Apache Labs Community Forum

I had an ANAN-100 when they first came out. Like it but ended up going back to my K3.

With all the cool stuff being done by these great developers, I am wanting to try one again. I am bouncing between a new G2 black face, or a 7000DLE or 8000DLE. I understand operationally they are pretty much the same but the G2 has more growth potential with the larger FPGA.

I operate mostly CW and digital but some SSB too. Will have to get with Paul, W9AC on the changes he made for the qsk improvements to see if I can do them (still have some hand tremors but not as bad as before).

I know almost nothing about linux but can probably learn some basics. But no need for the G2 with the display.

Any thoughts that could help sway one way or the other would be helpful. Thanks!

Greg
AB7R

If you don't care about having a knobified radio, then IMHO the 7000 (any version with the small case and no internal PC) is "peak ANAN". The 7000 is physically small. There are zero Linux complexities. Leaving aside client software (e.g. Thetis), the 7000 requires almost no software/firmware maintenance. It's a very stable platform. If you want a few knobs and buttons then using a MIDI controller, Streamdeck or the like will scratch that itch.

The 8000 is simply too big. It won't fit in a rack. Rarely does anyone use the 200W available. And the front panel microprocessor provides another point of failure and complexity. I have one and had to disable the SWR checks in the front panel Arduino code because it wouldn't play nice with my auto-tuner.

The biggest downside to going with a 7000 (or 8000) is that spare parts are now non-existent. If something major occurs it might be difficult to repair. As unlikely as it might be, lose an FPGA and you'll be having to buy another entire radio off of the used market.

A very slight risk with a 7000 (or 8000) is that you might get an "edge case" that does not run the available firmware very well (timing closure issues). But that is pretty rare since Rick, N1GP has done such a good job on firmware updates.

Another small annoyance is that it's usually better to provision a dedicated Ethernet connection on your PC for the 7000/8000 because the GigE implementation is "delicate". This is one area where the G2 is clearly superior. But adding an additional Ethernet interface is light-years simpler and easier than learning and maintaining Linux and the Linux "p2app" the G2 requires.

Thanks. May have found a 3 yr old 7000 DLE MKII.