> SDR-1000 is a big plus with few negatives. You get faster
> development (more man-hours of development and test), faster
> bugfixes, and lots of creative exchange among users &
> programmers all for minimum cost to the manufacturer. TT and
> other vendors, take note!
By definition, the "value" of an SDR is going to be in the software, and not
in the diminishing number of hardware bits that front-end it. Software, as
protected Intellectual Property (IP), is where the value is. I agree that
there's value in open source. It's a place for experimentation and
innovation. Ultimately, it's value-less if it's free, and that puts SDR
vendors out of business unless the open source eventually becomes closed and
proprietary, and therefore has value as IP.
Flex is using open source (read that as free volunteer written software) to
add value to their hardware modules. You get half a radio at something more
than half the price, and for now the entire back-end part of the radio is a
PC, soundcard, and free software. As Flex's "half" shrinks where are they
going to make a dime? The user community isn't suddenly going to be happy
about having to shell out several $000 for the FlexPRO software release, but
if that doesn't happen, the Flex will forever be a tinkerer's radio, even if
an interesting and fun one ....
Grant/NQ5T
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