[Elecraft] Ham software (was: [K2] Remote control programs)

[Greg - AB7R]

Same here.  I have more ham programs than I can count.  :)  Over all I like HRD the 
best not because it's free, but because it full of usefull features I like to use, 
it's relatively easy and is designed by someone who uses it himself.  And Simon has 
a K3 ordered!  I can only imagine what he's going to do with HRD and the K3.  
Really looking forward to that.


-------------------------
73,
Greg - AB7R
Whidbey Island WA
NA-065
K3#0009

On Fri Nov  9 11:56 , Vic K2VCO  sent:

>Julian G4ILO wrote:
>
>> I don't have any axe to grind for any of the programs mentioned, and
>> in fact use none of them, but I have to take issue with the notion
>> that HRD is great just because it's free. I believe that the range and
>> quality of software available to hams is limited because of their
>> reluctance to pay for it, and that we are ultimately the poorer for it
>
>First, I'm a professional programmer.
>
>I've paid good money for some ham (and other) software, and it has 
>turned out to be junk. Much ham software is written by hams who are not 
>professional programmers, and it shows.
>
>There is a big difference in writing a program that is useful to you, 
>and one that will work properly in multiple environments, has a polished 
>interface, a balanced feature set, etc.
>
>Unfortunately, even if hams were more willing to pay for software, the 
>market is small. The cost of professional programming is high, so that 
>means that the per-unit cost of good ham software would need to be quite 
>high for the publisher to make a profit. Do you want to pay $500 for a 
>rig control program? I didn't think so.
>
>That's why we shouldn't expect to find much good ham software for sale. 
>On the other hand, there is the author of HRD who is willing to provide 
>a world-class program as a labor of love. We are very lucky. There are a 
>few others that have decent shareware or low-cost programs. But they are 
>not going to make a living that way.
>
>Another approach that works is the open-source model, which has given us 
>the N1MM contest logging program. A little clunky, written in VB, it's 
>nevertheless one of the best programs of its genre. And it is free too.
>-- 
>73,
>Vic, K2VCO
>Fresno CA
>http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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