I'm looking for a platform to publicize and discuss a concept I've been thinking about for several years: hams are 'Systems Engineers' to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the complexity of their station. Wikipedia: "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to …
I'm looking for a platform to publicize and discuss a concept I've been thinking about for several years: hams are 'Systems Engineers' to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the complexity of their station. Wikipedia: "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems".
John - Thanks for the kind words about Zero Retries!
You point out something I think most Amateur Radio Operators take for granted - that it falls (mostly) to THEM to make their particular disparate units of Amateur Radio equipment all work together.
The sole exception I can think in having to do our own systems integration is that FlexRadio seems to be developing an ecosystem of "mostly just works together" units - transceivers, amplifiers, antenna matchers, even antenna systems (SteppIR). I think that's because FlexRadio recognized the importance of well-designed external interfaces, both physical (Ethernet) and software (published APIs) that make it much easier for manufacturers to make their systems work with FlexRadio units.
To your point, it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Amateur Radio vs other radio -related hobbies that we do have the ability to make things work together that weren't originally intended to do so. One of the joys of doing so is that we have a rich community and history to draw from, and ask for help, when we decide to tackle such a project.
I'm looking for a platform to publicize and discuss a concept I've been thinking about for several years: hams are 'Systems Engineers' to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the complexity of their station. Wikipedia: "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems".
-de John NI0K
P.S. I enjoy Zero Retries and read every one.
John - Thanks for the kind words about Zero Retries!
You point out something I think most Amateur Radio Operators take for granted - that it falls (mostly) to THEM to make their particular disparate units of Amateur Radio equipment all work together.
The sole exception I can think in having to do our own systems integration is that FlexRadio seems to be developing an ecosystem of "mostly just works together" units - transceivers, amplifiers, antenna matchers, even antenna systems (SteppIR). I think that's because FlexRadio recognized the importance of well-designed external interfaces, both physical (Ethernet) and software (published APIs) that make it much easier for manufacturers to make their systems work with FlexRadio units.
To your point, it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Amateur Radio vs other radio -related hobbies that we do have the ability to make things work together that weren't originally intended to do so. One of the joys of doing so is that we have a rich community and history to draw from, and ask for help, when we decide to tackle such a project.