[TenTec] Orion & SDR1000 thoughts

[Martin, AA6E]

Dan,

I said it, and I meant it: it's not a troll.  The two products are
different, as you note, and they are aimed at different kinds of
users/hams for different applications.  I doubt that there are very
many hams who would agonize about which rig to choose!

I suspect the FlexRadio community shows the way forward, even for
traditional products like TT's.  As you point out, the e-mail
discussion seems very collaborative and open about the development
process.  This is not putting TT down; they are miles ahead of most
other vendors in customer support.

73, Martin AA6E

On 3/30/06, k6kdk at k6kdk.net <k6kdk at k6kdk.net> wrote:
> Martin,
>
> Well, I wondered how long it would take before someone mentioned the "F"
> Word here on the reflector!
>
> I thought about starting the troll myself, but because of some of my
> previous posts here where I got dumped on pretty hard,  I though better of
> it and just kept quiet.
>
> Anyway, I have one on order and should be here in a couple of weeks. I will
> let you know (maybe in private email) when I do the A/Bs on it.
>
> You do, of course realize, that the Flex is not intended (at this time, in
> its present config) to be a contest rig. No second reciever, no audio split
> into headphones, etc. etc./ So a comparision is not really a fair fight.
> Weak signal DX work, though, is fair game, but maybe more on SSB than CW.
> Unless you have very fast PC hardware the latency will not allow effective
> CW at above 15-20 WPM. (All this is changing rapidly, as the code is being
> worked on intensively and these short commings witll be fixed, they are even
> working on code for "quad" recieve"!!)
>
> But all that aside I will say this (Oh.. Oh... here comes the hate mail in
> my inbox!).. Flex has some inhouse positives on the software development
> side. In order to write software of this complexity you need: 1.) very
> sophisticated revision and specification tools and 2.)  three layers of
> coding prefessionals, one layer with DSP core experience, one layer with
> assembly language experience in the control processor (in this case it's not
> a MOT  "dragonball", but a PC), and a third layer with user interface and
> Beta testing user feed-back/analysis experience and overall project
> management... I am afraid, in these regards, it has TT beat hands down.
>
> I also follow the Flex reflector and development project with great
> interest.  Feed back from the development team is EXCELLENT on their
> reflector. You get to talk directly with the people doing the coding, and
> better yet you can look at the source code youself.  This is a big positive
> for me ( a retired developer ), but maybe the going is a little heavy at
> times for the average user.   Martin, glad you have a thick enough skin to
> mention it here...
>
> 73s  -Dan K6KDK
>
>
--
martin.ewing at gmail.com - AA6E at arrl.net
President, Yale University Amateur Radio Club - W1YU
http://blog.aa6e.net