[TenTec] PRIVATE& CONFIDENTIAL Re: Orion vs SDR 1K

[k6kdk at k6kdk.net]

PRIVATE& CONFIDENTIA



> Where the SDR 1K gains in experiences of many open source programmers,
> it looses in close coordination and in the few of those who work at DSP
> programming full time.
> --
> 73, Jerry, K0CQ,
> All content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer
>
>
Gerald,

 I thought I would write you a quick note off line. I no longer post to the
reflector, but I read it from time to time. I have sold my Orion and moved
on. I now operate a Flex and other radios here in my shack.

I am prompted to write you this note because your statement above is wrong.
You should retract it publicaly on the reflector. I may make one very plain
vanilia public post against your statement above in public, I am not sure at
this time, if I will do that , but I am thinking about it.

. The Flex project is managed as all professional software is managed. It
has a core group of talent, and a team of coders, and an overall management.
The revisions are tracked in SVN (if you do not know what SVN or CVS is then
you know nothing about the subect matter).  Ther is no SVN revision tracking
at TT, I know that for a fact from internal communications from Barbour.
The software mangement at Flex is LIGHT YEARS a head of the long since lost
tangle of code smidgets, re-writes, and general confusion at TT since Doug
Smith left and a group of amateurs started writing code for the Orion I and
OrionII.

Your statement above is EXACTLY BACKWARDS of the true situation. TenTec has
no "close cordination" / Flex does.  TT has no DSP core talenet FELX DOES,
Doug Smith is gone at TT,  McGweir is very much in place at the core of
Flex. You should research the talent at Flex before you make any more public
statements. McGweir is one of the top mathamatics experts in the field and
has a day job for the Defense Analysis Dept.  Eric is a young,
professionally trained, expert C programmer.

FYI, I know what I am talkng about here. I am now retired, but over the past
22 years, have been in professional software development for real time
factory floor and automation machines used in everything from professional
entertainemnt to machines that do precision parts placement.  I started my
own company, later sold it, it was bought by a multi national, then was
management head of one of their divisions for past 9 years as part of the
buy-out.  Retired 4 years agao, now I play Ham radio and raise Almonds
trees!

Anyway, Gerald, I have the ability and background to look right through the
end result of the TT code and see the problems. The project is horribly
mismanged and lost. The exact opposite of "closely cordinated"  I can look
at the Flex code, becasue it is open source, and I can tell you it is some
of the best of it's type I have seen. It is written in conformance to modern
accepted practice, and is very very professionally done. I would have been
proud to have a team like that and code product like that in my previous
job.

The bottom line here is that the Orion series is esentially at its "end of
life" at this time. The best it was, or is ever going to be is v1.373b5..
The whole thing now (for those that still have Orions, or those that are
buying new ones..) is waiting for the "reality to sink in"..   It is a great
radio, a great front end reciever, but it is what it is, there is no
advanced "fixed" software comming in the next months or years.  It is fixed
in time at v1.373b5, that is the reality.

Hope this information helps.

-Dan  K6KDK