[TenTec] audio

[Grant Youngman]

> One would expect that, as a software-defined radio, the functions of
> the ORION ACCY pins would be determined by the control program. In
> that way, given the proper menu provisions, the operator could define
> the pin functions as needed for a specific application.

Maybe.  But I'm not sure total user definition of everything is a reasonable 
expectation at all.  Interfacing in particular, is an area that it seems to me 
should be standardized.  I can't even begin to imagine the support mess 
that would occur if there were a thousand radios out there, with a 
thousand variations on control assignments, pin assignments, etc. -- and 
then something didn't work.

I see the problem in a slightly different way.  We have a radio with many 
new capabilities (and a lot of software defined stuff, a lot, but not 
everything).  And we're constantly thinking of things it COULD do, but 
doesn't, and then grumble about how shortsighted the designers were for 
not anticipating our every "golly, wonder if it can do THIS?" epiphany.

In the old days, we'd go off and build a simple control box to handle 
amplifier switching the way we'd like it to be (if it wasn't in the appliance), 
or we'd build our own interface to manage differences between interface 
pin assignments (if they weren't to our liking in the appliance), or we'd 
interface the headphone output to a little external box that would let us 
plug in the phones AND route Main/Sub signals to different places (if the 
appliance didn't do it the way we wanted on the connector we preferred), 
etc.

Perhaps we expect too much of the appliance.  Or maybe it's the whole 
notion of "appliance" that's the problem ...