Re: zbitx
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People are thinking about possible future needs for a more powerful CPU and/or more RAM. Future digital modes or improvements in the DSP algorithms might require more resources. People might want to experiment with changes to the front panel that would show more information. Simultaneous?reception of more than one signal within the passband of the crystal filter is another possibility. We might see a large-scale movement toward digital voice on HF. That Zero 2 W might be fine now, but will it be enough in five or ten years, or will the radio's features feel unnecessarily dated because of a lack of resources? Being able to upgrade the processor in the future could allow it to keep up with changes in ham radio. It's not unprecedented. The Elecraft K2 got a processor upgrade partway through its life; version 2 firmware replaced the original 16F primary microcontroller with an 18F part; pin compatible, but with a larger instruction set and more RAM and flash storage. (The K2 main microcontroller, as well as the other microcontrollers in the rig, use flash memory but cannot be re-flashed by the customer; you have to pull out the microcontroller and replace it with one with a newer version of the firmware.) PC-based SDRs get a hardware upgrade by replacing the PC that is used as part of the radio with a more powerful one, and for some owners it was pretty much necessary because the newer SmartSDR software uses more resources than their original PowerSDR application did. (Others don't have a choice; some early Flex models are not supported by SmartSDR, and the newer direct sampling models are not supported by PowerSDR.) On Sun, Jan 5, 2025 at 12:31?PM Ken N2VIP via <ken=[email protected]> wrote:
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Shirley Dulcey KE1L