An FT8 Radio- just dreaming
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An FT8 Radio- just dreaming
 
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I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham radio equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in one box maybe with the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the first interface with the radio, with menus reaching deeper into its control. Most of today's designs are not well enough integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. Nor do they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common in say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice and touch control with keyboard and mouse optional. How about an internal projector so that the screen can be projected onto another surface making monitors optional? If it is going to be worth it, It has to be not different but do things differently.
Has anyone else had any thoughts? Doug K6JEY ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Are you talking barebones FT8, or one of the extensions that allows
freeform conversation? Are you planning on relegating CW/SSB/etc. to a "nice-to-have" usability-wise, or are you trying to keep those usable while making digital modes more intuitive and straightforward? I would want both the latters in a product I'd buy. I'd love to see a hybrid UI like the KX3 + PX3, but with a drastically more sophisticated UI on the panadapter side. I don't want my radio and computer in the same box, but I'd *love* a compact, purpose-built computer for digital modes, logging, and so on. (I'd generally caution you against buying or making all-in-one devices, since if one part breaks, you've gotta send the entire thing in for service.) Really, if you're okay with a KX2 or KX3 hanging off the side, you could do most of this with a RPi (or your favorite single-board computer) and a 7" or 10" display and a few adapters for audio and radio control and a bunch of software work. I don't think it's realistic for Elecraft to cram every new digital mode into the firmware for every rig they've ever made (although I would be more than happy to provide a wishlist!), but something like this could be a good compromise between "your choice of RTTY, PSK31, or PSK63" and "schlep an entire laptop and a bunch of wires. Cheers, Julie On Sun, Feb 21, 2021, 22:37 Doug Millar via Elecraft < [hidden email]> wrote: > I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham radio > equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in one box maybe with > the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the first interface with the > radio, with menus reaching deeper into its control. Most of today's designs > are not well enough integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. > Nor do they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common in > say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice and touch control > with keyboard and mouse optional. How about an internal projector so that > the screen can be projected onto another surface making monitors optional? > If it is going to be worth it, It has to be not different but do things > differently. > Has anyone else had any thoughts? > Doug K6JEY > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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This purpose-designed digital transceiver for FT8 (and other digital modes) has received some attention recently:
https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/ <https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/> Not exactly revolutionary, but compact QRP design needing only a laptop - or even something like a Raspberry Pi - to use with digital modes. And a number of years ago a fully self contained ultra portable PSK31 transceiver was shown at Hamvention: https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm <https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm> http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0 <http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0> Steve aa8af > On Feb 21, 2021, at 10:36 PM, Doug Millar via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote: > > I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham radio equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in one box maybe with the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the first interface with the radio, with menus reaching deeper into its control. Most of today's designs are not well enough integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. Nor do they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common in say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice and touch control with keyboard and mouse optional. How about an internal projector so that the screen can be projected onto another surface making monitors optional? If it is going to be worth it, It has to be not different but do things differently. > Has anyone else had any thoughts? ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: An FT8 Radio- just dreaming
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Steve Benson, the designer of the Midnight Design rig you linked to is quite anaccomplished designer. I built one of his ~3 watt PSK31 mono banders back in the late 90s.
Paul Gacek W6PNG/M0SNA www.nomadic.blog > On Feb 22, 2021, at 6:45 AM, SteveL <[hidden email]> wrote: > > This purpose-designed digital transceiver for FT8 (and other digital modes) has received some attention recently: > https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/ <https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/> > Not exactly revolutionary, but compact QRP design needing only a laptop - or even something like a Raspberry Pi - to use with digital modes. > > And a number of years ago a fully self contained ultra portable PSK31 transceiver was shown at Hamvention: > https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm <https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm> > http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0 <http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0> > > Steve > aa8af > >> On Feb 21, 2021, at 10:36 PM, Doug Millar via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote: >> >> I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham radio equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in one box maybe with the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the first interface with the radio, with menus reaching deeper into its control. Most of today's designs are not well enough integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. Nor do they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common in say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice and touch control with keyboard and mouse optional. How about an internal projector so that the screen can be projected onto another surface making monitors optional? If it is going to be worth it, It has to be not different but do things differently. >> Has anyone else had any thoughts? > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by SteveL
I have built the 80 meter Phaser II which is a QRP FT8 Transceiver and as
the QRP-Labs Kits was fun to build. I also have the 20 meter Phaser II version coming and another QCX Mini and QCX+ kit to build. The kits have kept me off the streets during this Pandemic. Ed.. AB4IQ -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of SteveL Sent: Monday, February 22, 2021 8:44 AM To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] An FT8 Radio- just dreaming This purpose-designed digital transceiver for FT8 (and other digital modes) has received some attention recently: https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/ <https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/> Not exactly revolutionary, but compact QRP design needing only a laptop - or even something like a Raspberry Pi - to use with digital modes. And a number of years ago a fully self contained ultra portable PSK31 transceiver was shown at Hamvention: https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm <https://www.silentsystem.jp/handypsk.htm> http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0 <http://forum.radioamateur.ca/index.php?topic=8379.0> Steve aa8af > On Feb 21, 2021, at 10:36 PM, Doug Millar via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote: > > I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham radio equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in one box maybe with the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the first interface with the radio, with menus reaching deeper into its control. Most of today's designs are not well enough integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. Nor do they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common in say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice and touch control with keyboard and mouse optional. How about an internal projector so that the screen can be projected onto another surface making monitors optional? If it is going to be worth it, It has to be not different but do things differently. > Has anyone else had any thoughts? ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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One of my favorite radios was a Small Wonders Labs PSK20. This
was a radio designed to only send and receive on the 20M PSK subband (14.070-14.074). Coupled with a computer to run PSK software it made a very effective travel radio, and I made many QSOs with it. In the modern age, a KX2 is about the same size, but covers 80M-10M and is basically a HF HT. Many of the JS8Call people are using modern Raspberry Pis to run the software, and JS8Call uses the same encode/decode/modulation as FT8. (It allows rag chewing.) For myself, I could probably change the frequency on my PSK20 to work on the 20M FT8 band, but it's not a high personal priority. 73 Bill AE6JV On 2/22/21 at 10:36 PM, [hidden email] (Doug Millar via Elecraft) wrote: >I have been wondering for some time- How will FT8 change ham >radio equipment? Right off I imagine a radio and computer in >one box maybe with the display. (FT8 should vastly simplify the >first interface with the radio, with menus reaching deeper into >its control. Most of today's designs are not well enough >integrated and I think are hampered by preconceptions. Nor do >they take advantage of graphic user interfaces that are common >in say cell phones. I think it could be one box with voice >and touch control with keyboard and mouse optional. How about >an internal projector so that the screen can be projected onto >another surface making monitors optional? If it is going to be >worth it, It has to be not different but do things differently. > Has anyone else had any thoughts? Doug K6JEY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Can't fix stupid, but | Periwinkle (408)348-7900 | duct tape can muffle the| 150 Rivermead Road #235 www.pwpconsult.com | sound... - Bill Liebman | Peterborough, NY 03458 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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