With Windows 10 approaching its end, many of us must consider what we will do with our radio shack computers.
Most ham operators tend to make their radio shack computers last a long time. After all, once we get everything set up the way we like, why change. Well, Windows 11 is forcing some choices sooner than later.
I have two PC’s in my radio room. One is my office computer, the other is for radio control and operating. My office PC is a six year old i5-8400. My radio PC is an eleven year old i5-4670. Here’s the thing. Both still work fine and I have no reason to change. Each has an SSD C-Drive and is powerful enough for all my needs.
But Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0. I was able to turn on TPM in firmware on my Office PC. But the Radio PC is just too old without TPM support. So, what do I do?
One option is to keep using Windows 10 or 11 without proper support, as described here. In this case, it’s just kicking the can down the road. Another option is moving to Linux with the Wine compatibility layer. You will find lots of Linux ham radio software, and some Windows programs might run using Wine. So, that’s an option.
Finally, I can get a new PC for my radio stuff with Windows 11. There are used, refurbished and certainly tons of new options that would be great but require spending money – never the first choice.
Updating My Radio Shack Computers
Running an unsupported old PC is too risky. Moving to Linux is a non-starter as I rely too much on Windows software. While I can run Log4OM and SmartSDR using Wine, and SDRconnect comes in Linux, I would probably lose SDR Console and definitely loose Delphi Community Edition. With Linux I would just lose too much and I am not starting from scratch.
So, it’s time next year for a new Radio PC that properly supports Windows 11. Probably, I will go for a gaming machine with a tenth generation i5 CPU.
If you are considering the same, make sure to get an Nvidia-based video card to take advantage of CUDA parallel computing. Some software, like SDR Console, let you offload heavy FFT calculations onto the GPU which is really fast.
(Graphic Credit: Bridgecom Systems)
And here I thought you meant a Radio Shack computer! I remember playing with a Radio Shack TRS-80 as a teenager! At that time, we had a Heathkit SB-101 and SB-102 in the shack, with no computers. Boy, have things progressed.
I too thought we were referring to the original RS computer ?TRS 80? My first computer. $500 Canadian if I remember.
Another option is to never connect a PC to the Internet in the first place. Some hams have computers dedicated to a single task (e.g. a stand-alone program ) and there’s no need for them to be on the Web. This PC is effectively isolated from security issues…so, no updates but no intrusions either.
My thought exactly, Guy.
Exactly. My 86-year-old mother is running WinXP on an old box that’s never been connected to the Internet. It still runs as well as it did the day she got it 15 years ago. Bonus, the scammers have a great deal of difficulty convincing her that she has issues that they need to fix.
Thanks