[Elecraft] K4 Observations

[Alan]

On 5/19/19 7:39 AM, David Woolley wrote:
> Unfortunately, the amateur radio world behaves like popular culture 
> and hijacks engineering terms and redefines them.  Nearly every radio 
> receiver nowadays is largely an SDR, but the amateur community tends 
> to use the term in a more restricted sense.
>
> What I think is meant by Full SDR is what, more correctly, would be 
> described as direct sampling.

Yes.

>
> However, the really key point is that Elecraft's main skills are with 
> analogue electronics. To the extent that the K4 has no analogue front 
> end, it really doesn't benefit from the company's core expertise 
> (although low phase noise clocks may also be one of their skills).
>
> Personally, I suspect that there is significant analogue processing 
> before the A/D convertor (the front end) and that is what will give it 
> any edge it has over the competition.
>
> A/D convertors are essentially commodity items, to the only real input 
> the Elecraft desginers will have is setting the price point.
>

I disagree with that.  It takes a lot of analog expertise to properly 
implement a direct-sampling receiver.  There are many ways to get it wrong.

Alan N1AL