New Flex 8000 series

AA1SS · July 17

So I am thinking of putting a deposit on a new 8600. When they ship will there be NEW software or will it still be the outdated 3.7.4 version.

Trucker · July 17

According to everything that Flex Radio has stated, the new radios will ship initially with v3.8.x. Beyond that, they have made no comments other than Adaptive Pre-Destortion will be coming at a later date.

There won't be a new or completely different interface anytime soon if ever.

James

WD5GWY

Ha Gei · July 17

Well.. there was a lot of … "will come later" , when i purchased my 6400 in 2019.. nothing of that has happened..

Mike-VA3MW · July 17

What I can share at this point is:

8000's ship with SmartSDR 3.8 which will have a number of fixes including a few nagging issues customers have been asking about
ADP software will ship at a later date, with the target of year-end and no extra cost for 8000 buyers. The hardware is already built into the radio.
The GNSS will be operational for frequency stability (+/- 0.5 hz at 50Mhz)
NTP Time server at a later time

To add, in case others are reading:

About 30 days prior to any customer's specific shipment, we will update them on their trade-in valuation. This is for customers who have requested a trade-in and have a deposit in place. They will receive a personal email from us.

You can always email us directly at hams@flexradio.com if you have more questions as well.

73

Trucker · July 18

Mike,

As I understand it, the hardware for APD is already built in to the 6000 radios as well. So, that begs the question, will APD be offered for the 6000 radios as well? I believe Steve Hicks mentioned just that a few weeks ago on the Flex Radio groups.io mailing list.

Since this feature was requested several years ago on the Community. And it was stated at that time that engineering had it running ( successfully) on a 6600 on their test bench. When asked when it might be implemented, the response was, that Flex Radio had not received enough requests for APD to justify adding it to SmartSDR.

Now, with the introduction of the 8000 radios, and your statement that it will be available at no extra cost to 8000 buyers, will the same hold true for current owners of 6000 radios? Many have requested this feature for the 6000 radios over the years. Are 6000 owners to be overlooked because they have hoped this important feature might become available at some point?

James

WD5GWY

Trucker · July 18

From the top. Years ago.

https://community.flexradio.com/discussion/6512026/official-position-on-adaptive-predistortion

Mike-VA3MW · July 18

@Trucker

Whatever Steve said on the mailing list is likely correct. I do not follow the email list, so I have no idea what he said. However, he is in charge of the project, which is a very good thing.

For the 6000 series, today's 6000 series does not have enough computing horsepower to reliably run ADP (as I have been told by engineering).

We are looking into an option with an outboard processor that would be on your local LAN to manage all the math-type calculations. Similar to what TAPR is now doing with DV and Waveforms and it works very well. That will be done if we find it is cost-effective. It will not be offered for free. This is a change from any previous discussions years ago.

We (Andy and I) would then need to figure out just how many people will pay for ADP on their current 6000 series radio vs trading up to a new one. Welcome to business economics. :)

Again, nothing is set in stone and this is why, in today's world, you shouldn't announce something until you are 100% sure you can bring it to market.

I hope that helps to explain things a bit.

73

Trucker · July 18

Mike, thanks for your comments. I guess the best answer is to wait and see what actually happens. ( for me anyway)

If Flex Radio actually does implement APD in the 6000 radios, then depending on what costs are involved, even though it has been successfully implemented in a 6000 radio without the need of any additional hardware, ( maybe the additional hardware is to accommodate a feedback loop for an external amplifier) for standalone operation ( no external amplifier) , then for me, it will be the cost of the requirements to get APD working in my 6600M.

If it is too expensive given the age of my radio, then I will abandon the idea and hope of having that feature in my 6600M. I still have two radios that already have APD working ( Icom 7610 and Anan 8000DLE) both of which did not involve any extra expense on my part to get it working. ( just a couple of settings in the Anan and a slightly more complicated setup for the Icom)

If your statements reflect the actual ( current) position Flex Radio has taken on this issue, then, it would appear to me that I cannot continue to hope for other, long overdue, requested feature enhancements will take place either.

Thanks,

James

WD5GWY

Robert PA5A · September 1

James, the Icom 7610 does NOT have Adaptive predistortion, it is static (Digital PreDistortion, DPD), there is a big difference between both. And I also own Flexradio's, an Anan 7000DLE MK2 and an Icom 7610 :-)

New Flex 8000 series

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