[hpsdr] Pandora

[Ben Hall]

Good evening all!

I wanted to reply to all the Pandora e-mails, but came to the conclusion 
that I'm better off putting all the comments into one e-mail.

Chris Albertson wrote:
> This comment is likely to be very unpopular but I'll say it...

That's okay - one of the things that I think makes the HPSDR product so 
neat and exciting to me is that we've got an open forum of users and 
soon to be users and we can all make comments and share ideas without 
regard to popularity.

> 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.

I think there are many of here who do similar things for a living.  I'm 
waist-deep in this sort of process for a turboshaft engine test cell.

> The point is "Why is an $11 part driving the design of a $100
> box.  Should be the other way around.

I think Alberto hit the nail on the head - that $11 part probably has 
$11k of engineering and testing in it.

But, in my opinion, what matters is that Atlas exists.  700 of them are 
in user's hands.  That's the starting point for Pandora.

If a new Atlas design is made, a case can be worked in parallel with the 
standard systems-engineering trade-offs.

As HPSDR and the needs of the HPSDR community evolve, the Pandora we're 
heading towards today may or may not be the right answer down the road.

A BK-959 based case could be a basic enclosure, with something more 
grand (and more expensive, perhaps) to come.

The BK-959 is industrial, for sure.  I say that with no sadness or 
shame, and I can also foresee a future drop-in front panel that takes 
the industrial look away.  Maybe with a touch-screen.  I don't know; the 
world is ***our*** oyster!  :)  Forward progress with something newer, 
more grand, and more exciting is no poor reflection on past work.

The BK-959, even with it's warts, is a good starting point that isn't 
very high-cost.  Let's say in a year we throw them all away and go for 
the next generation Pandora or even multiple flavors of Pandora.  That 
$50 won't be wasted, as the enclosure will have given the user good 
service for a year.

thanks much and 73,
ben, kd5byb

-- 
Thanks and 73,
Ben, KD5BYB


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