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My Raspberry Pi is benchmarking about 30X slower than one thread (out of 8) on my desktop Core i7 processor. It's an interesting challenge to do real-time Python / wxWidgets programming on the little guy, but we're making progress.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Cable to U-Verse and back again
Executive summary: AT&T U-Verse out, Comcast cable in.
I've been living as an Amateur Radio operator with AT&T's U-Verse service for about 18 months. It was a great experiment, to see whether ham HF operation could be compatible with U-Verse's VDSL2 signalling.
VDSL2 delivers a bit stream over channels stretching from a low frequency to over 8 MHz, so it was a challenge to work at power levels over 50 W or so in the 160, 80, or 40 M bands. We tried lots of things -- ferrites everywhere, shielding, etc. At the same time, AT&T's technology improved, with higher bit rates and more tolerant modems. We weren't too unhappy as U-Verse customers -- but that was only because I don't spend a lot of time on the air (especially QRO) during TV viewing hours.
Still, I have grown tired of having to think too much about my TV, Internet and phone service. They should just work! Even for radio amateurs. Back to the cable world -- Comcast.
The problems with Comcast will undoubtedly come. Maybe they'll throttle me if I don't watch enough NBC shows. But in 2 years, maybe we'll see Google or Verizon or somebody offering something more attractive? Stand by.
I've been living as an Amateur Radio operator with AT&T's U-Verse service for about 18 months. It was a great experiment, to see whether ham HF operation could be compatible with U-Verse's VDSL2 signalling. VDSL2 delivers a bit stream over channels stretching from a low frequency to over 8 MHz, so it was a challenge to work at power levels over 50 W or so in the 160, 80, or 40 M bands. We tried lots of things -- ferrites everywhere, shielding, etc. At the same time, AT&T's technology improved, with higher bit rates and more tolerant modems. We weren't too unhappy as U-Verse customers -- but that was only because I don't spend a lot of time on the air (especially QRO) during TV viewing hours.
Still, I have grown tired of having to think too much about my TV, Internet and phone service. They should just work! Even for radio amateurs. Back to the cable world -- Comcast.The problems with Comcast will undoubtedly come. Maybe they'll throttle me if I don't watch enough NBC shows. But in 2 years, maybe we'll see Google or Verizon or somebody offering something more attractive? Stand by.
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