SmartSDR - Annual Costs - ????

Oxford English

Kevin

We've been here before. We'll be here again. New people come to the group. Old people (from a forum perspective) have issues that remain unresolved. $200 is not trivial. For me, that would be paying $200 to stay up to date on the latest code everyone else is using even if I'm not using any of the new features. I do not believe I would get bug fixes to old issues if I stuck with 1.x.

So... maybe not new to you but new or still of importance to others.

The choice is yours, ignore the thread or not but please stop whinging about something you know is going to happen every time someone asks for $200 for questionable (by some) updates.

Point is, there's tons of great threads to join in on in this forum. If this one is not to your liking try one of the others. Or not.

Kev

Mike VE3CKO

Bill -VA3WTB

Michael Coslo

Hi Mike - You bring up the title of the thread " SmartSDR - Annual Costs - ????"

We can answer that question immediately. 

The annual cost of operating a Flex radio is $0.00. 

You can if you wish, purchase newer versions of the software. No one is forcing anyone. 

But I don't know if they changed the radios, (of course they didn't) but my 6300 I recently traded in, would function very well if I loaded the software from the original disc and ignored it afterward. 

All radios can have issues. All radios do. I also use a K3S. The Panadapter is bad. You can tune and the signal you are looking for disappears in the noise that shows up. Great on CW, Just okay on SSB. Our KPA1500s did get a firmware update recently - to keep them from blowing up on 160 meters. We have a 7610. It's okay, but not terribly intuitive. I could have saved a few thousand by buying one. But it just isn't the radio. And they've been having their own issues. One thing I do know - if I lose power during an update, I don't brick my Flex and have to send it back.

I'd just advise people to consider if they are happy with their radio. I'd advise to try a few experiment with things they think do not work. Life is too short to become angry about a radio, and about paid updates that you may or may not need.

Ed Stallman

KY6LA_Howard

Yes

Joe N3HEE

October 2018 was the cutoff for free upgrades to V3.  I purchased in August 2018.  I will wait to see what V2.5 brings in the way of fixes and enhancements.

Joe N3HEE

Or a good bottle of Scotch !!

Pete - W6OP

Craig Williams

Best comment so far.

Joe N3HEE

Very true.  And lets face it, this technology is moving at a very rapid pace, Flex will inevitably come out with a new or updated hardware platform within the next 5 years.  

Dave

They have already discounted and added new hardware 6xxx series.  The 6300/6500 are discontinued but still are eligible for updates. Of course the addition of the 6400/6600 (M).  

EA4AYW

Ken Hansen

From where I sit in America, the difference between $200 and €242 looks a lot like cost plus VAT, and that added cost is because of local politics & gov't policies, nothing Flex has any control over.

Mike VE3CKO

Ken Hansen

€242 = $272 US, so in Spain it is about 36% higher than US. Spain 'enjoys' a 21% VAT, so $200 US price + 21% Spain VAT = €215 euros. You are upset about €27 euros over the US price? I suspect that 13.5% premium you pay in Spain has to do with conversion fees to turn your euro-bucks into greenbacks to pay bills in the US.

Mark NS9N

I am really amazed that this forum has come to this level. When you purchased your Flex Radio, if you read alll the information available, you knew what you were buying into. In the end, if you don’t like the radio or the company’s policies, sell it and move on. Sorry but I have owned both a 6500, 6600, and a Maestro. All have been great products but when I did not need the Maestro, I sold it. Same for the 6500. Point is, if you don’t like something you have purchased, sell it . Life it too short to read ongoing blogs about what people like and don’t like and how someone wants to change how a company works. If you don’t like your Flex radio sell it and buy something you think you will like better. But let’s get this forum back to helping solve technical issues and learning from others.

KC2QMA_John

Bill -VA3WTB

Michael Coslo

One of the things I have always wondered about is the experience of people who may have years of operating legacy radios, them moving to the Flex Platform. 

The concept of buying a radio with baked in features, versus one that is flexible and can be upgraded or modified easily is probably shocking to many people.

But Flex's model of incremental updates, followed by major for pay ones is about as good a model as I can think of. Free lifetime updates doesn't work. Subscription models that brick your radio if you stop paying don't work. 

And 200 dollars every couple years really is chump change. It is a sensible price for the market Flex intends to serve. 

There are many radios out there, and if a person is really strapped for money, a couple hundred dollars at a Hamfest can pick you up a legacy radio that will never cost a cent more. 

Craig Williams

I want an airplane.

Mark_WS7M

Craig.  I want one too.  Specifically a CirrusJet or Eclipse EA550!  Still waiting for a call that it's at the airport waiting for me to take possession!

Michael Coslo

And I see that version 3 software  still doesn't include my demand for a built in smoker so I can cook a Brisket in it! 

KC2QMA_John

Bill -VA3WTB

The idea of Flex charging for for major up grade makes them accountable. They are charged with keeping everything up to date, and It is up to Flex to invent features that will sell.

If all the major up grades were free, then Flex could simply do an upgrade when ever and include almost anything to very little, because it's free.

I have considered all the software radios on the market to day and have looked at the updates they have had to date. Some are open source and some are locked to a company, like SSDR. This includes Anan, Icom, Sun SDR, and others. In this group there has been no cost to the customer, but upgrades are not many if any. Anan has the most updates, but they have been over a year getting the latest version working correctly, and still working on it. By the way, Anan does not invest in software, they don't have any.  It is a group working on software, nothing to do with Anan. They are using PSDR created by Gerald and have since modified the software a lot.

But back to the point, Flex has much credibility because of the charge for major upgrades, they are accountable to us, customers. They must create updates to improve the radio performance and to make the radio more fun to use.

That is what having to pay for upgrades does.

Ken Hansen

Wait! Do you mean when folks say their radio comes from a smoker, they mean a meat smoker?!?! THAT explains the discoloration and smell... now I get it.

Ken Hansen

Coffee maker makes sense, my computer has a cup holder!

Ken - NM9P

Flex began with a $199/yr maintenance fee and nixed that within the first year in favor of the current system. I seriously doubt they will go back to an annual fee. If I had been on the old plan, I would have paid an additional $800 by now. As it is, I have upgraded one time to V.2 and as an Alpha Tester have paid for V.3-Alpha. ... half of what the old system would have been. In addition, under the current system, upgrades are totally optional. If you skip one, or two, or more upgrades, the next one only costs $199. No retrograde fees are added. In my book that is a great deal. Considering the original price of my 6500, it has been well worth the cost.

Ken Hansen

Curious, if I had a R1 license for my radio and skipped R2 of SSDR, if I choose to upgrade to R3 of SSDR, I get all the R2 upgrades as well, right?