Bill, thanks for the explanation. I too have read that the developers for HPSDR were working
on making the software capable of using 1000baseT Ethernet speeds. Once that happens, I would
think that adding more receivers would be easier.
  I have run my Flex 1500 in dual receive mode (same band) and have found it hard to listen to.
I have heard a demo of the Flex 6700 running 4 receivers at once. (slices) And it sounds like trying
to listen to several conservations in a crowded room at the same time. It can be done, but, something always gets lost in the translation. So, while a novel idea, I don't see (for me) how practical it really would be in every day use.
  Also, I don't run the display on the 1500 at full bandwidth either. Usually it is set around 20-30Khz. at most. I have one of the SDR dongles that will display up to 3Mhz at a time too. But, that is way too much bandwidth to look at. (plus I really don't have an antenna that is broadbanded enough to take advantage of it)
  Lots of fun and interesting technology to play with and I'm glad to be around to see it and hopefully to give it all a ride.
james
WD5GWY

   

Ok, I give up!!! 
I guess the built in digital modes is too much to ask!
james
WD5GWY

Michael, you are correct about the main delay for the 6000 Series radios. I know a couple of developers that work with Flex and both have said that getting the software going as intended has been the biggest delay in the release of the 6000 Series radios. Flex has said they have started shipping. (in their latest newsletter) But, in very limited quantities. And most likely, though they won't confirm it, the first few are going to people that will be in their "expanded" beta program.
That has caused more than a few people to get upset. Some that had ordered their radios at Dayton have said they have not been notified of getting their radios or being added to the beta group. So, they have no ideas yet as to when they will get their radios. And folks that have ordered since then, are probably not going to see anything before this Fall. (I did not get to read the latest newsletter, but, have read quotes from it posted on Flex's Yahoo group.)
  Not good for the PR department at Flex Radio at all. I'm sure they will be announcing shipping has started at Dayton. But, it will be interesting to see how many are actually being shipped by then.
 james
WD5GWY
 

Interesting!! Have you ran the same tests while running cuSDR? Since it has the ability
to run up to 7 receivers at once, I think it would be interesting to see what kind of
load it puts on a setup such as yours. I am very much interested in getting one of the
Anan radios. Even the Anan-10 would make me happy.
  I am hoping the developer of cuSDR is able to get the transmit side of his software working.
The receive side looks very impressive.
james
WD5GWY

One thing that I failed to mention, is the addition of new bands for European hams.
For them, that is getting a new radio. They still have to jump thru some hoops to get
that part of the upgrade/update working. But, at least they now have access to the
spectrum allotted to them.
james
WD5GWY
 

Michael, you are correct. My comparison between the 890AT and the MK V is a bit much. Your example is much better and closer to reality. And it strikes closer to what the version/incremental
updates to PowerSDR currently are. ( 2.5.3 to 2.6.4) In your example, things were corrected either in hardware or if possible firmware. (I don't know if the 450 could be flashed to the D version or not) But, it did not add features to the 450 line as far as I know. I had a friend that had a similar experience with the 450 to yours. He had just bought a 450 and not long afterwards the 450D came along. He wasn't real happy, but, he wanted a 450 and got it. (later sold his radio and got a 450D)
  Anyway, I am enjoying this discussion and hope it continues without any flaming. That was not my intention. I simply wanted to know how adding new firmware and software that added no new
features and functions that were not available in a previous version of PowerSDR, could be considered getting a new radio.
james
WD5GWY
   

Really? As I understand software revision etc., going from 2.5.3 to 2.6.4 is an incremental
update,as in bug fixes etc. not new features and not a new version. Were it a new version
it would be 3.*.* indicating a version with new FEATURES (and probably new bugs as well  )
 It still falls short of creating a NEW RADIO by adding new features and functionality. To me,
that is the bottom line for a new radio. Getting something that has features and functions that
the previous radio/version did not have.
  As I said in my previous post, my 1500 still works exactly as it did prior to this version of
PowerSDR. The ONLY noticeable difference is the spectrum display where the IF indicator is now
centered. And according to Tim Ellison (Flex radio developer) that particular bug only effected
the Flex 1500 and not the 3000 or 5000. And that is in itself, not a new feature, but, a correction
of a programming fault(bug).
  If simply refreshing the software and firmware of a radio like the Flex created a new radio, then
Flex couldn't build and sell them fast enough. Especially since PowerSDR is free. (and open source) After all, hams are noted for being miserly. Free has always been one of my favorites!
So, still I'm not convinced that getting an incremental update of the firmware and software(PowerSDR) creates a new radio. When Flex adds RTTY decode/send, JT65 decode/send
or other digital modes with no other hardware/software needed to make it work to PowerSDR, then I'll be convinced that I have indeed gotten a new radio.
james
WD5GWY
   

  I certainly enjoy using my Flex 1500. And this version of PowerSDR seems to be working
just fine. BUT, I have a question, I keep reading the statement" it's like getting a brand new
radio". Not to be a party pooper, but, how is this version, or even the previous version, of
PowerSDR like getting a brand new radio? In the case of the 1500 the Spectrum display is
centered. like it should have been all along. There are no new "FEATURES" or abilities added
to the radio/PowerSDR. And from the list of changes, just minor bug fixes.
Basically, my Flex 1500 works just like it has all along. (just fine) But, nothing new to brag
about. Now, if it had suddenly changed into a Flex 6500, that would be something to brag
about! 
  To me a brand new radio is one that has features that are different and an improvement
from what I have had before. Example, I have and still have, a Yaesu FT-890AT. A very
nice radio that preforms really well. Last year, I bought a Yaesu FT-1000MP MK V. I much
better preforming radio! Lots of difference between the two. Yet, they are both from the
same manufacturer. The MK V has features that the 890 doesn't. That to me is having a
new radio. (and in this case, one I have wanted a long time)
 So, it would be interesting to know, not only from you, but, other Flex users, what is it
that getting an update to PowerSDR that makes your radio a new radio!
james
WD5GWY

(stirring the pot)
 

40 will always, as others have stated, be a regional band during local daylight hours.
I listen, and occasionally talk to the group you were listening to on 7.195. Most of the
time I am on there (or listening) during the day....while mobile in an 18 wheeler.
7.195 has a very nice group of people on it and everyone, (well, not everyone, some
idiotic jammers are the exception) is welcome. Catch a pause sometime and throw out
your call. You will be surprised how nice that bunch is. Several are either retired or active
truck drivers too.
  Last year, (in the Fall) I was driving to Belton, Texas to the, twice yearly, Belton Hamfest
and around 5am I heard a ZS station ( New Zealand) calling CQ on 7.195. Very strong signal.
I answered his call and talked to him for several minutes. So, you never know what you will
find on 40. It is a good DX band at night.
20 meters and up is good for daytime DX. And 17 happens to be one of my favorite DX bands.
Oh, if your 40 meter antenna is not mounted very high up( 25-40 feet) you will find it works
really good for local daytime contacts.
Have fun and welcome to the bands!!
james
WD5GWY
 

  I must be lucky then! I'm on my second 890. It is now a backup rig to my current favorite, the FT-1000MP MKV. I sold the first 890 to help finance the MKV. Both 890's have worked without
problems. They are pretty tough radios. And work surprisingly well.
james
WD5GWY

Looking good and working good do not always go together!!  
(At least in my experience)
 I think that even the ATAS 120 would be better than this particular antenna. Not exactly stealth, but, it would have some chance of radiating a signal better. I saw plenty of screwdriver antennas
and others at a hamfest in Belton Texas yesterday. Some were huge and others, (like the Little Tarheel II) were not that intrusive at all. But, if the name of the game is getting the most performance for your money, a large, antenna is hard to beat. But, something is better than
nothing if you are wanting to get on the air mobile.
james
WD5GWY
  

The Hermes , Anan radios etc. are definitely a work in progress, as is the 6000 Series Radios.
I am certain that it will be a long time before their full potential is reached. (and like you, if ever)
  I went to the Belton Texas hamfest yesterday, and had the chance to try out the 6700. But, only got to play with the receiver as they were using a wire antenna strung out the back door and on the ground. The Flex rep who was demo'ing it, managed to get the computer to lock up. Not the 6700 itself, but, the computer he was using. Turned out he had several instances of SmartSDR open at the same time and had used up the computer's resources. Shutting down those instances and for added insurance, rebooting the 6700, brought things back to normal. For an antenna on the ground , it worked pretty good. Not great, but, better than I expected. I was told that one of the holdups to release was the software. That has yet to reach the point that they feel comfortable about shipping radios. (this was from one of their developers that was there) They know they are going to have issues with the software no matter when they release the radios, but, they are wanting to have as much bugs etc. taken care of before letting the end users at it.
  I still like the Anan radios that I have read about and watched (and listened to) videos of. With the ongoing support from the open source community, they have a lot of potential and fixes can
appear sooner than later.
   As for Flex Radio's API's being closed, those that are going to be used for the presentation software (thin client) will not be closed. Only the firmware for the radio itself, will be closed
to outsiders. That is a good thing on Flex's part. It keeps people from causing problems that
would be difficult to track down. At the most, a developer that writes an app, for say, a tablet
computer, only has to get commands and receive the responses back from the radio and present that information, along with audio (incoming and outgoing) and the video for the display. (slice receivers etc.) I have had some experience with API's (love programming) and while you can
crash a system passing parameters incorrectly, it is hard to do, if the API is written correctly.
It the developer is tracking errors returned from the API(as he/she should) then that can be
handled in the application gracefully. YOU IDIOT........ YOU SENT THE WRONG COMMAND!!
(well, not quite like that!!!     )
james
WD5GWY

Oh, and I still want at least an Anan 10 !!!
 

I had wondered the same thing. It would have helped to some degree. My thoughts are he
should have set things up and left the setting alone. (maximizing both as needed beforehand)
But, listening to the same conservation in each channel, it might be harder to tell which one
is the clearer of the two. I have used dual receive both with my FT-1000MP MKV and the
Flex 1500 (in the same band but two different conversations I wanted to monitor) and at best
it became confusing. It is almost like standing in a crowded room and trying to listen in on more
than one conversation. If can be done, but, something always seems to get lost trying to focus
  on two conversations at once. I saw one YouTube video of the 6700 running 4 qso's at the same
time and it sounded like a crowded room to me for sure! Watching the displays(slices) for activity on a particular band/frequency, would seem better in some instances. But, trying to pay attention to two or more conversations at once, is just too tiring! (might be getting old, younger folks seem
better able to do that.......or so they claim!)
james
WD5GWY

Both sounded similar, but, as someone posted there on YouTube, he kept adjusting the
AGC and that seemed to have some effect on the audio. I do think that the Hermes did
seem to have much cleaner audio. But, the Hermes could display much more bandwidth
at the same time too.
james
WD5GWY

Tim, if you decide to get rid of the Anan 10, drop me a PM here or email me. (my email is good
on qrz.com) I got to play with the 6700 at Belton today. Nice radio, but, they only had a wire
run out of the back of the building on the ground. No way to actually test it on transmit.
And it appears that the real holdup on shipment of the radios is the software. This particular 6700
had issues with SmartSDR and SmartSDR froze up while one of the Flex guys was showing it to me.
Turned out he had multiple instances of SmartSDR open and resources got used up on the computer
he was using with it. Closing all the instances of SmartSDR and rebooting the 6700 (just to be safe)
brought everything back to life. It is a neat radio. But, still, much too expensive for me. (at this time
anyway)
james
WD5GWY