[hpsdr] backup boards?

[Eric Ellison]

Jason/All

I had wanted to comment on your messages for some time. Currently I am not a
Bare Board person, but have always been a wannabe since my wonderful
Heathkit days in another lifetime. I am scared to death of putting a $30
dollar board and 80 bux worth of parts in a toaster oven or on a hotplate.
(Without Practice). I came across this link and ordered the kit of parts and
board. $26 bux is trivial if you can save a bundle on the real thing.

http://www.web-tronics.com/sotrki.html

I have some observations based on many things, but some from the comments on
the "Interest List" and observing the 'numbers' on the Assembled and Tested
vs Bare Board folks:

You are the artisans of a time honored tradition of hams who build it
yourself, always adapting to new methods of construction and technique. You
have my admiration!

Since you are the capable people at sticking these things on, and have
invested and risked a good deal to do that, you are the folks who will
become our Alpha testers in the future. If not an alpha tester with the
"Full Monty" of test equipment then perhaps someone who volunteers in future
projects to do the assembly on an alpha test board for someone else to test.
As you mention your hopes for this project: We are a team! I never imagined
that just over a year ago this would have developed into "a village" bent on
excellence whether it be design or enclosures or DIY.


************** Jason Said: ************
It's also possible that a builder community could develop.  If people
keep building these boards then as parts become unavailable then those
who are currently building will investigate substitute parts and share
their findings.  The interactive BOM page could even be setup to read
a CSV file that's kept in the wiki so anyone who can edit the wiki
would be able to contribute changes to the "live" BOM.  (Though for
reliability having someone act as a gatekeeper on the BOM that
suggested changes go through would probably be better.)

So if interest in this can be kept up (and I have a feeling that once
some RF boards start to become functional interest WILL pick up even
faster) then a page like the one I'm working on could become a great
repair reference when something like the original poster asked about
happens.
***************************************

Perhaps your automated BOM in another iteration could include ALL parts on
ALL current project boards, so that the project leaders can go there first
for parts they are selecting for new designs. A picklist especially of
'common' parts, so they first pick parts in the current inventory of boards.
With just a few boards in design this is probably not a big deal, but as the
projects grow, as they have, an 'inventory' of existing parts usage might be
very useful. Links to the MFG datasheets within the document might also be a
handy feature. 


************** Jason Said: ************
I'm cautiously optimistic that this initial group buy through TAPR is
just the tip of the iceberg of what this project can become.  Getting
functional boards into a sizable number of hands is the kick-start
that will help speed software development and RF development.  Once
more progress is made interest will rise even faster - and if we don't
want that interest to die off then a means of getting more boards into
peoples hands will have to arise.
***************************************

I am TOTALLY optimistic. This IS the cornerstone of HPSDR! Time will tell,
but it's looking better and better so far! It will take "a village" which IS
HAPPININ' HERE!

Although not directly related, but in a similar DIY vein: In January of last
year we had the objective of using open source tools. One of those was Kicad
an open source PCB design tool. It had problems, and the Phils did not have
the time to correct them. Also the parts libraries were not very complete. I
notice that some of the parts on the mfgr websited do have libraries. I'm
wondering if someone were still interested in Kicad, or some other open
source or free PCB design tool, and whether it would be worth while going
back and investigating it's usage, so we wannabe designers have ready access
to a free tool? Perhaps this is a subject for a different thread.

Thanks
Eric



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