[Elecraft] SDR UI (was: Dayton review)

[Craig Rairdin]

>> Flex 5000:  GREAT specs, zero radio-ness.  One method of "tuning the
>> band" is to use a "hand tool" (like you use on a pdf file) and you
>> "pull" the band across your display (like Goole Maps).  Very, ummmm,
>> different.  User interface (tactile) is all but lacking.  

>Just get three of those sexy USB knobs. There should be a way to bind  
>them to the various knob-functions in software.

This is one of the problems I have with the whole SDR concept. I don't quite
understand the attractiveness of a radio where the UI has just been ignored
or placed onto a device that is not really designed for the task.

It's like they're saying "We're smart enough to do all this great RF design
but we just can't handle the human interface. (In fact we'll even leave a
lot of the RF design up to you.)" The PC is a non-optimum (but convenient)
UI for many of the things we ask it to do. This is definitely one of them.
When you have to start adding physical knobs and switches it seems obvious
to me that you're admitting that you're trying to use the wrong tool for the
job.

For example, I'm a pilot and when I do my recurrent training we don't use
Microsoft Flight Simulator even though it does an excellent job of
simulating real flying characteristics. We get inside a big box that has a
mock-up of a real instrument panel and real flight controls. The designers
of these devices know that clicking a button with your mouse on a picture of
a panel isn't the same as pressing the real button on a real panel.

I'm just not impressed with a product that does a half-baked job of UI
design.

Craig
NZ0R