and, let's admit it openly, "sexy looks" (lots of knobs & dials ;-)
Want to have a look at the radios I operate with? Click here.
Going Soft
Today, there are still around five or six major manufacturers of "hardware" (not counting kit manufacturers).
But, the choices have at least doubled now, with the advent of "Software Defined Radios" (SDR).
Some components of amateur radio equipment have not changed (yet). We all still need (for now, at least)...
antenna hardware,
antenna support(s),
transmission line(s),
hardware and firmware receive interface circuitry,
hardware transmit amplifier circuitry.
Beyond that ... everything has now gone soft.
SDR can now replace the circuitry that used to handle the signals...
received from the antenna or
generated (voice, CW, RTTY, packet...) for transmission
...with software running on inexpensive PCs, and do a much better job than the hardware/firmware of conventional ham transceivers and receivers.
A Strong New Wave
"Software defined radio" (SDR) technology has improved the characteristics of ham radios considerably.
Some of the high performance "military grade" signal processing capabilities used to be inaccessible to amateur radio operators as late as the '90s.
Not any more. Software Defined Radio (SDR) is changing that.
SDR is revolutionizing amateur radios as deeply as the transistor did in the early 70's!
SDR is modifying the amateur radio landscape in a hurry. New players are coming on line ... and old ones are recycling!
The "sexy looks" of yesterday's ham rigs are fast losing ground to the "configurable sexy display panels" of SDR!
New Riders On The Wave
The amateur radio manufacturers have noticed. SDR is the way of the future, now! They are already feverishly making plans to adapt their offerings to this new irreversible trend.
Just watch. I predict that yesterday's major players will soon be offering SDR-driven versions of their ham receivers and ham transceivers.
Right now, a lot of the pioneering SDR software is freely available. Experiment with it. Get familiar with its exciting new features.
The experience you'll gain, by "playing" with what's being developed today, will become invaluable when the time comes for you to buy your first Ham SDR of the 21st century!
