[TenTec] New Radios in the Future

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

All good points and very good questions James.

The radio would not improve my contest score.  Not at all.
There are two ways I can improve that:
	1. move to a new QTH where I can install some of the excellent
antennas I sell to others
	2. take a few days off before the contest and rest up, so that I
could manage a few more hours participation during the contest.  For the
past 5 or 6 years I have never managed to work more than 30 hours in a 48
hour contest.

Of all the things contributing to a contest score, the radio is perhaps the
least important.
QTH, Operator skills, Antenna(s), Good Planning, Luck, and then the Radio
are the things which contribute to a high score, and IMO in that order or
priority.

However the radio can contribute in ways which people perhaps don't think
of.
As I said in an earlier post, we are at the end of the line with improving
BDR3.
Further improvements won't help at all until we clean up the filthy
transmitters on our bands.
This is particularly true in SSB.

However other things such as simple, easy to use interfaces and
distortion-free audio can help reduce operator fatigue.  I'm not saying my
current radio doesn't have this.  I'm just pointing out that a "better
radio" is not just better because of a better BDR3.  Other factors are just
as important.  Above all, one has to enjoy using the radio and that is
something which for many of us may prove difficult with this new technology.

Only one way to find out!

So why my interest in the new technology?

Because I have been interested in new transceiver technology all of my ham
career.
I have always tried to follow it and to learn by owning the latest greatest.

Since retiring, it is a bit more difficult to afford new stuff but I'll find
a way. 

Currently I feel as if I have fallen out of step with the advancements in
radio technology and I think the best way to fix that is to get a knobless
SDR radio and force myself to learn to use it.  

As I have tried to point out throughout this thread, the "solution" is not
the radio.  It's not the software either.
It is the synergy of the radio, including its hardware and its own control
software, together with some hardware interface device for which I
personally coined the name "Human Interface Device", and perhaps yet an
additional 3rd party software.

When all of these come together with a user-friendly management (i.e., drag
and drop, not programming), enabling users to easily roll their own
solution, changng it as often and as much as they like, THAT'S when we'll
see a rapid increase in the rate of acceptance of this new technology.

My personal fear is, if I don't start embracing it soon, I will fall too far
behind the power curve and never catch up.   

CLEARLY THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH MY EAGLE.

I was never happier with any other radio I have ever owned, than I am with
my Eagle.
Confession:  after every contest with the Eagle, when the contest was over,
I turned the radio once or twice and said "nice birdie"!

But there will one day be a "life after Eagle" and if I wait until the day I
actually need something, I may have fallen so far behind that I won't
understand the state-of-the-art radios at that time.

If we rest, we rust.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)


-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of HamOperator
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2014 9:01 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Radios in the Future

Quite right... just saying you could play with the Tmate without buying a
Flex rig.

Considering the Eagle receiver performance, and its reasonably clean
transmitter, how is the 6300 so much better?  Would it really make you 
more contacts?   Would a slight increase in receiver performance really 
do that, or do you just have the urge to get another rig? I went to 
Dayton intending to buy the new Flex 6300.   After talking to the owner 
(who seems like a really nice guy)  I decided it would not make me any 
more contacts than my current radios.   It is rather expensive, 
considering you need a fast computer and there is not much in the box.

Seriously... what would the 6300 do that you cannot do now?

-------------------------------  JHR  ------------------------------


On 11/3/2014 5:54 AM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> It's an idea, as far as learning the Tmate2, but what I would gain is 
> something less than just using the Eagle.
>
> A 6300 and Tmate2 seems currently the best solution but I'm not sure 
> if it is adequate from a user standpoint (with an old geezer at the
controls).
>
> ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec