[hpsdr] HERMES schedule question...

[Dan Babcock]

Yes, you are correct Jeremy.  AFAIK, there have been no discussions about TAPR offering Hermes as a kit.  However, depending upon how the hardware IP is licensed, someone might eventually decide to offer one.  

With all of the TAPR offered Assembled & Tested boards, more PCB boards were purchased than were used to build the A&T boards.  The remaining bare PCB boards are offered for sale until the supply is exhausted.  Until the interest level for Hermes is known, it is difficult to say just how many of each (A&T or bare PCB) board will be available. 

And another point about A&T boards...  As you mentioned, so far, the selling price of a TAPR offered A&T board has been less than the cost of purchasing the bare PCB and all of the component parts (in small build quantities) that are required to build a board.  It is hard to provide empirical evidence since no one has offered both a kit and the A&T boards for the same project, but the consensus of opinion is it is also more cost effective (especially taking into account DONATED man hours) to provide an A&T board than a kit.

Personally, I wouldn't want to deprive anyone of the "pleasure" of building a board on their own.  Also, I remember some rumblings from HPSDR participants outside of the US that because of transportation costs, import duties and VAT it was cheaper for them to build than buy.  But having said that, I feel from my experiences as a member of the manufacturing team for the Magister, Ozy, Penelope and Mercury boards that buying an A&T board is without exception the best option.

73,

Dan N4XWE




________________________________
From: Jeremy McDermond <mcdermj at xenotropic.com>
To: Dan Babcock <n4xwe at yahoo.com>
Cc: Ray Page <page.ray at gmail.com>; hpsdr at openhpsdr.org
Sent: Wed, June 16, 2010 7:04:14 PM
Subject: Re: [hpsdr] HERMES schedule question...

On Jun 16, 2010, at 6:59 PM, Dan Babcock wrote:

> Due to the installation of a number of fine pitch IC's, including a 240 Pin PQFP package Altera FPGA <http://www.altera.com/literature/hb/cyc3/cyc3_ciii52001.pdf>, the Hermes board is in my estimation a (very) advanced construction project.  Without the fine pitch IC's, I would say Hermes can be best classified as an intermediate level construction project that uses a combination of SMT and through hole parts.  Bearing in mind the packages for the SMT parts were chosen for circuit functionality and not ease of assembly, building the board is doable but is certainly not for the faint of heart.

It should also be noted that, unless I'm mistaken, Hermes will not be offered in a kit form.  You will have your choice of a bare PCB or a fully assembled and tested unit.  That means that you'll have to search out all the parts yourself.  If you want to do the construction on it as entertainment, that's cool, but when I've looked on other kits (such as Mercury and Penelope), it's hard to save much cash as opposed to the A&T versions.

> 73,
> 
> Dan N4XWE

--
Jeremy McDermond (NH6Z)
Xenotropic Systems
mcdermj at xenotropic.com


      
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