[Elecraft] K3 or SDR-5000?

[Richard Smith]

I think Dave is overstating the computing power you need for a Flex. 
Computing power is pretty cheap these days, and getting cheaper all the 
time.  You may be able to do just fine with the $399 machine he mentions. 
In fact, for under $425 you can get a dual-core AMD Athlon X2 4000+  with 
1GB DDR2 RAM  from BestBuy.  That machine will not only run your Flex-5000A, 
but you will also be able to surf the web, read your email, run your contest 
logging program all at the same time with plenty of extra processing power 
to spare.  Really folks, computing power is not an issue these day.  In 
fact, I would guess that a large percentage of hams already have more than 
enough computing power already sitting in the shack.

There continue to be a lot of misconceptions about SDR radios.  There is an 
earlier thread about K3 vs. Flex-5000A in the Elecraft reflector archives 
from October 2007.  Search "5000A" and you should find them.  They are worth 
reading, as they go into some depth about the issues, questions and 
misconceptions that keep coming up.

73,

Rich W1EZ


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "R. Kevin Stover" <rkstover at mchsi.com>
To: "Dave G4AON" <elecraft at astromag.co.uk>
Cc: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 or SDR-5000?


> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> I think he was looking for an N1MM type band map layed out over a real
> time PowerSDR pan adapter display. Which would be downright cool. A
> visual representation of the DX/contester's signal and strength.
>
> One thing that might not have been mentioned in the K3/Flex discussion
> is the need for a high performance PC. The $399 HP/Dell/Whoever
> "special" at Sam's Club or Costco just won't cut it.
>
> Dave G4AON wrote:
>> Barry
>>
>> You can already do that with the free contest logging program from N1MM,
>> you have the band displayed as a slide rule with frequencies and DX
>> Cluster reported stations, just click on one and the rig tunes to it...
>>
>> 73 Dave
>> ============
>> It would be very cool if some future generation of PowerSDR software
>> provided
>> a clickable bandmap overlay to the displayed spectrum from the K3.
>> Functions such as quick qsy to any point in the spectrum and labeling of
>> sigs with callsigns would be great tools for dxing/contesting.
>>
>> 73,
>> Barry N1EU
>
>
> - --
> R. Kevin Stover, ACØH
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
>
> iD8DBQFHbmj411jxjloa2wsRAiHOAKDM8EACegIjvTC/SWa4vdBOcXvaOACgpzPr
> fTYiw4EKgHscCAT4TKRjSrY=
> =pSoN
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com