[TenTec] Virtual, Actual,Analog,Digital

[Ken Brown]

>
>
>Hf SSB and CW operation is a nostaligic activity akin to horseback riding.
>If amateurs were demanding "black box" compter operated
>rigs then Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood would have already produced
>one. The Kachina 505 is no longer around. The Pegasus is the 
>only "thinking outside the box" rig available. I do not want to be
>forced to have a computer to operate my rigs. If this makes me 
>a backward thinking boob, then so be it.
>  
>
The use of amateur radio, be it HF, VHF or UHF is absolutely unnecessary 
until the other services are down in a disaster. I believe most of us 
operate radio because we find it to be fun. With internet chat sessions 
in either text or voice, cellular phones and cheap long distance rates 
there is very little personal communications either short haul or long 
haul that cannot be done better using means other than amateur radio. 
Yet we still do it because it's fun, and it provides a backup when those 
other systems fail. It is possible using computer controlled black boxes 
and digital modes to communicate using amatuer radio spectrum without 
even learning radio operating skills, and with the right boxes and help 
from others we could do that with out learning anything about 
propagation, rf systems or much of anything else other than what to 
click on. We could set up our stations so we could not even distinguish 
their use from just another modem connected to our PC. This may appeal 
to some. It does not appeal to me, and I do not think that type of 
operation on the ham bands would be a good use of the bandwidth it would 
occupy. I think this is why Kachina is not marketing to hams anymore, 
and why Jupiters are sold as well as Pegasus. If the computer is doing 
the radio operating, it may as well be on a wire or fiber network 
instead, leaving the amatuer spectrum for people who like to operate 
radios... My point is that there is perhaps some limit to how advanced 
the technology can become before it's just not fun anymore, for me at 
least....I realize there are all kinds of people with all kinds of 
tastes, or lack therof. There are people who would rather ride a 
snowmobile than cross county ski. There are people that would rather 
drive a motor boat than sail. There are those who would rather use a 
high tech modem than operate a radio.
 DE N6KB