Message-ID: <5956A154.5020503@posteo.de>
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:07:00 +0200
From: DK7FC <selberdenken@posteo.de>
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To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
References: <59568E85.20465.1E7B9F5@mike.dennison.ntlworld.com>
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Subject: Re: LF: Radio computer
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Hi Mike,

If you want to buy a new computer, i guess Windows based, then i would 
avoid win10. I heared about many problems with sound drivers, stopping 
SpecLab instances etc.
As long as you don't want to buy an expensive high end system, just use 
one of the standard types offered and compare the RAM size, the HDD 
space and the number of CPU cores. I thik a quad core CPU, 64bit and 8 
GB RAM at least is standard these days, and it is enough. Maybe 16 GB 
RAM make things a bit better, if you want to invest so much.
I would prefer to use the new PC for radio and the old one for email 
etc. :-)
Regarding EbNaut, even with 1 GB RAM you can decode short messages, 
depending on the code complexity choosen by the transmit station. But 
you need a permanent running SpecLab instance and save files whioch are 
periodically generated. Even the old HDD standard of 250 GB would be 
fine i think. The current standard is 1 TB at least.

73, Stefan

Am 30.06.2017 19:46, schrieb Mike Dennison:
> I am looking at upgrading the computer I dedicate to my radio work
> and I am looking for some advice. It is an old office Dell running at
> 2.66GHz with 1Gb RAM.
>
> There are two reasons:
>
> Firstly, I want to de-clutter my desk and use only one computer for
> radio and everything else (mostly web browsing, email and office
> work). But I don't want to slow down the radio signal processing
> whilst I look at BBC News, for instance.
>
> Secondly, my existing computer already seems rather slow. I often run
> HDSDR, WSJT-X and Opera together, and it works more smoothly if I
> turn off the waterfall displays on these. It struggled when I ran
> OPDS. I would like to try EbNaut but I don't think it is man enough.
> It would be good to run SpecLab more or less permanently, too. The
> computer clock seems to drift when I use too many programs (heat
> problem?) so I need to use NTP software with frequent polling to keep
> the time accurate. By chance the computer has a dual video card and I
> found it useful to run two screens, but again it seemed to slow
> things down too much so I stopped.
>
> My question is: What do you think are the things to prioritise for
> your own radio computers? Processor speed - is dual processor
> essential? RAM - how much is essential? Are there reasons to have
> lots of HD space?
>
> I see advertisements for "ultra-fast gaming computers" - would these
> give any benefits?
>
> Is there a complication if I want to use two screens?
>
> Is there something important that I have missed?
>
> I want to get the best value for money but I am confused by the
> specifications.
>
> Mike, G3XDV
> ==========
>
>
>
>