At 05:12 PM 8/23/2006, Frank Brickle wrote: >On Wed, 2006-08-23 at 16:54 -0700, Jim Lux wrote: > > > But, what of the planned V1.7 of PowerSDR? > > > > Gerald, Eric, Flex officialdom, is this true? > >There's no news here. This has been the official position since before >1.6.
Hmmm.. The document on the Flex-radio website (referenced on the "What's coming" page) entititled: "SDR-1000 Enhancement Plan First Half of 2006" and right there on the first page, it says that V1.8(!) is planned for the end of '06. Later in the document it talks about V1.7. hey, software is never on time, so it's not like anyone really expects V1.7 on schedule, but, there is an expectation that it will be available sometime. Then, at the bottom of page 2, it lays out the steps, the first milestone of which is: 1) Define and document a standardized "virtual radio" API that is easy to read and program. and next, 2) Write and test the API with the current GUI stripped of the imbedded control code. This will be the first deliverable as Beta 1.7. ... There's a goal stated that a demo of #2 was planned for Dayton, but schedules slip, etc. No biggie. And, then in response to Cecil's question last April: Is the DTTSP code to be the heart of the remake of the PowerSDR software V1.7? [EMAIL PROTECTED] posted the following:Re: [Flexradio] PowerSDRV1.7 software. Eric Wachsmann - FlexRadio Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:43:11 -0500 Yes....and sort of. ;) It will be based on -A- version of DttSP that does not yet exist (or at least not in a release form). So, it seems that as of a few months ago, there were still plans in the works for a V1.7, presumably with the new internal architecture? Besides that, Flex-radio has always struck me as reasonable business people who do decent planning and follow their plans. I would sort of expect them to support PowerSDR for quite a while, even if it requires changing their development and maintenance approach. A business cannot always depend on the kindness of strangers. ---------- >In any case, we're all free agents here. Anybody who wants to continue >the PowerSDR 1.X line is more than welcome to do so. With the upcoming >driver changes that go along with Vista, I wouldn't want to be tracking >Microsoft with *my* product line. Of course, Flex-radio might feel differently, which is why I ask: "While FlexRadio Systems has business plans for a Linux console to run the radio, we are aware that the majority of ham users run Windows. Until this trend changes dramatically, you can expect us to continue to provide a Windows console. " I can see a decent business case for Flex-radio doing what it takes to support Windows, as it moves through it's various versions and incarnations. Sure there'll be things that break, and much wailing and gnashing of teeth, not only at Flex, but at any other company that does significant windows development (and there are a LOT of them). I don't know what Flex's sales figures are, but if we assume they sell 1000 units a year (maybe this is a pipedream for Gerald, but I think not), and they add $100 to the sell price of each unit to cover the cost of a wage slave windows programmer, that's enough to pay for quite a few work hours (3-6 work months, fulltime?) to do what it takes to port to .NET 5.0 or whatever. Someone who is buying a SDR1000 is moderately price sensitive (hams are congenitally thrifty), but since there's no significant competing product at the same level of integration that's even close in price, I doubt that someone would change their buy/no-buy decision if it was $1500 instead of $1400. Either you want the SDR package, or you don't. It IS expensive enough that I'd kind of like to feel warm and fuzzy that it will work for the next 3 or 4 years, even if I do install WinXP service pack 47. I also recognize that many of the buyers of the SDR1000 have ZERO liklihood of ever writing software themselves, but they like the concept of being able to do it (kind of like having all those nifty power tools in your garage... You could build an ark if someone asked you to, just in case.), or, the fact that the radio is continuously improving, and you're not getting stuck for upgrade fees or having to send it back to the factory for a EEPROM upgrade. I can tell you I'm just a bit peeved about having to pay for a firmware upgrade for my one year old Magellan GPS. Sure, I get new maps too, but the old maps are fine, and I hate having the GPS nag me about it every time I turn it on. Personally, I trust in Flex to do just this.. keep it running under Windows. They've done a mighty fine job of it so far. Jim, W6RMK -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20060823/e239521d/attachment.html _______________________________________________ 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
