[hpsdr] SW expert needed. Badly.

[Nick Hacko]

Hi all -

this is a rather long-ish email which should have a title: a plea for help.

A few years ago a group of SDR enthusiasts got together with the
idea to 'do something': a software guy, hardware engineer, PCB designer and
a dummy:
a producer with no technical knowledge, but keen to learn.
Timeline: pre-SoftRock era.

To cut a long story short, within a few years our group had grown to a
couple of thousand members.
We'd sold over 800 SDR transceiver kits. (Our plan was always to be in the
kit business, not cutting edge technology). Our members were loyal,
enthusiastic and keen to learn.
Motto: "build, learn, play" outlines the basic concept: 
we believed that building is as important as learning and dead hardware
which is not 
'put in good use' is just that: dead hardware.

Obviously with the advancement of HPSDR and other similar cutting edge SDR
projects,
we thought that it would be just a matter of days before our group would
become a SDR-boat anchor dinosaur. We had neither the interest nor desire to
compete with
more advanced SDR projects, and to be fair, we didn't have the capabilities
either.
For a couple of years, we were happily sitting in the market segment known
as
"I've built the SoftRock, now I want your product, before I get serious".
Our product offered far more soldering, more hands-on, our PCBs were larger
and
better looking but it was still the same old sound-card based technology.

After we sold the last kit, we closed for business.
That was 3 years go.

However, once we got out of the business, a strange thing happened:
we started getting requests for our simple kits: through hole single band
units! For months, I was turning people away and sending them to you:
HPSDR, mcHF, to JUMA... "If you are interested in SDR, then get yourself a
Hermes" was our automated reply. Yet people wanted our simple stuff: cheap
SDR which requires
plenty of soldering. It was obvious that many novice hams just wanted to
give it a go,
rather than to be at the cutting edge of SDR technology. With our product
they felt like "I can do this, and once it's done, I'll have plenty of fun
on air".
After all, our hardware was 'contest winning SDR' - or what you smart people
call
SDR for dummies. 

So here we are, in 2016. And to my surprise, amazingly, our group is still
growing. We are a strong brand name in our market segment. We are vibrant,
helpful, we welcome newcomers and we are extremely keen to learn. There is
also one more detail that separates us from the rest of the crowd:
we have the means to make quick business decisions, invest in production,
and sell.
Our support is prompt and first class. Thanks to demand, our group is going
through a revival and
like it or not, we have no option but to keep going.

Which brings us to the very reason for this plea for help.

Our software guru left the core group a few years ago and we are now looking
for a
new 'spiritual leader'. SDR without a software guy is not SDR.
Experts in the field are hard to find.

If you are interested in offering your help with SDR design then you will be
more than welcome
to join us. Since our group was basically a one-man-know-it-all joint, and
since
there was no transfer of SW knowledge, we are now in the position where we
will have to re-learn the lot, from SDR basics to more advanced stuff. Most
likely, this time around
we will have more than one SW expert and most importantly, we already have a
core group of
young programmers who are ready to soak up the knowledge.
If this is the proper job description, then your role would be 'leadership
and development'.
Again, we will start with simple SDR projects which can be translated into
kits (because that's what our customers want!) and very quickly you will see
your project developed, produced
and built by keen builders. As a natural teacher, you will have the
opportunity
to educate us and to transfer your knowledge 'in real time'.

Whether you have already led small or large SDR projects or whether you are
just a new clever programmer who is looking to make a mark: we need you.
If this sounds like fun and if you are keen to commit, then please get in
touch with me with no delay.

Thank you for allowing me to post this message to your group. Please read
this as a plea from a small, illiterate village to Oxford University,
looking for one teacher to help us to read and write.

73 Nick VK2DX