upgrade their $3000 radio
>from an XXX to an XXX Plus, if that just involved a software change? My bet
>would be, sadly, that a few would, but others would find a way to pirate a
>copy.
Unfortunately, this is a very complex question. I think the penchant for
software piracy and the unwillingness of the marketplace to pay for
upgrades inhibits Ten-Tec from offering amazing new features. Quite
simply, there are cutting edge features that could be developed for
the Jupiter, Orion and even for other non-Ten-Tec rigs by us that will
never see the engineering time invested because we won't see any
return from it. Plus the negative PR - I can hear it now: "I already
bought the rig, what do you mean I have to pay for this incredible
new feature you're coming out with?" ignoring the fact that if it was
included in the first place, the retail price would have been higher
to start with. Is that better? Hmmm?
Yes, I do get paid to think about this stuff...all day long.
Scott Robbins, W4PA
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