[Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc.
There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/
Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc.
I love my Flex-3000 but agree that to my very untrained and unexperienced eye, that in operation the atu in the 3000 is only good for extending the useful bandwidth of a resonant antenna... Every other 'modern' radio I have used, has no trouble providing a match to my G5RV, 3el 6m or 3 el G4MH on most bands, inc. warc and 80... I like John purchased an external atu, mine being a cheap auto from LDG with performs perfectly for me... just a pain having to click tune and press a button... I do however wish I had paid more attention to the advertised specs before I purchased the 3000, or I wouldn't have sold my previous atu, that aside... I would also prefer to buy a 3000 cheaper with no atu, but I guess that would adversely affect the comparison tables in reviews. An idea for would be to incorporate a yaesu or Icom tuner interface in the next generation of hardware, or someone could develop an external flexwire / ddutil interface... thinks 73 Steve G6HOQ -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of John Ragle Sent: 13 March 2010 16:08 To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ __ This email has been scanned for viruses by www.epagency.net If you consider this email spam, please forward it to s...@epagency.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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Quick question, have you guys tried the pb-pal SVN branch? They fixed a race condition with the auto tuner (not sure if it's just 3000 specific or not), that made tuning much more reliable for me. I still use an external tuner for the antenna switch, but the ATU now tunes properly for me every time, assuming the antenna is 3:1 or better. On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Steve Potter steve.pot...@rethink-it.comwrote: I love my Flex-3000 but agree that to my very untrained and unexperienced eye, that in operation the atu in the 3000 is only good for extending the useful bandwidth of a resonant antenna... Every other 'modern' radio I have used, has no trouble providing a match to my G5RV, 3el 6m or 3 el G4MH on most bands, inc. warc and 80... I like John purchased an external atu, mine being a cheap auto from LDG with performs perfectly for me... just a pain having to click tune and press a button... I do however wish I had paid more attention to the advertised specs before I purchased the 3000, or I wouldn't have sold my previous atu, that aside... I would also prefer to buy a 3000 cheaper with no atu, but I guess that would adversely affect the comparison tables in reviews. An idea for would be to incorporate a yaesu or Icom tuner interface in the next generation of hardware, or someone could develop an external flexwire / ddutil interface... thinks 73 Steve G6HOQ -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of John Ragle Sent: 13 March 2010 16:08 To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ __ This email has been scanned for viruses by www.epagency.net If you consider this email spam, please forward it to s...@epagency.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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Dear customers, First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All of these improvements will be in software since the hardware tuning range is more than adequate in both radios. The current tuners use fairly simple BB in a barrel tuning algorithms, which can sometimes miss the optimal tuning point. We are currently working on software enhancements for both radios, which should significantly improve both tuning range and reliability. As usual, the radio will improve with a download from our website. While we are not ready to announce when the software will be released, I can confirm that the work is in process. So stay tuned for radios that keep getting better. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 10:08 AM, John Ragle tpcj1...@crocker.com wrote: There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Very few companies would admit what was in the message below. That is what differentiates Flex from the rest, a company with an owner that is straight with the customers. The FCC gives us a license grant to learn from technology, clearly Flex can be a challenge at times but that should be welcomed as Flex helps us and we help them Burt --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com wrote: First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All of these improvements will be in software since the hardware tuning range is more than adequate in both radios. The current tuners use fairly simple BB in a barrel tuning algorithms, which can sometimes miss the optimal tuning point. We are currently working on software enhancements for both radios, which should significantly improve both tuning range and reliability. As usual, the radio will improve with a download from our website. While we are not ready to announce when the software will be released, I can confirm that the work is in process. So stay tuned for radios that keep getting better. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 10:08 AM, John Ragle tpcj1...@crocker.com wrote: There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
I have tried every SVN and release PSDR in the last 2 months. The ATU on my Flex 5000 works sometimes but mostly doesn't. I have tried different SWR threshold settings. NONE of my antennas are higher than 3:1 swr. All bands from 160 thru 10 and including 6 mtrs. The Flex ATU is not reliable, sometimes it will tune an antenna and the next day, same freq and same antenna it chokes. I have stopped using it, it is terrible. I been using my High power manual tuner which normally I only use when running my AMP. When running barefoot I much prefer an auto ATU but the Flex ATU is basically useless. I have heard many other hams complain about the non- performance, so my experience with the Flex ATU is normal... Stan K9IUQ David McKenzie wrote: Quick question, have you guys tried the pb-pal SVN branch? They fixed a race condition with the auto tuner (not sure if it's just 3000 specific or not), that made tuning much more reliable for me. I still use an external tuner for the antenna switch, but the ATU now tunes properly for me every time, assuming the antenna is 3:1 or better. On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Steve Potter steve.pot...@rethink-it.comwrote: I ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Can you tell me what ...BB in a barrel... is ?? 73, Dick, W1KSZ -Original Message- From: Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com Sent: Mar 13, 2010 5:41 PM To: tpcj1...@crocker.com Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Dear customers, First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All of these improvements will be in software since the hardware tuning range is more than adequate in both radios. The current tuners use fairly simple BB in a barrel tuning algorithms, which can sometimes miss the optimal tuning point. We are currently working on software enhancements for both radios, which should significantly improve both tuning range and reliability. As usual, the radio will improve with a download from our website. While we are not ready to announce when the software will be released, I can confirm that the work is in process. So stay tuned for radios that keep getting better. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 10:08 AM, John Ragle tpcj1...@crocker.com wrote: There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Thank you Gerald. It is a pleasure to do business with a company that listens to it's customers and strives for improvement. I sold some expensive radios to finance my Flex purchases and I have never been sorry. It just keeps getting better. 73 Wayne K4ELO ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Actually, BB in a bowl might be a better analogy. It means that the software hunts back and forth watching SWR and tuning L and C until it finds a minimum. It is like what a human does with a manual tuner. However, in tuners that use fixed binary values of L C vs. variable capacitors and inductors, it is not possible to achieve exact steps with reasonable priced components. That means that you can get false reversals of SWR and confuse the tuner. That does not mean that there are not ways to achieve better tuning. That is just the way many ATUs work. Future software for our existing ATUs will not work that way at all. More to come. If you think that is a tease, you are right. Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Richard W. Solomon w1...@earthlink.netwrote: Can you tell me what ...BB in a barrel... is ?? 73, Dick, W1KSZ -Original Message- From: Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com Sent: Mar 13, 2010 5:41 PM To: tpcj1...@crocker.com Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Dear customers, First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All of these improvements will be in software since the hardware tuning range is more than adequate in both radios. The current tuners use fairly simple BB in a barrel tuning algorithms, which can sometimes miss the optimal tuning point. We are currently working on software enhancements for both radios, which should significantly improve both tuning range and reliability. As usual, the radio will improve with a download from our website. While we are not ready to announce when the software will be released, I can confirm that the work is in process. So stay tuned for radios that keep getting better. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 10:08 AM, John Ragle tpcj1...@crocker.com wrote: There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ ___ 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
Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc.
Stan, You haven't seen anything we are doing in this area yet. I think you will be pleased when you do. Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 4:54 PM, Lazy Senior lazysen...@verizon.net wrote: I have tried every SVN and release PSDR in the last 2 months. The ATU on my Flex 5000 works sometimes but mostly doesn't. I have tried different SWR threshold settings. NONE of my antennas are higher than 3:1 swr. All bands from 160 thru 10 and including 6 mtrs. The Flex ATU is not reliable, sometimes it will tune an antenna and the next day, same freq and same antenna it chokes. I have stopped using it, it is terrible. I been using my High power manual tuner which normally I only use when running my AMP. When running barefoot I much prefer an auto ATU but the Flex ATU is basically useless. I have heard many other hams complain about the non- performance, so my experience with the Flex ATU is normal... Stan K9IUQ David McKenzie wrote: Quick question, have you guys tried the pb-pal SVN branch? They fixed a race condition with the auto tuner (not sure if it's just 3000 specific or not), that made tuning much more reliable for me. I still use an external tuner for the antenna switch, but the ATU now tunes properly for me every time, assuming the antenna is 3:1 or better. On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Steve Potter steve.pot...@rethink-it.comwrote: I ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Thanks Gerald for being so up front. Most companies would not respond or if they did would not admit any fault. The Flex approach is refreshing...keep up the good work! 73, Harry W0LS -- From: Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:41 PM To: Lazy Senior lazysen...@verizon.net Cc: flexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Stan, You haven't seen anything we are doing in this area yet. I think you will be pleased when you do. Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 4:54 PM, Lazy Senior lazysen...@verizon.net wrote: I have tried every SVN and release PSDR in the last 2 months. The ATU on my Flex 5000 works sometimes but mostly doesn't. I have tried different SWR threshold settings. NONE of my antennas are higher than 3:1 swr. All bands from 160 thru 10 and including 6 mtrs. The Flex ATU is not reliable, sometimes it will tune an antenna and the next day, same freq and same antenna it chokes. I have stopped using it, it is terrible. I been using my High power manual tuner which normally I only use when running my AMP. When running barefoot I much prefer an auto ATU but the Flex ATU is basically useless. I have heard many other hams complain about the non- performance, so my experience with the Flex ATU is normal... Stan K9IUQ David McKenzie wrote: Quick question, have you guys tried the pb-pal SVN branch? They fixed a race condition with the auto tuner (not sure if it's just 3000 specific or not), that made tuning much more reliable for me. I still use an external tuner for the antenna switch, but the ATU now tunes properly for me every time, assuming the antenna is 3:1 or better. On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Steve Potter steve.pot...@rethink-it.comwrote: I ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Well said Burt. Many of us have decades of ham radio experience not to mention the dozens of radios over that time. Flex is truly amazing on so many levels. And did you notice, the company President sent this message after 5PM on a Saturday?! His email signature even discloses his direct phone extension as well as the email address. How many companies will do that? Especially disclosing to us pesky hams :) 73 Joe WC4R Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:52:44 -0800 From: k1...@yahoo.com To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Very few companies would admit what was in the message below. That is what differentiates Flex from the rest, a company with an owner that is straight with the customers. The FCC gives us a license grant to learn from technology, clearly Flex can be a challenge at times but that should be welcomed as Flex helps us and we help them Burt --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com wrote: First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All snip _ The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_3 ___ 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] Antenna tuners, etc.
Being English, our similar expression is shooting fish in a barrel, i.e. point and shoot... I really don't know where it comes from but BB's are ball bearings and used to be shot from small cheap air rifles... actually the analogy could be more far reaching than this. The close a company gets to its customers, the more it can get hurt... but the closer a company gets to its customers the more its customers will rally. Steve G6HOQ -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Richard W. Solomon Sent: 13 March 2010 23:10 To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Can you tell me what ...BB in a barrel... is ?? 73, Dick, W1KSZ -Original Message- From: Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com Sent: Mar 13, 2010 5:41 PM To: tpcj1...@crocker.com Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Antenna tuners, etc. Dear customers, First let me acknowledge that we at FlexRadio understand that the ATUs in both the FLEX-3000 and FLEX-5000 can be improved. All of these improvements will be in software since the hardware tuning range is more than adequate in both radios. The current tuners use fairly simple BB in a barrel tuning algorithms, which can sometimes miss the optimal tuning point. We are currently working on software enhancements for both radios, which should significantly improve both tuning range and reliability. As usual, the radio will improve with a download from our website. While we are not ready to announce when the software will be released, I can confirm that the work is in process. So stay tuned for radios that keep getting better. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President and CEO FlexRadio Systems(TM) 13091 Pond Springs Road, #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 Ext. 202 Email: ger...@flex-radio.com Web: www.flex-radio.com Tune In Excitement (TM) PowerSDR(TM) is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 10:08 AM, John Ragle tpcj1...@crocker.com wrote: There has been a spate of stuff (I hesitate to call it a discussion) about the ATU in Flex rigs. There are some observations I would like to throw into the pot for stirring: 1. The gentleman who got nonsense readings from his Flex when it was connected to a dummy load is not confused. If the Flex (nominal output impedance 50 ohms) connects to a good quality 50 + 0j ohm dummy load with a short, good quality piece of 50 ohm coax with proper fittings and gets an apparent SWR of much different from 1:1, he has a right to be somewhat puzzled. 2. I have examined my several antennas with a good-quality network analyzer at the end seen by the Flex rig and know that the Flex is sometimes quite mistaken. 3. The L and C steps in the Flex ATU are so coarse that it is difficult for the circuitry to reach any sort of balance at 6 meters. 4. If the Flex rig measures this (or similar situations) to have an excessive SWR SHUTS DOWN the transmitter then it was probably manufactured by Toyota. My Flex 3K does exactly that, and it is pretty annoying. Actually, the proper tense is was since I no longer use the ATU in the Flex and have replaced it with a good-quality commercial tuner of the Armstrong variety, adding several hundred dollars to the investment. 5. I have used several ATUs of different manufacture and they do not have difficulties like the ones reported here. 6. I think that Flex needs to give some attention to the ATU design or alternatively leave it off the unit and out of the advertisements (and price!) entirely. 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/ ___ 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/ __ This email has been scanned for viruses by www.epagency.net If you consider this email spam, please forward it to s...@epagency.net __ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List
