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Forty Years Licensed
Posted by on Sun, 4 Nov 2007 21:23:33 EST
On Nov 2, 4:49?pm, Paul W. Schleck " wrote: 1) The relatively-small amateur market won't support the cost of standardization. IOW, it would add too much to the cost of a rig. STANDARDIZATION, nearly all of it industry standards, make up nearly everything in the component parts of any manufactured and nearly every home-built radio equipment for at least the last half century. Everything from fasteners (nuts and bolts) made to English and metric industry standards, vacuum tubes, resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors and diodes (of the 'registered' 2N and 1N prefixes). There's industry standards on aluminum and magnesium alloys, even some on castings of same. There's industry standards on rack panels even though that was once started by AT&T for the telephone infra-structure. There's industry standards on wire (American Wire Gauge ruling through the market demand)...although those standards v. government specifications blur for heavier guages. The 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10% logarithmic-sequence of parts values has become a de facto standard because of its ease in equating the parts' tolerances. The 'UHF' series of common RF connectors on amateur radios was originally a military specification but has become a de facto standard through its incorporation; the military doesn't use it now, hasn't for years, the patents on it have run out and it is a relatively cheap coaxial connector compared to other, better coaxial connectors. 2) The rigmakers don't want any more interoperability, because it means less sales Aeronautical Radio, Inc (ARINC) was once solely a commercial company engaged in providing air-ground communications with aircraft before our government got its act together and created the air traffic control system. They still do that but ARINC is better known to commercial avionics equipment makers as an industry Standards Group that, by common agreement of members, establishes standards on all civilian avionics equipment. Those cover everything from cases, their mounting equipment, even the control wiring with specified connectors and specific connections for control functions. ARINC standards have been acceptable to manufacturers and users for fifty years. The civilian avionics market is smaller than the USA amateur radio market. The 'D-Star' VHF-UHF standard, currently under large promotion by Icom, may or may not become a standard. A lot of opposition to that standard is from US amateurs because it originated in Japan and was conceived and tested there. shrug 'S Meter' levels aren't really standardized as to receiver input signal levels except as a 'common use' standard and a recommendation by the IARU. Yet most are under the impression that all S Meters are calibrated/scaled alike (they aren't) and routinely report their S Meter readings in QSOs. :-) Amateur radio equipment, especially transceivers, are designed and made for stand-alone use. Peripherals are relegated to outside-the-antenna- connector devices or different speaker boxes and other audio processing things. The external connections are standardized as to power input (AC standards from the power distribution infrastructure or DC power from the auto industry), computer interface connections (USB, serial, parallel) if those are included for read-out or computer control, and 'open-source' connections such as automatic antenna tuners made by the originating manufacturer or by independent suppliers. Microphone, headset/speaker, morse key connections still aren't standardized fully, not even as de facto standards; that allows more sales of adapters for that small niche market. :-) I'm puzzled about all this palaver over some bandplan automatic lock-out on frequency control and transmitting. Allocations of amateur frequency and modes for same aren't locked to any standard but the common-agreement terms of the ITU-R. Sub-band allocations are always at the discretion of the national radio regulating authorities and may change at any time dependent on that nation's politicking for sub-band use. :-) I've seen a LOT of different human factors documents and guides, but have yet to see a specific arrangement for manual control functions on any consumer electronics product. The 'need' for that seems to be no different for remote control via computer. Computer interfaces are very standardized now but that industry has had a quarter century to work those out; they evolved in the same manner as all standards did. Some have disappeared such as the 5 1/4" floppy and the 'Centronics' connector (Amphenol Blue-Ribbon); the 8" floppy and CP/M OS disappeared so early that few computerists of today know they once existed. :-) PC operating systems are standardized on the MS Windows package through agressive marketing and buyers agreeing to that despite the 'Linux' alternative. De facto 'standards' will come about through a combination of manufacturer's marketing efforts and public acceptance...plus other manufacturers offering 'compatible' things to work with the apparent market-leader that started the de facto standard. That's how it was "forty years ago" and that's how it will continue to be. shrug AF6AY |
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