One of the questions I often receive as Roadtest Program Manager is about new roadtesters. Do I use new roadtesters? Of course I do. element14 promotes our roadtests in newsletters, social media channels, pre-roadtest discussions, and word-of-mouth in order to obtain new roadtesters for the program.
How do you select new roadtesters?
That's another question that comes up. When I read all the roadtest applications, I look for new roadtesters who have a background on the product being reviewed, as well as the time and availability to perform a review that often can take 40 hours or more. Also, I am aware of the fact that new roadtesters have a learning curve. We have published for articles that should help a new roadtester in Getting Started:
What is the typical background of a roadtester?
New roadtesters come from a variety of backgrounds: students, teachers, researchers, academics, etc. But experienced engineers seemed to be the job description most often listed on a roadtest application-entry form. No matter if you are new or experienced roadtester, if you write an interesting application, express a desire to test a product, and demonstrate an interest in participating in the element14 community, you can be competitively selected as an official roadtester.
Today, I went through all the roadtest reviews of 2023 and selected ones from new roadtesters that I thought were great efforts for the first time out. A lot is involved in performing your first roadtest. It sometimes takes a bit more work to understand what element14 is looking for in a roadtest review. You don't need to be a professional writer, nor do we expect that your first review will be perfect. Writing a review is a learning experience, which I hope you enjoyed.
A new roadtester is a member who perform his or her first roadtest in 2023 (Jan through Dec). Listed below in no special order are my choices for the best new roadtesters of 2023:
- JWx: Beginner's guide to SDR (using ADALM-Pluto)
- work14: Review of AMD Xilinx Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit
- mjhughes: Unleash Your Inner Tech Geek: Squeeze Every Last Bit of Functionality out of the Multicomp MP750511 with SCPI!
- abhishek2018: Study on Residential Carbon Monoxide Pollution (Multicomp Pro MP780892 Air Quality Meter)
- manihatn: Roadtest of Avnet ZUBoard 1CG Development Kit
I would like to thank all these members for their participation in the element14 RoadTest Program.
