'Disclaimer: I do not work for Apache, nor am I compensated by Apache. I did volunteer to help run this forum.
Conrad_PA5Y wrote:I had no idea that there was such a spread in performance on these units.
There is no dramatic "spread in performance". There are a very few people who occasionally have radios that are not working right, either out of the box or broken later on. No manufacturer can turn out a 100% perfect and 100% reliable product, not Icom, not Kenwood, not anyone. Not at any price point, either, whether it's a $1000 radio or a $4000 radio. And this is even more difficult for a small company like Apache that turns out comparatively few units a month. Such a situation simply does not lend itself to the ability to qualify or validate a design such that it is reliable to the same extent as a design that is being produced in the 100's or 1000's of units a month. There is just not enough volume to make it economically feasible. When you buy low volume, specialty consumer electronic hardware, one has to expect it is going to be less reliable. The manufacturer of such a device generally compensates for this with a very effective and generous repair process. Everyone I know who has engaged with Apache on a repair has been very satisfied, including myself.
And you must remember that Apache supplies the hardware
ONLY. The software and firmware come from an open source community that is not comprised of professional developers, does not subscribe to industry best practices or processes for development, testing, validation, documentation or any other dozen factors associated with software development that you might care to name. As a result, this software and firmware is NOT going to be 100% reliable, stable and bug free.
Some people see these as 'niggles' I feel that they are unforgivable.
It's not so much that they are niggles but rather that they are offset by so many other positive or unique things that the "niggles" are just considered the cost of doing business. Remember that 90% of the radio is PowerSDR, the hardware unit is nothing more than some filters, switches, amp, ADC, FPGA, DAC and glue. It doesn't seem like a lot for the money, but they are very low volume so there is no economy of scale. So you are paying extra and you have "niggles". BUT...if you want:
1. The ONLY radio that provides adaptive predistortion transmit linearization
2. The ONLY radio that provides rack/DAW type audio processing built in
3. The ONLY radio that provides NR2 noise reduction
4. The ONLY radio that provides coherent beamforming (aka diversity)
5. The ONLY radio that provides at least a half dozen other obscure features such as true independent sideband AM receive
6. Arguably the best DSP filtering in the business (brick wall, low latency, etc.)
7. AND at the same time hangs with the top 10 or 20 on the Sherwood list depending on which hardware unit you pick
well then some things are going to have to be traded off. Quality and reliability might not be six sigma. The code might not be bug free. The documentation might not very complete. And so on. But if you don't need the unique features of PowerSDR, and would rather have something that is 100% super reliable both out of the box and ten years down the road, with effectively zero software/firmware bugs, and a big, thick manual, then, respectfully, you might be happier with another radio, and I'm serious, I'm not saying this to be sarcastic. I'm obviously a huge evangelist for Apache and PowerSDR, but I still point a lot of people at the 7300 or Flex, just because I know they will be much happier.
When I was looking to upgrade from the Flex 3000 I had I agonized for at least a month over whether it should be this crazy Apache Labs open source thing, or if it should be the more mainstream Flex 6300. Obviously I went with Apache and PowerSDR. It's been a bumpy road for sure, but I'm certain it's been a lot more fun and interesting, at least for me, because I'm interested in being on the cutting edge of technology. Not everyone is happy or comfortable hanging it out over the edge like that.
One last point: Apache has reached a level in the market where it appears to be a mainstream choice. Heck, its products are distributed by Gigaparts and HRO, right? But it's really still a very niche choice. Except in one, very, very important regard: reliability and customer satisfaction. I'm pretty certain that if things were a train wreck in those departments neither Gigaparts nor HRO would carry the Apache brand, as the costs of processing both repairs and returns are quite high.
73!
Scott