On May 2, 6:18 pm, RDWeaver wrote:
But those "about the same" mass-market radios wouldn't cut it in a
competitive contesting environment, even if someone is at the front to
ride herd on the hardware controls.


Well, if you are into contesting and chasing DX and cannot compromise
features, then you are surely going to have to buy the most automated
radio you can find and spend a lot of money in the process..

I'd look at the top of the line radios from all the manufactures..
TenTec, Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood etc, and pick the radio that has the most
features that you can control from a computer and the best automation
software available. You may even need to consider moving to separate
receiver/transmitter boxes to get the best receiver performance
possible. (Which may put you into the commercial equipment world for
receivers and a whole new price class.)

Eventually, the software defined radios (like Flexradio's) may become
viable for this purpose, but at last glance they still had sub-par
performance compared to the same priced radios in the market, although
the automation would be much better. I'd give them a few years more
and I'll bet they are going to be very competitive in price and
performance and take the likes of the Icom 7800 for a ride unless the
major manufacturers step it up.

But that is just the receiver/transmitter equipment of a remote
station... There is a LOT more stuff to consider..... Towers,
antennas, amps, coax switches, tuners, computers, rotors, transmitter
fail safe devices, remote connectivity, security and electrical power
come off the top of my head. The radio may be only a small part of the
total cost here if you are doing a remote located serious contest
station... Big bucks... It might be cheaper to just move..

-= bob =-