Hi Folks, This post is somewhat similar to a current thread being discussed -on the merits of purchasing the KX3 or Flex 3000.
I am somewhat committed to trying a Flex or similar SDR radio. As I understand, the Flex 5000 is no longer being manufactured, but is still available in some stores/supply houses and can rarely be found used in some other places (ebay, etc.). As this will be my first foray into SDR, I'm not thinking that I want to invest the full cost of the newest line (the 6000 series), but would consider the Flex 3000, 1500, or trying to find a used 5000 (or purchase from a store that still has a stock). 1. Is there any possibility that replacement or other less expensive line (similar to the 5000) will be offered in the near future? 2. I do work some qrp, but mostly 100W or so. The 1500 seems less of what I want, which leaves the 3000 and some used or a 5000, not being offered directly by the manufacturer (and not offering direct tech support anymore- I assume this, although forums such as this may make up for the lack of direct manufacturer support). If I'm even able to find a 5000, is it wise to make the purchase with the manufacturer no longer making the unit and not offering direct tech support/repair? 3. The 3000 has been described as a "stripped" down version of the 5000, and has some things that I'm not excited about (BNC rather than so 239 antenna connectors, etc.), but otherwise seems to offer most of the features that one would like to have/experience/experiment with in an SDR radio. If I get a 3000, will this give me a true feel for the "SDR" experience, and after a couple of years, give me enough of a feel for SDR to decide if I want to delve more deeply and possibly look at something with more functionality or not? 4. Just out of curiosity, I assume that dropping the 5000 from the offerings is meant to drive customers to the 6000 line as the replacement. I guess I understand this, however, from my reading, it sure seems like there are a lot of folks that are very happy with the 5000 and that there is still a lot of active interest in the model. Other than driving folks toward the 6000, what was behind the decision to drop the 5000? It seems to me that there is a significant price differential between the two lines, and that there are those who will likely never be interested in paying the costs associated with the 6000 series, but might have been able to swing the 5000- why take this option off the table? Thanks in advance for any input/advice. If this post is felt to be too general/inappropriate for this forum, please feel free to reply directly. My apologies, as I am a total newbie with respect to SDR. 73s, Dave, WS0D Dr. Dave Fort Collins, CO _______________________________________________ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
