Anan 8000DLE

Peter Bentley

Anan 8000DLE

-72 dB IMD

less than 70 dB IMD3

50v PA

RMDR 116 dB @ 1 kHz

etc etc

What are we (FlexRadio and its supporters) doing about this ??

Over to you guys

G4BIM

Ria

I can't address the other specs but for me personally the 50V PA is not necessary since I use an external amplifier and need at most 10-15 watts to drive it. 

GI4FZD

Does it exist?

GI4FZD

Oh I see..coming soon, I wouldn't worry too much, having been an ex-Anan owner.

Al_NN4ZZ

Not yet per the Apache web page....

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
6700 - HW.................. V 1.9.7.85
SSDR / DAX / CAT...... V 1.9.7.169
Win10

David Decoons, wo2x

Looks like they are still using a 3.5 mm mini stereo plug for a mic connector. Yuck!

rifbuilder

Had narrowed down to the 6700 but this has thrown a spanner in the works.

mikeatthebeach .

Like my Flex6700 It is like the F-22 fighter jet of Radios with CW Skimmer

Peter Bentley

Well I am certainly not going to rush out and buy one when it does become available, which for sure it will.

But for all of us who have given our hard earned cash to FlexRadio and had a great product in return, a few reassuring words about software upgrades and new features for the 6000 series from Gerald, will not go amiss at this time.

G4BIM

GI4FZD

Bet it happens a lot quicker than cusdr (anan's first offering which offered great things to come) 4 years later still no transmit as far as I know, I used to own a great 8 slice Anan with software that didn't transmit, with wrongly wound output filters ,ok there was other software but none as slick as Smartsdr, needless to say it has gone.

Walt - KZ1F

By way of analogy, my brother always chased the latest and faster PC.i continually told him, "bro, no matter what you buy or dither over, there will always... ALWAYS, be a faster and less expensive on out in the following month or quarter, so if you need one, buy one but don't try to wait out the be all and end all as there will always be a new king of the hill".

What do y'all expect FRS to do when that happens, add hf squelch? C'mon!

KF4HR

What am I doing about it?  Enjoying my Flex-6700.

David Decoons, wo2x

Actually Apache Labs is only a hardware company using a combo of open source design boards and in-house designed PA. They do NOT write software.. They depend on others like Simon and Warren for that.

Ria

The main difference is that the Anan is thick client vs the Flex being thin client. This simply means that with Anan they are sending the raw data to your computer to decode and with the Flex they're doing the decoding in the radio. Each has its advantages and disadvantages however I believe with the Flex 6000 series you can also do some thick client stuff with DAX I/Q.

Thick client does pose a problem when you're dealing with a limited bandwidth connection like cellular or VPN. 

But that said it is a good platform if you want to experiment. I have some of the older HPSDR boards at home made by TAPR. I still run them on occasion. 

GI4FZD

Yes, I didn't say they wrote the software but they were offering it as a big selling point,
multiple windows etc, they even had a screen grab from it on their home page, I have tried all the different software available and must give credit to Simon Brown etc but it still isn't smartsdr. It wasn't just software that made me part with the Anan, There were hardware issues too.does CUSDR Transmit yet? Is there other software available for it to display 8 slices, I haven't really been following, I lost interest after moving to Flex. 

ctate243

IMO this is the the primary difference and a major scale tip to flex for me.

N3NER

I have to agree, I'm an X-anan user and due to the lack of software support from Anan and being a thick client, I would never consider anan again.

Keith Heimbold

They are starting to ship the 8000 now. Simon received his and he is working on some new software that looks pretty cool. Will be interesting to watch. A new firmware named Thetis is in alpha now being tested so that will be interesting too to see what happens. As discussed many times here these Anan radios serve a very different market than Flex and it tends to interest Hams who want to experiment and like to play around with IT development. Personally it took me a week to get my Anan 10E up and running and digital modes are a nightmare with it. It does work well in CW and phone though no QSK (I run CWskimmer with it and that is one awesome program). Still I find it a super fun platform to play around with for the price. However the lower end like the 10E, 10 and 100B has been discontinued because the parts are no longer available. This is a concern of mine that apache labs cannot secure supply of parts means that if my Anan 10E has an issue I might be SOL. So I am still seriously eyeballing the 6500 as a next rig purchase and am waiting until I buy that next killer QTH. I owe it to myself to at least try and use the 6 series. Still love all the flexibility and experimentation possibilities of the Anan line.

Ria

The 6K still offers plenty of room for experimentation. In fact, if you really want to, you can take an entire I/Q stream from DAX and put it through your favorite SDR software. 

I am just enjoying the performance and operating features that I get from the 6k series. I still love to experiment but it works for me. 

Joe N9VX

Correction... the ANAN-100B has not been discontinued.

Joe  N9VX

Keith Heimbold

The ANAN-10, ANAN-10E & ANAN-100 will be discontinued. The Hermes board will also be discontinued. Sorry I added a B to the 100.

Norm - W7CK

If I had an unlimited budget I might try both.  Since I don't, I decided to go with the 6000 and am really glad I did.  I get miffed at times just like some others, that a particular feature like squelch hasn't been implemented yet.  In the long run, I see that the Flex approach to SDR is quite a bit different from other offerings.  The thin vs thick client is really a big deal.  Placing the computing power on the 6000 is a brilliant approach and makes the platform a much more versatile one.  By reducing the amount of data that gets exchanged between the server and client, it doesn't matter if your next to the radio or half way across the globe.  The client doesn't care where the server is!  It can all look and work the same. 

Having the APIs published has opened up a flurry of application development providing utilities and services that may not be possible via a thick client.  The hardware and basic design is incredible to say the least.  Where we're really lacking is in the software.  It takes a tremendous amount of talent and labor to program this stuff and the application development for the 6000 series was started from a single line of code just a short time ago.   The older PowerSDR on the other hand has been around for YEARS and has seen continual development.  Since it is a thick client, there are limitations on what it is capable of doing.  To me, PowerSDR and a thick client is hear now and works quite well but SmartSDR a thin client and data across Ethernet with the implementation of distributed computing is the future.

If your still stuck and can't make a decision, flip a coin buy which ever one wins that toss and have fun.  Its only money and you can always change your mind and make a switch later on! 

David Decoons, wo2x

Nice write up Norm I've had an Anan 200D and currently own a 6700. As Norm pointed out both are good platforms but target different audiences. For me the Flex and thin client approach works best for my operating preference. Being able to have SmartSDR with its included CAT and DAX make interfacing to my shack hardware and software easier than using third pary products (VAC, VSP Manager) with PowerSDR. Another reason is the Flex alignment is done at the factory and does not require field calibration with the exception of the automatic reference frequency calibration against WWV. The power out calibration is very linear from 1 to 100 watts on every band where the modified PowerSDR mRX and SDR Console programs use a single point (100 watt) calibration per band. Thos results in non-lonear tracking of the power slider. Third is remote operation. Being able to take a radio, plug it into an Internet connection at a remote site, and then acces and control it from a thin client remotely is great. I just installed a 6500 at a remote site today for our County RACES. Connected it to an Asus router and cable modem. No PC at remote location. I had our RACES officer install SmartSDR for IOS and OpenVPN Connect on his iPhone and iPad. He can now run the radio remotely and will be ablle to check into the State RACES net each month using our RACES station without having to physically be at the EOC. This is also handy when RACES is activated but set up at a remote location. Last is the integration of third party software using the FlexLib API. DDUtil, N1MM+, DX Labs suite, WSJT-X all talk directly to the radio via IP. I hope the open source crowd continues to improve software for use with the Anan and other hardware since the competition helps drive innovation. And competition os good for the consumer. As others have said, do your research and make an informed choice. Dave wo2x