When can we expect an improvement to noise reduction and Automatic Notch Filter?

If you notice FRS has stopped advertising "New Software = New Radio", so I guess we now know where they stand with providing the customer with anything more than bug fixes. Your right, I've had my 6400M for more than 5 years and I have not seen any new software additions to SmartSDR except for memory fuctions being added. There have been a ton of new firware releases, but I don't count them as new software. They now claim that they are the "best technology partner on the planet", and that they "aim higher and look farther in hopes of creating tools and solutions for things we can''t even see just yet". I guess that means the can't read these blogs to see what their customers have been asking to be fixed or added to the software. As I have said before, Flex Radios are a great concept, wonderful eye-candy, the best at remote operation, but very unreliable and too slow to improve. They are also falsely advertising that the 6400 has two independent receivers - IT DOES NOT. I'm surprised the haven't been sued yet over that one.

I believe bits of it are in the software used for their military applications. So it cannot be open source.

Totally irrelevant. The military uses tons of open source software, and software derived from open source.

Th big point is that Flex either needs to start updating their products, or release SmartSDR as open source so that others can.

Citation needed. You saying the military doesn't use Linux??? They use tons of open source software.

Just to name a few applications of Open Source in the US Military:

The U.S. military's use of open-source software (OSS) has expanded over the years due to its versatility, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to modify it to meet specific needs. Here are some well-documented applications and initiatives related to the U.S. military's adoption of open-source software:

1. Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux): Developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), SELinux is a set of kernel modifications and tools for enhancing the security of Linux. It's integrated into several Linux distributions, and its methodologies and tools are widely accepted in the Linux community.
2. Open Technology Development (OTD): The Department of Defense (DoD) released a roadmap for the implementation and encouragement of open technology development. This document underscores the benefits and methods of leveraging open-source software for military use.
3. FalconView: Originally developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for the U.S. Air Force, FalconView is an open-source GIS (Geographic Information System) application that has been widely used for flight planning and other tasks.
4. Distributed Common Ground System - Army (DCGS-A): Parts of the DCGS-A system, an Army intelligence system, have utilized open-source software components. The adoption of open-source components was part of a larger initiative to create a more modular and adaptable system.
5. Open Source Corporate Management Information System (OSCMIS): OSCMIS is a web-based, open-source application used by the U.S. Department of Defense for human resource management.
6. Ozone Widget Framework (OWF): A project initially started by the NSA, OWF is a web application that allows users to run and display multiple web applications simultaneously in the same web browser.
7. Mil-OSS: This is a grassroots movement spearheaded by active and concerned military personnel and civilians interested in the adoption of open-source software for the U.S. military. The group often hosts events and works to promote the benefits of open-source software within the defense community.
8. Defense Digital Service (DDS): Part of the U.S. Digital Service, the DDS operates with the intent to bring technology best practices into the DoD. This includes the use and advocacy of open-source solutions for various challenges.

This discussion is outside the scope of this forum, but the military makes extensive use of open source, both using and contributing back.

And straight from the horse's mouth, on a DOD website:

Q: Does the DoD already use open source software?

Yes, extensively. The 2003 MITRE study, “Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense”, identified some of many OSS programs that the DoD is already using, and concluded that OSS “plays a more critical role in the [Department of Defense (DoD)] than has generally been recognized”.

And that is a study from 2003. They have been using Open Source and contributing to Open Source extensively for decades in fact.

I apologize for the misunderstanding.

However, whoever told you Flex does not use open source is entirely misinformed or does not understand open source-- or they qualified it with some other predicate that is not included here (e.g. doesn't use open source in X or Y). Most non-developers are not aware of the depth of use of open source.

How do we know that Flex uses OpenSource extensively?

1. Flex has stated that the "internal processors" in the radio that are what get rebooted with a full power down run Linux, which is of course open source.
2. You can also look at your install directory of SmartSDR and clearly see numerous open source dll (code library) files such as libopus, portaudio, newtonsoftjson, etc.

Lastly, and in plain English:

Please see page 201of the "FLEX-6400M and FLEX-6600M User Guide v3.x"-- Section 43.2:

43.2 GPL INFORMATION

Portions of the software contained within the FLEX-6000 Signature Series transceiver are covered under the GNU General Public License (GPL)

So it is perfectly clear that Flex DOES use open source quite a bit both in the internal radio hardware, and in SmartSDR. Not sure who told you otherwise, but they clearly need further education on this topic.

Open source software is inherently neither secure nor insecure, The DoD knows this, which is why they have been using it for decades, rather than naively ruling it out.

I am sure there are certain application where some organizations/government wants complete control over their software, and when they do they typically fork the open source project and modify the code internally, keeping their modifications private, which is well within most OSS licenses if they do not release the compiled form.

Code re-use is a common and desired trait for software developers. Re-writing tried and tested code normally leads to more bugs and more security flaws than using code that has already been vetted. Of course anyone has the opportunity to check the code themselves before integrating OSS into their product. The vast majority of analyses have found OSS to as secure, or more secure, than closed source code, and certainly much faster to patch zero-day vulnerabilities.

I have two SDR radios a Flex 6600 and a Anan 7000 DLE III. Just for comparison the Anan NR and NR2 is much improved over the 6600 NR especially when the parameters in the Anan can be adjusted.

No fan boy of either radio just a comparison of both radios side by side.

Bob

I

Couldn't care less about Multi-Flex, or contesting for that matter. Would love to have proper noise reduction, and a decent Auto-Notch filter.