[hpsdr] Star-10 Transceiver article in QEX

[Robert McGwier]

I wish to repeat here what I have said to others who have written to me.
 I will cede right here and now that the Star-10 is the best HF
transceiver in the world.

So what?

Its relevance to the manufacture of modern radios using modern, commonly
available components, or even to experimenters is negligible.

It is not possible that this radio has 150 dB dynamic range so this is
clearly a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of what the ARRL labs or
Rob Sherwood or others call dynamic range.

In the ARRL lab tests,  you take two tones f1 and f2 and measure the
level of the third order products at 2f1 - f2 and 2f2-f1 and using
commonly available formulae compute IMD DR3, IP3, etc.  The IMD DR3 is
what the ARRL calls dynamic range.  I cannot imagine how you could
construct measurement equipment that would measure third order products
 or even detect them in a receiver with "150 dB IMD DR3".  It is utterly
preposterous.

My primary gripe with the entire article is the tone and disdain he
shows for fellow amateurs and other people's work.  The new editor of
QEX made a truly serious blunder in allowing that pablum into the
magazine.  I am sure this is a lesson learned the hard way.

Drentea makes useless comparisons.  Drentea is not trying to make a
radio that can be produced for large numbers of people at a price people
will pay.  It is indeed a fine piece of engineering craftsmanship and
when it dies, it will be the last of its kind.

So for my part,  I cede that Drentea is the finest engineer in the
history of communications and has produced the best transceiver ever
made.  That and a buck or two and you get can get a cup of coffee at
Starbucks and the latter is the better of the two.

Bob
N4HY


John Miles wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
> 
> Hi, Constantin --
> 
>> I do now if you remember me or not, I bought your
>> board for your sysnt published in QEX to test it.
>> However I wrote to you about another topic
> 
> Sure!  Good to hear from you.  I'll cc: your message to the list since that
> appears to have been your intent.  (You'll need to subscribe if you'd like
> subsequent traffic to appear on the reflector without being copied by
> someone else.)
> 

-----------  snip  ------------------------

> Very true.  I'm sure that many of the points being debated come down to
> differences in test methodologies.  It certainly does look like a very nice
> HB rig, at any rate.
> 
> -- john, KE5FX
> 
> _______________________________________________
> HPSDR Discussion List
> To post msg: hpsdr at hpsdr.org
> Subscription help: http://lists.hpsdr.org/listinfo.cgi/hpsdr-hpsdr.org
> HPSDR web page: http://hpsdr.org
> Archives: http://lists.hpsdr.org/pipermail/hpsdr-hpsdr.org/
> 


-- 
AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL,
TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair
“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why
must the pessimist always run to blow it out?” Descartes

 1197865673.0