On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 01:44:12 GMT, Gregg wrote:

Nowadays the commercial gear is *SO* much more advanced than anything
the average ham can design and build[1], or even build from a design
someone else worked out, that it's just easier to buy an appliance to
get the performance one wants. Construction is hard, it requires time
and expensive materials, and the overall bill for the appliance most of
the time is less than it would cost (including time) to build a
comparable device.

Elecraft has several kits that build an advaned transceivers with
microprocessors and digial pannels. The average hams do build them
and when done can even fix them.

Point taken. Myself, I am a tubehead, but I would love to design a
PLL-PIC based VFO for my tubes. After all the readin' and studyin' I did
on the subject, I have come to the conclusion to let a dedicated
solid-state-aholic mate design one and I just build it.

There is an outfit that has kits to do exactly that. Also there
was/is the Amqrp [http://www.amqrp.org/] DDS VFO daughter board.
That with the PIC-el kit was a quick means for me to bootstrap into
using PICs and DDS for my Rf perojects. In the past I've used micros
but ahving the tools and a a really nice course on a specific one was
a useful assist.

Are we just too old?

Never!

Allison