Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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The union of radio and computer is about to give birth to the “soft radio”. I tried to think of a merged term to describe this evolution but I decided that something like “softadio” was a bit awkward. I have seen it described as “software radio” and that is probably a good fit. At any rate, a soft radio signals the inevitable: all radio functions are accessed from a simulated window using point and click actions. I recently saw an ad in QST for a product that showed the computer screen and several mini-windows that purport to show the various functions and settings that one has on a typical rig. I confess that I have not seen anything beyond the ad. However, I remember reading about such a concept 2-3 years ago in connection with military radio developments. The idea has merit for the military with its relentless goal of lightweight equipment for the foot soldier while affording him his own, live CNN-type coverage.
What does this mean for amateur radio? There is no simple answer for each of us would react to such an idea in ways that are most familiar to us. In my case that has me wondering how I could use a soft radio for DXing or contesting. Different pull-down menus would be needed for my particular needs. Most of the time I’m chasing DX when there is not a contest going on so I would want a menu that allows me to tune, say, only the Extra class part of the CW bands. Furthermore, the program would be smart enough to integrate a grayline map with the beam heading and the particular band that is likely to be open to that part of the world. For example, if I have the beam pointed Northwest at 6:00 AM and I want to operate, the rig would probably select 40 meters. If I get on the air around 11:00 AM, I could query the program for working Europe and would be presented with a Northeast beam heading and choice of bands from 10 to 20 meters. As an added bonus, a background application could monitor WWV and other propagation broadcasts and give me a suggested maximum useable frequency (MUF). I would also like to be able to customize the screen where only those features I use most would be shown while others remain up in the menu bar.
Using such a rig would take some getting used to. The idea of “point and click” for everything from frequency selection to sending CW sort of leaves me with a confused look (more than normal). There are some functions that I like to select and simultaneously adjust which a mouse-driven scheme would not readily accommodate. Oh yes, I suppose I could customize such operations using the on-screen help menu (as long as it is not written by Microsoft). The array of windows and sub-windows would require an airline pilot’s level of training to read their contents and instantly understand what they are saying. Let’s see; was that maximum likelihood DX statistic I pulled from the past 3-day packetcluster database for HL9 on 80 or 40 CW? I know I’m on the right VFO, but what antenna am I on?
I think the possibilities of a soft radio are many, but there are some things where such a system just doesn’t fit. Hams that enjoy mobile HF operation prefer a small transceiver with few knobs so that they can minimize their panel scan time when taking their eyes of the road. A soft radio with its display just doesn’t cut it in a car. One possible solution, albeit expensive, would be to adopt fighter aircraft heads-up display technology and project the display onto the windshield. The system would be integrated with touch screen technology so that the driver/operator could touch the appropriate function on the windshield to tune, send, log, etc. This might sound like a reasonable approach to mobile soft radio operation but I think it has some drawbacks. The driver would have to remember to clean fingerprints off the windshield every night. There is always the problem of absently swatting at a mosquito and inadvertently changing the frequency right when you break the pile-up for working a new country. And Heaven knows what would happen to the system if you sneeze!
I realize that progress is inevitable, but there is a certain humanness that a soft radio just can’t emulate. Amateurs today still have a unique fist or signature to their CW even though nearly every one uses a keyer. Accents and tones are still a reliable clue that the DX station came back to your call in a pile-up because you know how the operator says certain words. It’s also nice to chuckle now and then when the 40 WPM CW demon flubs his own call.
I must admit that retaining what is human can be difficult when I consider what is possible with a soft radio. I would like to see a robust speech processing algorithm that makes N1FCC sound like James Earl Jones. I’m sure someone can come up with the right program to make W1NH sound like a symphony on CW. It would be fun to slide the baud rate arrow on Gene, K1NR, so that he can be run at a sedate 2800 baud, or cranked up to 56 Kbaud for a contest. Finally, there is the ultimate challenge - a routine for copying and sending 20 WPM flawlessly so that WB4MDC can become a bona fide “Dead Ender”.
I hope amateur radio will continue to be driven by the desire to make communicating easier, more enjoyable, and always fun. These are very human things that I doubt a computer will ever flawlessly emulate. This month there are a number of small contests taking place from many parts of the world. Why not give a listen and see how human amateur radio should be?
73, de K2TE