On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 12:29:38PM -0600, Dr. Gerald N. Johnson wrote:
Somehow this got turned around. One of my points was this radio
should have CW as an extra cost option, not be a CW radio.
Part of its appeal is that new hams, who do not know how to copy morse
code, do not need to pay for it. It's more a case of perception than
reality, except for an IF filter, the cost difference between having it
or not is minimal on an SSB rig.
However if it cuts $2 of the cost of the parts, that translates to
around $10 off the retail cost, which is significant.
The same with bands below 20m, they need some output filtering, LSB
reception and transmission and some new firmware. Depending upon the
output power and quality of the filtering, probably another $25-$50
retail.
> Well, the Kenwood TS-120 and 130 have been selling in that price class
> for a couple years. They do need an antenna tuner (like all solid state
> radios) but have enough bells and whistles to be useful, but not so many
> as to confuse the neophyte.
Neither rig has digital tuning. Both have a low resolution (100hz)
digital display with analog tuning. This will certainly confuse a
neophyte used to channelized tuning or a 2m FM rig.
> Otherwise for CW and digital modes there are many QRP products that can
> be a learning experience to build and to use. Might not cover DC to
> light, might only cover 7040+/- 10 KHz.
Digital modes? These people already have computers and broadband
internet connections. Why would they want to play around with
uncertain propigation to run at 31 bits per second?
As for a learning experince, they live in a world where everthing
plugs into everything else. I'm sure you could eventually get them
to learn how to solder well enough to make a radio, but that's a
long way off, and by that time, they will have moved on to other
things.
My whole point was to pare down a radio to the point where they
could easily buy it, and it only has those features they need.
Get them on the air, and sell them up.
Radio Shack has CB's from $60. Walmart from $35. If they can produce and
sell a radio for that price, certainly someone can produce a 20m/15m/10m
USB only rig for under $200?
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
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