Re: Talk: Does price buy Performance or Satisfaction in an HF Transceiver? by Frank Howell K4FMH
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I would give my left...whatever...to be able to design a circuit. It is still amazing to me to see someone sit down and, looking through some spec sheets, knows how to string things together and make a circuit work. Silly questions for those people, like why is that resistor 10K and not 15K, and why is that toroid there, are major stumbling blocks for me. Still, I really enjoy kit building and I can make some things dance to a different tune if they are programmable, and I get a kick out of that, too. Sadly, there are a lot of old guys like me who miss out on both the soldering and programming fun and there's really little to lose by trying.
Digital modes, SMD parts, microcontrollers, programming, etc. are all elements of our hobby and we should all at least try them before giving up on them. Who knows, you may find a new element of this wonderful hobby that you let bypass you when a little effort would have opened an entirely new world. So, go ahead...jump in! There are plenty of people here who can help you out if you start to sink.
Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 1:04:44 PM EDT, Trystan G0KAY <trystandavies+nodirect@...> wrote:
Building a transceiver from scratch is indeed great fun. Soldering the components on, winding the toroids, aligning the IF, setting up the filters. Then testing it all for smoke, and seeing if it works.
It's even better if you have designed the circuit, perhaps from Doug DeMaw's design guides.
Even putting on the knobs and connectors on the ready-built UBitX is fun too and can give some sense of achievement too.
It's all good.
Some areas of our hobby do however almost preclude home construction to some extent. Also as people get older they may find they don't have the dexterity or eyesight they used to have. We also have a huge chunk of the community who rarely turn on a soldering iron (that's if they own one). There are also people who travel for a living, or have little space, and having a ready-made transceiver makes more sense. We all may have a reason to purchase a commercially made transceiver.
This talk will give us some idea of whether they really are as good as the money you pay for them.
Trystan G0KAY
-- Jack, W8TEE
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