Aurora

KD0RC

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It's real!

Trucker

What a beast! And without the front panel display and controls, over $8,000 USD according to a post on the Flex Radio Facebook page! I will use my 811H for a while longer. At least if it breaks down I can run the radio itself at 100 watts. In fact, I rarely ever use an amplifier. It certainly looks awfully crowded in the 8000 case! And I wonder how well the cooling fan handles the additional heat generated?

James

WD5GWY

Rich M5RIC

This will answer a lot of questions.

They had the radio on TX for 2 hours and show the heat on the dummy load but nothing from the radio.

https://youtu.be/WR-xa6u4Az4?si=-r_MgQJrXRebf4sf

Rich - N5ZC

If you were starting from scratch or building a remote station, a 500w rig with built in tuner and power supply might be appealing.

I jumped on the 8600 in hopes of getting the updated software in some sort of a timely manner.

Hopefully we'll get an update on when version 4.0 will be released:

• APD
• TGXL integrated into SmartSDR
• etc etc……

Rich - N5ZC

Olaf, W9FY

Wonder if they are considering to join the 500W amplifier market, — a small, lightweight amp with power supply and tuner or be able to select those options. Maybe also multiple antenna switching and bypassing?

Rich M5RIC

The difference here is it's a 500W transmitter, not a 500W amplifier.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

…with very high efficiency and low cooling requirements.

Dan Trainor

I found this article at qrp-labs.com that is a pretty decent summary explanation of the "Polar Modulation" technique that is apparently being used in the Flex Aurora project to gain significant power efficiencies. https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp/ssbbeta.html Dan WA1QZX

Olaf, W9FY

I understand, my comment was for a separate new product which would be an amplifier incorporating the amplifier portion, power supply and possible ATU

Erik Carling EI4KF

Perhaps they called it "Aurora" because they knew it would polarize opinion. Mine is 'interesting technology but practically and financially not desirable'.

Trucker

Yikes! When converted to dollars it's even more scary! Well out of my comfort zone. Maybe I should go buy some lottery tickets!

James

WD5GWY

Geoff AB6BT

James…I won $85 in the lottery 25 years ago. I guess I'll have to do better!!!

Neil D Friedman N3DF

An 8600M, Electaft’s 500 watt amp and a power supply would cost you as much.

Trucker

Or,I can keep the 8600M and save a lot of money. If I had the money to spend, I would be tempted to buy one. At over $6,000 for the low end single SCU ( counting tax) and over $10,000 for the 520M ( including sales tax) with dual SCU's and a front panel display I believe this particular product is out of my comfort zone. Even though it has everything my 8600M has along with 500 watts output and a built-in power supply, and 500 watt antenna tuner. From the video I just watched, it can handle key down at full output for over an hour without burning up. And it doesn't over heat. Pretty amazing actually.

James

WD5GWY

Russ Ravella

Mike, just saw this video posted on the Flex groups.io reflector:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SktnGMLr54o

Pretty impressive but not useful for my particular case. At this point all I'm hoping for is a v3.9 release with lots of bug fixes. Watching this video I kept thinking, "Imagine a world where Flex was even 1/2 as good at s/w as they are at everything else".

ka9ees

What a useless piece of doo doo. No wonder we can't get any useful updates to SmartSDR. I'm pretty close to dropping Flex.

Trucker

Useless in what way? I am certain that Flex Radio has throughly researched the market for a radio like this. I would not be surprised if they sell out pretty quickly. And not just people wanting the latest and greatest. But, operators that want a new radio with everything built-in. Which includes DX Peditions and Field Day operators and other portable operators. And having a radio with everything in one box that can be setup in a remote location, and operated from home or elsewhere, is a big incentive for potential buyers.

James

WD5GWY

Russ Ravella

Totally understand and agree with your frustration. But in all fairness, they're mostly different teams. The hardware team is just WAY out performing the software team, and always has. We used to get promises that the problem was getting fixed by hiring more software engineers but they've been saying that for years now. Literally, years.

km9r.mike

Kudos to FRS for the huge leap forward in transmitter efficiency. The gain in efficiency is quite remarkable compared to traditional hf rigs and previous flex platforms based on the traditional architecture. While I would prefer this efficiency even more in a full legal limit transmitter, I agree with your presentation that the most **** for the buck is found at the 500w point. In addition the the leap forward in transmitter efficiency, the all in one box solution decreases remote setup complexity which I imagine appeals greatly to those wanting to achieve even greater levels of remote reliability and or reboot simplicity. Thanks for the innovation and investment into our hobby.

**** = B….A…N…G

I must have triggered the language bot. pew pew : )

n0ypd

WOW,just WOW. I love it except for the price. It's just out of my comfort zone also.

I agree it's gonna sell like hot cakes.

Olaf, W9FY

If any one missed hearing about it, a discussion on Aurora with Steve Hicks is in Ham Radio Workbench podcast # 236 on you tube—worth the watch!

ka9ees

I'd like to see that.

ka9ees

I watched the podcast, and am glad I did. The design process started long before I thought. It looks like a really nice rig. An M version would look great on my desk!

Jack6600

It appears that that the Aurora is based on a 2017 QEX article by Brian Machesney, K1LI and TonyTony Brock-Fisher, K1KP.

HiFi Audio Class D amplifiers were around for several years and with modern components, Brian and Tony designed an RF class E amp.

High_Eff_HF_Rig.pdf

Ken Hansen

A few thoughts on the new Aurora radio:

This is existing Flex RX hardware coupled to a new TX design. Buying this radio doesn't buy you a better RX than already ships in 8xxx series radios.

The lack of 13.8 volts power source is frustrating, but the issue is likely the devices used to generate the 500 watt signal. To power this radio from a 13.8 volt power source would require adding circuitry to the radio to boost the voltage up to 50v (?), increasing weight, heat and eating into the efficiency of the radio -all things Flex was apparently working on reducing.

The price is a shocker. I must admit, but I get the "buying everything at once" reason for the price - radio, "amp", ATU, but we don't usually buy everything new on one sales ticket (unless the good lord sends a bolt of lightning down your feedline to force you do so…).

The ATU is kind of limited - it "only" handles a 3:1 mis-match, there are a lot of operators that will likely go out shopping for a third-party ATU to clean up a 4:1 mis-match on their compromise antenna… and once they do that, the 'simplicity' issue goes out the window.

The radio CAN drive a legal-limit amplifier, you can turn down the drive level BUT precious few legal-limit amplifiers can survive an "oopsie" of accidentally feeding 500 watts into their input, so the Flex position is just don't do it, but if you do do it, understand the risks involved.

All-in-one scares me, if the ATU or PS fails, I'm shipping an 18 pound box back to Austin, TX. Of course, Flex will tell you that they are quality parts and shouldn't fail, but Flex has a service department for a reason. It's one of the reasons I don't own an -M model radio with the integrated display - if the front panel fails, out cones the shipping box and a trip to my local FedEx Ground center.

If I moved out of an HOA and could put up a handful of resonant and directional antennas, I would seriously consider an Aurora-class radio, it would be my preferred path out of the 100 watt radio, compromise wire antenna ghetto I'm currently in.

A quality 500 watt amplifier isn't cheap, with mostly resonant antennas the 3:1 tuner is fine, and the ability to run off 110 volts is a plus (but then again 500 watt class amplifiers typically perform fine on 110 volts). Before MFJ/Ameritron "retired" a 500 watt mobile amplifier and suitable power supply would have been a bit over $1K, but now Elecraft would hit your pocket a little harder, and 500 watt+ ATUs aren't really a bargain - the Elecraft 500 watt amp and their matching ATU is $4K+, though the Elecraft ATU cleans up to a 10:1 mismatch.

There's a saying "Buy Once, Cry Once" - I think it applies here.

What I see when I look at the Aurora class radios is a "Remote Shack in a Box", a DXPedition that chooses to take this radio with them could just as easily pack a spare Aurora radio or two just as easily as a spare HF radio or spare amplifier - the entire Aurora radio takes up as much space/weight as a spare HF radio or HF amplifier.

I'll step off my soapbox now, I'm at Xenia now and I've spent a lot of time digesting this announcement. I'm not how many people will agree with my assessment, but I thought some might find it interesting.

Ken, N2VIP

Trucker

I agree on all the points you have made. One thing that I would mention is a 500 watt amplifier running on 110V A/C will draw a lot more current than what it takes to power the Aurora on transmit. Plus, it will generate much more heat than the transmitter in the radio does. It is reasonable to think that the lifetime of the amplifier with higher current draw and needed heat dissipation will be shorter compared to the new radios. I would be tempted to return my recently received 8600M and put the money towards one of the new radios. My preference is an M model radio. But the cost is more than I can justify. ( unless I win the lottery) Besides that, it would mean another wait for the new radios to actually ship. With my 8600M I can enjoy all the features in SmartSDR now and when the next version finally ships. Plus, no matter how much beta testing is done, new hardware with new technology will invariably have unexpected issues show up once they get out in the wild.

James

WD5GWY

Trucker

What hams are saying about the new Aurora radios.

Netas Ameba

I will be thinking about...

When the CW stops...

If I will have...

If I will be...

Let It Be

73, Netas Ameba

Trucker

Took the plunge today. Now the wait begins.

James

WD5GWY

Arnold Goldman

same here good luck; have to send my 8600M back for a "scratchy" noise NOT THE FAN noise which are louder than the 6600M