FlexRadio Systems Forums / General / User Success Stories

FLEX-1500 initial impressions

NØBS — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:55:22 GMT

After first experiencing computer controlled radio with a Kachina 505 years ago, I was reluctant to go at it again, but the 1500 just looked so attractive, I gave it a try. Initial success was hampered by a too slow old boat PC, so I ordered up a bunch of parts and built up a real computer to dedicate to the 1500 as is suggested - this is good advice!
I had recently moved to a new QTH, so only have an incredibly poor temporary antenna up so far - it's a 120' dipole fed with 300 ohm twin lead. The antenna is 10' off the ground at most, and using an SGC auto tuner with it. This will soon be replaced with a real antenna :)
Anyway, I am not at all new to QRP so that aspect of it has not surprised me, but my first 2 QSOs from VA with the 1500 were on 10m SSB with France and the Netherlands - that's encouraging considering the antenna!
What has been most surprising and fun to me is the quality of the receiver. I have never owned any real high buck rigs, but this rx is amazing IMO. It compares very favorably with my TS-2000 and in some (most?) respects is definitely better. The filtering capability and range of adjustment is just fantastic, and the rx audio is the best I have ever heard. I love the synchronous AM capability too! I plan on using the 1500 as a receiver with my boat anchors after I have them back in service at the new QTH. When I finish my Johnson Desk KW restoration project, I can use the Desk as an amp for the 1500 on SSB - 2 or 3 watts drive with the Desk will give full legal output on SSB, and I can use it on AM with it as the rx - how's that for combining the new with the old?
All around, the 1500 is a great little radio with lots of flexibility and a major fun factor. BTW, using the Hercules DJ controller (~$80) as a "hard knob" UI and the free software from Tobias, DH1TW with the 1500 is really great way to go. I find I am simultaneously using the mouse with my right hand and operating the console with my left, resulting in a great UI experience. For anyone that just has to have a radio with knobs but likes the SDR concept and benefits, there is no excuse not to buy a Flex!

WOW what an Improvent! Flex 3000 over the FT-2000

KD8LCD — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:28:04 GMT

Got the Flex 3000 last week very easy setup.

Running the newest PowerSDR release.

After a few helpful hints and tips on getting going from all the available support options from flex users/forums and groups.

I will say there is no comparison on receive between the FT-2000 and Flex 3000 NONE! [b]The Flex is a MUCH more sensitive and definitely a hell of a lot quieter on receive.[i][/i][/b]

I got to use the new feature of multiple notch filtering over this past weekend with all the contest activity on 10M moving close in on T32C and a couple other DX expeditions , after a few clicks and some filtering changes those interfering QRM stations were gone!

Having had an FT-2000 I can without a doubt say it can't touch or even come close to that ability on an Flex!

The PowerSDR software and exceptional layout and ease of use it's features is much easier to use than any menu driven radio by a long shot!.

20-30 minutes after use I never once looked or reached for a knob for anything!

And it seems from what I have experienced, read and found from flex users it only gets better!

I wish I had bought a Flex to begin with, I could have saved allot of money/time and frustrations!

Looking to get the Little Flex-1500 next and will use it for field day what better way to rack up some points than a High Performance QRP rig running on a battery and solar power working all the digital modes!

Thanks to Flex Radio Systems and all the extremely helpful Flex users!

Rick

KD8LCD

SDR 2.3.2 Fixed Everything

K3ROJ — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:10:14 GMT

I had the problem of noise when transmitting on FM ever since my V/U was installed in February but could still operate CW/SSB ok on 144 and 432. By installing the new Version 2.3.2 I was told my FM sounds excellent now, not only on V/U but on 10 and 6 meters. Wow, what a great transceiver now, being able to have all bands in one unit. Am being asked by many stations what their transmit frequency is since we are using a 10 MHz reference (Z3801A) and remarkable that I can be within +/- 5 Hz on the 440 band.

Flex 5000s during September 2011 VHF Contest

w7iy — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:26:51 GMT

The W4IY VHF Contest Group ran two Flex 5000's during the September VHF contest and I wanted to pass along a quick report to the group. One FLEX was used on 6M/222 (with a Elecraft 222 transverter) and the other was used for 2M/432. The Flex knob was used on both. The station drawings are located at: http://www.stu2.net/wiki/index.php/VHF_Contests

This is the forth time we used a Flex radio during the contest, but the first time ALL of the radios were FLEX radios. Most of the people made the adjustment switching to PowerSDR from a conventional radio. None of them practiced before hand. However, the biggest issue remains the windows focus problem, which caused HF style OPs to panic when something went wrong. (HF ops tend to wig out when the Q count dives. VHF style operators go get another beer.) It was really nice to have an expert Flex'er (K8MLM) on hand to answer questions.

WA0DYJ, suggested covering the bottom half of the PowerSDR window with the N1MM call sign entry window. That way, it's very obvious which window has the focus. For some OPs, this worked really well - for others, not so well. The OPs either moved the window out of the way (probably out of habit) or didn't even look at the screen when they started typing.

I disabled the keyboard commands, but we were not able to disable the numbers, which changed the operating frequency. For example, if an OP typed 'w3so', the 'w' was ignored, but the frequency changed to 3 MHz. The 'so' were also ignored. Panic ensued until they got used to storing their calling frequency in the quick memory for instant recall.

Based on this, I'll file two feature requests on the Flex site. 1) Disable ALL keyboard entry and 2) add a "disable all" check box, so I don't have disable letter by letter.

The knob worked well. Thanks for the programming flexibility! We kept it simple. Turns out, different operators had different ideas about long and short clicks. I used one button to swap VFOs, which changed bands - e.g. 6M to 222. To handle the long/short issue, I just programmed 'swap vfo' for 'long/short/double click' and that eliminated any confusion. As operators get better at dealing with multiple tasks, I think the knob will be very useful. (e.g. handling RIT)

We tried two digital modes using WSJT9. Meteor scatter worked great on 6M and was a lot of fun. If you haven't tried it, you should! We also tried EME, but didn't have much luck. I was not able to decode a JT65B signal, which I could hear via tropo, but I suspect operator error on my part.

Last - I ran SO2R on 432/2M near the end of the contest and loved it! VHF contests are slow enough, so you can think through all the changes without pulling your hair out. Using the radios in this way can really provide an advantage over conventional radios.

Thanks Flex - keep up the good work.

Stu2
W7IY

Flex 3000 Remote

vk3lmr — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:03:54 GMT

Hi,

I've setup my Flex 3000 as a remote station. I live on the side of a hill about 300 meters from the top. While I have had some success running coax, the loss is high and on the higher bands it is too great, so I have often thought about a remote setup. So I sold my TS 870 and bought a Flex for the remote setup.

Being involved in the IT industry I was expecting some hair pulling getting it all to work, and there was about the amount of hair pulling I expected, thankfully not more.

The setup is, Behinger C1 mike into a small mixer, then into an EQ, compressor, back to the mixer and into a steinberg MI2 external sound interface, into the computer in the shack and into Teamspeak, then out through an external Wifi router with 24dbi mesh dish, to another external Wifi router with 17dbi panel antenna at the top of the hill, into the remote computer running Teamspeak and then into Virtual cable into the Flex 3000. I use Windows remote desktop to control the Flex computer.

I had a few small problems with the Wifi stability, and QRM from the computer, but that has been sloved now. The the only small remaining problem is the latency in the system. To begin with it was about 3 seconds, I have it down to about 1 second now, but would like to reduce it further.

Here are some images of the setup,

[img]http://www.mansfieldweather.com/DSCF1346.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.mansfieldweather.com/DSCF1347.jpg[/img]

Hope to work some fellow Flexer's on air soon !

73
Steve

1 year with my Flex 1500

grobin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:29:40 GMT

Well, it's been 1 year since I received my Flex 1500 and put it on the air.

I have primarily used it on digital and for the last 9 months have been using it with a small solid state amp running 50 - 100 watts.

I have had about 500 QSO's on digital modes - 90% of those on my 2 favorite modes which are Olivia and Contestia.

I also bought a microphone for the 1500 this year at the Dayton Hamfest and have recently had 7 QSO's on 10 meter FM (5 on simplex) and about as many on 10 meter SSB.

I have had a handful of CW QSO's with the rig using a straight key but I just don't do much CW any more.

Most of my QSO's have been ragchews with several over 3 hours long, many over 2 hours, and lots of 1 hours ones too.

I've really given the rig a punishing AND it has performed well. I have had FEW problems and it has been very very reliable. My first attempts at FM a while back were NOT very successful but once PowerSDR was upgraded to the latest version the FM operation became successful and enjoyable. I look forward to more enhancements on that mode!

Anyhow, I love my Flex 1500! I would NEVER willingly ever go back to an analog rig.

Thanks Flex for putting fun and excitement back into my hamming!

External speaker solution with new Dell monitor/display

ZS5J — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:37:58 GMT

I am rather new to the Flex family - bought a 5000A this past May 2011, and shortly thereafter bought the 1500A and 3000A. One of the shortcomings I found, was the need for external powered speakers, which resulted in a mess of wires and speakers on my operating desk. I bought a pair of Bose companion II speakers for my Flex rigs, and while they sounded good, I was still not satisfied with the mess on my desk.

I had also bought a new Dell 23 " LED display to use with my Flex setup - a wonderful display. While browsing accessories for this display, I noted that an attachable powered "soundbar" speaker, was available for these newer Dell monitors. They were priced well - only about $ 25.00, so I ordered one from the USA through my local dealer.

It arrived this morning, and I quickly installed it - it slides into place under the bottom of the Dell, and has a short pigtail DC power cable, and a stereo speaker lead. I hooked up the supplied wallwart switch-mode power supply, and switched on, using the ON/OFF volume control knob on the right side of the sound bar. I noticed an increase in hash of 10 dbm on the 40 meter band. This was not a problem for me, as I was not interested in running a separate power supply for this speaker anyway. I cut off the wallwart, and installed a pair of powerpole connectors. I then plugged the DC cable into my station power supply - which also powers the Flex 3000. Problem solved....no hash at all. Sound is excellent - as good as the Bose, and there is plenty of AF gain - I only use the volume control on the soundbar at 50 %, and on PowerSDR at around 15 % for comfortable listening. I then transmitted 100 watts on several bands - NO RFI at all (this without me taking any extra precautions with grounding). The speakers were dead silent when transmitting at full power. They are stereo, and sound good when toggling the "BIN" button on the PowerSDR.

I hope this can help other users WRT powered speakers, that happen to use the newer Dell range of monitors. They are way cheaper than using a Bose speaker, sound just as good, and the big plus for me - no more mess of wires/cables/speakers all over the desk.

The Dell part number for this accessory is defined as: DELL - AX510PA SOUNDBAR SPEAKER, and the DELL monitor I am using is the DELL ST2320L LED display.

Oh, setup is an Apple MacMini computer with 8 GB RAM and Windows 7 64 bit running under bootcamp

73

John - ZS5J and C91J

Here are pictures of the Dell soundbar (powered stereo speakers), attached at the bottom of the display. MUCH neater than having speakers and cables running around the desk. This is not in my shack - while experimenting with my Flex radio's I have them setup in an adjacent room. Oh - I really like that new Jetstream power supply - JTPS31MB, 30 amps in such a small neat package, and no RFI that I can see.

[IMG]http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd335/zs5j/IMG_4141.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd335/zs5j/IMG_4140.jpg[/IMG]

Flex 5000A - Out of Box Experience

ka1gmn — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:51:12 GMT

I've had the Flex 5KA for two weeks now.

Had the 5KA it up and running in less that an hour with the virtual audio/COM lines working perfectly.

Impressive system. Who needs knobs?!

philw de ka1gmn

Flex 3000 Newbie

NZ0F — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:00:10 GMT

Received my Flex-3000 this week and had it installed and up an running on SSB in the span of an evening. Installed PowerSDR 2.0.19 RC1 that came packed with the unit and it seems to me they've made the whole installation process pretty easy. That assumes, of course, that you read the instructions. From reading previous posts from new users, I was prepared for a bit more of an adventure, but it really was simple and straightforward. Of course, I had prepared my PC ahead of time, getting a PCI-E firewire card and upgrading from Vista to Windows 7.

After the success of the first evening, the next evening was spent trying to get com0com working so that I could connect with HRD to enable continued use of my HRD logbook and DM 780. One note of caution on that -- if you're running a 64-bit version of Win 7, there is a 64-bit version of com0com that you must have. Learned that one the hard way. Had a few false starts on that but finally got that going and actually made DX contact on PSK-31.

Overrall, I'm very impressed and looking forward to learning more about some of the features of PowerSDR and the Flex in general. I'm already working stations that I would never have heard with my old rig and seem to be getting through the pileups a lot easier than I used to -- all great fun.

Two issues that I'm still dealing with that are perplexing me -- 1) setting levels on PSK -- I can't seem to get enough audio generated to create over about 15W (with Drive at 100) without ALC kicking in. Maybe that's not a problem with the Flex, but runs counter to my previous experience with the old "analog" rig and haven't made enough contacts on PSK to get good feedback on what my trace looks like on the waterfall and 2) most times when I start up PowerSDR, I have to import the database before I can get any audio out of it. It works fine after I do that, it just has to be done abou 80% of the time. Probably doing something wrong in both cases that I'll eventually figure out.

My Station:
Flex 3000 running PowerSDR 2.0.19 RC1
PC: Dell XPS, Core i7 Processor, 6GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit SP1

Looking forward to many happy days of operating.

NZ0F

Flex 3000 & Power SDR v2.0.19 RC1

N3PZT — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:55:40 GMT

I'd been following the development of PSDR v1.19 Alpha "Pretty Betty" for some time but didn't want to mess with it since my PSDR v1.18.6 was working so well. I'm a believer "if it ain't broke, don't break it". However, when I saw PSDR v2.0.19 RC1 (the improved "Pretty Betty") on the Flex Systems website with the all-in-one installer file I took the plunge. I'm glad I did. I'm running a home brew PC with tons of horsepower and Win XP Pro OS.

I try to be very thorough and methodical when I make these major changes. Here's some tips I can recommend for a smooth uninstall and reinstall:

1) The release notes strongly recommend that you do not import the database from a prior version of PSDR once you've installed the new version. So, I did about
20 or so screen shots while my PSDR v1.18.6 was open of all the band screens, menus and tabs. These came in handy when I set up all my preferences after PSDR v2.0.19 was installed.

2) When I first launched the installer I didn't get the REMOVE option. So, I figured it was looking for an older version of PSDR v2.X which I didn't have installed. So, I backed out of the installer and manually uninstalled both the PSDR v1.18.6 program and the Flex Firewire driver and rebooted.

3) After reboot I ran the installer and everything installed smoothly. A window popped up near the end recommending installing MS Hotfix KB955408 which I already had so I installed that before rebooting again.

4) After this second reboot I powered up the Flex 3000 and went through the three Flex Firewire driver installations as is normal with Win XP.

5) I was now ready to fire up the PSDR v2.0.19 program. It launched perfectly and went through a ton of first time calibrations. Closed the program and reopened it and "Pretty Betty" was before my eyes!

6) I spent the next hour or so updating all my preferences, menus and tabs using the screen shots I had taken earlier. When I was done I exported the database for safe keeping.

I hope this helps anyone else thinking of upgrading to this new PSDR version.

N3PZT

Flex 3000 indeed

VA3WTB — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:10:55 GMT

I have read many things in these forums about problems getting there Flex radio up and running. It seems most problems are caused by the user. I am releaved that I had little trouble installing my radio. Everything went smoothly as it should and it fired up and is still working very well. Can not beleave how great the receiver is wow. I have not made many contacts since I am trying on 40 and 80m bands, and they have been awfull for days now. I am waiting till Friday when I can use the 20m band on my tryband ant, that will work great.

I still need to talk to someone to help me set up my mike. If you care to chat about radios and we can connect just contact me.

b_buchanan@sympatico.ca

Flex 1500 digital ragchew ...

grobin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:44:32 GMT

I set a personal record today for longest QRP QSO. I had a fantastic fun and interesting QSO with KT1B in Haverhill, MA. We "talked" on Contestia 250/8 digital mode for 2 hours and 35 minutes on 30mtrs. My longest ever QRP QSO! We had 99% near perfect copy for the whole time with only a few missed characters. I was running the Flex 1500 at 4 watts out and the case was ever so lightly warm to the touch. We could have talked all day and not over taxed the rig. Scott was running 50w and we both were running dipoles. My dipole is only 15ft high in the middle at the feedline and about 20ft or so high on the ends. Scotts was at 30ft height.

That was my 91st QSO with the Flex 1500 since I got it on July 14th of this year. Most were on digi modes (mostly olivia and contestia) and a few were on SSB and CW.

I am not a big QRP operator - I am, ever so slowly, building a 35w amp for my 1500, but it has been a real eye opener for me how well 4-5 watts can do - especially on good digital modes.

After running a Yaesu FT-100D since 2003 running this Flex 1500 is like being in "heaven".

---Gary WB8ROL

Flex-1500, Long contact

VA3MD — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:15:50 GMT

Well I have had me Flex-1500 for about a month now, after a few version it is mostly stable. The iambic keyer is not worth the code it is written with but the rest of the rig works as advertised. I do like to work CW a bit but must us a stright key, now for ssb, last weekend I spent 3 hours working the NA QSO party. I live in southern Ontario and I made 23 contacts all over Canada and if USA, New Mexico, Florida, Newfoundland, BC and Texas. Those of you who say that QRP only works in good band condition have never worked 5 watts, I have spent the last 20 years mostly on QRP and last night I made a contact with Tony IZ6CLZ in Italy with the Flex-1500, Sent 5-7 received 5-5, on a G5RV using the AT-100Pro Autotuner.

Just having a ball

.............. Mike

Flex 5000A Success Story

W1AEX — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:49:32 GMT

Well, here is the short story. I ordered my Flex 5000A online, received my confirmation email within a few minutes, and much to my surprise, within 24 hours I received a shipping notification and tracking number. Three days later, at 10:45 AM, it was sitting on my kitchen table. I brought it up to the operating bench and unpacked it, unfolded the quick start guide, and moved my beloved ICOM Pro III out of its position. The Flex 5000A was positioned and connected up to the usual radio stuff, including a 3-500 amplifier and an AT-Auto. I heeded the warnings and made sure the firewire cable was carefully inserted the correct way. Then feeling adventurous, I decided to go with the 2.06 beta install suite downloaded from the Flex page. The installation program flawlessly installed a series of drivers (with no surprises), the Flex configuration utility, and PSDR 2.06. When I attempted to run PSDR 2.06, it informed me that I needed to install the newest firmware that was included as part of the 2.06 package. Using the Flex Configuration Utility, the firmware was updated, then PSDR 2.06 did its first time read and loaded up fine. I checked my audio sampling rate and buffer size, then pressed "Start" and I was up and running, a bit less than 45 minutes after the package arrived. I made a quick contact, and realized the Pro III would never again occupy its spot on the operating bench.

So, the short story is, I bought the Flex, it arrived promptly, it installed flawlessly, and I have enjoyed it immensely from 160 - 6 meters and everywhere in between. It produces very smooth full-body transmit audio on SSB/AM/FM and beautiful receive audio. I use the Bose Companion 2 (Series 2) powered speakers with it and they produce the big Wurlitzer jukebox sound when listening to the AM broadcast band or shortwave. Straight key CW and the built-in keyboard CW are working cleanly here. I'm no speed demon, and don't run break-in, so it seems to work fine for my needs. I am now using PSDR 2.08 beta and it's running smoothly, except for an occasional glitch when doing a record/playback over the air.

I have found operating to be very enjoyable with this rig. There's a lot of stuff under the hood and the software lets you get in there if you want to. If you don't, the default settings will run just fine in most cases. At any rate, it's fun to use, and if a hobby isn't fun, what's the point? So the big question now is, where are the boxes my Pro III came in?

Rob W1AEX

WinXP/SP2 (Firewire hotfix applied) P4-3GHz and 1G RAM ASUS P4C800-E Motherboard 800 MHz FSB ATI Radeon 9800 Vid

Flex 3K & 5K Using the MacMini and Macbook

K7ABP — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:14:32 GMT

I am using a Macbook on my Flex3K when I get away fro m the shack and a MacMini on my Flex5K in the shack. I used to use a Dell on the 5K but it was slow and would lock up.

I am very Happy with the Mac's.

Toby K7ABP

Great radio for contesting

m0box — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:44:45 GMT

As I was given the job of Contest Manager for the RSGB SSB Field Day 2009 event, I decided that the group would get to grips with my new Flex3000.

Standard sort of contest station, Steppir beam for HF, dipole for 80m and a 1/4wave vertical for 40m. The Computer using two screens, one for the PowerSDR and one for N1MM.

The operators loved the panadaptor scope to see where the activity was and all commented how nice that was for S&P operation. They also loved the wonderful filtration and how you could dig out the weak stuff next to big signals.

IMHO, SDR is where contest groups will go, if they are not there already.

I bought the Flex3000 as an experiment as the price was reasonable for the facilities it offered. Not I must save for the 5000!

73

Simon M0BOX

flex 3000 up and running

K8KO — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:54:36 GMT

I am still wrapping my mind around the 3000, but the startup was painless. I adapted an electret mic headset to the unit and it works fine. There are two items on the SSB check list that should be added: In the setup menu, make sure that the Receive only box is not checked in the General => HW config menu and that the "Disable PTT" is UNCHECKED in the Options menu.

If you would like to email chat, video chat, or ham chat then let's set up a sched.

Butch
K8KO
occamrazr*at*yahoo.com

Sucess at Last

K3ROJ — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:32:38 GMT

In the first part of this year 2009, I was aching to try out the Flex 5000A. I did have success using an SDR1000 running under XP on a mediocre computer but hated that hassle of wires leading to the Delta 44 external sound card. Went ahead and ordered the 5000A since Flex Radio had a deal I couldn't pass up. The auto tuner was already installed and ordered the RX2 second receiver to install myself. Flex Radio is very helpful when contacting them on the phone if any problem arises. I had already purchased an ASUS Essentio Vista 64 Computer with DUO Core 2X2100 and 4 GB RAM since it is a mid size desktop which I figured would be ideal for Field Day and at my other summer location. I was somewhat impatient attempting to get the 5000A to run with Vista 64 bit by turning off the "Signed Driver Notice" when booting up and it did work somewhat until Windows would discover it after a few boots and not allow me to continue. Well, just the other day I discovered the new downloads, the SDR Console Version 1.16.2, the Driver Version 3.4.0.4877 and Firmware Version 1.3.0.0 After uninstalling the older software and rebooting, then installing the new software, I at last had success running my 5000A without any problems whatsoever. The RX2 second receiver is a great tool being able to listen to other frequencies while busy working a contest etc. The 5000A is referenced by my Z3801A giving me unheard of frequency stability/accuracy and can't wait until Flex comes out with their transverters which make the 5000A comparable to the best radio system on the market.

Joy at last

N8ABY — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:35:27 GMT

After some frustrating attempts to eliminate the freezing problem with Vista 64 using different fire wire and sound cards, the hard drive in the HPa6700y was partitioned and XP Pro SP2 was dual booted. Had to download RealTek HD, associated drivers, also drivers for the ethernet adapter for XP Pro 32 bit. There are probably better sound cards, i've never had a problem with this one, it is in the Vista 64 side.
"Joy at last", the Flex 5K runs as it should.
Have had excellent reports on my audio, operating on the Breakfast Club, The Wolverine Net, and the 160 Everynight Group, people really like the sound of the Flex.
Myself i like the filtering and ease of operation, this morning worked K5D on 17 mtrs with a 10 khz split, that was a real treat.
Am still discovering features, and am looking forward to many years with Flex.

Phenomenal Radio 5000A

k2cm — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:05:21 GMT

At the recommendation of a ham in our radio club, I bought the Flex5000A. Am pleased beyond belief!

1. The filters are sharp and really eliminate a lot of QRM, escpecially on CW

2. The noise level on all bands seems to be at an all time low with the radio. On the 756P3, I picked up a lot of "noise" that made signals uncopyable. The 5000A does not receive that noise...not sure why, but its a big improvement. Am hearing signals that I would never have heard before.

3. The CW keying is superb! I use the MFJ keyer into the 5000A and have no lag between key press and sidetone.

4. On phone, I typically find a signal and drag it into the passband with the mouse

5. I bought the Griffen "wheel" for tuning; but, it really isn't needed. The scroll wheel on a mouse works quite well...and even that isn't needed. Dragging or pulling the display with the mouse works well.

6. It took me about 5 minutes to get used to useing the mouse as compared to knobs. The mouse is better.

Love the radio....it was the best choice.

George

K2CM, Apalachin, NY

My sucess story

Alan Johnson — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:09:30 GMT

After all my attempts to get the 5000A working correctly on my Vista machine failed, I decided to build a second computer just for radio control (Flex, Winradio 303i, TenTec RX-321 and hopefully soon, a Perseus). I didn't want to give up Vista because I find it easier to do things with it and I like the "eyecandy". I used a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L MB, Intel E6550 2.3 Mhz C2D, 2 GB of 1066 Mhz RAM, 160 GB HDD, Koutech PCIe 1394 card and a EVGA 8600GT 256 MB video card to run XP Pro. I limited the installed software to radio control programs, Adobe Acrobat Reader and AVG free antivirus. I'm using a Belkin Flip KVM switch so I can share the keyboard, trackball and monitor between the two computers. It's working great at 192 kHz/2048 with the exception that pressing the scroll wheel changes the size of the PowerSDR screen rather than stepping through the tuning step sizes. I do have the box checked in Setup. I suspect it may be a problem with the Flip. The MB is nice because it has serial and parallel ports for legacy devices and is relatively cheap. It does lack RAID, but I didn't think I needed it.

One happy camper,

N4LUS