[Boatanchors] SDR unit

[manualman at juno.com]

Brian:
I broke your text down into sections to answer (see ***)

On Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:03:50 -0500 Brian Harris <cosmophone at yahoo.com>
writes:
The problem is what I will refer to as 'the mix'.  An SDR consists 
primarily of a mix of highly integrated semiconductors, moderate  power
RF semiconductors and software.  While the RF products may be 
 relatively easy to trouble and replace, the software is proprietary, so
you can't fix it. 

***Depending on the SDR-type software, some, or parts of it, might be
"Open-Source", so in reality parts of the software you could fix it,
modify it, or just diddle with it any way you want.

The highly integrated components will be difficult for many older people
to repair because of eyesight and/or lack of the proper tools.  

***I agree. It's painful getting old. Buying used modern test tools can
be even more painful too.

Of course there is also the very real fact that semiconductor companies
often only make highly integrated circuits for 5-10 years maximum before
discontinuing them due to technology improvements and/or manufacturing
processes which become obsolete.  

***We have those same problems with some boatanchor equipment too. Maybe
not integrated circuits, but speciality-made transformers or inductors,
or other unique electrical or mechanical parts that were only
manufactured for a specific boatanchor model.

Assuming one can obtain the replacements parts forever, I suppose one
could say if you can fix anything that goes wrong with the computer
required to run the SDR then you could probably fix anything that goes
wrong with your SDR. I don't own one and probably never will because I
like simplicity and they aren't.  

***Computers today are a common commodity item which consist of a number
of simple inter-connected assemblies (mother board, hard drive, power
supply, maybe a video card, etc.). If any of these assemblies go bad and
fail, it's probably more economical just to go buy a new assembly. In the
case of a mother board replacement, most likely you can buy from any of
several online retailers, an equivalent board with the latest and
greatest firmware, or maybe even a better board, and save time and effort
trying to trouble shoot the bad board. Prices on mother boards have come
way down in recent years. The form factor of the board, or the form
factor of the case that the original board was mounted in, would be the
guide in determining what's a good easy replacement.


***Pete, wa2cwa