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SmartSDR 2.0 upgrade fee

Manuel - W4SSB
edited June 2020 in SmartSDR for Windows
If I buy a new 6300 now and SmartSDR V2.0 comes out during my warranty period will I have to pay for the upgrade?

Answers

  • GI4FZD
    GI4FZD Member
    edited April 2017
    Do you expect it to be out by then?
    Cheers
    Paul
  • Bill -VA3WTB
    Bill -VA3WTB Member ✭✭✭
    edited February 2018
    Not unless there is something in the upgrade you want, otherwise no need to buy anything.
  • G4NRT
    G4NRT Member ✭✭
    edited June 2020
    Will purchasers of the Maestro also be required to pay an upgrade fee? 
    I only came to Flex 6000 radios during the 1.6 - 1.7 period so I do not know how much the upgrades are.  
    Can someone please enlighten me?  

    David G4NRT
  • KC9NRN
    KC9NRN Member
    edited October 2016
    I'm hoping! I have a year starting Wednesday so hopefully going from 1.7 to 2.0 takes less than a year to accomplish! :)
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    As far as I know, FRS has not released any information about possible pro-rata upgrade fees for buyers purchasing close to the time of the new release. 
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Updates within a number series - 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, etc. are all free.

    Upgrades from one number series to the next...1.x > 2.x will cost $199 at the currently expected price.

    Since we have not had a paid upgrade yet, no one knows exactly how that will go.

    Or are you asking whether one would need to pay an upgrade fee for BOTH the 6000 AND the Maestro?
  • G4NRT
    G4NRT Member ✭✭
    edited December 2016
    No, I understand that the Maestro internal software will be upgraded in the same way as the Flex internal software is.

    My point is that many of the features which were expected with the Maestro when many of us paid deposits were, in fact, absent from the initial release of SSDR to support the Maestro.

    So, will Maestro owners who bought sight unseen get a discounted v2.0 upgrade when it is released?  It seems to be more or less what we all expected when Maestro was announced a year before release and it seems a little disingenuous to expect us to pay a not inconsiderable sum to make the Maestro what we expected it to be in the first place!

    David
  • Kirk
    Kirk Member ✭✭
    edited April 2020
    Manuel - Looks like you would be better off holding off your purchase until v2.0 is released. 

    73,

    Kirk, K6KAR
  • Chris DL5NAM
    Chris DL5NAM Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Good joke  :-)
  • DrTeeth
    DrTeeth Member ✭✭
    edited August 2016
    @ David G4NRT
    Anybody could say what you did in your last paragraph about their pet peev with SSDR. Flex have said that they will have to work had and come up with some 'must-haves' for people to part with their Shekels and that is so true.
  • Rob N4GA
    Rob N4GA Member ✭✭
    edited January 2017
    Cool call sign - W4SSB

    N4GA
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    David, to which features are you referring?

    WAN has always been planned for the paid V.2.0 and, as far as I have seen, was never promised as part of the initial software release for Maestro. They did however say that Maestro will be able to work with WAN when that is released with V.2.0.  But I don't see that as a promise of a free or reduced-price upgrade to v.2.0.

    There ARE some other features that were left out of v.1.7 initially in order to speed up the release and should find their way into v.1.8, which will be a free upgrade.  How is that being disingenuous? - no harm, no foul. 

    This is software defined radio.  If the hardware can be released with basic functions early and updated for free to bring the features up to ****, then you have had the pleasure of using the equipment for all the time in between.  And the design keeps getting better.  The other alternative would be to make everyone wait without their rigs until the software is "perfect."  I think most SDR users would rather play now than wait for perfection without their equipment.

    Just my 2 cents.
  • G4NRT
    G4NRT Member ✭✭
    edited December 2016
    @Guy G4DWV/4X1LT - I am not at all sure what my pet peeve is!  

    @Ken NM9P - it is really not that big a deal!  

    I was just asking a question originally which would have had a simple enough answer that the price is what it is and there will be no discounts for Maestro buyers!

    It will be interesting to see how USD199 translates into GBP once v2.0 is released because I will certainly have to have it - even if just for WAN support.  Most software houses just change the dollar sign to a pound one!

    I guess that there will also have to be a different distribution model than today where the software is freely downloadable from the FRS site.

    David G4NRT
  • DrTeeth
    DrTeeth Member ✭✭
    edited August 2016
    @ David - G4NRT
    "I am not at all sure what my pet peeve is! " It's a smorgasbord, LOLZ! It's really not that bad.

    I hope the licensing model does not rely on authentication servers being active forever. I expect to use my Flex for as long as the hardware is able. As I do not give a flying fig about WAN, I expect to be sitting on the sidelines until my taste buds have been stimulated enough to part with my cash; hopefully at the proper exchange rate too.

  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    I am not sure what the distribution model will be.  I assume that it will involve some form of verification system, perhaps linked to the serial number of your rig.

    In any case, I already paid my first upgrade fee about three years ago when I became part of the second wave of early adopters.  As Tim referenced, at that time the policy was expected that the first year of software upgrades would be free, with $199 per year afterwards. So I prepaid for the second year ahead of time when I ordered my 6500.  It quickly became apparent that this would not be as functional, so they changed the policy to a free updates / paid Major upgrades policy.  This was a change in policy for which I am grateful.  I have had my rig for almost 3 years (this coming August) and have not paid anything to-date for updates.  And the 2.0 update is already paid. 

    My experience is that when FRS needs to change a policy it is usually mutually beneficial to both company and consumer.

    I am looking forward to the next releases to see what new Christmas presents it will contain.  Some packages are bigger than others!  They have already announced that the speed of release should be quicker than the past year or so. 

    When the 2.0 series begins, it will be even more exciting!
  • Philip KA4KOE
    Philip KA4KOE Member ✭✭
    edited June 2016
    If the V2.0 upgrade is really kicking and punches the right buttons, yeah, I'd pay the fee. So, to the Flex 6000 software team, I wish you luck in making the V2.0 upgrade "really kicking".
  • donato cardarelli
    edited April 2020
    In am a long time user of Flex (sdr 1000, 5000, now 6400+Maestro)... 
    but sincerely speaking, 199USD  for licensing is really high...  it shoud be given for  free as all FLEX sw

    It is difficult to pay 199 for a feature announced years ago but only now delivered....


  • Chris DL5NAM
    Chris DL5NAM Member ✭✭✭
    edited July 2017
    now 6400 owner ? You must be the first!!

    Hmmm, and 6400 customer get V2.0 for free; it's included :-)
    Check your parcel

    73 Chris

  • donato cardarelli
    edited July 2017
    6500, ...... 
    The 2.0.17 release note is clear

    SmartSDR v2.0.17 is the first release of SmartSDR v2. A software license is required to run SmartSDR v2. All owners of the Limited Edition (LE) FLEX-6700 and FLEX-6500 SDRs or radios sold after May 19, 2017, have been pre-authorized for SmartSDR v2 and do not require the purchase of a SmartSDR v2 license. To run SmartSDR v2 on all other radios requires the purchase of a software license for the radio. Obtaining and validating a license for your FLEX-6000 software defined radio is a simple process.

  • Harold Bullard
    edited June 2020
    Limited Edition 6700 or 6500 where you have a free upgrade credit or purchased additional software upgrades when you purchased your radio (this was only available for the early 6700 and 6500 before we transitioned to a fee-based software upgrade rather than the initial annual software fees).
    I bought a flex 7600 during < 2.0  this was before a transition fee...please explain if elgible.
  • David Decoons, wo2x
    David Decoons, wo2x Member, Super Elmer Moderator
    edited February 2018
    If the 6700 was not the initial Signature series and was purchased before May 2017 (don’t remember exact day), then you would need to purchase an upgrade for 2.0 Dave wo2x

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