Flex and Elecraft at Huntsville Hamfest 2016

Jim W3IPO

Eric Schultz presented a one hour talk on the benefits of Elecraft this weekend at the Huntsville, Alabama hamfest. The next presentation in the same room was Steve Hicks from Flex.  Almost a "shoot out in the OK corral."  Steve's presentation was as expected, excellent and convincing.  Good work.  I own a KX3 and Flex 6500, but Flex has the best technology.

Jim Gilliam

The SDR radio is a paradigm meaning that it is a change that will eventually become the new standard in amateur radio. This change includes the concept of no longer sitting in front of a radio with a microphone like in the good old rag chewing days. Now we can sit in a shoe store just hamming away while our wives shop for the latest in footwear.  

W7NGA

I personally love operating in the 'shack'. QSL cards on the wall, the glow of 3-500Z's, monitoring my power output and quality of my signal, logging each contact by hand in my ARRL logbook. I guess I might be one of the few that has no interest in working amateur radio from Costco or some shoe store. Of course, I also couldn't imagine sending CW with a keyboard. Times are changing ... but I am committed to working on my WAS (Worked All Starbucks) remotely. Give me an internet connection and I'll work the world. Wait ... that's just lame. Yeah ... 

W7NGA  dan
Seaside, Oregon

KY6LA_Howard

@Dan Some of us have no choice. If the XYL decides she NEEDS new shoes from Paris and a translator to come a long. After 40+ years you just go along. Not worth the fight. So if your not at your official home base much of the year, you need to remote.

Michael Coslo

Ah yes, Elecraft versus Flex - the battle of the Titans. Where even some progressive Hams get nostalgic for their legacy radios. I've been having great difficulties convincing some fellow Hams that we should go with Flex. And unfortunately, some of what I get for feedback sounds a little hackneyed, like the Flex AGC doesn't work. I would love to use a Flex Radio for Field Day, but get strong resistance (and I'm Field Day manager) Perhaps next year, I'll do Field day by myself and a few others who might like to do it better. 

SDR is coming, sure as SSB and FM and transistor Power Amplifiers. 

W9OY

Bring your Flex and put up an antenna at the other end of the field from a station on a already occupied band like 40 CW and contest with the other 40M station.  See who wins.  Pretty much removes all speculation.

73  W9OY

Ned K1NJ

     You use the tool you like the best for the job you happen to be doing.
Makes sense to me.

Ned,  K1NJ

km9r.mike

Since Sep 2014 ( aka Flex 6300 day one for me), my kx3 has been turned off except for to see if a new update is available for it. It's receiver is nice but I actually preferred my k2's receive over the kx3. Too bad the k2 did not have stronger filters. Bottom line though, great to see two American manufacturers at the top of the heap and holding steady. Kudos to Flex and Elecraft .

Ken - NM9P

I am not so much interested in the brand wars as helping people learn how to get the best performance from their flex radios. Once people see a properly adjusted, well functioning 6000 series in operation, they usually won't go back. BTW, the AGC only works poorly if it isn't adjusted properly. Many people are doing it backwards.

km9r.mike

I also saw a you tube video done some time ago where the op was complaining about AM agc performance and it was more than evident that he did not even have fast , med or slow selected but off instead. Oh well.

Philip KA4KOE

K4SMN quit asking how much my radios cost when I pointed to her HUGE pile of shoes upstairs.

Philip KA4KOE

Glad we have American manufacturers.

Alan - KA4B

Any chance these presentations were recorded?  I was there but missed them.

Jay Nation

It's hard to help, the helpless!

 SDRgadgets

73, Jay - NO5J