Just some food for thought...
The new crop of radios such as the Orion seems to be raising the bar as far
as definition of what is a 'radio'. In the old days, it was obvious - this
box is a radio, a second box is a second radio, but, first the Yaesu FT1000
and now the Orion have the equivalent of two radios in one box. Is this
still one radio? Likewise, Carl's Pegasus / RX340 combination is it one
radio or two? The obvious advantage for having multiple radios is the
ability to monitor / tx on different frequencies. With a single PC with 4
COM ports and appropriate software, I could conceievably control four
Pegauses (Pegasi?) from one screen and keyboard - one radio or four? The
software could be designed so that there is only one 'window' on the screen,
not one for each Pegasus.
Even with a single radio, such as a single Pegasus, with the right software,
multiple frequencies can be monitored through scanning. The computer can
switch among them almost as quickly as an operator could monitor two
separate radios.
A related question is the FCC power limit. From the regulations:
§97.313 Transmitter power standards.
(a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to
carry out
the desired communications.
(b) No station may transmit with a transmitter power exceeding 1.5 kW PEP.
With today's DSP and computer control, we are almost to the point where one
could operate two or more separate transmitters, each running at the legal
limit on the same frequency into separate antennas, but in such a way that
the signals were 'phased,' effectively doubling or more the power output of
a station. Other than the prerequisite in a) to use the minimum power
required (which seems largely ignored, anyways), the power output of a super
station could be unlimited.
73,
Mark
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