NW Digital Radio has been evolving over the last few years. Our initial focus was to develop a 70cm radio focused specifically at higher speed digital communications for the amateur radio market. This is still a goal, however, due to a series of conditions we cannot predict when this will happen.
While working on the various aspects of the radio we have been able to produce a series of products that have sustained the ongoing efforts of the company.
We have learned a lot in the process and will be taking that knowledge into new products going forward.
We at NW Digital Radio are problem solvers, and like the process of assembling a project from components, both hardware and software, and have delivered products based on that model.
For some products this model works very well, like our ThumbDV™, which has been very successful when used with software like BlueDV, WinDV, AMBEserver, DummyRepeater, XLX/ambed, and more. Thousands are finding that the ThumbDV™ is just the right product at the right price point and are successfully using it to communicate from computer, over the network, to Digital Voice protocols such as D-STAR, DMR, and more.
Other products, such as the UDRC and UDRC II, have allowed the creation of digital communications systems whether D-STAR repeaters, fldigi workstations, Direwolf sound modem TNCs, or other soundcard DSP based systems. Many of these projects have come about by experimentation and integration by individual amateurs working with open source software and our boards.
However, as we talk with customers and potential customers, we find that many are more interested in solutions that are prepackaged with hardware, software, and a case. Basically, they want a “plug and play” solution that requires little to no integration beyond basic cabling to radios and some minor, guided, configuration.
In 2018, you will see NW Digital Radio evolving from a component provider to a solution provider. We continue to be dedicated to products that leverage open source software and standard platforms, but will be focusing on delivering solutions that are pre-integrated with hardware, software, and packaging.
We will also continue to provide the experimenter and developer a platform that they can access and build upon.
Furthermore, we intend to use the kick starter model on some products where there appears to be an interest in the community, but where we need to know the level of that interest before proceeding with full inclusion of an idea into our product line. If you find a product on our kick starter list, please support it, the risk to you is minimal, while helping us bring out innovative solutions.
Some of the projects we have under design at the current time include:
- A networked, multi-speed, TNC for packet radio
- An Emcomm workstation
- A device for combining multiple SDR-RTL dongles into a single platform
- An integrated low power radio/TNC
and more.
Look for these projects to roll out over the next few months. We think 2018 is going to be a great year to continue to put “The Amateur back in Amateur Radio” —
Your NW Digital Radio team.
