[Boatanchors] SDR unit

[David Stinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <manualman at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] SDR unit


> ...Circuits are circuits; today's circuit components are 
> a lot smaller and more dense, 
> ***but if you have the right tools...***

That is the rub, Pete.
Not many of us have hundreds of bucks we can spare
to buy a hot air, surface-mount rework station and 
all the other fiddle-dee-dee needed to work 
on these surface-mount boards.
I did the trouble-shooting on the filter board for my
Icom 706 and knew exactly what was wrong with it.
And got nowhere trying to change the bad transistor
with "conventional" tools.  I finally gave up and bought
a used filter board that needed a cap and a couple of
relays (of NORMAL size and mounting). 
*That* I could fix.

I don't volunteer for needless headaches.  
I haven't got enough precious hours of life left
 that I can waste them on silly throw-away crap 
like surface mount boards and "proprietary" parts 
that will be irreplaceable "dead bugs" 
in a decade or two.
I'll stick to my boatanchors.

73 DE Dave AB5S