V2 yet another failed delivery

KD7CAO

V2 Promise for June release is yet another vapor ware promise. A continuing saga that will break a company. Lack of proper communications to their customers, problems with over selling and under delivering. I am so disappointed to have done business with a company that fails to provide what they have promised. What kills me even more is knowing I tried to do business with a Texas Based Company rather than ordering from somewhere else such as a Japanese company. It is now officially July 1, 2017 and we still do not have V2. I would much rather than have a buggy software platform that starts to offer me the feature I demanded at order date and was promised than to not have it at all..

Paul - K6HR

At the moment it's still June 30th here!

Marty VK2VCC

gawd..i wish you guys would get off the band wagon of rambling on about failed this , false that!
Be greatful that V1 is out and V2 will come out when its ready!
Maybe there are bugs that need sorting and Flex dont want to use you as guinea pigs.
Good things come to those who wait..remember that when you were younger.

Radio is a hobby not a life ruling requirement.
Wait till its ready..then i suppose it will get ripped and shredded to bits anyway.
Some ppl are just NEVER happy.
Enjoy the life you have RadioNerds..Enjoy radio when life permits you to do so.
There are bigger threats in society atm to worry about other than a new release of software and something that works.
Grow up peeps.
Good job Flex for giving us all what we already have.
I am willing to wait till its ready.Until then, utilise my fault free system.
73

Marty VK2VCC

gawd..i wish you guys would get off the band wagon of rambling on about failed this , false that! Be greatful that V1 is out and V2 will come out when its ready! Maybe there are bugs that need sorting and Flex dont want to use you as guinea pigs. Good things come to thise who wait..remember that when you were younger. Radio is a hobby not a life ruling requirement. Wait till its ready..then i suppose it will get ripped and shredded to bits anyway. Some ppl are just NEVER happy. Enjoy the life you have RadioNerds..Enjoy radio when life permits you to do so. There are bigger threats in society atm to worry about other than a new release of software and something that works. Grow up peeps. Good job Flex for giving us all what we already have. I am willing to wait till its ready.Until then, utilise my fault free system. 73

Rick WN2C

And if it comes out on Monday...what would you say then? Really it is best to not have buggy software and then have to go back to a previous version. I really want to say some thing more but I'll be nice about it.

Steve K9ZW

@Eric - somehow you've missed all of FRS's recent posts? If you have, there ain't no helping you and I'd suggest you sell your Flex-6000 as quick as possible. If you've missed them you'd know exactly what is up and should knock off the whining-- it just makes it hard to keep your place in adult conversation. Kudos to FRS for having the gumption and principles to stick to the quality commitment even if it means anticipated delivery dates get pushed. And as for the adult-aged-children pouting -grow up kiddo as the real world is just something you need to deal with. 73 Steve K9ZW

Richard McClelland, AA5S

It's still June 30th here for another hour and a half :-)

EA4GLI

The same level of understanding to FRS due to delays and missed dates should also be directed to users frustrated and disappointed. Anyone is entitled to their opinions and frustrations. KD7CAO expressed his. I guess others expressed their frustration with the frustrated users.... and the vicious circle goes on and on....

If I don't agree with his point of view I move on and don't bother posting. The bashing of disgruntle users is in my opinion, as bad or worse than the bashing of FRS for missing a date.  I have, in the past, done the same when posters expressed opinions different to mine, but I am learning to stay quiet instead of letting my feelings get the best of me. *or at least I try.

Who really wants a forum where all you get is praises to FRS regardless of what they do?
Discourse is healthy and FRS answers. Let's be civil on all sides of the spectrum.

Pat N6PAT

What exactly are the new features in V2 that not having them today is preventing people from enjoying their radios? They make it sound like their radios are useless without v2.

I use my 6700 every day and it seems to work fine without v2. In fact, it works great! I could wait another year for the upgrade and it wouldn't have any impact on my great on air experience

 

Tim - W4TME

KD7CAO - we understand your disappointment and frustration. This post by Gerald the CEO of FlexRadio Systems 4 days ago communicated the release status of SmartSDR v2.0. https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/is-smartsdr-v2-0-ready Yes, it is delayed due to some unexpected issues that arose in testing. Rather than releasing a product with issues, we made the right decision to delay in order to ensure a better product; we will never release software with known fatal defects, that is irresponsible. We are in the Release Candidate phase of the release life cycle, which indicates we are close to a release; a matter of weeks as long as nothing major is encountered. This is just the nature of developing software for a multiple processor embedded system. Yesterday there was extensive communication from Gerald regarding the 2.0 release on the Community. If you haven't done so, I suggest you review his comments.

Jd Dupuy

Totally agree. I get tired of seeing people try and squash free speech on this site!

NM1W

Its not new features that I want... I want a radio that doesnt crash and a working dax that doesnt need restarting every few hours..

Clay N9IO

Amen!

Jeff

Eric - welcome to the FlexRadio family!  As you will learn, the dates given are GOALS not PROMISES.  Adjust your expectations accordingly!

Ken Hansen

"I would much rather than have a buggy software platform that starts to offer me the feature I demanded at order date and was promised than to not have it at all.." Opinions differ on this - personally, if I'm asked to pay $200 for a piece of software, I prefer it NOT to be "a buggy software platform that starts to offer me feature(s)". I, and many others, prefer functionality and stability over punctuality.

Pat N6PAT

My 6700 has never crashed. Perhaps it's some other software running on your computer that is causing the problems.I'm running Windows 8.1 and a large assortment of apps with no issues with crashes.

I operate SSB, CW and Digi and can honestly say that my Flex is by far the most reliable rig I've ever owned.

Steve W6SDM

It's not hard to see the division.  Most of us with any degree of maturity are content to wait for a solid, working release - however long it takes.  Those who are impatient would like to have it all now.  

Those same "have it all now" folks would be the first to flood the forum with complaints about the bugs in the program that "should have been eliminated before it was released".  You can't address their argument because they're irrational.

There are a lot of people working on the next release and this constant whining and crying about being violated and deceived is not making things any better.  

Rich McCabe

Open conversation is good.  But its hard to take it serious when you see people setting up the hangman gallows a week or two before the  "crime" has been committed.

I am impatient like everyone else. Probably worse...

But you cant get this type of "community" anywhere else. Flex has created this for us and for the most part it has worked to our advantage.  I ask out of seriousness. Has anyone ever been involved with Icom, Yaesu or Kenwood at this level ?


Rich

Newton White

I think some of the replies to the original rant are based upon his claim of being promised specific things - not sure what those promises supposedly are but I would like to know exactly what was 'promised.' I didn't receive any promises over that a hope and desire to meet certain deadlines with the proviso that those deadlines may not be met and the reasons they may not be met. 

To claim a promise was made if it wasn't is definitely free speech, but worth exactly what we paid for it.

Steve K9ZW

A purposefully inflammatory and negative post is not a protected opinion, especially when it is lazy & ignorant of actual FRS communications. That is being deconstructive by whining. Maybe the ignorant should have their own thread - wait they do called "eHam.".... Defending an **** on free speach principles is admirable, but still leaves what they said factually wrong. YMMV as it was predictable someone would have a temper tantrum. But don't forget in your protected speech ideal that my opinion Eric was out of line and factually incorrect is ALSO valid protected speech. There is a difference between though. I'm doing my best to keep to the facts and take the time to read what FRS is communicating. Oh, and unlike some of the relentless critics I actually own Flex-6000 radios. 73 Steve K8ZW

Brenton Meadows

I have just recently bought my flex 6700 and maestro to suit so patience is not a problem as I'm having a ball with so many facets of the 6700. Can you correct me if im wrong, version 2 will allow say the maestro to hotspot from various internet sources instead of just an intranet application that I am using off my loval router currently. I have fallen in love with the 6700 and the maestro and even though I love using my icom 7850, it's so good to now Say, there's no chance of getting bored, that's for sure. Is there an indicative price for the flex smartsfr get 2.0 as yet? And I'm on no hurry, rather have bugs removed by experts no matter what the delay. Cheers brenton vk3cm tangambalanga north east Victoria Australia

Mal

I wish I could sell it, but nobody wants to buy it.

Gerald-K5SDR

Dear Eric,

I sincerely apologize and ask our forgiveness for any pain, anguish and suffering you are feeling because we did not release v2 yesterday.  Though I have the authority to rush products out the door I simply will not and therefore the buck stops with me.  By holding v2 back I am also holding back revenue for the company.  I would rather have it done right to the best of our human ability than to have the revenue yesterday.

Earlier this week, I publicly addressed our status of v2. in the following Community post:

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/is-smartsdr-v2-0-ready

On 6/26 we had 20 issues remaining to be cleared before a Release Candidate could be sent to our alpha team.  As of yesterday evening two remained.  Those two are deemed critical to release of the RC so we will not do so until they are done.  

Our development team has been focused for months solely on completing SmartSDR v2.  Our June estimate was an honest goal relative to where we thought we were at the time we made the estimate.  I think the following post W9OY earlier on the Community where he relates it to surgery is a perfect analogy:

I know when v 2 will be released, when it's ready. I'm an anesthesiologist by profession and you would not believe the number of patients who want to know how long the surgery is going to take. It takes as long as it takes and not a minute more. Only a **** would base his surgery on speed and not success. Flex could have put out a version and called it version 2 at any time and charged you for it. Instead they have continued to add value to version 1 month after month year after year. What's the reward? Bitchin. Maybe they should put out version 3 in 6 months and charge you another $200. Bet you all would be real happy then. 
73 W9OY

We allow a great deal of latitude, within limits, for free speech here.  I personally try to read and respond as time permits.  Unfortunately, free speech does not always serve well those who choose to exercise it and may at times work against their own self interest.  There are plenty of examples of this every day in the public discourse on all forms of social media.

Eric, here are the facts relative to v2.0 as they stand today:

1. Once we complete the two remaining critical issues, we will send the RC to our alpha test team for their testing.  
2. If there are no issues found in testing deemed critical by the development team, we can then go to general release (GA).
3. If critical issues are identified in the RC, we will "rinse and repeat" until no more critical issues are found.  
4. I will not override the development team's judgement relative to shipment before all critical issues are resolved.  No amount of complaining here will change that decision.
5. I have asked our development team not to read the Community during this time because that would have a negative adverse affect on the delivery time.
   
6. Nothing said here on this forum will speed this process and could in fact impede.

My only promise is that SmartSDR will ship when it is deemed ready.  I cannot say now the exact day and hour or that it will be perfect and meet every single person's expectations.  In fact I can guarantee that it won't meet everyone's expectations.  

Eric, once again I apologize for causing you such anguish.

73,
Gerald, K5SDR

Bill -VA3WTB

How long has it been up for sale?

Gerald-K5SDR

Brenton,

Yes, v2 will allow you to use Maestro remotely over the Internet.  You can also go remote using iPhone, iPad, or Windows devices.  I have been operating my home station in restaurants around town using my iPad over LTE cellular.

The price for the v2 upgrade is $199.  This price includes any future 2.x upgrades that may be released at some future time.

Gerald

Ken Hansen

Curious which Flex 6000-series product you find so hard to dispose of - I'm certain a buyer could be found if you would only bother to solicit offers...

I assume it is a Flex 6000-series product you wish to be rid of, since those are the only devices impacted by a delay in SSDR 2.0.

Bill -VA3WTB

you want buggy software? Really, I bet no one eles will vote for that one.

Brenton Meadows

Thanks Gerald, is it advisable to transfer the warranty over at at a USD cost of I think $89 when there is only a few months left. The old ownwrvof the signature 6700 said he may have been able to get her 2.0 free but doubted this would be true as I have now become the second owner. My thinking was i was not seeing any issues in this great 6700 system, and with only a few months left, investing into the version 2.0 might be more beneficial. Your advice appreciated Cheers brenton vk3cm Tangambalanga north east Victoria Australia

Ken Hansen

It's not like anyone has actually paid Flex $199 for the upgrade yet, have they?

The only issue I see here is a missed release date, that's it.

Tim - W4TME

The warranty only covers the hardware

KD7CAO

I would be ecstatic. I wouldn't be upset because it would finally be here.