[Elecraft] SideKar vs PX3

[Brian Waterworth]

Correct on the RPi2.  I did just that with FLDigi on Raspian.  Works great
 and gives me a low power, low cost Digital transcoder for more than just
PSK31, RTTY, and CW.  The only issue I wrote about in this chain previously
is the need for a screen and a keyboard.  I did that with a Bluetooth
keyboard attached to an iPad which used VNC to the RPi2.  Talk about using
a sledgehammer to hang a picture hook.  Of course, I had all these
components already and wanted to reuse them.  So, the cost was sunk for
other purposes, not for a portable digital station.  While this setup
worked, it was a lot of stuff to carry.

The epiphany that surfaced from the Elecraft reflector participants in this
conversation was that a low cost, small laptop would provide all the
logging, digital transcoding needs for a portable HF station predicated on
the KX3.  Often, you can find smaller laptops, refurbished, for less than
$200.

regards,
Brian
VE3IBW

On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 10:00 AM, <ae4pb at carolinaheli.com> wrote:

> AFAIK based on reading the SideKar site it's just reporting what the Kline
> radio is giving it already decoded. $250 is a bit much when you think about
> what the box does. Seems to me you could build up a RaspberryPi solution to
> do the same thing with a few tweaks for under $100 AND have something
> that's easily re-purposed..etc.
>