[TenTec] New Radios in the Future
K7TXO Radio
k7txoradio at gmail.com
Sun Nov 2 15:11:24 EST 2014
I have an SDR and I have a variety of shall we say "traditional" rigs, some
of which have DSP and other modern attributes that have been applied to a
box with control panels. My SDR is interfaced to the IF in my Orion and
certainly does provide some terrific visual, and control above what the
Orion does on it's own. Like Barry I think, and some others, I much much
prefer to do whatever I can directly from the control panel of whichever rig
I am using. for at least the traditional communication modes still being
used today.
I have waffled recently on selling the Orion. Hard to part with it since it
is still an utterly incredible rig and talk about controls; the antenna and
dual receiver VFO matrix's alone are outstanding. What would I replace it
with? That is the toughest part of letting go of the Orion, for me anyway.
Meanwhile, something I wish I could do with the Orion I have setup with my
TS-2000. Now we all know it does not have the best receiver when conditions
are tough but for many conditions and operating situations, it is a rather
remarkable package. With this radio, I have an optional RC-2000 Mobile
Control Panel that sometimes I put in my JEEP for portable/mobile operation.
Currently I have this panel in my living room, connected to the TS-2k in the
radio room via a cable, 100 feet away. The cable is a high quality 15
conductor VGA monitor cable.
The RC-2000 control head is a rather complete, albiet condensed version of
the TS-2000's LCD display. The data lines, microphone and speaker audio
traveling through this single VGA cable to breakout boxes located at each
end called SMR's. SMR's by the way, are made by Bill Jordon WE4SS to
interface several brands and models of radios that can have remote control
panels that were factory limited to a short distance, or the number of
factory cables to run remote would be less than desirable to run for any
distance and cost. You can look at his stuff if his approach for some
radios is of any interest to you at http://www/swapmyrigs.com. But my point
is, I no longer have a laptop or tablet to mouse or touch screen to use
software, to operate my radio from the living room of my house with the
radio itself located in the radio room.
Obviously the SMR product is limited to working with radios with removable
or otherwise separate control panel. But it is a pure joy to operate this
way instead of via a laptop or tablet and Wi-Fi. Incredible technology we
have today allows us to do this sort of thing with software and is
especially nice in truly remote locations. I'm just another guy who finds
real knobs/buttons/displays pretty cool and found a neat way to apply this
to a specific (but not my best) radio to still do it in a localized-remote
setup, at least for voice communication.
Gene / K7TXO
-----Original Message-----
From: Barry N1EU
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2014 11:22 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Radios in the Future
The Flex 6K is a different ball game - only SDR without latency. It's a
different ballgame now. The new Flex series is the first SDR worth
considering IMHO. I just have to figure a way to graft my Omni 6 front
panel on to it ;-)
73, Barry N1EU
On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 7:02 PM, Wade Staggs <tvman1954 at gmail.com> wrote:
> *His is the Flex 1500 .... Maybe they have gotten better. The Flex-6500 is
> quite expensive, next to his Flex-1500 ...... Nothing we have found in the
> Flex Forums so far has helped. Other reasons, maybe he is just likes the
> Omni D. We do have a DDS VFO installed on it!*
>
> * 73
> from Wade/KJ4WS*
>
> On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 12:51 PM, Duane Calvin <ac5aa1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Interesting - my Flex-6500 has nearly instantaneous QSK T/R turnaround.
> > Really nice. Faster than my Orion was.
> >
> > 73, Duane
> >
> > Duane Calvin, AC5AA
> > Austin, Texas
> > www.ac5aa.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Wade
> > Staggs
> > Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2014 12:34 PM
> > To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> > Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Radios in the Future
> >
> > *A very good Friend of mine has a Flex Radio. He Brags about it
> Constantly.
> > So why is it that every time we hear him On the Air, He is talking on an
> > Omni D which he has had on loan from me for a bit over a year now? He
> even
> > has the 100 Watt Amplifier and All the Bells and Whistles........ We
> > have
> > tried 3 different Computers from Slow to Quad Core with 4 Gig of RAM.
> There
> > is still about a 1.5 second delay between Keying the Microphone and
> > Actually Transmitting anything. The Receive has about the same Lag Time.
> > Yay and Whoopie for the SDR Radios, if you want to be constantly
> > doubling
> > with other stations. I like my radio's to work in Real Time. *
> >
> > * Just my opinion and 73 from Wade/KJ4WS*
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 12:06 PM, Lee <ny6p01 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Think you have your finger on it. What would facilitate this even
> > > more,
> > > would be if those who designed s_d_r, would adhere to a few common
> > > standards which would make hardware controllers of the type you
> indicate
> > > portable and interchangeable.
> > > On Oct 31, 2014 4:26 PM, "Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP" <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
> > >
> > > > IMO, the time has come to stop worrying about which "radio".
> > > > It's time to abandon the concept of a radio as being the single
> > > > stand
> > > alone
> > > > device that gets us on the air.
> > > >
> > > > SDR radios such as FLEX and ANAN ARE THE FUTURE.
> > > > BUT NOT as stand-alone devices.
> > > > Most of us will have and use an additional "Human Interface Box".
> > > >
> > > > What most of us don't like about the current SDR radios is their
> human
> > > > interface.
> > > > ..We want knobs.
> > > > ..Some of us want big knobs.
> > > > ..Some of us want more knobs
> > > > ..Some of us want fewer knobs
> > > >
> > > > The Eagle is a fantastic radio but we can't seem to agree on the
> > > > knob
> > > > arrangement for the perfect Eagle.
> > > > WHY MUST WE AGREE ON JUST ONE SOLUTION?
> > > > What if we could have a dozen different solutions to the knob
> > > arrangement,
> > > > but they all control a black box called "Son of Eagle"?
> > > >
> > > > CONSIDER THIS:
> > > >
> > > > In the future there will be multiple companies offering various
> > > > Human
> > > > Interfaces.
> > > > Our choice of human interface will be just as important as our
> > > > choice
> > of
> > > > SDR
> > > > radio that goes behind it.
> > > >
> > > > Before I continue, let me explain what I have in mind.
> > > > I'm thinking of things like the Wood Box interface such as their
> > TMate2.
> > > > See: http://www.woodboxradio.com/tmate2.html
> > > >
> > > > My first impression of the TMate2: "Nice but too expensive."
> > > > But is it really too expensive?
> > > > It is exactly the knobs that this device has which I like so much in
> my
> > > > radios.
> > > >
> > > > Considering its price, the performance of the FLEX 6300 is
> phenomenal.
> > > > But who wants a radio with no knobs? I certainly don't.
> > > >
> > > > In the future, that performance level will be available for $1K or
> even
> > > > less.
> > > > Couple that with a $300 human interface and we'll have a lovely
> > > > radio
> > at
> > > a
> > > > reasonable price.
> > > >
> > > > Each of us can choose which human interface we want, with as many
> knobs
> > > as
> > > > we want, and the radio behind it is a black box engine. We can swap
> > the
> > > > SDR
> > > > black box engine as often as we want, but keeping our own favorite
> > human
> > > > interface. Each new radio will have the same look and feel as the
> old
> > > one.
> > > > No new steep learning curve.
> > > >
> > > > Upgrading to newer technology will be cheaper because we don't
> replace
> > > > everything.
> > > > We just purchase a new engine.
> > > >
> > > > I believe this will be the ham radio of the future.
> > > >
> > > > This approach will enable each of us to create a radio environment
> that
> > > > suits our own personal tastes.
> > > >
> > > > Even though I was one of the ones yelling loudest that real radios
> have
> > > > knobs, I'm ready to jump ship as soon as they build solutions like
> > this.
> > > >
> > > > 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> > > > (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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