[TenTec] Question for Contesters:

[ac5e at comcast.net]

Not to put too fine a point on it but at present all our radios consist of  dedicated hardware with or without some form of computer control.  So we still have dedicated RF amplifiers, mixers, IF strips, filters, etc., etc.,  that can perform only a single function regardless of  whether they are free running, under analog control, or digitally controlled.  Therefore, the hardware sets the ultimate performance of the unit, while the software controls the hardware and processes the signals the hardware captures.  

 It would appear that a truely "software defined radio" would consist entirely of general purpose hardware that could be adapted to any function at any given time under control of a computer program.  Run one program and you have a tranceiver, another program and you have something else, and not necessarily something connected with radio in any direct way. The same hardware, different function. And the software would set the ultimate performance of the unit. 

Perhaps instead of "software defined" we should say "software controlled,"  for the radios we have now, with the clear implication that the hardware sets the performance capabilities and limits of the radio in question. 

73  Pete Allen  AC5E

--
Never squat with your spurs on