Gerald and All,
The whole area of a SDR is one that is going to
require a lot of technical hand-holding for the
average ham, so you need to address this fact.
On the subject of having two reflectors, I was
and still am, on a reflector about antennas where
there was a lot of technical talk that some of
the users found hard to understand, so they split
the reflector into two, one for users who had
operational questions and one for experts. After
a month or so, there was no one on the users'
reflector. I can see that happening here. When
I was setting up my SDR system I had a lot of
questions and I never failed to get answers, most
from some of the experts on the reflector. So if
you split the reflectors, you risk the chance
that some of the most knowledgeable persons won't
be on the users' reflector to answer the
questions of beginners. As for the beginners
using the non-beta releases, that lasts for only
so long. It is normal for hams who are
technically inclined to use the latest and most feature full release.
Some suggestions. Use the forums to keep track
of on a continuing basis, all the technical
developments. New users should be encouraged to
go to the forums to find out the status of latest
developments and also to receive answers to
reoccurring technical questions. Good marketing
too. In sure you can have enough volunteers to
keep the forums current. As for Beta software
and reporting bugs, I feel that is a unpleasant
reality and I don't know how to get around the
appearance that the software is
unstable. Perhaps more frequent stable revisions
with fewer new features, thus fewer betas for
each stable release. I realize that
documentation has to follow the stable releases,
but perhaps every time you make a minor release,
like 6.1, 6.2...., you post pages to update the
manual, and then reissue the manual only on major
releases, like on 7.0, 8.0 ....
73, Chas, W1CG
At 10:21 AM 2/3/2006, Gerald Youngblood wrote:
Eric E.,
Thanks for some very succinct explanations.
Let me put forth a couple of concerns we have
about how to best use the reflector and forum resources.
Due to the nature of a "software" radio, we will
always be releasing new beta software that will
have bugs. The discussion on this reflector of
"beta bugs" has been a huge source of confusion
to new and potential customers. It gives the
impression that the radio is unstable or
unfinished. Five years from now this will still
be an issue unless you the users and we the
manufacturer have run out of good
ideas. Somehow I doubt that. Our wish list is
longer today than it was three years ago when we
shipped serial number uno. We have thought of
creating a "Beta and Experimental Reflector" to
separate the discussion of the new and
experimental stuff from that of the officially
released software. It could potentially make it
less intimidating to the new user and the potential customer.
I agree that splitting the reflector could
dilute the resources who help the new user. The
email reflector has been a big improvement in
some ways over the Forum because it is much more
real time. It has been a great help to
FlexRadio because many of you know more than we
do about specific applications of the
radio. The Forum may actually be better from a
FAQ standpoint but it can become out of date
very quickly as the software evolves. Since the
reflector started, the traffic on the website
Forum has gone down dramatically. This
indicates to me that the immediacy of the
reflector meets the needs of the larger
population better than the Forum. However, the
Forum has the ability to organize archive topics
in a much more user friendly way than the
reflector. It also has the capability to imbed easily graphics.
With that said, I am very interested in hearing
your thoughts on how we can better serve the
diverse needs of the neophyte to the advanced
experimenter. All are important the hobby of amateur radio.
I would like to know what you think about the following:
1) Should we create a separate reflector for
"Beta Software and Experimental Topics?" The
proposal would keep this reflector with a general interest and support focus.
2) How can we better utilize the website Forum,
which now has fairly low traffic? Would it help
to have volunteer moderators who monitor the
Forum to make sure people get their questions answered?
3) How do we address the misperception of
product instability caused by the never ending
improvements that will come in the software over the years?
4) How do we make sure that new users and
potential users feel comfortable posting their
questions? How do we make sure they get the answers they need?
Your comments are welcome.
73,
Gerald
Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR
President
FlexRadio Systems
8900 Marybank Drive
Austin, TX 78750
Ph: 512-250-8595
Email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: <http://www.flex-radio.com/>www.flex-radio.com
----------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eric Ellison
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 11:19 PM
To: Flexradio@flex-radio.biz
Subject: [Flexradio] Beginners - Experts - Terminology and stuff
Folks
A Reflector member contributed a PM suggesting
that I clarify some of the terms the I, and
others have been using on the Reflector since
the acronyms can be daunting to recent members
reading. I find this a very reasonable request.
Ill start with that:
FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)
An integrated circuit which is essentially a
hardware etch-a-sketch. About 4 manufacturers
make them. You actually write a program with
tools offered by the manufacturer and create
your own customized integrated circuit. It can
be just about anything, from a microprocessor to
a high speed counter, to a light switch, when
you press the button it lights the light. Price
range is $10 to $1800. It is an order of
magnitude beyond a PIC (programmable interface
controller). If you are a C programmer it is
worth a look. Beyond that you will have to read
for yourself about these digital diamonds in the rough
Xylo (product name from FPGA4FUN)
Is an experimental FPGA board with resources
like USB (Universal Serial Buss), VGA, (Video
Graphic Adapter), and other common I/O tools on
board, with drivers on board to experiment with
FPGAs. Offered by FPGA4FUN.com. Plug it into a
USB port on a computer and begin experimenting
with FPGA for about $100. A hobbiest thingy like ham radio.
Saxo (product name from FPGA4FUN)
A variant of the Xylo above. The website also
has experiments and products such as an
oscilloscope which plugs into the parent board.
Not a joke! I intend to buy the scope and use it in the shack!
SVN
A program which integrates into the file system
on your computer to access files stored on a
server (can be on the same machine). SVN stands
for Subversion. In the simplest form it could be
a letter to your mother which you edit and make
changes to over a period of time. Oh Oh you made
a mistake or dont like the current version!
Alas, you wish you had the last version. Tough
luck! You are stuck with the current and you
spent HOURS on it! Subversion lets you look at
the last X versions and even cut and paste
between versions. THEY are labeled versions, and
there is always one current version. Change
scenario to 5 folks teaming up to edit the
Flex-Radio user manual, cause manuals are their
thing! All 5 have server and local access to the
manual and make changes. (Pretty Confusing! And
we tried this on Teamspeak!). SVN organizes this
collaborative effort by keeping previous
versions, and facilities to merge various
versions. SYNERGY! The SVN program written by
experts and offering it for GPL and free have
given us the tool to operate on a document
project as a TEAM! You dont need to know how it
works, just how to use it for your benefit. This
IS the subject of this weeks Teamspeak forum and
our expert and SVN server provider Dale WA8SRA
will be there to answer questions. I am going to
ram it down your microphone! It IS a GOOD thing
for team collaboration on any team document project!
Now
Gerald K5SDR suggested on Teamspeak session a
couple of weeks ago that we have separate
Reflectors for the technospeak guys from the
new users who might be turned off by the
jargon and the technospeak
. I have mixed
feelings about it. What do you think? This is
ham radio, but also it is ham radio on the move
and a new exciting edge of technology. I dont
think we should be divided at this point. If you
are a new ham and dont have an interest in
SVN-XYLO-SAXO-FPGA then punch up the next
message. Personally I am currently bypassing
most messages AM related. I dont think NOW is
the time to divide the momentum on this
Reflector. Ham radio, just like this forum is a
mixture of many interests. If you have an
interest in Snowbounce Mike King KM0T is
here to answer your questions! He will see
messages in that interest area. I have NEVER
seen Bob N4HY not respond to a message on
Linux. Its all a part of the future of ham
radio! We are not ready to separate except in the subject line!
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks
Eric2 AA4SW
