[TenTec] "End of an Era"

[Toby Pennington]

The SDR 1K,  and other SDR rigs of the same ilk,  will have to move the SDR
concept into a more plug and play type of radio,  as most hams today do not
want to have to be continually downloading software to correct bugs,  and
wiring connecting cables to run  amps or other accessory apparatus which is
presently the case with the SDR 1K.   Most hams of this day and age are
becoming appliance operators,  and just want their rig to work like it is
supposed to from day one, and when they turn it on they expect it to work
the same way it did yesterday. They don't want to spend all their time
fighting glitches in software and continually experimenting to try to get a
sound card to work properly.  (ie The Presonus box)

I have heard ops of the SDR 1K make comments like,  "I don't like to be tied
down to a computer screen all the time." Or, "I would not want this to be my
only radio."   So, I think the SDRs have a long way to go before they can
become universally accepted by the ham community. The SDRs are still
experimental and will probably never fully replace the Orion and 7800 type
of rigs with their many knobs and their dependable performance.  The SDRs
will co-exist with the Orions and 7800s for some time to come,  but in my
opinion will never fully replace the traditional radio for amateurs.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Kachel" <kachels at wi.rr.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 6:03 PM
Subject: [TenTec] "End of an Era"


Bravo to the TenTec Omni VII, Orion II, Icom 7800 & Yaesu 9000. They are the
last of the dinosaurs of this generation. They are in the same position as
the Johnson's, National's, Hallicrafter's, Hammarlund's and others the day
before Collins introduced the S line, way back when.



I've been looking at the Software Defined Radios. The SDR 1000 transceiver
looks good. Some circuitry for a DC receiver feeding an analog to digital
chip and an RF amplifier. Every thing else is software. Pretty impressive
numbers. Cost with a new sound card is less than $2,000.



Then there is the SDR 14, basically a spectrum analyzer that can function as
a general coverage receiver to 30MHz. The antenna is connected directly to
the analog to digital chip. Might be nice to have some front end filters,
but basically no RF parts. I'm not sure what the receiver's numbers are but
I suspect with some tweaking of the software they would be better than
anything on the market.



So who is going to be the next Collins and what will it look like? I think
it will be the Elecraft K3



Mark, NØOKS


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