Hi Mike, >On a quick look at the available controllers around the SCOM 7330 looks like a fairly new kid on the block. I wonder if anyone has had any experience with this model or SCOM as a whole? Since I'm a "Member" of S-COM, LLC, feel free to suspect that my comments are slightly biased... and too long... :-) Here's the deal. The 7330 has an S-COM-designed SoC (system-on-a-chip) that replaces nearly all the digital circuitry that controllers normally have, with the exception of flash and RAM. The SoC contains a microprocessor, serial ports, parallel ports, various counters and timers, and similar logic. But more importantly, it also contains some pretty kewl circuitry like special sine wave generators and digital audio playback circuits. All of those circuits operate simultaneously and independently of each other, which means we have a three-port controller that can run three repeaters simultaneously and independently of each other. There's no sharing of things like DTMF decoders, tone generators, digital audio playback circuits, etc. That means no repeater hogs a resource and makes the others wait until it's done. Without the SoC, it'd be expensive to replicate all those circuits for each port. (BTW, the 7330 costs $459, which includes the cabinet and LED display.) Regarding the software being finished -- it may not be "finished" for a long time! Customers are always coming up with ideas for improvements. The 7330's predecessor, the 7K, had twenty upgrades from 1988 to 2004. We've had five upgrades on the 7330 so far, and it's already 'way past the 7K in ability. And, being able to load those files into flash via RS-232 at 57.6K baud makes it a whole lot less painful than swapping out EPROMs. Oh, and regarding upgrades: There was a discussion on this list about CTCSS reverse burst and how Motorola and Kenwood encoders changed phase at different angles. We added a second reverse burst phase angle to the 7330's feature set within hours of that discussion because it involved modifying the code in the SoC and no hardware changes. I think a lot of controllers will be built this way eventually. (We're headed toward models with more ports because it's relatively easy to leverage the design.) Regarding the complexity of the commands -- we think our command set works great, and I'm sure the other controller manufacturers feel the same way about theirs. If you need some bedtime reading, download the modest user manual (only 360 pages) at _http://www.scomcontrollers.com/downloads/7330_userman_v1.0.pdf_ (http://www.scomcontrollers.com/downloads/7330_userman_v1.0.pdf) . And to read more about our controller design philosophy, check out _http://www.scomcontrollers.com/downloads/scom7330newdirectionspaper.pdf_ (http://www.scomcontrollers.com/downloads/scom7330newdirectionspaper.pdf) . (Hey, it's tough to come up with a command system that handles literally hundreds of control commands and macros when your input device is a lousy 12-button DTMF keyboard.. :-) And speaking of manuals, yes, I know ours can be improved, and I'm working on it. Technical writers know that the most useless manual is the one that lists page after page of commands with no real "teaching" or explanation of why the command is of value. I'm fixing that. You asked about S-COM as a whole. We don't advertise much, but I've been building controllers as long as WA6ILQ has, and he's very old.. We've shipped well over 4,000 ham controllers, a couple thousand aviation base station controllers, some railroad wayside station controllers, and other neat stuff since going commercial in 1985. And we're looking for more places to use SoCs, so if you have an application, let us know.
Finally, as has been pointed out, we (the five of us) do this far more for the enjoyment than for the profit. It's great fun to work with the other design team members and the beta users in the process of creating and improving the design. 73, Bob Bob Schmid, WA9FBO, Member S-COM, LLC PO Box 1546 LaPorte CO 80535-1546 970-416-6505 voice 970-419-3222 fax www.scomcontrollers.com **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )
