I think technically the notching filters are not protected because they released them Open Surceoriginally.  Not sure they can legally recall them like that.  Officially they really haven't.  My understanding there are other soft reasons behind the seeming recall of the notch filter code.  I am guessing in court it would not hold up and that if a person downloads the source an activates them their selves, there is little to nothing They can do about it.

Free speech has built many a great nations and a few good forums as well!

Having a blast with the new Anan, and it has all the features my Flex 5K had and quite a few more! Yes, it has the Panofall! Wink wink! Best part of it all is it didn't cost me the Arm and leg, just part of an arm.

Perhaps what is coolest about the OpenSource experience is I can actually communicate with the developers working on the software any time I want.

Is it perfect, nope, that's not the reason for my post.  It's good to have alternatives, that's the message and we learn about them through free open expression.

Here is a simple compare video, pretty much concludes that on average day to day communications you won't see to much difference.  I will make another during a contest weekend and we will likely see a bigger difference.

http://youtu.be/6114iunuFDo

Sorry for the low quality video!

Me either, however, that said, there is a video on HamRadioNow with the statement on support costs and move to internal computing by Flex Radio there.

Check it out, its a cool video on the 6700.  The one before it is also really cool  You can also learn about the Mercury project as well there.  If memory serves me right its videos 61-63.

No need to go somewhere else for that, you get it all here on eHam, the good, the bad, the truth and the ugly!



Lighten up guys, it's not like someone wizzed in your wheaties or something!

Why?  Because you don't like it? The thing you don't get apparently about forums is they are meant for free expression.  The more you try to control people the less control you"ll have.

Why is pointing out for example that a $7000 SDR won't have a waterfall at launch a bad thing for someone to do?  Apparently it's an issue for many folks who were expecting a more complete product at launch.

Why is pointing out points and asking questions about how this long of an overrun on the timeline likely will have a huge budget impact on their overall allocation for the project an issue?  Future buyers might want to beware about the signicance of that if there is to be any, don't you think?

Why can't we have a balanced conversation?

My new Anan doesn't have finished software either, but I knew that when I bought it because it was out there and up front.  If we talk about this kinda of stuff then people know what they are getting and less likely to be disappointed or burned.

I don't encourage people to spend much time in 1 way forums if they are looking for good clear information on buying a radio.

Say what you want about this forum here at eHam, but all the petty personal wars aside, it is a great place to get the real story about any given SDR.  You have a very diverse user group here with a ton of knowledge using many SDRs.

Look at it without rose colored glasses for a bit.  Stick around and see what you learn, put the brand craze aside and just talk about SDRs here with us.

Note on landing page, Flex complaints should be directed to one of the company forums.

Aka only talk about the good in this forum if you join as negative comments like the lack of a waterfall display at launch won't be tolerated.

I believe it's a savings move.  Lol, they probably don't make much on them after you figure in support costs.  Look for the 3000 and 1500 to be replaced soon by DDC models, that's my prediction!  Their support costs due to the FW interface and windows issues are surely sky high.

Too bad they couldn't do another run on the VHF/UHF modules or have made an Ethernet upgrade, could have got another run of sales on them if they had.

Probably hold mine for a while as a backup rig.

100D is pretty cool, got mine today and got it setup.  Lots of the complaints in the forums didn't seem to impact me.  I had my slot on the rack ready for it, the Ethernet, antennas, prescribed audio cables and a set of iHome speakers.

Radio was decently packaged and arrived as promised when promised from Apache Labs.

The calibration showed at least 97 Watts on all bands into the dummy load.
Ethernet connection was smooth and seamless, I connected directly to the PC.
Lots of people seem to struggle with the Mic, however, I had dug into it ahead of time and had the needed adapters to run my existing mic in without having to open the radio to change any jumpers. I was able to connect up my Heil PTT hand switch as well.

The Amp was easy to hook up as well.

All said because VAC, VSP DDutil and all my software were setup for the Flex 5K the Anan plugged right in and was up and going in about 10 minutes after I connected the power.

It was a bit strange to get used to the differences in PowerSDR, however, after a bit of operating it feels pretty familiar.

I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed at first because it was all so easy and when I was playing around on 17, the band conditions were not so great which was confusing my views on the performance.  At one point I was wondering if the radio was under performing so I flipped on the 5K and that's when it became obvious that the Anan was performing wonderfully.  

I had to actually double check it because the first thing that grabbed me was the noise floor looked lower.  So I tuned to the same signal I was listening to on the Anan and it was much fainter.  Switching back and forth the signal was stronger and the noise floor was lower.

Since I don't have a way of knowing if the noise flloor is actually lower or the radios simply measure it differently I looked some more.  To the best of my ability it looks like the signal sticks out 4-5 DB more from the floor on the Anan.  This is completely unscientific so no need to challenge it because I am not going to debate my observation.  It's merely one signal.  The big aha was 17M was not all that hot earlier.  In the evening it pickup nicely.

From the video link I posted earlier I was worried that the Anan audio quality was inferior to the Flex 5Ks, however, I found them to be indistinguishable in today's usage.  Of course the AGC explanation helped clear that up as well.

I had a huge swath of spectrum available, from 17600 to 18800 I could zoom in and out of.  Really nice!

Second Reciever worked well also, need to play with that more as I have an inverted V on it, not near the performance of the Hex but it raked in signals.

I need to work on my transmit audio.  I switched off the rack and am using a focus rite scarlet device and I am not too impressed with it so far.  Probably my fault.  I'll switch back to the rack audio tomorrow and see what I get.  I am getting some distortion and it has something to do with my mike cable.  Wiggling it would briefly resolve the issues.  I have torn up my shack and have been rebuilding so all this is going on at the same time.

All in all I am impressed so far!  Lots of testing and playing to sort through before I have any solid opinions.

Digital modes worked fine, I had a PSK contact with Russia 10 watts barefoot.  The Anan doesn't drive my Amp apples to apples compared to the flex yet, however, I was still pumping out 400 watts which is what I run with about 42 watts in.  This likely has more to do with the mess my shack is in right now.

I made a small unimpressive video I will share later once I get it up on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/6114iunuFDo

Well there you have it, an Anan 100/D first report!

$650 for the Flex 1500
$899 KX3 - World class leading receiver in a very cool portable package.

Hook them to a great antenna system, the 1500 will pale greatly in all categories but cost.  The extra $150 buys you a lot more radio, and a modern one at that!

No audio fatigue, American made.

None of the radios I listed were Japanese.  For the record though, I have no issues with radios being Japanese.  That's just more bias in my opinion and pollutes ones options for finding a great radio.

Have fun, enjoy your radio, I'll enjoy mine!  Hang out here for a while, learn about other radios, get some objective feedback while your here.  If nothing else, if you have the need to defend a certain brand of radio you'll debate with the best of them.  Their are plenty of bashers here that equally are fan boys of other brands that merely pretend not to be.  And as another poster said, it's all entertainment and learning.  Lol, I just happen to own some of the radios I have used in my examples unlike many others here.  I also happen to be hanging on to my 5K right now and the only major regret I have is not getting the VHF card.  I need to look for a good XVTR now.

Peace!

No worries Ted, I don't engage in name calling.  I am going to sign off and let this rest. 

Seriously, I wish you no ill will and am glad you are enjoying your Flex 1500.  I enjoy my Flex as well as my KX3 and have no idea yet if I will enjoy the Anan.  There is one thing you can count on though, like the new radio or not, I will do my best to report on it objectively.  If its not a good radio I will report on it.

That wasn't your point, lol... You claimed it was the best radio for the money.  A good number of us have invested in our antennas and shacks, and do see the difference between radios so you just proved my point by admitting your radio is just average.  Not to mention you trashed your credibility on the topic.

See, we can play this game all day!

If you don't have a great antenna and a clean low noise shack, you'll see little performance difference between radios because the noise floor places a limit on performance.

It would be a little like pouring low grade,fuel into a Ferrari.  

If your 1500 works for you and you feel great about, disengage from this silly conversation.  Trying to compare it to top receivers and claiming its the best when it obviously is not makes little sense unless..... Wait for it.... You are a  brand biggot.

Fan boys have zero credibility with me because they end up being one dimensional in conversations as their sole purpose is to claim they own the best brand of radios.  I don't say this to be rude but its a little like asking Bill Gates for dead Steve Jobs for an objective opinion on PCs verses Macs.  Ain't going to happen!

Fan boys are bad news for other hams, bad bad news because they provide biased slanted views to other hams.  Honestly, part of Flexes problems are do to unrealistic expectations their fan boys created without Flex's permission.  They made lots of false claims that new buyers trusted and got burned by.  That is shameful in my humble opinion.  Bad for the ham and bad for the brand!

I have done a side by side, KX3 beats the Flex 5K.  Flex 5K beats 3000 & 1500.  Ergo KX3 beats all three of the Flexes.

The Flex 6K series should beat the KX3.. But it's not a given that it will beat the Anan's, we just have to wait and see.  It's kinda of like how the FT3K should have been better or equal, however, test showed it wasn't.  I will soon be able to compare the Anan against the Flex 5K.

I have no brand bias, I just report it how I see it.  Radios are just radios for me and I look at them as objectively as I can.