Remember my thread, I'm Getting Sick of This? Where I said I was frustrated with SDRconnect not being as mature as SDRplay is? How I was frustrated with its non-standard GUI interface? Well, I have finally found the solution...
My Yaesu FT-710 arrives today, and I ain't looking back!
I feel sorry for the folks at SDRplay, they have really excellent receivers, and SDRplay really works well... that is, if you're still using WIndows. I liked my RSPdx, and I wish, I wish, I wish the folks at SDRplay would have either ported their original software over to Linux, or worked with someone to create a hardware based user interface that would plug into their SDR hardware. Too bad, as there are now many companies who have come out with fully SDR radios what are turnkey solutions; no experimenting, no fiddling, no hassle. SDR is quickly becoming a commodity item, with more and more fully mature implementations hitting the market. What does this mean for SDRplay? In my opinion (probably not worth a whole lot, but anyway...) they are quickly becoming left behind! Soon, they will no longer be able to compete in a market that appears to be fast becoming awash in cheap, yet very usable SDRs of all shapes, sizes, and stripes!
What was once a seemingly impossible dream, is likely to now become a complete SDR implementation available on a chip, with matured UI control standards, that will be banged out by the millions, and sold for pennies on the dollar! You want a waterfall display? It's in there! You want parametric EQ, on transmit and receive? It's in there! You want IF filters that are infintely adjustable, in any way you can imagine? It's in there! You want a hardware control surface? We got 'em, and if you don't like our control surface, we know of many other factories that are churning out control surfaces, the likes you may not have even considered would be possible! Why? Because the standards are in there! Don't want hardware, we still have some really excellent software you can use.
Okay, perhaps I'm going a bit too crazy with this. Yes, there will still be competition. Yes, there will still be companies that will want to make their SDRs proprietary, and special. But everyone will soon recognize that SDRs are all inherently superior to even the best radios made from only a few years ago! Why? Because software simply does radio better than solid state hardware, super het radios!
30 years ago, Yaesu set out to build what they considered to be the ultimate in Ham transceivers! Thus, the FT-1000D was born. It was the top of the heap for its time, and priced to match at about $3,000 to $4,000! That would be around $6,000 to $8,000 in today's money. Compared to that, the FT-710 transceiver can be seen as being merely a budget, transportable transceiver that costs just under $1,000. Probably good as a second radio for taking camping, and such.
Sherwood Engineering maintains a list of receivers and transceivers, ranking them by the quality of their receive sections only. That list is located here Receiver Test Data.
Anyway, the once vaunted FT-1000D, one of which which I am fortunate to own, is on that list, as is the FT-710. Of course, many might say that the FT-1000D as a receiver became outclassed by many other radios, and may have been outclassed by some that came before it. However the radio, that in its day was seen by many to be the creme de la creme, now sits at around 100 or so spots from the top of that Sherwood list! The "lowly" FT-710, on the other hand, is only 3 down from the top of that list! It's receiver completely outclasses just about every other receiver on that list! But, you wanna know a secret? As SDR designs, and implementations continue to mature, the FT-710 is, itself, gonna be outclassed by some $50 SDR from China at some point in time, likely sooned than later!
Why?
Because software is easier to build than hardware. Software is easier to model than hardware. Software, once created, only needs to have copies of itself disseminated. You don't need factories to churn out unique, proprietary software. You don't need highly skilled, and experienced electronic engineers to come up with the next big thing. You only need software engineers who can design, and write the software, based upon specifications that have become standard throughout the industry. Heck, as AI continues to mature, you won't even need software engineers anymore! AI platforms will be churning out fully tested and certified software faster that you could ever imagine! After all the software is written, you'll only need standardized, commoditized hardware that will run that software. A company can design a single, basic hardware platform that can be banged out by the millions for pennies on the dollar, and using that standard platform, create many, many different radio products by simply tweaking the software used in them, and adding simple cosmetic changes to the hardware to differentiate it from their own, and everyone else's cookie cutter SDRs. SDRs are quickly rendering all hardware based super het radios obsolete, and too expensive to manufacture! They will go the way of the Dodo, replaced by easily, and cheaply manufactured SDRs! In fact, SDRs will probably become all you can get, unless you buy used!
Oh well...
BTW, anyone looking to buy an RSPdx? I need to sell it soon, before I discover that I can't even give it away!
My Yaesu FT-710 arrives today, and I ain't looking back!
I feel sorry for the folks at SDRplay, they have really excellent receivers, and SDRplay really works well... that is, if you're still using WIndows. I liked my RSPdx, and I wish, I wish, I wish the folks at SDRplay would have either ported their original software over to Linux, or worked with someone to create a hardware based user interface that would plug into their SDR hardware. Too bad, as there are now many companies who have come out with fully SDR radios what are turnkey solutions; no experimenting, no fiddling, no hassle. SDR is quickly becoming a commodity item, with more and more fully mature implementations hitting the market. What does this mean for SDRplay? In my opinion (probably not worth a whole lot, but anyway...) they are quickly becoming left behind! Soon, they will no longer be able to compete in a market that appears to be fast becoming awash in cheap, yet very usable SDRs of all shapes, sizes, and stripes!
What was once a seemingly impossible dream, is likely to now become a complete SDR implementation available on a chip, with matured UI control standards, that will be banged out by the millions, and sold for pennies on the dollar! You want a waterfall display? It's in there! You want parametric EQ, on transmit and receive? It's in there! You want IF filters that are infintely adjustable, in any way you can imagine? It's in there! You want a hardware control surface? We got 'em, and if you don't like our control surface, we know of many other factories that are churning out control surfaces, the likes you may not have even considered would be possible! Why? Because the standards are in there! Don't want hardware, we still have some really excellent software you can use.
Okay, perhaps I'm going a bit too crazy with this. Yes, there will still be competition. Yes, there will still be companies that will want to make their SDRs proprietary, and special. But everyone will soon recognize that SDRs are all inherently superior to even the best radios made from only a few years ago! Why? Because software simply does radio better than solid state hardware, super het radios!
30 years ago, Yaesu set out to build what they considered to be the ultimate in Ham transceivers! Thus, the FT-1000D was born. It was the top of the heap for its time, and priced to match at about $3,000 to $4,000! That would be around $6,000 to $8,000 in today's money. Compared to that, the FT-710 transceiver can be seen as being merely a budget, transportable transceiver that costs just under $1,000. Probably good as a second radio for taking camping, and such.
Sherwood Engineering maintains a list of receivers and transceivers, ranking them by the quality of their receive sections only. That list is located here Receiver Test Data.
Anyway, the once vaunted FT-1000D, one of which which I am fortunate to own, is on that list, as is the FT-710. Of course, many might say that the FT-1000D as a receiver became outclassed by many other radios, and may have been outclassed by some that came before it. However the radio, that in its day was seen by many to be the creme de la creme, now sits at around 100 or so spots from the top of that Sherwood list! The "lowly" FT-710, on the other hand, is only 3 down from the top of that list! It's receiver completely outclasses just about every other receiver on that list! But, you wanna know a secret? As SDR designs, and implementations continue to mature, the FT-710 is, itself, gonna be outclassed by some $50 SDR from China at some point in time, likely sooned than later!
Why?
Because software is easier to build than hardware. Software is easier to model than hardware. Software, once created, only needs to have copies of itself disseminated. You don't need factories to churn out unique, proprietary software. You don't need highly skilled, and experienced electronic engineers to come up with the next big thing. You only need software engineers who can design, and write the software, based upon specifications that have become standard throughout the industry. Heck, as AI continues to mature, you won't even need software engineers anymore! AI platforms will be churning out fully tested and certified software faster that you could ever imagine! After all the software is written, you'll only need standardized, commoditized hardware that will run that software. A company can design a single, basic hardware platform that can be banged out by the millions for pennies on the dollar, and using that standard platform, create many, many different radio products by simply tweaking the software used in them, and adding simple cosmetic changes to the hardware to differentiate it from their own, and everyone else's cookie cutter SDRs. SDRs are quickly rendering all hardware based super het radios obsolete, and too expensive to manufacture! They will go the way of the Dodo, replaced by easily, and cheaply manufactured SDRs! In fact, SDRs will probably become all you can get, unless you buy used!
Oh well...
BTW, anyone looking to buy an RSPdx? I need to sell it soon, before I discover that I can't even give it away!
