One last thought, see this discussion.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/parallel-port-access-through-xp-mode/998f07a8-6b89-4057-9679-a227901cc8c7

BTW, when I suggested the Asus board I was merely suggesting you get a new mb and build yourself a cheap XP box to buy you more years of usage for your radio.  You could even tuck it away as a slave to your radio and access it via VNC with your other computer.  If you were really serious about it, you could buy spare replacement parts now do you're have them.

It's true that if your using other software packages they eventually will not be supported on XP.  

In the end, it may be easier and cheaper to just retire the thing and get a newer radio.

Flex 5K users might ultimately suffer a similar fate as FW dies.

There are days like last night when windows decides it needs an hour of your time to scan the disk after it crashed that make me not want to use an SDR as it was the one hour I had this week to actually use the radio.  SDR life can stink sometimes!

Who knows, I might go for one of these new rigs coming out and leave the SDR world.

Again, what I want is the knobbed SDR with its own screen and with a VGA port on it and cat control to use it with a super client on the desktop.  This way if I want the super operations I use the computer, but if I want easy free hamming I just have to flip on the radio.  The knobbed vendors are missing an opportunity here in my humble opinion.

The game changer in my opinion is to make affordable knobbed SDRs, that would render plain ole SDR's and plain ole knobbed radios seem more obsolete.

Not sure if you tried this or not, however, I thought I would toss it out there as a long shot.

Under win 7 right click on the icon you launch your software with and click the compatibility and set it to XP and see if it helps resolve your issue.

If your using a parrallel card rather than a native one, you might want to check the bios to ensure the address range that card uses is mapped so the OS truly sees it as if it is a native parallel port.

While not reccomended, you could also download the XP emulation package ( I think it's free with ultimate) and try running it from there.  In the emulation it might make the parrallel port look real to the flex and then map it through win 7 correctly.  IE you'd be tricking it.  Emulations are slower though so you may pay a price.  VMware also sells workstation version of emulators as well.

You can still get a motherboard with a parallel port, ASUS still has one on the market. 

Well, there you have it, two people talking about buying not flex non SDR radios in a thread about a game changer radio.  Not such a game changer in the end, is it?  Maybe the game is over, but just not like people may have thought.

I would see if the gentleman at WoodBoxRadio will be a distributor, that would definitely increase your sales if you have a known distributor a d English documentation.

As a few have pointed out here, it's hard to buy a radio from an unknown entity.  It's too bad because it looks pretty cool.  Maybe you can send one to a reviewer as well and have them do a detailed review on it.

I'll even volunteer to do that if you like and even return the radio or buy it if I really like it.  I'd be comparing it to a Flex 5000 though if you send it to me.  I'll pay the postage back to you if I don't want to keep it.  I realize your not likely to take me up on the offer, but I thought I would toss it out there.  

Sending one to QST magazine would also get you a ton of milage if you get a known European distributor to carry your product, or even an American one like Grove for example.  At 20 watts your going to have to sell it as a QRP rigg unless you have a option for an amp.

Best of luck!

Stan, I am having a hard time understanding this statement.  With a hand trigger for keying the mic and the addition of knobs to control the VFO, PSDR is essentially minimized to become a Panadaptor.  At that point how is the SDR any less effective for contesting assuming a normal ham still uses logging software that's integrated with PSDR to auto capture frequency and band info and gathers spot info from the net?  I use Comcat with PSDR through (HRD which remains minimized) and Comcat displays DX Spots and facilitates logging.

Don't get me wrong here, because I don't contest, I am genuinely trying to understand why people think flex radios stink for contesting.  I guess if you tried to totally operate the flex through PSDR I get it.  With the right addons though I don't.  

Regarding a touch screen, I agree, mine is not really very effective and while it looks cool I use that radio display in the picture on my profile mainly for the SMeter and frequency info.

I know this will sound crazy, however, I am going to drop a quad video card in big Bertha ( computer I run all my stuff on) and have 4 displays.  One for HRDs rotator control and map, one for the wattmeter software and weather, one for PsDR/world clocks, meters ect, and the last for Comcat [DX Spotting/logging].

It would be nice if HRD would just add DX Spotting to their sweet and have it work like Comcat for logging.

I do say all this with younger in cheek because only a real geek like me would want to get all that integrated and stable working together.  But it does work for me today and is stable.  The 5th many monitor will continue to run WoodBoxRadio radios FX Pad.

They probably already have made a million bucks or more in preorders but they probably have sunk some serious dollars in product and software development as well.  One of the videos I just watched had a developer saying the software displayed at Dayton was a mock up.  My guess is that they will have some delays finishing that portion of the development.  I look for a q1 2013 release rather than late this year.

Digging in further, seeing videos from Dayton, ect.  It really is a cool radio.  The 6700 does have a second Real Reciever, I was mistaken there.  The SDR crowd will end up buying more of these than people think and the cost will be rationalized, financed, ect. 

And G Wiz Wally, you get the jacket if you order now! 

Seriously, it's some pretty cool stuff, which it should be at these prices.  If you look at the other traditional offerings from big 3 and their prices tags it's not so bad.  I think I saw last night in a video that the new Yaesu DX FT 30000 will run between $5000 and $10,000 ( interesting that they quote such a large range, guessing closer to 10k than 5k).  Guessing the Kenwood won't be cheap either.

Interestingly the Russian SunSDR has interesting specs, but it's still a sound card Reciever.   The funny thing about most of these radios is that you end up paying a ton for the receiver portion of all these radios and the transmit sides seemingly look really light on specs.  The poor man could easily couple a second SDR Reciever with their lower end HF Rig and have a comperable makeshift solution.  Even more interesting is that they may even have fewer issues than the full blown SDR rigs have.  These next gen SDRs in particular with Ethernet and wireless access and thin clients on the computer will make that even more true with regards to battling RF.

But, of course, you won't get the limited edition signed box and jacket going that route!

So this has 20W transmit power for HF?  What about ability to use an amp with it, does it have TX out to key an Amp?  Pretty cool looking SDR on paper.

Manuals in English available?

Will WoodBoxRadio Radios new Studio One software support it and have you thought about seeing if they will act as your uropean distributor?

Working with a finished basement, so I am limited to routing cable.  I was thinking that the path of least resistance would be through the outside network of grounding poles, but do understand that we are talking about mega juice here and it will in no way be fool proof.

I am curious if I would create a bad situation if my ground rods I put in are connected to the electrical house service panel at one point and to one of the ground rods and water main ( watermain and house ground rod are already connected as part of house ground) would cause any issues.

My roof tower is close to one end of the house and my coax lines enter the other side of the house.  My electrical service is closer to the antenna and I assume the house has a ground rod there as well.

To keep the
ATT of the antenna ground as direct and unbending as possible I was thinking of running the tower to its own ground off the corner of the far side of the house.  I think that's my best shot of a non bending direct shot to ground.  I was thinking then of another ground rod between it and the service panel.  Then another rod in the middle of my backyard, I have an inverted V coming down out of the trees I could ground there. I have a vertical dipole ( no radials for this one) in the back corner of the yard I could sink a rod for as well.  Then another rod close to the other back corner of the house connected to the middle and finally a connetion to another rod near the coax entry and that also hooked to the house ground over there at the water main.  I think the distances on all this would work out to 16 feet between all rods if I do things just right assuming I can get them all 8 feet under.

I also read somewhere that if I run a copper strand around the outer edge of the yard not more than 2 inches deep connected to the rods it will act like a giant loop and further boost transmit and receive.

Here is a link to a crude drawing

www.am4l.com/stationkansas/grounding.jpg


Thoughts?  

Nothing in your motherboard BIOS to add the LPT or assign it?

Alternately, you could look for a new motherboard with a parrallel port and win 7 64 support.

Did some searching, motherboards with parallel ports are just about all gone.  I did find this one.

http://www.amazon.com/P8P67-M-PRO-REV-3-0-Motherboard/dp/B004QF0VEK

It won't be long until they are nearly impossible to find.

Just an update on this, this project should mostly be done by Friday.  Already seeing 2 S units in some cases over the vertical with the K4KIO antenna 10 feet off the ground.  I am seeing though that sometimes the vertical rakes in things the hex does not. Of course I do not have it rotating yet, so it will be interesting to see how a vertical behaves in contrast to a beam.

I will be keeping the vertical though, as well as the inverted V.  Will be fun to play with the diversity tuning on the flex as well once these are all up and running.

I'll provide one last update after its up, rotating and decently grounded.

Just keep in mind that on some of those transceivers you get a real second receiver you can plug into a second antenna.  I am already finding that having a horizontal beam and a vertical dipole has benefits when seeking DX's.  It's really sweet to be able to here both at the same time!

After looking at the brochure and specs these are interesting new radios.  I wish the price were not so high though, however, that said, for the right Ham the radio might be worth it's asking price.

Basically it looks like they have a digital sample of the bandwidth that they can split into 8 views, so saying it has 8 receivers if that's truly the case would seem misleading.  I think the limit of 8 is simply a matter of raw computing power.  What your really probably getting is a meta data graphical view of a slice of bandwidth.  It's clever but not rocket science.  So if you wanted to be monitoring 8 slices and bounce to a signle in any view on the drop of a dime, it's pretty slick.  

What's slick too is the computing requirements for the end user should be much more reasonable.  Why today with my Flex 5K dual receiver and all the junkola I run with it I am chewing up 8 zenon 2.66 cores.

I don't see why though if Flex had a competitor that as far as hardware goes why this couldn't be done cheaper.  What we need is more SDR transceiver competition.

As to the notion about all these comments on obsolescence I think at preset with the current price tag it would be like saying the latest Ferrari makes your VW Jeta obsolete.  What we are really talking about here in my humble opinion is more impact on Flexes competition that would compete in that price range.  IE, if I cant afford a Ferrari I cant afford it and it means little to me that it changed the game, as at that price it cant change my game.  And when we go there we just get back to SDR is not for everyone.

My definition of a game changer is something that the masses can access.  The price tag on this is for a minority.  In terms of price it's no more a game changer than the IC 7800 or FT 9000.

I try to shoot straight about all this stuff.  And SDR's are cool and fun, but I can't help but wonder in terms of pure haming if a rig like a IC 7800, or FT 5000 would discriminate and dig out some signals better head to head.  

So anyone got a place to see more info on the new Kenwood rig, I am curious about it?

I am going to let all the early adopters bleed the edge for me as far as the new offerings go and see if the market doesn't yield a lower price or a second gen offering before I leap.