[aprssig] Yet another th-d7 thread

[Dave Baxter]

Oh yes!  However, they are usualy replaced by better specified and
cheaper parts.  It's just the development time or "NRE" costs that go
skywards as the complexity inevitably increases.  Hence, there is less
insentive to put the money up front for a long life low volume product,
that will have to be redesigned every two or so years.

Dave G0WBX.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen H. Smith [mailto:wa8lmf2 at aol.com] 
> Sent: 08 July 2008 00:51
> To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [aprssig] Yet another th-d7 thread
> 
> Corey Shields wrote:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > My HT died over the weekend..  Terrible timing since I blew my ham 
> > budget back at Dayton..
> >
> > So I'm looking around at all of the radios out today and 
> notice that 
> > Universal Radio's page for the TH-D7AG was updated today:
> >
> > Note:
> > Kenwood USA had indicated that the TH-D7AG is discontinued. We only 
> > have
> > 2 units left and they are factory sealed. Please call for pricing. 
> > [07/07/08].
> >
> > Anyone hear of a new model?  I think its a bit odd to discontinue a 
> > model without even mentioning a replacement, but maybe they've had 
> > delays..
> 
> 
> The scuttlebut at Dayton was that the D7 was forcibly discontinued 
> because certain key parts were no longer available to Kenwood.    
> 
> [Increasingly, commercial ham radio designs are based on 
> semiconductors (especially application-specific ICs a.k.a. 
> "ASICs") and other components initially developed for 
> consumer products such as cell phones, TVs, computer WiFi 
> devices, FRS radios, automotive electronics, etc.  Because 
> these subsystems are produced in huge quantities, they tend 
> to be relatively cheap, but they also have a short commercial 
> lifespan.
> 
> Amateur radio products, which traditionally had a relatively 
> long model life,  are now hostage to the very short model 
> life span of most 
> consumer electronics.   With the frantic rate of new model 
> introductions, the incessant drive to cost-reduce these 
> devices, and model lifespans measured in months rather than 
> years, many low-cost 
> seemingly commodity-type parts disappear abruptly.   This is 
> especially 
> true for RF subsystem building blocks such as synthesizers, 
> IF amplifier blocks, front-end RF stage/mixers, divide-by 
> counters capable of operating in the GHz range, etc initially 
> developed for the cell phone market. ]
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
> EchoLink Node:      14400    [Think bottom of the 2M band]
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