The Flex is not my entire life. V1, V2,or V3 ?

8899guy

The Flex is not my entire life. Currently on Smart SDR 1.11.12 with a 6500. Can somebody provide a succinct explanation as to why I would want to upgrade to V1, V2, or V3 and the cost of doing so? Looks like I would need to spend a lifetime trying to figure this out from Flex's web presence.

John KB4DU

If that version is working for you, just keep it as is. The main enhancement in v2 is smartlink for remote operations. The main enhancement in v3 is multiple remote operators simultaneously. Also numerous bug fixes and minor updates. The release notes give more detail. The cost to upgrade to either one is approximately $200, either v2 or v3 from v1.

Martin AA6E

I upgraded my 6500 to v2 so I could use my Maestro remotely. But I haven't found a big reason to go to v3.

Actually, I think paying ~$100 a year is reasonable for bug fixes and some feature updates. But Flex has tied their major updates to big features like MultiFlex, which are irrelevant to many of us IMO. So they don't get my $$. 🤡

Question: what will v4 look like - and when?

73 Martin AA6E

KD0RC

@8899guy The way the upgrades work, you pay $199 for whatever is the latest version and you get all the currently available prior releases. Some old releases are no longer available because of bugs (e.g. the SD Card corruption issue). If you buy today, you get V2 and V3 for the same price. If you wait for V4, you will get V2, V3 and V4 for the same price. Flex does not speculate on future releases, so V4 will get here when it is ready.

73,

Len, KD0RC

Butch

Flex provides "Release Notes" which outlines the improvements and/or added features of each new release. You can read the Release Notes for V2.x and V3.x here: https://www.flexradio.com/tag/newest-releases/

Many fixes and features are normally included in a particular release but the main improve for V2.2 was "SmarkLink" (remote operation capability), and for V3.x it was "Multi-Client" (the ability to use two clients to control the Flex transceiver at the same time (PC & Maestro, or PC & iOS SSDR, Maestro & iOS SSDR, etc).

If you decide to upgrade, $199 will allow you to upgrade from your V1.x version to the latest V3.x. If after reading the Release Notes for V2.x and V3.x you find that none of the improvements interest you, just continue to run V1.x. It will will work fine.

Butch, KF4HR