[hpsdr] [apache-labs] Re: OT: new Flex rig

[Brian Lloyd]

On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 8:26 AM, wageners at gmail.com [apache-labs] <
apache-labs at yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>
>
> Look at the pricing!
>
> This is a clear move to take on Apache full force.
>

Maybe. As I see it, these radios are as different as night and day. The key
is that Flex has adopted the approach of forever limiting their radios by
placing the processing inside the radio rather than leaving it in the
external computer. There is no way to ever enhance the radio as you could
with Hermes, Angelia, Orion, or whatever follows along in the OpenHPSDR
family.

There are several logical places to put the interface between the "front
end", the IF processing, and the consumer of the data. The HPSDR approach
places the interface (Ethernet) after the first filter/decimator so you can
have many multirate subbands ("slices") limited only by the processing
available in the FPGA and the capacity available on the physical interface,
1Gbps right now. Right now there is a soft limit built into the firmware of
6 or 7 fixed-rate subbands. (I wish I would just remember the number.) My
hope is that we get a new transport protocol that will allow any number
multi-rate subbands limited only by available front-end processing and
transport, not by a soft limit in the firmware. The future applications
will want many variable-rate subbands (variable width "slices")  directed
to many different back-end processors. Heck, if I were designing a new
board I would be looking to put multiple gig-E ports on it, not more ADCs.
Right now a single ADC generates a 1.9Gbps stream and I have no option of
trying to process the entire firehose worth of HF data.

So with the HPSDR communications system model, we have the potential for
lots of expansion into the future.

In the case of Flex's architecture there is no expansion. They offer you a
fixed number of fixed-rate subbands and then further process them to
baseband for you. There is no option of further processing the subband data
externally to the radio hardware. As I see it Flex has stepped back to the
YASHRT model of transceiver design. (YASHRT = Yet Another Stupid Ham Radio
Transceiver, i.e. a glorified KWM2).

And then there is the history of Flex's outstanding software quality and
rapid-fire delivery of bug-free new features. Remember, with HPSDR you have
people working on PowerSDR, cuSDR, KISSconsoe, Vishnu/Thoth, ghpsdr,
gnuradio, Hetrodyne, AND new FPGA firmware. If you don't like one platform
switch to another. And once the FPGA firmware allows for multiple consumers
of data, you could potentially run multiple back-end processing platforms
concurrently, either on a single machine or spread across multiple
machines.

So to my way of seeing things, comparing Flex's offerings to HPSDR is like
comparing a horseless carriage to V-22 Osprey. I don't care what the price
is, Flex has moved firmly to anchor themselves to the past.

In Flex's defense, I understand why they did it. They can sell more radios
by making their radios just a little more advanced than current radios.
People who had been riding horse-drawn carriages could understand the
horseless carriage where they couldn't understand a flying machine, let
alone a VTOL that cruises at 250kts. And they have moved the processing
into the box where they control it and no longer have to provide technical
support for windows problems because they have bypassed the Windows latency
problems. The bulk of their customers can understand the product better and
their tech support load is reduced. They have found a sweet spot that lets
them sell more radios. But they are no longer anywhere near the forefront
of HF communications systems, at least not as far as ham radio is concerned.

So, the future of radio *IS* with the multirate subband receiver with
high-capacity transfer to multiple back-end processors, not YASHRT. Flex
has their market and HPSDR appeals to people who want to do newer and more
interesting things. OTOH, it is worth noting that the HPSDR model works in
BOTH markets. Hmmm...

-- 
Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL
706 Flightline Drive
Spring Branch, TX 78070
brian at lloyd.com
+1.916.877.5067 (USA)
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