Attention all Amateur Radio Manufacturers?
So I’ve been processing this lately what if radio manufacturers actually listened to their customers and adopted a more forward design approach in building new radios?
What if they adopted cell phone manufacturers’ lifecycle process? Now before you start in on “well, the Ham Radio Market is small” and “manufacturers need to make money back on the development cycle,” what if they decided to take a page out of the tech industry playbook and iterate on their hardware?
I mean we are seeing a slow adoption of this model - and I mean slow; where new hardware designs from Yaesu (VHF UHF Mobiles) and Icom (705/905) are coming to market.
But why in today’s technology space can’t they just standardize hardware and make the software features the deciding factor instead of just confusing the consumer and making them decide solely on price?
I feel that if you build a platform that leverages current technology and standards (like below)
WIFI Bluetooth using open/current standards
Dual receivers/transmitters
Touch screen or user-programmable buttons
Same form factor of the radio base and head
Standardize the mics, power, and input/output connectors
Standardize features e.g. APRS, Memories, etc.
You can charge a bit more of a premium as a consumer won’t feel like they are missing out because your software stack can control that price point.
Let me set this example. I’ll leave out the digital side of things for now….
You have Manufacturer X build 2 VHF/UHF mobiles and standardize the body and face configurations. Build in all the standard features, like SD card / Bluetooth / WIFI programming, Make it all mode (SSB, FM, APRS, etc.), and create an OS that is platform standard - like Icom has done for example across all lines.
Then control the digital and software stack. Make that more compatible with 3rd party devices e.g. Bluetooth keyboards, and WIFI syncing, and customers will keep coming back.
With the dawn of SDR software design, this is going to become a requirement. As the next generation of hams are expecting a user experience and be less concerned whether the radio has “x” filtering or is hybrid or het? They aren’t all into the “right to repair” as they have come to grow up where warranties or coverage plans are a fact of life.
What am I getting at?
We’ll the recent launch of Yaesu’s FTM-500 radio has gotten my “knickers in a twist.”
I was hoping in their attempts to build a new “forward-thinking” radio they would have designed something that wasn’t just a different flavor of their existing radio lines and can I say that they need to fire their marketing team as the “launch of this radio” fell into the category of “borderline vaporware?” Why launch a radio and not get it type accepted in the US before they release it in Japanese markets? Then have your marketing manager play damage control on the rumors?
Their “Big Head” design is targeting what market? Blind or deaf users? As I currently own an FTM 300 and I feel I can easily manage button presses while driving I don’t see any gains to a LARGE knob on the radio. Unless they were thinking “all mode”.
Sidebar…
Can you imagine if this radio came out as a VHF/UHF mobile with SSB/FM/CW/RTTY running 50 watts they would steal a huge market back? As the Icom 9700 is over 1800 street price and is more of a base station radio. Think of being an innovator Yaesu.
Bringing this home…
I am still waiting for Yaesu’s full feature review of this - as the one posted on their official channel made me feel like I was watching a review of the rebranded 400.
I feel that they could have brought a radio to market that was innovative and met an area that was a gap in the hobby but in reality, it’s just a radio that will confuse the market more.