[hpsdr] Pandora

[Chris Albertson]

This comment is likely to be very unpopular but I'll say it...

I work at an engineering company that specializes in 
"systems engineering" that's basically adjusting requirements
for subparts and doing iterative re-designs with the goal of making
the overall system better.  For example:  Someone designs an interface
and then two groups go off and design parts to fit it.  Only after the
parts are designed can we see the interface spec could have been
different so we change it and re-design.  What you do is look at the
total weight, parts count and cost of the total finished system.  This
is a gross over simplification but the bottom line here is that you
have to be willing to re-define requirements and move functions between
subsystems.  As a general rule the first cut at partitioning a large
system into sub-systems is non-optimal and it takes a few cycles to get
it right.

Back to HPSDR.  The cheapest part of the entire HPSDR system is
the Atlas PCB.  TAPR sell Atlas PCBs for $11.  Yes "11 bucks".
If replacing a simple part like this PCB saves $12 on the case
then it is worth the effort (assuming you intent to sell many
units.)  There are several ways to redesign the Atlas PCB.
(1) Saw it in half or thirds. Many people don.t need six
slots.  (2) Place three connectors on each side and mount the
board verticall (4) whatever else it might take to make it
fit better in non-custom enclosure. 

The point is "Why is an $11 part driving the design of a $100
box.  Should be the other way around.  You have complete freedom to
make
the PCB anything you need it to be at no added cost but sheet metal is
expensive and comes in only a few sizes.




--- Ben Hall <kd5byb at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
> 
> Good evening Eric and gang!
> 
> Eric Ellison wrote:
> > All's I know is we need to accelerate Pandora. She got a chuckle
> when Lyle
> > presented HPSDR at the SDR forum on Saturday, but SERIOUS interest
> at the
> > TAPR booth which Phil and I and Scotty and Steve and others manned
> at
> > Dayton. It is remarkable that after getting, and answering, so many
> > technical questions at the booth, about J/O, Pen, and Merc, the
> VERY next
> > question is "Do you have a Case?".
> 
> Wow, that's great!  It probably would have been my next question
> after 
> asking about the boards too.
> 
> I agree about accelerating the design.  I may have an announcement 
> shortly on that front, must cross a few t's and dot a few i's first.
> 
> If no one has big-time objections to the BK-959, I'll suspend the
> search 
> for other vendors which is taking up a good chunk of my design time.
> 
> Thankfully, it's not taking all the design time:  spent Sunday
> looking 
> at the Atlas .drl file extracting x/y coordinates of the mounting
> holes 
> for the SolidWorks model and ordering connector parts for my
> Ozy/Janus 
> bare boards to serve as fit-check/measurement sample hardware.  :)
> 
> > I say go with the Ten-Tec with the blank being the 6 slots. 
> 
> For sure, the Ten-Tec BK-959 is the front runner:
> 
> PRO's
> 
> * available off the shelf
> * well-built
> * about $50 for the base case (this may drop with quantity and the 
> elimination of the internal chassis pan if we go that way)
> 
> CON's
> 
> * must do a simple mod for grounding the clamshell top/bottom
> * is a bit small in depth for an HPSDR with 220 mm long cards and
> front 
> panel controls
> 
> I think the BK959 is the best option - everything else gets *very* 
> custom and we start at $100 plus before we even talk front panels.
> 
> > Then after that,
> > I feel that, even though 'blocky' the Flex-5000 enclosure looks
> pretty neat
> > and is vertically segmented. 
> 
> Not sure how I feel on the Flex-5000 enclosure.  I'll look at it and 
> think about it some more...
> 
> thanks and 73,
> ben, kd5byb
> -- 
> Thanks and 73,
> Ben, KD5BYB
> 
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Chris Albertson
  Home:   310-376-1029  chrisalbertson90278 at yahoo.com
  Office: 310-336-5189  Christopher.J.Albertson at aero.org


 
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