New radio announcement at Dayton ??

Manuel Maseda

Let’s try and guess if Flex will announce a new radio at Dayton this year. My guess is a replacement for the 6700.

Tom

A replacement for Flex 1500??

Jon_KF2E

A competitor for the IC-9700?

Neil D Friedman N3DF

No new radio announcement. 

Johan _ SE3X

Useless speculations. Spend your time using the current Flexradio if you have one? Doing radio and having fun.

Robert Lonn

This would surprise me if they did!!! I think working on Software now that 3.0 is released is key.. A competitor to the IC-9700 would hit a  smaller portion of the Ham Community.. Also, hitting a $1800 price point is not going to be easy.. But the FLEX VHF-UHF etc. radio would have HDMI, 10 MHz lock and probably a lot of neat features plus Smart SDR remote operation.. It took ICOM almost 18 months to bring the radio to market.. Some rumors have Yaesu in the HUNT for this share of the market.. You can get transverters for the FLEXD if you want VHF and UHF.. For now Satellite Operation is on my GPS 10 MHz Locked ICOM IC-9100 radio...

Manuel Maseda

It would make sense for Flex to move the 6700 features on to the 6600 architecture and case form factor.

KF4HR

I'm guessing V3 was the 2019 announcement.

Cal N3CAL

Ditto

John WA7UAR

I'll add a guess that the eventual replacement for the 6700 will include TWO transmitters -- giving each person using Multi-Flex a complete and independent experience. 

Sergey KN7K

6800 with 4 antenna outputs!

Sergey, KN7K

Richard Zalewski

And an espresso port

Clay N9IO

I think so too. Version 3 is still in it's infancy with BIG potential!

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

Um, Guys:

If it really IS "Software Defined Radio", WHY do they need to announce a new radio?
If Flex really wants big news, and wants to drive increased sales, Flex just needs to
announce new software that will address the top 5 "most complained about" fixes/features
that their customers want.   The hardware is already very much fast enough, with more than
enougn capacity.   The "NEW" that people seem to be thinking about here, are things like
the recently complained about noise reduction features that don't seem to work as well as
the competition,  and some of the other top complaints from the recent survey.
Those feature or deficiency fixes do not require new radio hardware.  They require
better software, which is no small task.

Flex is a true SDR.   So making a "new" one, really means making new software
that actually does address a bunch of the annoyances that customers have been
complaining about for several years.

[Thread HiJack Alert:]
If FLex is really listening;  Do you know what has more impact on sales/revenue than
adding a new remote feature or contest feature?  It's getting to understand why a 
certain percentage of Flex customers sell their radio and move to Icom or Yaesu
or something else.   Deeply understanding WHY those customers left will help you
address existing base feature bugs/fixes that carry more weight long term.  It is likely
those deficiencies and bugs in basic needed features that result in most customer
attrition to other brands.

Back to the business model argument of "do we first add new contest features or
fix base feature bugs that customers complain about?"
I can summarise this way;   A  prize building or Ferrari is not built upon a shakey
foundation.   Finish the foundation FIRST, and make it something solid, something
to be proud of,
before rushing forward to work on the higher floors.  You want to be able to call
it the Crystal Tower, not the Tower of Compromises.

New Tag Line;    The Radio IS the Software....

You know where to focus.

Neal

Bill -VA3WTB

That is the reason for the latest servey.

k3Tim

An eight channel receiver good for DC to 6 Ghz using a Xilinx RFSoIC and 4 channels of DAC for TX.  With onboard SoC for a minimal parts count solution. The development board is US$7,995. Some would say expensive. 

Maybe not for Dayton 2019 more like 2020

Richard McClelland, AA5S

I was thinking that DC to 440 Mhz would be pretty sweet.

KI4P

Maybe some software fixes

Charlie_KB8CR

If anything.....maybe v2.5 

Tom Warren

 Over the years I've owned a number of Flex radios but as time marches on and there is no response from FRS on the various issues.  Every time I click those noise reduction buttons on my 6600 I get more upset. The company I'm watching is Elecraft. W4TMW
 

Cal N3CAL

Like Tom I've owned a number of Flex radios but what good is another new Flex radio if the software that "defines" that radio is below par?  I will no longer be jumping in line to order any new Flex radios or hardware until Flex starts addressing the issues with current software!  

Cal/N3CAL

Robert Lonn

Last night I was tuning around on my JRC NRD-545 DSP radio... I normally go to this radio for SWL listening,, Sometimes it is my Drake R8B... I ran into a situation where I was getting a lot of noise across the band,, Actually it reminded me of the Yaesu Video on the NR for the FTdx 101D radio.. 

I figured this would be a good test on NR.. So I fired up several radios to check this out...  First the NRD-545,, on a scale of 1-10, the noise was reduced to a level 6.. OK but not that good.. The Drake has a Noise Blanker and it was almost non effective.. The the ICOM IC-R8600 that just got the new 1.34 Software.. It reduced it from a 10 down to a level 7, but it added Audio Distortion as you increase the level, sort of that wobbly sound..

Turned on my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V that has a very good 4 setting NR circuit, Again probably a 8, not bad, best so far...Then I turned on my ICOM IC-9100 radio (Satellite Radio), and again probably an 8, but noting as dramatic as the new 101D radio demonstration... On went the Yaesu FT-991 used in the Motor Home, Well the NR is just not that great as it has heavy audio distortion, been that way since I got the radio 2 years ago... I would rate it a 5!!

So now on goes the FLEX 6600M.. After listening to these other radios I had a fairly good baseline.. I also watched the YouTube video again so I wanted to calibrate my ears... 

After tuning on the Flex and tuning in the station with NO NR turned on, I hit the NR button.. OK, that was not to bad, but I had the NR level set relatively LOW,, so I went and cranked it up to 100% "Figuring" that along would come Audio Distortion,, but that did not happen, it improved it a lot to a 9 level,, OK Impressive and not what I expected... Remember the Yaesu 101D is a 10..

BUT!!! Then I discovered something interesting.. If you watch the Yaesu Video you notice that when he turns on the NR, it takes like 1  to 2 seconds to become fully engaged.. Well with the NR on my Flex at 100% i wanted to turn it on and off as a comparison, and my Flex did almost the same thing,, took a second for the NR to fully engage. And this time the NR was more effective raising the bar to a 9.5,, I was amazed how well it worked.. 

Next thing was to reduce the NR down to the 50% point,, then I turned it on and off, and did not get as noticeable 1 second delay to engage.. And the NR dropped back down to an 8.. Pushed it back up to 100% but did not regain that 9.5 rating.. But turning it off and then back on did the trick.. 

So it appears that turning it on and off, allows the Algorithm to do its thing more effectively. That is what I found and hopefully others can give this a try.. I think we are just use to increasing and decreasing the level control and expect it to just track, but for me I need to turn the NR off and then On to get the full benefit...  

I guess as others try this they can share their findings.. Did not do this on SSB stations, this was a S-9 SWL station... 

OH, still running the 2.**** software...

Robert

Burch - K4QXX

I find that sometimes turning off and then back on the WNB also makes a huge difference. 

Bill -VA3WTB

I think the effectiveness of the Flex filters are more important to the ham bands and SSB. This is the area the filters need some more work. I would have liked the Yaesu test been done on SSB on signals between stations.

k3Tim

I tried NR here on the same station as shown in the Yaesu link and had pretty much the same results as the YouTube star. One thing about NR is it will change the audio characteristics a bit so it's best to re-tune the audio equalizer. Tested  again on 9350kc with a s7 to s9 signal and NR knocks the noise + hiss down very effectively. With AGC, BW and SAM, the NR does (and has done) well.  

Occasionally some impulse noise will be present and NB removes it but these instances are rare. Fortunately never needed WNB here.

A BoG is a very effective receive antenna and 'ignores' noise. At this stations a hunk of enamel magnet wire was used without the grounds at each end, so it was simple to install.

Manuel Maseda

I’m still betting on a 6700 replacement !!

Greg SP7QJF

FRS took 3 years to introduce powerenius xl and is still not available

Lucas - W6AER

If it could cover the main ham bands, so let's say up to 23cm and down to 2200m I would put a deposit down today. Although 5/10GHz would be good too given the planned geostationary satellite will be five and dime. Doubt many have a use above 6Ghz but why not!

Dave - W6OVP

I'm looking for the new and improved FlexRadio Model 1590. The product of a decade of experience since the ground breaking 1500:

$999
25W output
Single slice with panadapter and waterfall
Simple remote over WAN
Single receive input
SmartSDR limited edition
No internal tuner
Mike and CW jacks on FRONT. USB and PWR on back

It is now a decade later. The new Model 1590 will capture and overrun the SDR market with entry level buyers who will soon be ready to move up the food chain. With careful planning and marketing it will not significantly cannibalize the 6400 but will provide a much more affordable entry step on the FlexRadio ladder. The number of potential FlexRadio buyers will increase exponentially.

Stamp them out like bottle caps and back up the UPS trucks. Ship 'em out!

Take my order now? Does the show discount apply?

-Dave

Manuel Maseda

Glad I was wrong. My 6700 will still hold its value for a while longer !!

Scott Russell - N1SER

Wow the Elecraft K4 looks sweet!!!