[NLRS] 2m-440 Rigs

Sun Mar 24 10:46:00 EDT 2013

Kirk,

I concur with Lloyd the Flex radios are not a bad choice but with some 
caveats related specifically to the 5k.

1.  I have lost the HF/6m finals in mine 3 times and the RF switching board 
twice.   That has added $1500 to the cost of ownership and lead to the radio 
being unavailable for about 1/2 out of the 2-1/2 years I have owned it.

2.  Stay away from the5k  V/U unit which adds 2m and 70cm to the base radio 
and instead do it with external transverters.   Flex screwed the pooch on 
this and you are as apt to get one
that goes all over the place in power output as one that is steady.   I had 
one that was stable then one time when I had it in for repair they 
apparently needed a v/u unit that was stable to fix another
radio... you can guess the rest of the story.  They have quit production 
instead of figuring out what the problem is which is too bad, I routinely 
work EME with a single 12 element beam and NO preamp,
it is one heck of a receiver.  For some reason Flex is unable to do what a 
mom and pop shop in Florida is able to do, get stable, rated output from a 
Toshiba power module.    If I had this to do over
again I would have ordered the DEMI transveters (at less cost) and foregone 
this pain.

3.  The 5k is deaf is a stone on 6m.   It took me a while to figure this 
out, an 18dB DEMI preamp was not adequate to make it work on 6m EME, I 
finally upped to an ARR 24db GASFET and now can hear
some of what is going on with an antenna that lets most folks here most of 
what is going on.  A chance conversation with W7CE got me straight on this.

That said the radio does work extremely well with transverters and the 
transverter table in the software may be one of the best implementations of 
how to implement support them in the industry.

A second choice in the SDR world that is just starting to gain traction is 
the Anan radios from Apache Labs.   I just got one of their Hermes boards, 
at TAPR project that is being built by Apache and think it will make a very 
good
base for my transverters.   As a mater of fact I am in the process of laying 
out a couple of circuit boards that will do the RF switching to support up 
to 14 transverters with a Hermes board or one of the Anan radios.  Apache's
latest radios are 100W on 160 - 6 and support transverters in the same way 
that Flex does.   The Flex and Apache radios run similar software, Flex runs 
PowerSDR which is a somewhat proprietary version of
the software which was originally developed under GNU.   They pulled 
development inhouse a couple of years ago.   Apache runs OpenHPSDR which is 
the open version of PowerSDR.   The both have their features and their
issues but both are fun to operate and once you use the bandscope you will 
wonder how you lived without it.

We live in interesting times.

73 de Bill ND0B

-----Original Message----- 
From: Lloyd Berg - N9LB
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 8:03 AM
To: nlrs at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [NLRS] 2m-440 Rigs

Hi Kirk!

The FLEX-Radio Software Defined Radios are fantastic.  I have the FLEX-5000A
and mate it with the current version Down East Microwave transverters  for
144-thru 2304.  ( I've also used the FLEX-1500, almost as good )

Highlights:
- dedicated transverter ports
- very sensitive receive
- very effective noise blanker
- excellent receive filtering - many choices 100 Hz - 10 KHz
- panafalls spectrum display

73

Lloyd - N9LB  EN52hv

-----Original Message-----
From: nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of kp hpjr
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:25 AM
To: nlrs at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [NLRS] 2m-440 Rigs

Being newer to these freq's I'm wondering about the best radios for use
here.

Ive used IC-756PROIII's for many years and have recently sold them. (I love
trying new stuff)

So now I'm curious as to what the general consensus is as to what rig a
person should be using for hot receive.

My requirements are: Must do digital (love WSJT modes), Must have very good
HF abilities as well, DSP noise rejection.

Your thoughts please.

Kirk, N0KK

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