[aprssig] D710 standalone control head!

[Steve Bragg]

On 9/29/07, Bob Bruninga WB4APR wrote
> >
> >     Today at DCC, kenwood announced that the new D710 control head
> >     will be sold separately too, since it can be used for APRS with
> >     any radio, not just the D710.
>   
Stephen WA8LMF wrote:
> Think of it as a TNC and an LCD text display in a box sort of like a 
> HamHud.   

Sort of.  It is certainly a competitor of the HamHUD II, regardless of 
how it is marketed by Kenwood (V71 upgrade).  However, HamHUD has a 
number of features the RC-D710 (and by extension the TM-D710) doesn't have:

1.  SmartBeaconing.   Which BEGAN with HamHUD, the original 
variable-rate corner-pegging tracker, in 1998.

2.  DigiMeter.  Graphical strip charts showing how well you and others 
are making it into the network.

3.  Real-time data display.  HamHUD displays station data AS IT IS 
RECEIVED, including the call of the digipeater the packet came through.  
On the Kenwoods, you have to go to the station list to get the full story.

4.  Configurable auxillary display.  Line 2 of the HamHUD's LCD is 
multifunction.  It can be configured to display extra data on the packet 
(such as comments), the distance and direction to the last digipeater 
you got into, the GPS time, and other data.

5.  LOW COST.  The HamHUD kit costs $167.  Anybody have a read on what 
the RC-D710 costs?  I don't, but my guess is several hundred dollars.

73,

Steve Bragg KA9MVA
www.hamhud.net