Obviously, I've been affected by the Bill Fite syndrome. And a year ago I promised myself I would never bring up the topic of the value of SDR to ham radio but I just can't help myself. If you haven't looked at the latest "table of radio excellence" that appeared last week you can stop reading now and delete my note. Otherwise I would suggest that you start with a study of the ideas of a Frenchman named Piaget. My XYL pointed me in his direction a long time ago when she felt I needed help in understanding "other points of view."
As a novice class licensee I was fortunate to have a very smart guy, W9LEE, as my elmer. He explained that there was such a thing as a panadapter in 1959. And he also showed me that an effective "operator" might master skills that are rarely talked about. For example, he demonstrated that he was capable of "filtering" a signal out of what seemed to me to be nothing but crackles and hiss using only that thing found on top of his neck. And one might ask, "Just how does someone go about copying CW at 45 WPM?" It doesn't happen often, I'm probably too intimidating, but from time to time a new Technician licensee will ask me, "What radio should I buy." Now that I have it, should I give him a copy of that comparative table of specifications and comment, "As you can see......" Ridiculous! Is some number related to dynamic range or intercept point going to really affect a decision to buy? Do you believe that the radio rather than the antenna is more important in weak signal situations? But if that questioner has ten or fifteen years of experience and maybe has even memorized the Extra Class questions does anything change?" I think not. Once N9DG's words had aroused my interest in something he called SDR, and I had googled the Flex web site I doubt that I "thought about" the desirability of what I saw, the Flex1000, more than a few minutes before placing my order which I quickly changed to the 5000 as soon as I learned that such a thing was coming. I had the Squires-Sanders panadapter attached to my HQ-180 in 1971. I had some idea of the advantage a visual display could give where operating was concerned. I was sure that a full color display which included a lot of parameters was going to be something I would like. And time has proven that this assumption was correct. I find some of the new skins a bit extreme but I'm glad that the option of having them is there! Am I going to purchase an automobile based upon "specifications of mileage and torque? Happiness and satisfaction will always be related to a few more things than columns in a table. And that is certainly true for radios as well. 73 Lee K9WRU _______________________________________________ Flexedge mailing list [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexedge_flex-radio.biz This is the FlexRadio Systems e-mail Reflector called FlexEdge. It is used for posting topics related to SDR software development and experimentalist who are using beta versions of the software.
