[hpsdr] Hermes Interest

[Jeremy McDermond]

On Aug 6, 2011, at 6:41 PM, Mike Monnier wrote:
 
> Will this be offered as a completed board fully populated and ready to hook up to a computer, power supply, and antenna or will this system need to be built by the owner? I think I can build it but this would be my first SMT build. I would rather buy a completed and tested board.

The boards will be only provided assembled and tested.  It will fit into a standard eurocard enclosure.  It's too early to say for sure whether TAPR will provide these or whether you'll be on your own to buy cases.

>  Next question has to do with the transmit power. I am interested in ultimately making the Hermes transceiver into a a clean, 100 watt output radio. I wonder if any plans are in the works to pair the Hermes driver with a power amp of equal high quality specifications.

The only companion project for Hermes is going to be Apollo.  Apollo will provide a 20W PA, ATU, and filtering for Hermes (Hermes barefoot is .5W).  After 20W you're on your own to get to 100W.  There are many decent amplifiers out there that could do it.  Elecraft will be coming out with a companion amplifier to their KX3 that will go from approximately 10W to 100W.  There are also amplifiers like the HF Packer Pro out there as well.

>  
> Where should I be watching for the first release of Hermes to the public?

Announcements should be coming on this list as we go into manufacturing.

>  The last question may seem silly but I want to clear things up a bit. Will the Hermes require a backplane for integrity with other needed boards?

No, this is not a slot-based architecture like Atlas.  Hermes will connect to Apollo using a few interconnection cables.  No backplane will be necessary or even available.

> I assume the Hermes is a stand alone dual diversity receiver set and exciter requiring only DC power, a computer and antenna.

No, Hermes will not be capable of diversity reception.  There is only a single ADC inside of Hermes.  Diversity reception requires multiple ADCs in the SDR to handle multiple antennas that are diverse either spatially or polarization (or both).  If you require diversity you'll need to check out an Atlas based system.

Please keep in mind the following (and these aren't specifically directed at you necessarily, Mike.  You just happen to give me an appropriate soapbox for something I meant to post soon anyway):

1)  Hermes is not going to be a "product" any more than the Atlas systems are.  While OpenHPSDR project and TAPR try to make the components actually useful for people to run a their every day station, OpenHPSDR is really targeted at people who want to experiment and play with the technology.

2)  Keep in mind that the manufacturing process takes a while to come to completion.  As amazing as Scotty, Dan, John and the rest of the TAPR manufacturing team are, it takes time to get everything prepared to make a few hundred boards and get them all tested.  Even though we have in hand what we hope will be the production PC boards, they're still bare and awaiting manufacturing to place components on them.  There currently exists, to my knowledge, only one working Ethernet Hermes in the world.  It will take a while to get through the final testing phase (read as weeks not days) and more time for Scotty to set up production, Dan to do testing and John to set up ordering.  Additionally, TAPR also has to consider financial restraints as well.  We're currently undergoing production of Alex, which isn't exactly cheap, and we need to make sure that we're in a financial position to make the cash flow work.  So, in summary, I would expect the description of "available soon" to mean months not days, so please set your expectations accordingly.

> Thanks in advance for your consideration and comments.
>  
> Best Regards,
> Mike
> W8BAC

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




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