John, I was engaged in a conversation about SRDs on the Ten Tec reflector a couple of days ago. Someone stated that SDRs needed to look like "real" radios in order to get wide acceptance. These consoles certainly fill that bill. Well done. However, I question the wisdom of filling up a console with individual "radio" buttons when drop down menus will do the same thing. Take the Display selection for example. Most operators don't use all the optional displays, and to dedicate the real estate for 7 "radio" buttons seems to take nostalgia a bit too far. I never liked the FT-1K or IC-7800 front panels for the reason that they too complicated and the learning curve is too high. On the other hand, there is the Jupiter which combines real push buttons with drop down menus, although Ten Tec's choice of menus is not that intuitive. Perhaps a console with more "radio" buttons but retaining drop down menus for less frequently selected functions would be a better choice.
73 Chas W1CG At 11:14 AM 8/21/2006, W0UN -- John Brosnahan wrote: >Dear Beppe-- > > >I LOVE the look of your front panel art for the SDR projects. I >sure hope that >someone incorporates the concepts into the console software for both the >FlexRadio and the SoftRock. > >http://www.radioamatore.it/sdr1000/mypowersdr.html > >Here is a link to a friend of mine who has a calculator program with a similar >appearance. You can go to the VIEW and then SKINS and make changes in >the appearance of the calculator. It would be very nice to have >skins to allow >the colors and general appearance to be easily changed. I can see the >need for BRIGHT colors to help keep you awake late at night, especially at >the end of a contest. On the other hand there is a lot to be said for >soothing colors for general operation. > >http://www.dreamcalc.com/ > >This software was written by a British friend of mine in about 8 THOUSAND >hours of effort. So I have some idea of the work involved in some of these >projects. > >Just thought you might like to look at it as an idea of where to take the >console's appearance. Not only does it do scientific calculations and >business calculations, it does a lot of very nice graphics presentations >of the data in an appearance of your choice. > > >73--John W0UN > > >_______________________________________________ >FlexRadio mailing list >FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz >http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz >Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ >FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com _______________________________________________ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
