I am looking to communicate/network/liase with other contestors interesed in using the Flex 5000 as a 'SO2R in a box" rig for contesting (SO2R = Single Operator 2 Radio). My email is [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I took delivery of my Flex 5000 a month ago and have been evaluating it since as a serious contest rig. Thus far, I am very impressed with the performance. Simply the best weak signal low band RX I've ever used, in particular being able to fine-tune the AGC-Threshold control to peak weak 160m signals against the noise is magical (Orion could do this but required a lot of fiddling with controls nested under soft menus and was a hassle). The filters are incredible even down to 25- Hz and the panadapter is stunning. The sound of received CW is just beautiful in contrast to the harsh sounding CW audio on many modern rigs (a big pet peeve of mine(. I've been A/Bing the Flex against an Orion II and a 7800. The 7800 is sold as of today as I couldn't see any reason to keep it with the 5000 in the shack (I will keep the Orion, as a backup or guest op rig -- some people will just not like using a mouse instead of turning panel full of 'real' knobs). Only real problem I've encountered so far is the ShuttlePro knob stops controlling the Flex VFO if another program, such as a contesting logging program, has computer focus. Is there a work-around to keep the ShuttlePro lcoked to PowerSDR regardless of what other software is running? Here are some of my Flex SO2R thoughts: ** The 5000 will have the essential hardware components to achieve SO2R capability when the second RX ships in 2008. The 5000 is already full-duplex capable so genuine SO2R capability may come down to a method to switch the TX between the two RXs and their assigned antennas <--> keying lines <--> PAs (I am assuming good isolation within the Flex box when RXing on one band and TXing on another simultaneously). According to a FlexRadio person I spoke to last summer at CSVHF a small mod may be needed to the 5000's antenna switching matrix to allow the RX1 and RX2 channels to stay assigned to the same antennas and PA keying lines while the TX toggles between the two frequencies (which will typically be on different bands). ** Given the amount of gear that a typical SO2R ham station employs (see http://www.k8nd.com/Radio/SO2R/K8ND_SO2R.htm for a gallery of SO2R ham station photos) putting two rigs, SO2R control box (implemented in software and married to a contest logging program) plus most of the other SO2R accessories into a single rig and single computer will be a radical and dramatic step forward ** How cool would dual panadapters (one for RX1 and one for RX2) with packet spots and logged station calls overlaid at the appropriate frequency be? ** Integrating Win-Test (contesting software with integrated SO2R capability) with PowerSDR could blur the line between logging software and the rig ** A special contest 'skin' for PowerSDR which would hide all non- essential controls (such as WARC band buttons) and make the remaining buttons and controls much bigger (easier to see @ 3 am on the second night of CQ WW) and arranged on the screen in locations to optimize typical contest operating patterns 73 & HNY. Bill NT1Y -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20071231/f111e7d8/attachment.html _______________________________________________ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
