flex1500 software upgrade

Mike_WB8CXO

Well guys...  the HPSDR guys are modifying PSDR.  They put out new versions 2 maybe 3 times a year.  Its called PowerSDR OpenHPSDR mRX PS...  Now it doesn't do everything the latest version of PSDR does but it does have some nice features that would be great in the PSDR that runs Flex radios.  NO EXCUSES....

Mike_WB8CXO

Flex had to go the DDC route with a new radio to stay competitive.  The capabilities of the new radio also demanded a new client (SmartSDR) to run it...  It's called PROGRESS!  I too was bummed out when I learned the Flex had designed a new radio, I had just bought a 5000-v/u.  But when I saw the new radio and talked to the guys at the Flex booth Dayton 2012 I bought 6700.  Abandoning the FREE SOFTWARE concept was another good move.  Software engineers don't work for free...  Their work should not be free either.  The open source guys have been adapting PowerSDR for years.  I see further down the thread a post from Peter K1PGV that Flex is very responsive to source code requests.  Hopefully someone or a group of folks will somehow be motivated to enhance PowerSDR.  Besides does anyone have the FACTS as to what Flex is going to do?

John

I did a c++ programming course many years ago and still have the software compiler etc, but its also available on the net. It would not take me too long to get up to speed hopefully.

John

The real problem is that with new hardware, all the software engineer(s) have to work on the new software and abandon the powerSDR. It could be cheaper for them to perhaps hire amateur software engineers to work on powersdr and submit their work to them for evaluation and inclusion. There must be a lot od retired folk out there would could get a small extra income. The idea of paying someone to do the patches might also be feasible 

Andrew VK5CV

I have a foot in both camps. My 1500 is an early one and should function for years to come.

PowerSDR is much more mature than SmartSDR, but features like the new speech processor would be great in PSDR. There are things in PSDR such as NB and NR and TNF and ANF that seem to work better than in SSDR. I still use PSDR and the 1500 for portable with a tablet PC, for digital modes and as an exciter for 475kHz and 137kHz,

There is a limit to how much time and money Flex can spend on a product I paid for long ago. On the other hand with legacy radios there is no promise of firmware upgrades, at least Kenwood does actually supply them.

Nix from Icom and Yaesu for me. I still have their nearly 20yo radios.

Andrew

John

I think we all are missing the real point. I think its to do with an unfinished product ie software.
Although its a working unit, I dont believe its completely finished to a standard as a non sdr radio would be. There are still things to be done to complete the software package and that will be that. The loose ends need to be tied up.

Bill -VA3WTB

It makes no sense to upgrade or update PSDR. It has been completed. As we know PSDR is now used with most other radios to give them computer rig control and a panadaptor. And they reap the benefits from the work Flex put into it for there customers. Everyone would love the speech processor used in the SSDR, But I can't see Flex giving that away for free.

If they did update PSDR they should charge for it. That way all Flex users and everyone eles can buy it if they want it. But been as it is open source they likely can't charge for it.

John

well then they need to open their mouths and state their intentions. I dont doubt many would pay for extra features and upgrades. Its the not knowing that gets to people

Bill -VA3WTB

 Tim - W4TME, Customer Experience Manager

Official Response

Yes, we have recently ceased production on the FLEX-3000.  The FLEX-3000 has been an excellent radio since 2008 and this was a difficult decision for FlexRadio to make.  The simple answer to "why?" is that with the introduction of the FLEX-6000 Series and specifically the FLEX-6300, the sales on the FLEX-3000 have dropped off to where it's just not a financially viable product for FlexRadio any longer.  The new FLEX-6300 is in the same basic price category as the FLEX-3000 plus offers next generation DIRECT SAMPLING SDR technology, amazing dual slice (band or frequency) receiver performance, and simple Ethernet connectivity allowing for future remote radio operation from anywhere.  Additionally, our new SmartSDR software platform has features the FLEX-3000 won't ever be able to support.    The FLEX-3000 is still very much an active radio and we will be supporting the rig for many years to come.  

Bill -VA3WTB

You see your Flex 3000 or 5000 will be supported for many years to come. I don't think This  means software upgrades. Power SDR is completed and refined. The radio is as it is, and will continue to work as it is for many years.

Peter K1PGV

(Aside: Wow... tough crowd, here.  Good thing I'm not a moderator, because I would have closed this thread a while back.)

Exactly, Mr. Buchanan.

Let me first state that I have a 1500. I used it as my primary radio for a few years. It works well. I like it.

Because the radio works well, I don't have any expectations that Flex will introduce new features for this radio.  I mean... think about it: Why would they?  If I owned Flex (and I do own a small software company, so I think I understand such business processes)  I wouldn't distract my staff from completing the functionality promised for the new products, unless there was a serious bug in the older product that required attention.  (Hmmm... thinking about it... that's exactly what my own company is currently doing, in fact.)

In the field of amateur radio, this is not only fair, it should be expected.  Gentlemen, I ask you:  When's the last time you got an update for your TS-2000?  Eh?  It's still sold, it's still supported, it's still a pretty good radio (for US$1400).  But I don't expect Kenwood to update this radio with new firmware or features.  Oh, they did a few times in the years following its initial release... but NOW?  The radio works.  If something proves to be broken, I'm sure they'll fix it.  But new features, to a product that's working?  Why would they do that?

Peter
K1PGV

Bob G W1GLV

I think the big issue here is that FRS spoiled a whole bunch of people during the development of PSDR. Updates to PSDR were on or about a six week schedule and people got use to that. These people think it should continue forever. Software development is very expensive. K1PGV hit the nail on the head. I'm enjoying both my 1500 and 6500.

Ernest - W4EG

Bob,

Semper Paratus

Flex will not let you or us down.  
They have kept their promised for the last 12 years since I own their gear.
Keep the faith.
   ex: USCG RM2-1965-69 

Mike_WB8CXO

Bob, spot on and nicely said! Thanks

Steve K9ZW

The Flex-1500 is really a neat radio, and as is with the present release of PowerSDR is a great value.

The discontinued Flex-5000 & Flex-3000 radios as second hand purchases, again using the latest PowerSDR version, are great performance values in SDR when based on keeping investment low.

It is doubtful that any new features will be coded into PowerSDR unless done by a 3rd party programmer or as a "fork" where use of the non-public domain parts of PowerSDR have been secured.

Lacking such developments best guess and only reasonable assumption is what you have is what it will be. 

Personally I wouldn't count on newer versions of Windows remaining stable with the Flex-1500/3000/5000 and PowerSDR over the next ten years.  Mostly the drivers needing to match/work and the slow fade in availability of the IEEE 1394 Firewire port for the 3000/5000 interconnect are the problems one can see getting in the way.

Buying into a Flex-1500 and PowerSDR 2.7.2 here and now with an expectation of some new big launch of additional features has to be frustrating, as FlexRadio Systems has never even hinted there was any major upgrade in the works. 

While a major upgrade may be wishful thinking, there is no denying the Flex-1500 with PowerSDR 2.7.2 is a lot of fun and can really knock out some contacts.  For the price point the combination has a lot to recommend itself over.

One also wonders if somebody might hardware hack a Flex-1500 along the way with a custom rolling of PowerSDR adding a lot to the combination all told - but again just wishing for it doesn't mean it is at all likely to happen.  I kind of think the energy to do so would be better spent on a SmartSDR add-in package than futzing with custom PowerSDR versions.

73

Steve

K9ZW

http://k9zw.wordpress.com

EA4GLI

I really like the mouse tuning of PowerSDR. Kind of miss that in SmartSDR.

Tom Warren

I also really miss that function and eagerly await it's return with v. 1.4

Peter K1PGV

If you're talking about the ability to mouse over a single digit and tune via the scroll wheel... OR click the frequency and enter it... I *really* miss that too.

In fact, I miss it so much, I read the PSDR sources to see how they do it (surprisingly simple), and then created a WinForms user control that mimics the functionality.  I then wrote a WinForms program using my user control as an add-on to SSDR.  Now I have the best of both worlds.

Some day, maybe, I'll clean it up enough to release it to the public, if I can sort-out the IP issues.

If they're going to introduce this in V1.4 of SSDR (that's the first I've heard of it and), that would be WONDERFUL so I can stop writing code.

John

well, I asked for and got a copy of the code but getting started after many years break and a new GUI et al is making me pull grey hairs out. I dont know if I will ever get the hang of anything but turbo c++ LoL.
Having siad that, I came across dl2tw website where he has had a play with it running visual studio 8 instead of the olde version 3 it was written in. But as they say, its time to dig in the heels and play.

Lawrence Orsmond

Nonsense the flex 6300 is not in the same price bracket as the 3000. When i speculated the end of the 3000 over year ago flex remained oddly silent. It is about time Flex was open and honest about its intentions.
There are other markets besides the USA or does Flex not consider them as important.It is about time that Flex brought out a SCALED DOWN version of the 6300 in line with the 3000 price for emerging markets. The USA is not the only market out there. But do you care i guess not!

Steve K9ZW

Surely you jest with your allegations and then with your demands?

It is obvious you are mistaking yourself for FRS leadership and FRS as some sort of charity responsible to your whims?

Personally I think it is every right of any Business to tell a customer who publicly makes a claim like this to "go away."  I actually might word it stronger, but decorum and legacy of the "eternal internet" suggest a polite version is more appropriate.

The unfounded unsupportable demands are paramount to requesting a firm to commit economic suicide, have perfect clairvoyance, and bottomless resources with disregard to ROI (Return on Investment) all just to please a demanding internet poster.

Get over it - it just ain't going to happen.

• I have found FRS honest.

• I have found that when they cannot or they should not tell me things for their commercial reasons that they clam up, rather than providing a made up cover story.

• I find it awesome that FRS is successfully exporting and doing it quite well.

• And I understand that if FRS doesn't make money commercially selling me radio servers (ya, the black box dude) and Software that I am unlikely to realize more of the combined product's capabilities

.

It really is a bummer to have posters do out of line with their demands like this poster was. 

My 2-cents,

73

Steve

K9ZW

 

Lawrence Orsmond

Thanks for your reply.
We are all entitled to and opinions,fact remains there is now a gap with the 3000 gone which ever way you slice it! .It was just that an opinion  sorry if you took offense. In hindsight maybe  it i should have said what  what i meant which i now have stated.

John

I looked at the price of VS12 and VS8 and its out of my pocket range. I can get VS 8 for around £300.
Now I was intending to try and port my old vb6 app to windows phone, but then the prices put me off VS12 I can use on a 3 month trial. So, without VS8 I cannot even begin to play with the powerSDR.

Peter K1PGV

John: The PowerSDR code base is written and maintained using VS 2008, IIRC.  You can download a free copy of Visual Studio Express, and that'll work fine for you.

For a more modern toolset, you can download Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition -- which is even more powerful and still free -- and you'll be all set.  This is the toolset you'll want to use if you try to write anything for Windows Phone.

John

VS8 is not free and vs13 I downloaded for a 3 month trial. I think I need vs8.

Peter K1PGV

OK, I see what's happened:  Because it is so old, it is no longer easy to find Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition for download. For example, here's the link to "Visual C# Express Edition" Google is your friend. Express Edition of all the Visual Studio parts have always been free. 

A couple of months back, Microsoft released Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition which is a full version of the latest version of Visual Studio that is absolutely free.

You *can* use VS2013 to build PowerSDR, but you will have to convert the project.  You will *not* have to convert the version of .Net that it uses... just the project.  There may also be some slight compiler differences.

Zaba_1500

While looking for the latest FLEX-1500 firmware, I ran across this old thread... I have firmware 0.5.3.24 installed... If someone is worried about PowerSDR, then look at the KE9NS-site, giving a free version of 2.8.0 with 247 improvements/extensions (latest Jan 10th, 2022).... https://ke9ns.com/flexpage.html --- It works great with my present firmware on a Lenovo Win10-64 laptop --- There is also info for the SDR-1000 owners...

Cheers/73, Zaba OH1ZAA