"Now if you are backpacking and just making a few QSOs for fun, that’s
another story."
That was my hypothetical intent. For vacation and portable operation,
I'd probably be using a non-directive antenna, I'd settle for whatever
propagation there was, I'd be making FAR less than tens of thousands of
QSOs, and I already suggested transferring logs to my desktop computer
via a USB flash drive.
The idea would be to avoid dragging along a computer and hassle with all
the cabling. There all kinds of folks here on this reflector using
KX2's and KX3's interfaced with laptops and iPads for portable
operation. That just seems like a sloppy way to do it when a rather
simple all-in-one unit with a much simpler radio could handle the same
task less expensively.
Dave AB7E
On 8/10/2019 9:30 PM, Vic Rosenthal wrote:
You’d probably end up with a computer anyway (except perhaps for portable
operations) to do all the functions other than the ones that WSJT handles. For
example, I check propagation, point my antenna, receive cluster and RBN spots,
maintain a log of tens of thousands of QSOs in various modes and keep track of
award progress, upload QSO data to Clublog in real time, upload to LOTW after
each session and update my log with results, receive WhatsApp messages, and
more.
If you had an onboard computer, you would still end up dumping data to an
external one on a regular basis anyway. I think the division of labor between a
rig and external computer is just about right.
Now if you are backpacking and just making a few QSOs for fun, that’s another
story.
Victor 4X6GP
On 10 Aug 2019, at 23:40, David Gilbert <[email protected]> wrote:
I'm certain this is not an original idea, but I wonder if somebody will ever
come out with a dedicated all-in-one notebook-sized portable rig for the
FT-type digital modes. I'm pretty new to FT8/4 but I find it interesting that
when I'm operating it all I ever do with my K3 is turn it on and make band
changes since everything else is done on my computer. I wouldn't even need to
do that much on the K3 if WSJT-X had a button to make band changes.
Possibly such a unit might look like:
1. 12 volt operation (10 watts output) for portable use
2. large enough screen to be practical
3. running modified (mouseless) version of WSJT-X to allow up/down arrow keys
for:
a. band selection
b. frequency change in 2 KHz increments
c. mode selection
d. contact selection from activity window
e. TX1-TX6 sequence override
f. transmit enable/disable
4. a button to momentarily press for log, press/hold to autolog
5. USB port to run modified WSJT-X from flash drive for easy upgrade and log
transfer
6. internal antenna tuner (could be manual)
7. etc.
Rigs dedicated to specific modes have never been very popular, but I suspect
that FTx might change that and I suspect an integrated low power SDR version
could end up being fairly inexpensive. A side advantage is that audio levels
would be preset in hardware and we'd see less overdrive situations. ;)
Anybody know if there is already something like this out there? I can find
small inexpensive transceivers designed for FT8, but they still require a
separate computer.
Just some ramblings on a rainy day ...
73,
Dave AB7E
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