Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Re: A Humble Request.... - "Open-Hardware"

[Moeller]

On 09.01.2011 22:34, Marcus D. Leech wrote:
>
> Sounds like you're volunteering to create such a project.  Let us know when 
> you have everything set-up,
>   including initial high-level designs, and preliminary parts selections.  :-)
No, but some people started (SSRP), really a good starting point...
My idea was to built up an SSRP for my hobby room, to support my old analog 
Oscilloscope.
> But as an occasional small-scale hardware manufacturer myself (both in RF 
> electronics and aerospace),
>   I can tell you that simply looking at the raw BOM costs doesn't give you a 
> good feel for how much it
>   actually costs to produce/test/support real-world hardware.  The 
> conventional wisdom in most industries is
This is the commercial point of view. I compare this to the Microsoft-approach. 
They need lots of money for producing, testing and supporting
operating systems and Office. You can get similar for free with Linux and 
OpenOffice, both using older abandoned software parts, recycled, collected
from public domain, contributions from companies that want to improve certain 
functions (more cost effective than creating a new operating system from
start) ....
>   that for small-scale stuff, the MSRP should be roughly 10 times (yes, TEN) 
> the raw BOM costs, in order for
>   you to not go broke in the first couple of years.  For mass-produced items, 
> margins can be allowed to slip into
This is commercial thinking. For hobby or student projects you don't ask if 
it's profitable or not. It's just for fun or for educational purpose. The
SSRP receiver board was about $120. So, what's the risk of bankruptcy ?
>   streamlined and optimized for cost.  But *in no way* is developmental SDR 
> hardware in the "mass produced"
That's why it is more expensive than my cheap GSM mobile phone, $30 with lots 
of digital/RF electronics included. I think for $100-$300 you could
build a good SDR with mass-market chips (USRP uses quite common chips), 
affordable for students and hobbyists, with certain trade-offs regarding
maximum performance.