[Flexradio] external tuner control
Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bill Photinos Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:16 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] external tuner control Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Thanks, that make sense. However is there a way to hook it up like with the 4 pin molex connectors on the back of an Icom? The reason I ask is, while the auto tune works great I tend not to leave it in that mode. Sometimes it tends to re-tune in mid transmission if the SWR spikes a bit. I prefer to use it in the semi-auto mode where it tunes only when the tune button is pushed on the radio. Was curious if anyone had hooked the 5000 up this way. Will be getting a 5000 soon. Another interesting thought is that it would be nice since there are three antenna outputs to be able to control a tuner on each one? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN Ray Andrews wrote: Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Bill, At present I do not know of any provision for bringing out a hardware bit that is active only when the TUN button is pushed. Sounds like a good idea for a feature request. Possibly the ability to reassign one of the 3 TX outputs for this function. That would be simply a software change, no additional hardware required. In the meantime a possible work around would be to set the tuner for fully automatic, tune, and then set the tuner for semi-automatic. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Bill, I missed your last comment in my reply. The feature request should be to reassign any or all of the 3 TX outputs to be active only when the TUN button is active. The downside is that there would be no TX outputs left over to control your amp. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: Bill Photinos [mailto:b...@photinos.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:21 AM To: Ray Andrews Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Thanks, that make sense. However is there a way to hook it up like with the 4 pin molex connectors on the back of an Icom? The reason I ask is, while the auto tune works great I tend not to leave it in that mode. Sometimes it tends to re-tune in mid transmission if the SWR spikes a bit. I prefer to use it in the semi-auto mode where it tunes only when the tune button is pushed on the radio. Was curious if anyone had hooked the 5000 up this way. Will be getting a 5000 soon. Another interesting thought is that it would be nice since there are three antenna outputs to be able to control a tuner on each one? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN Ray Andrews wrote: Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
This smells like a possible FlexWire device to interface the radio to Icom type external tuner interfaces. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:47 AM To: 'Bill Photinos' Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, At present I do not know of any provision for bringing out a hardware bit that is active only when the TUN button is pushed. Sounds like a good idea for a feature request. Possibly the ability to reassign one of the 3 TX outputs for this function. That would be simply a software change, no additional hardware required. In the meantime a possible work around would be to set the tuner for fully automatic, tune, and then set the tuner for semi-automatic. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Tim, Yep, that to. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison [mailto:telli...@itsco.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:57 AM To: Ray Andrews; 'Bill Photinos' Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: RE: [Flexradio] external tuner control This smells like a possible FlexWire device to interface the radio to Icom type external tuner interfaces. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:47 AM To: 'Bill Photinos' Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, At present I do not know of any provision for bringing out a hardware bit that is active only when the TUN button is pushed. Sounds like a good idea for a feature request. Possibly the ability to reassign one of the 3 TX outputs for this function. That would be simply a software change, no additional hardware required. In the meantime a possible work around would be to set the tuner for fully automatic, tune, and then set the tuner for semi-automatic. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
Tim, I saw your post on eHam.net 5000A reviews. There were two detractors as you know. You address the signed drivers part adequately. But the KB3Z comments about using Firewire instead of USB, still needs to be addressed. Could you give me some ammo (about Firewire vs USB) to fire back on the review page? I've had my 5000A well over a year now and would like to post a very FB review. Steve N6VL -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:38 PM To: kl7...@alaska.net; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Bruce, USB was initially tested and failed for use with the FLEX-x000 radios at high sampling rates. USB is not designed or well suited for high throughput isochronous multi-channel audio required for those radios. If there ever is a color option, I want one that is UT orange (the real UT that was a college before Texas was an independent country). Go Vols! -Tim ___ 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] FW: external tuner control
On a different tack, I have an Elecraft KAT100 which I would like to interface to the 5K - is this possible using the D connector on the back of the Flex? TIA Charlie GI4FUE -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: 20 February 2009 12:37 To: 'Bill Photinos'; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bill Photinos Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:16 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] external tuner control Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.25/1958 - Release Date: 02/19/09 18:45:00 ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Steve Kallal Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:02 AM To: 'Tim Ellison'; kl7...@alaska.net; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Tim, I saw your post on eHam.net 5000A reviews. There were two detractors as you know. You address the signed drivers part adequately. But the KB3Z comments about using Firewire instead of USB, still needs to be addressed. Could you give me some ammo (about Firewire vs USB) to fire back on the review page? I've had my 5000A well over a year now and would like to post a very FB review. Steve N6VL -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:38 PM To: kl7...@alaska.net; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Bruce, USB was initially tested and failed for use with the FLEX-x000 radios at high sampling rates. USB is not designed or well suited for high throughput isochronous multi-channel audio required for those radios. A more accurate statement would be: The PowerSDR software and the Windows drivers available do not know how to deal with the asynchronous nature of USB. Whether it's isochronous is a canard in this situation. You're looking at, say, 4 audio channels at 200ksamples/second at 24bits/sample, or about 20 Mbps. A 480 Mbps channel (which is what USB2.0 is) should be able to keep up, even with all the various inefficiencies. People (which includes me) do 20Mbps sorts of sustained rates over 100Mbps ethernet without dropping packets. It's all a matter of software design (particularly buffer management) and system configuration (to make sure that you have enough reserve capacity in the channel and processor so that you don't overrun). This is a difficult challenge in the Windows PC world. But, it is clearly doable, since it's comparable to streaming a single HDTV signal. For $99 you can buy a HDTV receiver that is a dongle that plugs into a USB2.0 jack. ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control
The short answer is no, not currently. The d-sub connector isn't a serial port, it is a FlexWire port. As such, you have to design an IC2 hardware interface to connect to it and the peripheral you want to talk to and then write code to control it. To date, there is not anything like that available. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Charlie Morrison Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:05 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control On a different tack, I have an Elecraft KAT100 which I would like to interface to the 5K - is this possible using the D connector on the back of the Flex? TIA Charlie GI4FUE -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: 20 February 2009 12:37 To: 'Bill Photinos'; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bill Photinos Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:16 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] external tuner control Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.25/1958 - Release Date: 02/19/09 18:45:00 ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control
Thanks Tim Hopefully something will appear soon Charlie -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison [mailto:telli...@itsco.com] Sent: 20 February 2009 17:18 To: Charlie Morrison; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: RE: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control The short answer is no, not currently. The d-sub connector isn't a serial port, it is a FlexWire port. As such, you have to design an IC2 hardware interface to connect to it and the peripheral you want to talk to and then write code to control it. To date, there is not anything like that available. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Charlie Morrison Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:05 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control On a different tack, I have an Elecraft KAT100 which I would like to interface to the 5K - is this possible using the D connector on the back of the Flex? TIA Charlie GI4FUE -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: 20 February 2009 12:37 To: 'Bill Photinos'; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bill Photinos Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:16 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] external tuner control Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.25/1958 - Release Date: 02/19/09 18:45:00 ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.25/1958 - Release Date: 02/19/09 18:45:00 ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Driver Buffer Size Setting
FLEX-5000 Users (and future FLEX-3000 users): We have received some questions recently about the driver buffer size setting and how it relates to the buffer size in the PowerSDR Setup Form - Audio Tab. We thought we would clarify it here on the reflector so it might help others that had the same question. The basic idea is to match the two settings at a reasonable size for your sample rate and system performance. A good starting place for the default sample rate of 96kHz is to use a buffer size of 2048 in both places (driver control panel and Audio Tab in PowerSDR Setup Form). If you make a change to the buffer size in the Audio Tab, you'll want to make the same change in the driver control panel. At no time should the Audio buffer size be smaller than the driver buffer size as this will cause audio distortion which sounds similar to RF. At some point we hope to enable this process to happen automatically and have requested such an interface from our chip vendor. Until then, we plan to add a pop up to remind you to setup the driver when changing the Audio buffer size. If you have further questions about the interactions of the buffers, there is an excellent section in the appendix of our Operating Manual that describes in more detail the interactions and ways to optimize for various operating preferences. Thanks for your time and enjoy your radio. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems *Tune in Excitement! ™* ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control
Also many of the auto tuners can be controlled through DDUtil also .. 73, Dudley WA5QPZ Tim Ellison wrote: The short answer is no, not currently. The d-sub connector isn't a serial port, it is a FlexWire port. As such, you have to design an IC2 hardware interface to connect to it and the peripheral you want to talk to and then write code to control it. To date, there is not anything like that available. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Charlie Morrison Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:05 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] FW: external tuner control On a different tack, I have an Elecraft KAT100 which I would like to interface to the 5K - is this possible using the D connector on the back of the Flex? TIA Charlie GI4FUE -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ray Andrews Sent: 20 February 2009 12:37 To: 'Bill Photinos'; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bill Photinos Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:16 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] external tuner control Is there any provision in the hardware or software in the Flex-5000 to support an external tuner such as the MFJ-998 and similar? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.25/1958 - Release Date: 02/19/09 18:45:00 ___ 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/ ___ 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] Flex Wire - Amplifier Band Switching
Does anyone know how to take the data from the Flex Wire output of the Flex 5000 and decode it so that I could drive relays to control the band switching on my AL-600 amplifier. This was very easy with the SDR 1000, but seems pretty complex on the 5000. I am not a digital design engineer, so am pretty much starting at ground zero. Thanks for any help someone could provide. 73, Hank K9LZJ Hank Wolfla 1308 S. Peace Street Greenfield, IN 46140 317-861-0186 hwol...@comcast.net ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
Tell me then... Where are the 4 channel 192kHz audio USB devices?? Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Lux, James P james.p@jpl.nasa.govwrote: The PowerSDR software and the Windows drivers available do not know how to deal with the asynchronous nature of USB. Whether it's isochronous is a canard in this situation. You're looking at, say, 4 audio channels at 200ksamples/second at 24bits/sample, or about 20 Mbps. A 480 Mbps channel (which is what USB2.0 is) should be able to keep up, even with all the various inefficiencies. People (which includes me) do 20Mbps sorts of sustained rates over 100Mbps ethernet without dropping packets. It's all a matter of software design (particularly buffer management) and system configuration (to make sure that you have enough reserve capacity in the channel and processor so that you don't overrun). This is a difficult challenge in the Windows PC world. But, it is clearly doable, since it's comparable to streaming a single HDTV signal. For $99 you can buy a HDTV receiver that is a dongle that plugs into a USB2.0 jack. ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Driver Buffer Size Setting
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 9:46 AM, Eric Wachsmann e...@flex-radio.com wrote: So Eric, it seems to me that the right answer is: always set the buffer size in PowerSDR to the same value as the buffer size set into the FireWire driver. Is there any situation where that would not be the case? (Hmm, I may have answered my own question below but I would like confirmation if possible.) Also, do you contemplate allowing driver buffer sizes larger than 2K? When operating at 192Ksps I would like my buffer to be twice as large so that a buffer represents the same total sample period so I can get the same filter performance. Does this mean that I should set the driver buffer size to maximum, i.e. 2048, and then PSDR audio buffer size to 4096? My normal reaction would be to always make buffer sizes a power-of-2 so that things end up on nice address boundaries. I would also think that PSDR buffer sizes should be exact multiples of driver buffer sizes to ensure no wasted memory and efficient transfers. Inquiring minds want to know. ;-) 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Driver Buffer Size Setting
The maximum audio buffer size in PowerSDR is 2048, so I wouldn't recommend going higher than that in the driver. Note that the DSP buffers can go as large as 4096. Note that the DSP buffer size (not the audio buffer size) affects the filter shape. You are correct that multiples of the driver could be used in the audio setting and it will work. But you'd have to ask yourself...why? ;) Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems *Tune in Excitement! ™* On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 12:19 PM, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.comwrote: On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 9:46 AM, Eric Wachsmann e...@flex-radio.com wrote: So Eric, it seems to me that the right answer is: always set the buffer size in PowerSDR to the same value as the buffer size set into the FireWire driver. Is there any situation where that would not be the case? (Hmm, I may have answered my own question below but I would like confirmation if possible.) Also, do you contemplate allowing driver buffer sizes larger than 2K? When operating at 192Ksps I would like my buffer to be twice as large so that a buffer represents the same total sample period so I can get the same filter performance. Does this mean that I should set the driver buffer size to maximum, i.e. 2048, and then PSDR audio buffer size to 4096? My normal reaction would be to always make buffer sizes a power-of-2 so that things end up on nice address boundaries. I would also think that PSDR buffer sizes should be exact multiples of driver buffer sizes to ensure no wasted memory and efficient transfers. Inquiring minds want to know. ;-) 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
It is nice that Flex provides an audio output on the F5K for powered speakers. But when operating portable it would be much easier to use the built-in audio on a laptop. Is it possible to redirect PSDR audio output to the computer's built-in sound hardware? 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
You can use VAC directed to the onboard audio provided you don't need the VAC channels for digital modes. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems Tune in Excitement! ™ On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 12:40 PM, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.comwrote: It is nice that Flex provides an audio output on the F5K for powered speakers. But when operating portable it would be much easier to use the built-in audio on a laptop. Is it possible to redirect PSDR audio output to the computer's built-in sound hardware? 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Bill I have a 998 and yes, when in the full auto mode I have experienced random retuning in the middle of a QSO and sometimes it ends up tuned for a high SWR. To avoid this I just leave the 998 in the semi autotune mode. When I want to tune, I hold the tune button on the 998 in for 2 seconds to arm it for a one time tune and select tune on the 5000 until the 998 completes the cycle, then deselect tune on the 5000. No further action on the 998 is required. Maybe you are already doing this. Jim K5HY Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:21:10 -0500 From: b...@photinos.com To: k9...@rnacs.com CC: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Thanks, that make sense. However is there a way to hook it up like with the 4 pin molex connectors on the back of an Icom? The reason I ask is, while the auto tune works great I tend not to leave it in that mode. Sometimes it tends to re-tune in mid transmission if the SWR spikes a bit. I prefer to use it in the semi-auto mode where it tunes only when the tune button is pushed on the radio. Was curious if anyone had hooked the 5000 up this way. Will be getting a 5000 soon. Another interesting thought is that it would be nice since there are three antenna outputs to be able to control a tuner on each one? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN Ray Andrews wrote: Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 1:14 PM, Eric Wachsmann e...@flex-radio.com wrote: Tell me then... Where are the 4 channel 192kHz audio USB devices?? Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems Here's a defence of USB 2.0 based on experience: We routinely have 4, 32 bit, 250 kHz data streams running via USB 2.0 from the QS1R receiver. We can easliy sustain 2.0 MSPS, 32 bit data via USB 2.0 via the Cypress CY7C68013A FX2. Alex, VE3NEA (DxAtlas, CW Skimmer) has successfully demonstrated 7, 48 kHz data streams over USB 2.0 from QS1R, each one from an independent receiver that can tune anywhere from 0-60 MHz. I assure you it is easily possible to have 4, 24 bit, 192 kHz data streams via USB 2.0 that the F5K needs. These do not appear as a sound card though, which is a huge advantage as far as support on Windows/Linux/MAC goes. You don't need all the nonsense that goes will sound card drivers and their related latency problems. Once you free your mind from the idea that a SDR has to look like a sound card to the operating system, you are on your way to much better performance! Regards, -- Phil Covington Software Radio Laboratory LLC Columbus, Ohio http://www.srl-llc.com - QS1R SDR Receiver Support Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qs1r - ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
Tell me then... Where are the 4 channel 192kHz audio USB devices?? Hmm... someone asked me the same exact question three years ago. This was my reply: http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-101/index.html - 10-In/10-Out 24 bit/96 kHz - Up to 6-In/6-Out 24 bit/192 kHz And I'm sure there are other similar devices. FireWire is the more standard solution for multi-channel audio recording though, so it was a perfectly reasonable choice for FlexRadio. But USB would have worked just as well. 73, Sami OH2BFO ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
The problem is that the mic input on the PC sound card is not stereo and the powered speaker output is. You would have to use the RCA line out on the FLEX-5000 fed into the PC sound card mic or line-in input -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Brian Lloyd Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 1:40 PM To: FlexRadio Reflector Subject: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output It is nice that Flex provides an audio output on the F5K for powered speakers. But when operating portable it would be much easier to use the built-in audio on a laptop. Is it possible to redirect PSDR audio output to the computer's built-in sound hardware? 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
As already said in anothe response: Just use VAC. I haven't yet used the speaker or line outputs of the F5k - only VAC so far. An annoying point is that I can't use VAC to do Digi and Voice at the same time. But switching is simple in the Config dialog of PSDR, so I do that. Oh, and I am running a MacBook Pro laptop here. Bootcamp is your friend: WinXP SP3 runs just fine here with the F5k. The audio quality on those latest MacBook Pro models is just amazing with the internal speakers. 73, Frank DG1SBG Am 20.02.2009 um 19:40 schrieb Brian Lloyd: It is nice that Flex provides an audio output on the F5K for powered speakers. But when operating portable it would be much easier to use the built-in audio on a laptop. Is it possible to redirect PSDR audio output to the computer's built-in sound hardware? 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/ -- Frank Goenninger Cell: +49 175 4321058 E-Mail: f...@me.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/
[Flexradio] I2C DDUtil
This looks like an appropriate time to announce that I have an I2C device in development to do exactly what many users are looking for. It is controlled by DDUtil and has the following features: - Two (2) 8-bit ports wired to the VHF+ buttons in PowerSDR that are controlled by two (2) matrices in DDUtil's ExtCtrl tab. These matrices can be output either to standard parallel ports or to FlexWire ports. http://k5fr.com/ddutilwiki/index.php?title=Setup#ExtCtrl_Tab - One (1) 8-bit port wired to DDUtil's Device0 HF BCD output. This output can be directed to either a parallel port or to a FlexWire port. http://k5fr.com/ddutilwiki/index.php?title=Setup#Device_Tab - One (1) 8-bit port reserved for future expansion. I have it working in breadboard form, but there is still a ways to go. I'll keep the group posted as to the progress of this project. 73, Steve K5FR -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Hank Wolfla Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 12:09 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Flex Wire - Amplifier Band Switching Does anyone know how to take the data from the Flex Wire output of the Flex 5000 and decode it so that I could drive relays to control the band switching on my AL-600 amplifier. This was very easy with the SDR 1000, but seems pretty complex on the 5000. I am not a digital design engineer, so am pretty much starting at ground zero. Thanks for any help someone could provide. 73, Hank K9LZJ Hank Wolfla 1308 S. Peace Street Greenfield, IN 46140 317-861-0186 hwol...@comcast.net ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Driver Buffer Size Setting
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Eric Wachsmann e...@flex-radio.com wrote: The maximum audio buffer size in PowerSDR is 2048, so I wouldn't recommend going higher than that in the driver. Note that the DSP buffers can go as large as 4096. Note that the DSP buffer size (not the audio buffer size) affects the filter shape. Ah. I thought they were the same parameter. So they have to be set in different places? I need to go back and look then. You are correct that multiples of the driver could be used in the audio setting and it will work. But you'd have to ask yourself...why? ;) No, I am not asking myself why because I don't know. (I have guesses and suspicions but I do not claim knowledge.) I am asking *you* if it makes a difference because you are the official software guru and can tell me whether or not it makes a difference. I also am asking what the preferred setting should be. So it sounds to me like the DSP buffer should be a multiple of the audio buffer and that the audio buffer should be as large as possible. OTOH, smaller buffer sizes mean lower latency but probably higher CPU utilization due to buffer processing. Latency might be an issue with the various ARQ modes, e.g. AMTOR, PACTOR, packet, etc. (Do you have specific information about the relationship between buffer size and latency?) So, it sounds to me that the following table makes sense: Sample rate Driver buffer audio buffer DSP buffer 48Ksps 1024 1024 1024 96Ksps 2048 2048 2048 192Ksps2048 20484096 Do you agree with these settings? Is there any case where you would use different settings? I get the feeling that, while PowerSDR has a lot of knobs for changing things, most (almost all?) of the time these will be left alone at some optimum setting. I haven't seen a listing of these things in one place, maybe in one of the knowledge center articles I missed. If it is all written down somewhere and I missed then I apologize for wasting everyone's time. Thanks Eric. 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:e...@flex-radio.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 10:15 AM To: Lux, James P Cc: Steve Kallal; Tim Ellison; kl7...@alaska.net; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Tell me then... Where are the 4 channel 192kHz audio USB devices?? They don't exist because there's no market for them, not because they can't be built. The audio recording business is dominated today by Apples using FireWire, so that's where the products are. Now that Apple is starting to do away with Firewire, I would expect USB to replace it. In the ham software radio business you're depending on leveraging mass produced consumer electronics, so you have to use what's available (e.g. PCs, Windows, 1394, etc.). And it's not just a hardware issue, you're also depending on mass produced consumer windows device drivers. If one manufactured ones own audio interface (with whatever interface), you'd be stuck trying to write high performance real-time streaming drivers for it. Under Windows, that's a non-trivial process (as in many work months of full time effort, assuming you know about windows driver writing in the first place). The fact that people have DPC latency problems is a sign that windows driver writing isn't easy, and that's for commercial products, where presumably they can spread the hundreds of thousands of dollar cost of driver development over many unit sales. For a small product line, it's not worth it. Say it costs $100K to get a good driver written (that's about 3-4 months of a fulltime driver consultant at $150-200/hr). If your sales are 500 units, that driver, alone, costs $200/unit. That kind of cost isn't sustainable except if the product is a ? $5000/each kind of thing. (and strangely enough, if you go out and buy high performance data acquisition or test equipment for $20K from Agilent or NI, it tends to have pretty decent driver support). ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
Based on all the problems that seem to be associated with Flex Radios and FireWire, whether the problem is Windows, drivers, or whatever, it seems to me that Ethernet is a much better choice. Ethernet chips are cheap, driver support is standard on all computers/operating systems and it is likely to be supported for a very long time. I was designing chips for Toshiba 10+ years ago when the industry was trying to drum up support for the FireWire standard and today its usage is still fairly limited. I would not be surprised if FireWire is a forgotten standard 10-20 years from now. Ethernet, on the other hand, will continue to progress, be supported, and probably continue to maintain backward compatibility with older versions. My understanding (from Flex Radio Support) is that the Flex Radio FireWire interface doesn't work well with the newer 800 MB FireWire adapters/drivers. What will happen when the older 400 MB cards are no longer available? I was recently shopping for a FireWire card and Frys has mostly quit carrying the 400 MB interfaces. They had a couple left on the shelf but it doesn't appear that they plan to continue carrying them. I'm really happy with my Flex 5000A, but the Firewire interface seems to be the source of most problems that I see. 73, Clay W7CE Thinking about the Flex-3000 as a portable radio. Wish it had a USB option with Firewire - User choice which to use. Still , it will be nice to have one with my Flex-5000 ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Driver Buffer Size Setting
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 1:36 PM, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com wrote: You are correct that multiples of the driver could be used in the audio setting and it will work. But you'd have to ask yourself...why? ;) No, I am not asking myself why because I don't know. (I have guesses and suspicions but I do not claim knowledge.) I am asking *you* if it makes a difference because you are the official software guru and can tell me whether or not it makes a difference. I also am asking what the preferred setting should be. Sorry I wasn't more clear. The implied message is: There is no reason for you to ever do this. At the risk of complicating things further, here is why -- there are only 2 reasons to change the audio buffer size: 1. Performance (smaller buffers = more interrupts = more overhead/CPU usage) and 2. Latency (larger buffers, longer latency in general). If you are moving the audio buffer size up, you are trying to reduce the overhead and improve stability. It makes no sense to keep running the driver buffers lower as you achieve no latency gain since the audio buffers are larger. Conversely, if you are moving the audio buffer size down, you are likely trying to minimize the latency. To minimize the latency, you would want both the driver and audio buffer sizes as low as your system can handle (while still being matched, of course). [raised hoof falls to groundbeaten horse dies] I would recommend reviewing the well written article in the appendix of the operating manual for more information. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems *Tune in Excitement! ™* ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Frank Goenninger f...@me.com wrote: As already said in anothe response: Just use VAC. I haven't yet used the speaker or line outputs of the F5k - only VAC so far. An annoying point is that I can't use VAC to do Digi and Voice at the same time. But switching is simple in the Config dialog of PSDR, so I do that. sigh I run VAC all the time to my digital mode program. I listen to the digital modes too. I need my audio path to be separate from my data path. Looks like that is not possible. Oh, and I am running a MacBook Pro laptop here. Bootcamp is your friend: WinXP SP3 runs just fine here with the F5k. The audio quality on those latest MacBook Pro models is just amazing with the internal speakers. I have a MacBook Pro too but have found that DPC latency is higher than with my other machines. 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
Am 20.02.2009 um 21:45 schrieb Brian Lloyd: sigh I run VAC all the time to my digital mode program. I listen to the digital modes too. I need my audio path to be separate from my data path. Looks like that is not possible. Yep. Maybe in a next version of PSDR. Or in the new architecture based on VRK. I have a MacBook Pro too but have found that DPC latency is higher than with my other machines. I had that, too. So I went and turned off what I don't need when running PSDR. I turned off Bluetooth, WLAN, and a few Windows services that are simply unnecessary for normal Windows use. I am now running in Safe Mode 1 with no dropouts or any other glitches. Windows does not come with performance as its goal, it unfortunately comes with Gimmicks Everywhere in mind. Meanwhile I am working on getting the new VRK-based stuff to work here. I am also thinking of writing a FireWire driver for OS X for the F5k. - I should talk to the FRS guys... ;-) 73, Frank DG1SBG -- Frank Goenninger Cell: +49 175 4321058 E-Mail: f...@me.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/
Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control
Same thing with the LDG Tuners, I have tried a few other auto tuners and they all have this kind of problems even if they are connected to a radio that has a Tune interface for them like the Kenwood TS-480 or Yaesu's small Radio's if there left in full auto mode. As Jim suggested just tune them up with 10 to 15 watts then turn off the Full Auto mod and your all set to go. I run my LDG 1000Pro Tuner with my Ameritron AL-80B and it works GREAT using the above setup. The only thing with the LDG tuner's, it just takes a quick button push to make the tuner go between full Auto and Semi-Auto. 73's Bret WX7Y -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Jim R Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:49 AM To: b...@photinos.com; k9...@rnacs.com Cc: FlexRadioReflector Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Bill I have a 998 and yes, when in the full auto mode I have experienced random retuning in the middle of a QSO and sometimes it ends up tuned for a high SWR. To avoid this I just leave the 998 in the semi autotune mode. When I want to tune, I hold the tune button on the 998 in for 2 seconds to arm it for a one time tune and select tune on the 5000 until the 998 completes the cycle, then deselect tune on the 5000. No further action on the 998 is required. Maybe you are already doing this. Jim K5HY Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:21:10 -0500 From: b...@photinos.com To: k9...@rnacs.com CC: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] external tuner control Thanks, that make sense. However is there a way to hook it up like with the 4 pin molex connectors on the back of an Icom? The reason I ask is, while the auto tune works great I tend not to leave it in that mode. Sometimes it tends to re-tune in mid transmission if the SWR spikes a bit. I prefer to use it in the semi-auto mode where it tunes only when the tune button is pushed on the radio. Was curious if anyone had hooked the 5000 up this way. Will be getting a 5000 soon. Another interesting thought is that it would be nice since there are three antenna outputs to be able to control a tuner on each one? Thanks, Bill - W4RVN Ray Andrews wrote: Bill, The MFJ-998 is an automatic antenna tuner. If you set the FLEX-5000 internal tuner to BYP (Bypass), then clicking on TUN will cause the FLEX-5000 (or SDR-1000 for that matter) to transmit a carrier at the tune power level. With the MFJ-998 in automatic mode, it should tune automatically. Click TUN again to return to normal operation. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ 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/ ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
-Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of W7CE Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:52 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Based on all the problems that seem to be associated with Flex Radios and FireWire, whether the problem is Windows, drivers, or whatever, it seems to me that Ethernet is a much better choice. Ethernet chips are cheap, driver support is standard on all computers/operating systems and it is likely to be supported for a very long time. I was designing chips for Toshiba 10+ years ago when the industry was trying to drum up support for the FireWire standard and today its usage is still fairly limited. I would not be surprised if FireWire is a forgotten standard 10-20 years from now. There's still a modicum of support for 1394b, at least in certain high end systems: for instance there's a Mil/Aero version of 1394 called AS5643 which is in the Joint Strike Fighter. In such applications it will last forever (hmm, how long have we been using MIL-STD-1553.. Since 1973, and we're still building NEW things that use it.) Those are hardly consumer applications, though. Ethernet, on the other hand, will continue to progress, be supported, and probably continue to maintain backward compatibility with older versions. Certainly as far as IP packet handling goes. The PHY layers are not quite as interversion compatible (how much ThickNet have you seen recently, or even RG-58 10base2). 10/100/1000 are fairly interoperable (in that the GbE interface can understand and configure itself for 10BaseT). The faster Ethernets are totally noncompatible. However, it's still true that one can take a 15 year old 10BaseT device and plug it into a modern GigE device, and it will probably work. And the IP software stack presents the same interfaces to a software application. My understanding (from Flex Radio Support) is that the Flex Radio FireWire interface doesn't work well with the newer 800 MB FireWire adapters/drivers. Fast Phy design is challenging. Maybe the equalizer can't deal with something? ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] [dttsp-linux] Intel ATOM WHOOAAAAA Nellie
http://www.nvidia.com/object/sff_ion.html I think it is pretty clear that almost anyone with any real experience would take Nvidia's restricted distribution graphics drivers about 100 to 1 over the open source CRAP that comes from ATI, and forget completely any of their competitors. I have removed from service every single ATI device which I am able to remove in the last few months because of the utter horror of their driver support. I have yet to have a single Nvidia restricted driver download fail once. BEWARE: YMMV. I attempted to make the point and Frank made it much more clearly. If you need Firewire, the ATOM D945GCLFx family (intel motherboard) is required to get the PCI slot. I am very happy with mine. I use it all the time. There is nothing wrong with it. Like all things, better things come along rapidly these days. What I am personally happy about is how cheap these offerings have been. I have NO IDEA what the price point will be on the Nvidia ION. I think the marketing hype video on the nvidia web page, showing the joint impact of the 2 GB of DDR3 and the Nvidia GeoForce 9300, is about right on target. In addition, the specs show that GigE is supported. I am expecting excellent performance because of the clear concentration of IO support in this box. The small footprint desktops have nearly 100% of the usable back covered with IO connectors. That bare space is not really bare. You need it to get your fingers in on the connectors! Bob On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 12:36 AM, Frank Brickle bric...@pobox.com wrote: On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 11:17 PM, Bob McGwier rwmcgw...@gmail.com wrote: ...HOWEVER, for those folks who want to build an small board computer for supporting the Flex family of firewire devices, the Intel motherboards are your only choice. You need the PCI slot to get the firewire support... For DttSP apps it's not a real choice. You will need a PCI slot, either for FireWire audio like the Edirol FA-66 or the PreSonus FireBox, or merely for some other halfway decent soundcard like the M-Audio Delta 44. This is a required configuration for effectively using sdr-shell, sdr-core, and the sdrTEC board, for example. A reference Linux implementation for this combination, with a cost of around $800US total for the RF front end + computer, is about ready to go up on CGRAN. The FireWire+Flex option is moot for dttsp-linux and vrk, but the other FireWire/PCI addons are critical. DttSP apps using the USRP1+GNU Radio are fine. USRP2 is an open question, for now. Short form: for dttsp-linux and general RF hardware, the Atom 330 is unquestionably the more utilitarian alternative. This is especially so when, given Nvidia's history regarding Open drivers, Linux support for ION is very uncertain in the near term (6-9 months). 73 Frank AB2KT -- Some people are like slinkies...not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. -- Anon. ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output
I would love a 3 watt output so I can use a good small speaker rather than cheap powered computer speakers. My IC-756III has this and the audio quality is better --- On Fri, 2/20/09, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com wrote: From: Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com Subject: [Flexradio] Flex 5000/PowerSDR audio output To: FlexRadio Reflector flexradio@flex-radio.biz Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 1:40 PM It is nice that Flex provides an audio output on the F5K for powered speakers. But when operating portable it would be much easier to use the built-in audio on a laptop. Is it possible to redirect PSDR audio output to the computer's built-in sound hardware? 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ 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/
[Flexradio] On interfaces, historical and otherwise.. RE: First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
-Original Message- snipping some of W7CE's comments Based on all the problems that seem to be associated with Flex Radios and FireWire, whether the problem is Windows, drivers, or whatever, it seems to me that Ethernet is a much better choice. I would not be surprised if FireWire is a forgotten standard 10-20 years from now. Ethernet, on the other hand, will continue to progress, be supported, and probably continue to maintain backward compatibility with older versions. What will happen when the older 400 MB cards are no longer available? I was recently shopping for a FireWire card and Frys has mostly quit carrying the 400 MB interfaces. They had a couple left on the shelf but it doesn't appear that they plan to continue carrying them. I'm really happy with my Flex 5000A, but the Firewire interface seems to be the source of most problems that I see. Actually, it's the fact that there's an interface between the computer and the radio that's the problem. If you look at the typical ham radio, most of which are just as functional today as they were 20-30, nay 50, years ago, you'll see the interfaces are pretty primitive: Analog audio Discrete contact closures RF Knobs Yep.. Those haven't changed significantly in almost 100 years. Even longer for the last one. And a modern software radio from the big mfrs has basically the same interfaces, and will reasonably be expected to still be operating in 2028 (barring component failures). But with a SDR using the box hooked to a PC model, where the PC is under the separate control of the user, such an expectation is unreasonable. How many 20 year old PCs do you have in your house that are still operating? ( I pitched my 1982 vintage PC a few years ago, but I do have some curiosity machines around, a couple S100 boxes, a late 80s 386 laptop, a486 machine, etc.) Do you still use them? Is it an enjoyable experience? I'd venture not. Radiobox+PC is going to have an interface between the two that is inextricably tied to the design of the PC (since there are more PCs, the RadioBox will be designed to match the PC, rather than vice versa). When the PC is obsolete, really, so is the RadioBox, because they were designed as a pair. Yes, one can put more computing into the RadioBox, which makes it support more or evolving interfaces (e.g. the F5KA has a potentially more flexible interface than the SDR1K, although I'd venture that the venerable centronics parallel port has been around longer and will remain so well into the future, in one form or another). And, that improved RadioBox intelligence allows a more abstracted interface (e.g. everything is digital, instead of having digital control and analog audio running around), but it doesn't change the fundamental fact that the RadioBox was designed to match a particular flavor and horsepower of PC. Those folks who bought 5000Cs don't have the interface obsolesence problem, do they? Maybe this is the true insight for software radios. Software radios are wonderful because you can just keep improving the software to add functionality and performance, something that is quite difficult with a hardware radio. But just like with personal computing, the downside is that you need to keep upgrading to use that. If you were happy to remain with Version 0.9 of the radio software on the PC that originally came with the RadioBox, and never made any significant changes, you're no worse off than you are had you bought a conventional hardware radio. (assuming you keep the PC alive.. And that, in and of itself, isn't any more difficult than resurrecting a boatanchor.. Some improvisation will be required, such as finding those 5 1/4 floppies, etc.) The complaint (and I've made it too) about Flex coming out with a box that doesn't have a universal interface is really only valid if you intend to keep changing half the system (the PC). Maybe that's unreasonable? For that matter, let's say that you have a F5K and some PC to run it. As of Jan 1, 2009, say you couldn't buy a PC with a 1394 interface (the 1394 Licensing People revoke the mfr licenses or something). Come 2016, you want to use Version 32 of PowerSDR, because it has neat whizbang features to do whatever, using your brand new 16core 10GHz PC. Flex is selling the F32000 by then, and it has some weird interface that every 16corePC uses. If Flex and the PowerSDR software developers have done their job right, you should be able to build some sort of whizbang 16core interface to 1394 interface box (perhaps using that PC you had back in 2008) and set it up to tunnel the traffic from PowerSDR V32 to your moldy old F5K (or, for that matter, your SDR1K, bare 3board set using the mobo audio interface) Conceptually, this is no different than folks using the USB/Parallel adapter when PCs stopped having parallel printer ports. Or, you start treating radios like PCs. Expect to replace it
Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
See comments below. Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President FlexRadio Systems 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Tune in excitement! (TM) -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Bruce Mills - KL7JDR Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:18 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] First look at the FLEX-3000 production units Surprised that Blue was chosen for the Flex-3000 [GY] We did an online customer poll and blue won. Black or Silver might go better with most laptops lcd monitors. Maybe we could have a color option ? [GY] We don't plan to offer options since that would be difficult to manage. All my old Heathkit radios were green. Also surprised that the key jack is on the front. More wires in front. Glad to see the 1/4 jack, maybe thats the reason. [GY] Yes, when we decided to go with 1/4 jacks, there was not room on the back for the connector. Thinking about the Flex-3000 as a portable radio. Wish it had a USB option with Firewire - User choice which to use. [GY] USB is not suitable for isochronous streaming of the number of channels we require. That is why there are no high end pro audio sound cards that support USB. Still , it will be nice to have one with my Flex-5000 73's , Bruce KL7JDR Bruce W. Mills P.O. Box 1500 31490 Echo Lake Road Soldotna , Alaska 99669 (907)262-4373 kl7...@alaska.net ___ 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/
[Flexradio] Behrouz Farhang-Bourjeny and his book
Behrouz has improved his booked with editing and errata repair and having the material tried out on students. I used the book in a class in an early form, at work, and I am very happy to report that Behrouz continues to improve on the work. It does not yet have the OFDM chapter in it. I need to send Behrouz my comments on it but at this time as do others who have received the chapter, but at $16 for the pdf, it is a must have in its current form. I am honored he recognized the feedback I gave him from the classes Frank Brickle and I taught together and the use I have been making of it at the University of Maryland. Again, I am very happy to recommend this book in its updated form: http://www.lulu.com/content/1620824 Bob McGwier ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] On interfaces, historical and otherwise.. RE: First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
--- On Fri, 2/20/09, Lux, James P james.p@jpl.nasa.gov wrote: snip Or, you start treating radios like PCs. Expect to replace it every 5 years or so. Even if you fork out $4800 for a Flex5C every 5 years, that's about $1K/yr. FWIW I don't think it will come to that. What I envision happening is that the writing will be on the wall for when new PC HW cannot be made to support the PC based SDR radios that we have today. The HW specific software will also be frozen by that time too. So at that point many people will just start stock piling the needed PC systems and PC parts to support these radios well into the future. That will be pretty much equivalent to what many have done with vacuum tubes in the 70's and 80's to keep yesterdays boat anchors going now. And I really don't think we need to start filling closets with obsolete PC HW to support todays SDR's for quite awhile yet. No need to jump the gun on that one... Duane N9DG ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Behrouz Farhang-Bourjeny and his book
At 05:04 PM 2/20/2009, you wrote: Behrouz has improved his booked with editing and errata repair and having the material tried out on students. I used the book in a class in an early form, at work, and I am very happy to report that Behrouz continues to improve on the work. It does not yet have the OFDM chapter in it. I need to send Behrouz my comments on it but at this time as do others who have received the chapter, but at $16 for the pdf, it is a must have in its current form. I am honored he recognized the feedback I gave him from the classes Frank Brickle and I taught together and the use I have been making of it at the University of Maryland. Again, I am very happy to recommend this book in its updated form: http://www.lulu.com/content/1620824 Bob McGwier Amazon has the same exact book in paperback for $110 for people of discriminating taste, too much money, and no common sense. Cecil k5nwa www.softrockradio.org www.qrpradio.com http://parts.softrockradio.org/ Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway. ___ 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/
Re: [Flexradio] On interfaces, historical and otherwise.. RE: First look at the FLEX-3000 production units
-Original Message- From: Duane - N9DG [mailto:n...@yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 4:38 PM To: W7CE; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz; Lux, James P Subject: Re: [Flexradio] On interfaces, historical and otherwise.. RE: First look at the FLEX-3000 production units --- On Fri, 2/20/09, Lux, James P james.p@jpl.nasa.gov wrote: snip Or, you start treating radios like PCs. Expect to replace it every 5 years or so. Even if you fork out $4800 for a Flex5C every 5 years, that's about $1K/yr. FWIW I don't think it will come to that. What I envision happening is that the writing will be on the wall for when new PC HW cannot be made to support the PC based SDR radios that we have today. The HW specific software will also be frozen by that time too. So at that point many people will just start stock piling the needed PC systems and PC parts to support these radios well into the future. That will be pretty much equivalent to what many have done with vacuum tubes in the 70's and 80's to keep yesterdays boat anchors going now. And I really don't think we need to start filling closets with obsolete PC HW to support todays SDR's for quite awhile yet. No need to jump the gun on that one... You're right.. I don't see this happening instantly. And to a certain extent, most obsolete SDRs (in the sense of needing an obsolete PC to operate them) will just be junked, like a huge number of old tube/transistor rigs of yesteryear. The few SDR boatanchors will be maintained with stashes of heritage PCs, etc. (so much for throwing away my current PC.. I'll be able to unload it at a hamfest in 2030 to someone trying to run a boatanchor SDR1K, and I'll even have a copy of SDRConsole software on floppy!) The other thing I see happening is a move to always having some computer in the box with the radio. High performance mobos are so inexpensive now, there's really no reason not to, especially if the command mechanism is somewhat abstracted and interface independent. If all the in radio PC needs to do is manage the radio hardware and DSP, but not the UI, then it doesn't need fancy graphics cards, etc. Jim, W6RMK ___ 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/
