Re: Ideas for an FT8 Radio

Posted by Bill Frantz on Jan 02, 2019; 6:56am
URL: http://elecraft.85.s1.nabble.com/Ideas-for-an-FT8-Radio-tp7647476p7647603.html

The short answer for issues of obsolescence is the same for
computers as it is for RF components: modularization. I replaced
the synthesizers in my K3 when better ones came out. I would
expect to do the same for the computer, whether it is integrated
into the radio package or separate.

I think the best route towards a FT8 radio is to have a radio
that will do FT8 and any other mode its computer can handle.
Running a single-board Linux computer seems attractive. It seems
like the radio will need a keyboard, display, pointing device,
audio, and RS-232 interfaces. Raspberry PIs have USB for
keyboard, pointing device, and RS-232; HDMI for display; and
built-in audio.

For future flexibility, just using USB and HDMI may be
attractive. Or just USB if there are usable USB displays. Using
only one or two interfaces makes swapping computers simple, at
least until the interfaces are no longer supported. USB seem to
have a lifespan on par with radios, so obsolescence seems a low
risk. HDMI is higher risk, as display interfaces are caught up
in the whole Digital Rights Management arms race.

73 Bill AE6JV

On 1/1/19 at 8:42 PM, [hidden email] (Ken) wrote:

>As for the concept of a dedicated FT8 radio, what's going to
>happen when FT9 becomes the latest craze?  How many people
>operate Olivia (or even JT-65) now?

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Bill Frantz        |"Insofar as the propositions of mathematics
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408-356-8506       | reality, they are not certain; and insofar
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