I kind of wish Rob would have tested the F5K, K3 and Orion down to lets say 100
hz on the narrow dynamic range. The radios have the capability to perform
there, and it gets inside the "roofing filter" which is really a crutch that
was developed by Ten Tec to win the numbers game. In the Orion-2 there are
roofing filters down to 300hz, so it would seem prudent to add a test that gets
inside of that crutch to see how the RX performs when the crutch is taken away.
Rx performance dynamics in this region are complex and very much related to
things like AGC action which can make the difference between hearing them and
not hearing them. Why is an arbitrary 2khz the correct test parameter when
the radio has the ability to perform beyond that level? During CW contests
there can be multiple really strong and really weak signals inside a 2khz
bandwidth so it is not unreasonable to test this circumstance as a real world
situation. I realize designing a test
jig capable of performing this test may be problematic, but still the question
deserves consideration.
This is not to be in any way critical of Rob's methodology, I just believe the
40 year old test protocols that we use to "judge" receiver performance, no
longer is adequate to correctly test SDR based technology. I realize changing
the methodology means the loss of some ability to compare radios but if you
look at the top entries in the list it is clear analogue radios are yesterday's
news and that technology will no longer dominate the future. The manufacturers
have for a long time been engineering to the "test", that is building radios
that do not necessarily provide the best operating experience but radios that
have the bragging rights of having the "highest numbers", and that is holding
back the state of the art. By developing tests that promote bleeding edge
development, manufacturers will have to engineer in such a way that the state
of the art is advanced.
If you want a racing analogy, drag racers go real fast in a strait line, and
make some amazing "numbers", in any other driving circumstance they are not
competitive. This is a extreme example of designing something to the "test".
If it's a choice between plunking down my 150K for a dragster or a Mercedes,
gimme the Mercedes and I'll forgo the 1/4 mile experience.
73 W9OY
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