Ron - The article is great and spot on. Thanks for sharing.
RF folks like myself are mystified by the 1's and 0's stuff. By the way,
that little tray with the slot in the center that pokes out of my computer
when I push that little button is great for holding my morning coffee cup
and my evening cocktail glass.
73
Bob, K4TAX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Notarius W3WN" <wn3vaw@verizon.net>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] (ham station computer choice)
Bob,
I don't want to veer too far OT, so let me just say this briefly:
There's a lot of misunderstanding & hype about Microsoft dropping Windows
XP Support. And frankly, a lot of that Fear Uncertainty & Doubt are being
generated from those who'd like to sell you a new machine, whether you
really need it or not.
I don't want to bore the bulk of the list on this. So, if anyone is
really interested in what my professional take on the situation is, go to
http://www.n3sh.org/washrag.htm and pull up the April 2014 issue
(http://www.n3sh.org/WASHRAG/WASH0414.pdf, see Page 8)
73, ron w3wn
On 05/07/14, Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
I agree Jim. As a beta test person in another commodity, yes it is those
the grab it and run with it are in effect doing the beta testing for
Microsoft. In that case, I'll let them get most of the bugs out before I
move on and thus enjoy the fruits of their efforts.
As to XP support, the fact that MS will no longer support the product as I
understand will basically then no longer provide updates. Now, if one
should be using MS for security via the web, spam, and virus that could
spell trouble. However, I use a 3rd party paid subscription to handle
those
chores and thus I have little to no concerns in these areas.
73
Bob, K4TAX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Allen" <jim.allen@longhornband.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] (ham station computer choice)
I just bought a Dell and wonder how to test it for suitability, get rid of
all the add on nonsense. I'd be glad just to be up to speed on W7,
actually, having put off moving from XP for a long time while you
computer
geniuses handled the beta testing.
73 de W6OGC Jim Allen
On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 9:50 AM, K7TXO Radio <k7txoradio@gmail.com> wrote:
To make sure my ham shack computer is focused on applications I use in
ham
radio, I order business computers from DELL. It does not have to be a
DELL
brand but the point is, I order a computer with just an Operating System
on
it. Nothing else. And then I install the programs I want. The
difference
really is that a store bought "consumer" computer comes loaded up with
all
kinds of software. Some of the programs are already running to some
degree
when the computer is powered up, occupying cpu cycles, memory space and
possibly some disk drive-head activity.
Fortunately new computers we buy today are more powerful than ever so
even
a store bought computer will tend to handle all of this background
activity
ok. But why not start clean? Of course you can still build a computer
from parts. After years of working with equipment in EMI/RFI labs, I
yearned for the times when someone would bring a computer containing an
interface card for compliance testing that was a hand-built system.
Basically a smoke 'em if you have 'em session from the otherwise rather
dull process of testing; it sometimes was a great joy to watch some of
these computers smoke and even catch on fire under test. If we didn't
burn these up, at the very least some of them would have issues that
made
them cute transmitters at some frequency (or frequencies) that you would
not want in your ham shack. Or anywhere in your house in some cases. In
most cases the issue would be bad or loose bonding that could easily be
fixed but our job in the lab was to do testing, not troubleshoot and fix
equipment. And please note that just because a power supply or
motherboard, PCI card, etc. says it is FCC/European accepted does not
mean
it really was. Unfortunately there is deception in the world. And
finally
there were cases that collectively, the assemblies used in a hand built
PC
would not pass but on an individual basis, some of these assemblies can
be
within tolerance.
We can therefore expect that a major brand name computer that is built
correctly should be clean for emissions and at least less susceptible to
external sources of radiation. I prefer to start with a descent computer
that also has either zero software on it from the manufacturer or just
an
Operating System. Computers can be frustrating enough either because of
issues from non-compatible assemblies, bad grounds, non-compliance or
perhaps a plethora of software conflicts. "A clean computer is a happy
computer". (And a happy user.) And we might get away with less
performance if the computer is not already tied up with rubbing it's cpu
chip and patting it's memory too much, at the same time.
DELL Optiplex may be a choice to look into. I have spec'd these for
years
for use with specialized interface cards including Digital to Analog and
Analog to Digital converters for external devices. Optiplex computers
can
be purchased new at a reasonable price, direct from DELL. These
computers
are not typically sold at retailers; they would be rather boring for the
consumer looking for something to plug in and play games or run a word
processor or spreadsheet, AOL, etc. because none of this is loaded.
Watch
out for purchasing a refurbished unit. I tried one I ordered through
WALMART. Filthy inside with dust balls. The DVD read only drive was
busted. Rather than send it back, I cleaned it and put in a DVD Writer I
had intended to put in it anyway. Hard disc failed after about 6
months
but I had a good, current backup. A new drive and a reload of the backup
got most of my ham station configuration running pretty quickly. So I
recommend a new computer where you have zero hours on the system. More
time to use the radio, hi hi.
Gene / K7TXO
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