Hi Richard,
W1EZ wrote:
> Hi Bill,
>
> I would like to balance the scales here a little bit. First of all, I am
> not only an Elecraft fan, but a Flex-Radio fan as well. I own a K2 as well
> as an SDR-1000. I love what all these guys have done for Amateur Radio in
> the past few years. We are all the beneficiaries of their excellent
> engineering and competitive spirits.
And add excellent customer responsiveness by both companies
through forums like this! Ten-Tec is also much more responsive than
the Big 3.
> After some long and hard thinking, I chose the SDR-5000A over the K3. I
> think the specs are very close and either rig will do better than anything
> I've ever owned before, including the K2, the SDR-1000 and an Icom 756PRO.
> And all of those rigs were more than adequate in my location. Of course,
> your mileage and mission may vary. I think the K3 and 5000A will both blow
> away the Icom - Yaesu competition costing many thousands more.
>
> I think your cost analysis is a bit overstated. I don't understand why Flex
> Radio priced the 5000C so high. I think a fairer comparison is with the
> 5000A plus a stand alone computer. I imagine that most hams would be able
> to use the computer currently in their shack. I upgraded mine to a dual
> core AMD Athlon 64 X2 by throwing in a new motherboard, etc. for a few
> hundred dollars when I got the SDR-1000. The CPU runs at less than 20% when
> running the SDR-1000 full bore. For the $600 you mention for a PC, you can
> get more than enough machine off the shelf to run an SDR-5000A plus
> everything else in the shack simultaneously (e.g., logging program, PSK-31,
> etc.). So now the calculation looks like:
>
> SDR-5000A $2799
> Computer $600
>
> Total $3399, not $5098. I don't think you need the $99
> knob.
>
> In my case I already have the computer, and I bought the radio just
> before the October 1 price increase, so my cost is $2499, or actually $2798
> with the ATU.
Thanks for your analysis which is probably representative of
computer-savvy hams. Not everyone has a dual-core processor with 2GB
of RAM (required for the 5000) running his station and I also question
how many would be willing to upgrade motherboards, processors, etc
themselves. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between our two
estimates. In my case I only have a 250 MHz Win98SE system in my
shack, so I would need a completely new system. As I implied
previously, IMHO the 5000A appeals to folks who love to tinker with
computers and software. For those who don't, the 5000C Plug and Play
package may be probably more realistic.
> Ergonomically, I must say that I really like the computer GUI of the
> PowerSDR. I was skeptical at first, and was reluctant to give up my knobs,
> but I don't even reach for them anymore. Tuning is very smooth with a
> mousewheel, and its very easy to "reach" for other programs on the screen
> while operating by just simply moving the mouse. I also like the fact that
> you can connect various programs to the PowerSDR program through virtual
> audio and port connections - that is you can, for instance interface a PSK31
> program to the radio audio and com port without any cables, etc. You can
> have many such channels running simultaneously. The radio should also
> improve over time as the software continues to evolve. Very cool.
Again this gets down to personal preferences. HF DX contests
are one of my personal interests. I cannot imagine operating a
mouse/GUI as quickly as using the classical knob UI refined over some
50 years of contesting. N6TR is probably one of the finest contest
operators in the world, who I believe has won the NCJ CW Sprint (the
most difficult contest in the world) more times than anyone else.
Tree is also very savvy about computers and software (he's the author
of TR-Log...a high performance contest program for SO2R), having even
written a robot program to control all TX, RX and logging functions
many years ago (i.e. no human involvement required!) When I see top
contest operators like Tree switch to SDRs with GUIs, then I'll become
a true believer. Tree is a beta tester for the K3 and is switching
from two TS850s to two K3s. I know some VHF contesters are using SDRs
successfully, where the bandscope helps find stations on otherwise
dead bands, but the pace of VHF operation (i.e. QSOs/hour) is much
lower than in HF contests, where top operators make octaves more
contacts in the same period of time.
> But most of all for me, its about the bandscope. I got hooked by the
> 756PRO, and the SDR-1000 brought my addiction to a whole other level. Its
> not just seeing, its doing. Point and click tuning. Point and drag tuning.
> Visual bandedge filter adjustments by dragging an edge. Etc. For me, this
> was the key deciding factor for going with the SDR-5000A rather than the K3,
> where to me, the other specs are very close.
>
> But in a perfect world, I'd own both.
The way I see it, the K3 allows you to have both. You have
the superior RX performance benefits (IMD, BDR & Phase Noise over a
wide spectrum) of a narrow front-end superhet rig *plus* an SDR
bandscope on the buffered IF output. The K3 will allow the latter
for a small increment (e.g. a $15 Softrock40, free Rocky software or
even PowerSDR, some additional isolation buffering, a $100 soundcard
and a 1 GHz 256MB (WinME or higher) computer (non dual-core). I'm
guessing <$400 is a reasonable increment.
There is no question the bandscope is the neatest feature of
an SDR, but to get it you must give up fundamental receiver
performance. You are also saddled with a user interface that may be
glitzy, but cannot (IMHO) compare for truly fast-paced operating with
classical knobs. When I see *any* Top Ten class HF contest ops (e.g.
WRTC class) moving to SDRs, then I'll become a believer. So far there
are none that I'm aware of. Do you know of any? The beauty of the K3
is that you can add the bandscope-only features of an SDR for a small
increment, yet don't need to sacrifice RX or ergonomic performance to
get it.
I'm sure both rigs will do well in their respective niches and
we are indeed fortunate to have two such responsive companies
challenging the Big 3. Thanks for your comments which I'm sure are
representative of many other folks. As they say, "That's what makes a
market"...in the end, customers will decide.
73, Bill W4ZV
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