[aprssig] APRS needs...
Scott Miller
scott at opentrac.org
Mon May 26 19:22:37 EDT 2008
Adding a keyboard port to something isn't difficult. It's just a little
unwieldy.
> You seem to be a developer, so why the negative attitude? We can if we
> want to.
Because I'm a developer who's learned that just because a hundred people
on the ARPS SIG say they want something, it doesn't mean they'll
actually buy it. I'm not trying to be negative, just realistic.
Yes, if Kenwood introduces something, people will buy it. Name
recognition counts for a LOT. I think the OpenTracker+ is a more
capable product all around than the TinyTrak3+, at a better price, and
in many ways the TT4 is still just catching up with the OT1+, to say
nothing of the Tracker2. But Byon got there ahead of me, and by all
indications still sells more units than me, because people know the name.
So don't expect us small developers to jump in and compete in a space
where only a giant like Kenwood or ICOM is likely to be able to make a
profit. Those full-page ads they run in QST? They run about $4k/month,
per page. More for back covers. Not many small companies can keep up
with that.
What I *am* doing, though, is working to get as many of the pieces as I
can. Lack of a good, affordable frequency-agile 2-meter transceiver
module has been a problem for a lot of these projects, so I'm partnering
with a company in China to develop and produce them. The first 10
engineering samples are being assembled now, and if all goes well the
first production batch will be delivered this summer.
Even with a very modest markup, though, they'll only just be competitive
with a new mono-band HT in price. There's simply no way around it short
of buying tens of thousands of units up front.
Scott
N1VG
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