Computer modularized analogy to ham transceiver construction

[cdev]

What do people think about the concept of using existing computer chassis form factors for componentized modular builds of SDRs. It seems like a no-brainer to me. That way people's purchases can be incorportated into their future rigs, etc. The ham community should cooperate on more projects so that components can interoperate, also the 5 1/2 inch drive bay size is large enough for small radios, like is done with avionics.

[AF6LJ]

 Making standardized modules isn't a bad idea. I could see this happening with homebrew projects. I don't see the likelihood of this happening in the industry. But hay....
It would be good.

[cdev]

It certainly would be good for case-reuse, and make it easier to manage RFI.

[dmills]

I am not sure I see it.

I mean we have Eurocard as a standard for some things, but really a radio has quite a few subsystems that have very different needs in terms of form factor...
I have a rig done as a set of eurocards (Except for the input BPF, TX Power amp, Output LPF & power supply), but doing the whole thing as a set of identical modules is a huge ask (or a huge radio).

The PA for example often defines (and is defined by) the cooling and thermal design of the entire set, and things like LPF filter banks (and even RX BPFs) can be more then slightly on the large side.

Regards, Dan.

[rfdave#gmail.com]

Kind of like the HPSDR?

http://openhpsdr.org/

This is very common in professional radio designs. Here's an example http://irf-solutions.com/tuners/iwr-6800/

[cdev]

Small, mountable, well shielded, common ground plane, etc!