John,
One day within the next 10 years, ALL radios will be SDR black boxes.
They will all be controllable by an open API and you can buy your User Knob
Interface (UKI) from any of several 3rd party companies making only UKI's.
They work with any radio, regardless of make or model. Like a keyboard
today works with just about any computer.
You can use the same radio in the car with one UKI, then use it at home with
another.
You can have a UKI for contesting, another for... whatever you like.
The knobs and buttons will be (re)programmable.
So you might have one setup for daily use, another for contesting.
Since they are OPEN, competition will drive the prices down to realistic.
Currently these things seem to cost $100 per knob.
The black box SDRs themselves will come in different performance levels.
You can buy entry level with 12-bit, mid-range with 14-bit, high end with
16-bit ADC's.
With the right choice of UKI and proper user profile (file), this can be a
very simple radio, like I described for the super Eagle, or it can be a
complex radio like the O3.
"Dream on little broomstick cowboy!"
Until then, we're never going to have a perfect radio because we can't agree
what it should be like.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of John Farler
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2016 8:53 PM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] pimp my eagle.
Rick,
As you can see, I set out some ideas for just a mobile rig.
Perhaps as a combination of ideas, there could be two face plates, or
perhaps a simpler one that was just a remote control with a few knobs that
plugged into a port, without a removeable faceplate (N4PY, are you
listening?) KISS, please....
John, K4AVX
> PLEASE KEEP THIS THREAD FOCUSED ON THE ?EAGLE.?
>
> (feel free to start a new thread on O7+ or O3)
>
>
>
> I agree with Brian . . . let?s talk about radios again.
>
>
>
> It seems the current tentative plan is:
>
>
>
> 1) OM7(+) gets a new front plate and face plate, but not a lot of
> changes
>
> 2) (super) Eagle gets new DSP and _ _ _ _ _ _
>
> 3) Argonaut 6 will more or less resume production unchanged
>
> 4) An O3 is in the making, details unknown
>
>
>
> I want to make a suggestions about the future Eagle.
>
>
>
> IMO TEN-TEC made a mistake with the Eagle.
>
> They tried to address three market segments with one product.
>
> 1) A simple easy to use computer for old folks (including me) who
> usually prefer not to even turn the computer on, just because we want
> to get on the radio ? but do want high performance.
>
> 2) The mobile hf market
>
> 3) The entry level 100w hf transceiver market
>
>
>
> Result: Jack of all trades, master of none.
>
>
>
> If you read the wish list in the Eagle group, since the beginning
> there were clearly representatives of all three groups expressing
> wishes for improvements. What might benefit one group is often
> counter-productive for the other.
>
>
>
> If Ten-Tec is to succeed, they need to identify the market segment for
> each product and optimize for it.
>
>
>
> Of the three segments I have listed above, I believe Ten-Tec?s best
> chance is in no. 1.
>
>
>
> I don?t think any US based OEM can go big in the entry level segment
> because it is primarily driven by price.
>
>
>
> I also believe a mobile rig today MUST have a removable front panel.
> Sure some people don?t mind having the radio occupy the front
> passenger space, but I prefer to keep it for my XYL. (In fact I have
> no choice
>
>
>
> My wish is for the Super Eagle to focus on number 1 above.
>
> As such, I can propose some changes:
>
>
>
> 1) And most important: a bigger box. In all my 15+ years
> participating in Ten-Tec groups, I can?t recall a single instance of
anyone
> asking for a smaller box. Yet ALL OEMs seem to think that?s what we
want.
> Lots of important things suffer when you reduce the size of the box.
> You have less knobs, more menu adjustable items, smaller loud speaker,
> smaller S-Meter, coils are smaller (lower Q), heat sinks are smaller
> and fans are smaller so you have more noise. Less room for working on
> the radio, less room for back panel jacks (so we must use plugs with
> 75 pins!). DON?T NEED ANY OF THIS. I NEED THE FOLLOWING?
>
> 2) Larger knobs. Concentric knobs are only ok if they are large
> enough.
>
> 3) Larger S-meter. Prefer a true meter, but if not, then at least a
> color-coded LED meter.
>
> 4) ? inch connections for things like key and headphones;
>
> 5) Separate jacks for paddle and straight key
>
> 6) PTT and AMP KEY should be RCA Phono (again)
>
> 7) Dedicated RIT control (not the multi-knob)
>
> 8) Simplified VFO mode (i.e. getting in and out of split)
>
> 9) Buttons should have a max of dual function. Push once to enable
> main function, push twice (quickly) to enable secondary function. I
> don?t want to push multiple buttons that may be on opposite sides of
> the front panel.
>
> 10) Exception to menu handling is allowed but only for things that
really
> are ?set once and forget?, such as defining filter slots and screen color.
>
> 11) Mic gain and CW Speed should be a dedicated knob. I?m OK with it
> just
> being one knob, but others might prefer concentric.
>
> 12) Band stacking register. Don?t understand why it was left out.
>
> 13) [finally] address the keying timing issues when using a non-Ten-Tec
> linear amplifier. The Pre-dit and Post-dit (hang) time must be
adjustable.
> Pre-dit can be inside the ?set once and forget? menu, but Post-dit is
> a value I change often. Either make it easy to adjust, OR make it
> dynamically linked to the keyer speed with user adjustable ratio.
> There are keyers on the market that have this feature.
>
> 14) IF output to the real panel. Can be an option, but just plug one
> cable.
>
> 15) Pre-selector output to the real panel. Can be an option, but just 2
> cables.
>
> 16) AUX-RX ANT connection. It?s to the point now that often the low
> bands
> are only usable with some kind of special small receiving antenna, due
> to all the noise from consumer products.
>
> 17) NO BAND SCOPE. (Use the IF connector on the rear panel). Or use an
> ANT OUT, an external SDR, and Carl?s NP4Y software.
>
> 18) Power Out indicator (not just an ALC LED)
>
> 19) What else?
>
> 20) Bright Red-Orange Dot!
>
>
>
> I?m sure I have forgotten a few points, but mainly KEEP IT SIMPLE so
> that old eyes and old fingers can use it.
>
>
>
> I intentionally began this thread here rather than in the Eagle group
> because maybe if we get these changes, some of the people here (and
> not currently in the Eagle group) will join us.
>
>
>
> PIMP MY EAGLE!
>
>
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
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