It was a part procurement issue. A while back the blue LEDs started
having very long lead times and missing one part delays the entire radio
production and delivery. so the "Ruby" version of the FLEX-5000 was
born. The early blue ones became known as the "Sapphire" version.
For both versions, if you place a small piece of tape over the front of
the LED switch, the photon density is decreased significantly no matter
what color it is.
Or, you can just get a pair of laser goggles :-)
-Tim
---
W4TME
FlexRadio Systems - Info Management Admin.
"Tune in Excitement"
On 6/21/2009 9:37 AM, Robert Jefferis wrote:
Interesting. My 5KA is about 4 weeks old. The power switch light is RED.
I was expecting blue. Now, ordinarily, a red indicator would not bother
me. But, this switch light is so bright it is rather irritating insofar
as it is bright enough to be distracting. I wonder if this was a
systematic production change, or they just got a batch of red
inadvertently and used them?
Bob, KF6BC
On Jun 20, 2009, at 9:12 AM, Brian Lloyd wrote:
It has been awhile and there seem to be a number of new Flex 5000
owners on here. I thought I would throw out some of my logic for
orienting the F5K in the shack. The F5K has six approximately-equal
sides but only two hold much interest. One has three things: the mic
connector, the headphone connector, and the Blue Light Of Death
(otherwise known as the power switch/indicator). The opposite side has
about thirty interesting and useful things to play with. In my shack
the latter side is facing forward. It makes connecting cables and
making configuration changes a piece of cake.
One other advantage of this orientation is that the Blue Light Of
Death illuminates the wall giving a very pleasing, high-tech, back-lit
effect. I enjoy look of awe on the faces of friends who visit my
semi-darkened shack and see all the components suffused in a blue
glow. This effect can be heightened by having your oscilloscope
displaying a rotating lissajous pattern and a large, floor-standing,
mainframe tape drive rapidly switching between fast-forward and
rewind. (Hmm -- I am thinking that we need a Flex-Wire-to-Tape-Drive
interface so that PowerSDR can make the tape drive do cool things in
response to control and signal changes on the radio. Think of it as a
kinetic visualizer.)
DISCLAIMER: for those of you who are humor-impaired, this message is
intended to offer a practical suggestion couched in [what I probably
erroneously think are] humorous terms. Seriously, I think that the
Flex 5000 is the best HF Ham transceiver that one can purchase so
please do not misconstrue my misplaced humor as implying that I don't
like the radio even if the power indicator is a bit on the bright
side.
73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL
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