Bob, congratulations on your ability to send high speed CW and to place high in contests. I respect you for these accomplishments and especially respect you for your contributions to the Flex radio operations.
I had noticed that Flex has removed most references about ability to QSK in their advertisements, which was removed after I bought my Flex 5000. Thanks for your explanation of how fast the T/R changeover is. However, I would like to be sure I am not confused about what you have said in this recent note. I may be incorrectly reading that working on the software issues that would allow QSK is a low priority, and it seems to be that you are implying that the other things you mention are going to be fixed in the PSDR 2.0 release first and seems to imply the repair of the lack of QSK will be put on hold. Your statements seem to imply to me that it will be after Dayton and after the release of PSDR 2.0 before this issue is addressed. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am not a software engineer but I do understand that it may be complex to accomplish this fix. I am simply a user of the radio and would like to see QSK work. Although no radio is perfect, almost everything else about the radio is super and I am certainly enjoying using it. 73 Jay W5SL Austin Texas On Feb 22, 2010, at 1:23 PM, Bob McGwier wrote: > You would be.... wrong .... about some of the things you say. > > When I operate outside of my car..... CW. I have top tens in DX contests, my > cw speed is 40 wpm with good copy, 50 wpm in "contest mode" and I have been a > developer of software for the Flex radios since the 3rd month of their > existence. When I still cared, I was on the honor roll in only one mode, CW. > > I cannot stop the hype writers from doing their job and I did not get to > review early copy of ads, but PowerSDR 1.X has always been a decent > semi-breakin radio at best. The web pages and ads no longer MENTION QSK so > far a quick look just showed me. The early ads did in fact mention QSK > without understanding that this had a huge number of implicit declarations, > just as you have mentioned. > > PowerSDR 2.0 switches from TX-RX for receive in more than adequate time for > QSK. Keydown to RF out is under 20ms. > > There are issues dealing with agc memory across transitions which we have put > down the list for PowerSDR 2.0 in order to do other work which Flex feels is > higher priority for the release of PowerSDR 2.0, such as full support for > Flex 1500, Flex V/U, diversity/phased array reception with the Flex 5000 and > some other things which are less important. > > PowerSDR 2.0 and its plusses and minuses and current efforts are discussed in > FlexEdge reflector, not here. But let me say this much. HUGE strides have > been made in moving the software towards full QSK operation. So I will only > say stuff here to dispel the incorrect interpretation you make about what it > is we are doing or what we care about. > > From our tests, we believe the hardware will switch back and forth in well > under 10ms and we are spending serious time in figuring out how to cut > transition time and transitory response. We have reduced all of that to 1/3 > of what it was before in PowerSDR 1.X. The switch times are as good or > BETTER than Elecraft K3, Orion 2, ICOM 7800. We have two software ONLY > issues remaining to make it QSK and that is going to take some sofware > engineering that we do not want to do so the hardware mentioned is fully > supported before Dayton. > > Best wishes and it really is like Gerald is fond of saying, you are going to > be able to download software soon, and have a new radio. > > 73's > Bob > N4HY > > > > On 2/22/2010 1:31 PM, John Ragle wrote: >> Hi, Mike... >> >> Read your blog. As a long-time CW operator (licensed ~1946), and having >> owned both TenTec and Elecraft rigs with perfect QSK, I was really >> deeply disappointed in that aspect of the F3K -- it is a typical >> "semi-break-in" rig. I had a fair amount of trouble using it with my >> paddles, so shifted over to the keyboard. It is a more or less >> reasonable CW "semi-break-in" rig when used that way, but it is still >> obvious that the designers were SSB or AM types that did not use CW in >> their ham activity. I hope your comment about pSDR 2.x is right, but I >> don't hold out much hope, reading the reflector and all the jazz about >> audio quality, etc. The only saving grace for CW is the digital filter >> system...as you say, it is absolutely superlative. >> >> For a long time I was reticent about making noise over the lack of CW >> capability. I finally did so, more in the way of criticizing the ads' >> wording about break-in than anything else. I see that the latest web >> page ads only specify "semi-break-in." >> >> I think it is important to comment or even complain bitterly about the >> lacks of the F3K in this regard. Amusingly, I did see a comment by an >> owner of an F5K, who used the dual receiver to provide a kind of >> break-in. Unfortunately, we poor cousins don't have that option. Another >> comment on the reflector was from an op who claimed that full QSK was >> just an annoyance! Go figure. >> >> I personally couldn't give a hang about "audio quality." I'm not in the >> broadcast business...just give me a carbon mike salvaged from a WW-2 >> fighter! But since we come "to praise Caesar not bury him," I thought >> your blog struck a nice balance. We wait impatiently for Ver. 2.x (along >> with our F1.5K)! >> >> 73 >> >> John Ragle -- W1ZI >> >> _______________________________________________ >> FlexRadio Systems Mailing List >> FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz >> http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz >> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ >> Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: >> http://www.flex-radio.com/ >> > > > -- > (Co)Author: DttSP, Quiktrak, PowerSDR, GnuRadio > Member: ARRL, AMSAT, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, > NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. > “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for > people of good conscience to remain silent" > -Thomas Jefferson > Active: Facebook,Twitter,LinkedIn > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
