N9VV tribute to the SDR PIoneers
October 2004©
"Story of the SDR-1000 Frontier Spirit"
I tell ya' young whipper snapper, it reminds me of the great battle of
QSD gulch in '05 when them marauding bands of spurs struck at the heart
of our camp. We fired all our DSP MIPS, MOPS, and FLOPS at 'em. There were
I’s and Q’s as thick as PSK signals on a Friday night! They came at us
in every phase and mode you can imagine. We lined up 25 of our best hertz
and blocked em' at every turn. Why if it weren't for our brick wall shape
factor we would all have been goners fer sure.
Our whole VoIP Team finally had to resort to hand to hand combat to keep
them at bay. The keyboards smoked hotter than greased lightning. They say
that the sound cards mixed in unholy ways never seen before or since. White
noise tried to block our progress, but the programmers linked, loaded,
and ran em' off like rats leaving a sinking ship. USB ports ran like rain
from a revision 2.0 boot. Parallel ports recoiled with pain and loathing.
The SDR pioneers blazed a whole new trail from Tayloe junction to H-Mode
mixer and on to the BNC feed through pass. It was quite a sight to see.
Yup, you could C sharp right on fer thousands of miles from one F2 layer
to the next. The SDR-1000 pioneers had the speed of a Python and the tenacity
of Pyrex right along with their indomitable spirit of adventure.
Those pioneering days took their toll on the weak and unwilling. You mind
your history books and you will see that The Ancient Order of the Knob
chronicled many causalities along the way.
They say you can go to a sacred place in Dayton Ohio where you can still
see the glow of LEDs and hear the echo of voices of the survivors raising
their glasses and cheering for the courageous men and felines who survived
the upheaval.
These brave pioneers huddled around their CPUs and swapped tall tales of
great DX, outrageous Dynamic Range, Kelvin valued MDS, Herculean sized
BDR, and soaring IP3. Dyrodynes everywhere overloaded in reverence to the
early adopters.
Markers all along the trail said "the future of radio" placed
there with loving care to guide others who cherish learning and innovation.
Many others were slow to follow - but follow they did.
It was quite a time!"
<g> original poetry copyright 2004 Ken N9VV
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