"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Decades have brought us moon landing, mars landings,masers, lasers, lets,
fets, mosfets, computers, etc...

But the shape of radio equip. has remained virtually stagnant.

One "innovation" would be to just copy what the IBM clone has taught us.

Build a radio of "cards." Just like the computer, a standard case which
you
can plugin various power supplies, frontend board "cards", intermediate
board "cards", buffer amp board "cards", IF board "cards", audio board
"cards", xmitter board "cards", final amp board "cards", etc.... I think
you get the pic

One radio case can/could virtually be any radio you can imagine.... new
design in a frontend? Plug in a new front end "card", new audio offering?
Plug in a new audio board "card."

Someone really should get off a dead duff somewhere and DO IT!!!!

Your comments are interesting. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the
amateur market did begin down this road.

Look at: The Heathkit SB-104(A) and the Yaesu FT-ONE. there were a number
of "lessons learned" from those experiences - but the "state of the art" has
also moved from "thru-hole" construction to surface mount.

This concept is not unique to amateur radio, network equipment manufacturers
have gone back and forth between "chassis based" equipment and "appliance"
at least 5 times over past 20 years. Each has their unique attributes,
advantages and disadvantages ....

w9gb