http://www.flexradio.com/amateur-products/flex-6000-signature-series/flex-6400/  and will be about $3K

http://www.flexradio.com/amateur-products/flex-6000-signature-series/flex-6600/  and will be about $5K

Wait one... They have M models with actual buttons, knobs & displays?

That sounds like a solid shot across the bow of the major vendor semi-SDR type traditional radios.

Edit - Add of the hot making

Flex 6400
Flex 6600

I was at the dinner thursday night...

6400 is $2000
6600 is $4000

M models, add $1000

6500 and 6300 discontinued.

Yes the M models look like a shot across the bow of Icom.

At $2k for the 6400, it's a shot across the bow of Apache Labs, too.

So if one were trying to decide between Apache and Flex (similar model), which offers more for the user?

It pains me to say it, being a long time Apache Labs guy, but just looking at the spec. sheets for the 6400 and 6600, and looking at the price points, I'd have to go with the Flex.

You can do some very cool stuff with the Apache Labs radios that the Flex radios can't do, though:

- Coherent beamforming on the dual ADC radios (they call it diversity, but that's selling it short). What Flex calls "diversity" is not coherent, i.e. it's just amplitude diversity.
- True independent sideband AM transmission and reception.
- Built-in test modes (sweep and noise generators, etc.)
- Unrestricted transmit frequency coverage.
- The ability to modify the software to your heart's content, since it is all open source.
- Adaptive pre-distortion linearization ("PureSignal"). This is the real discriminator. No radio is cleaner or sounds better than a properly set up Apache Labs radio and amplifier.

When and if Flex ever implements predistortion linearization, then at that price point it'll be the final nail in the Apache Labs coffin.

I do hate the SmartSDR user interface, though

hf-kit.de showed off their 2200 watt solid state amplifier (full output on 2w drive, with auto tuner for $2900) that fired a shot across the bow of Ameritron, Expert, Acom, and Alpha.

Anan is releasing a 2 watt version of their radio specifically to pair with it.

This means that FCC removed the "db restriction" (or whatever it's called) on amplifiers? There was a talk about it a while back. Good deal if it really happened.

It's a kit. You have to solder the coax lines, provide 3 fans and a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino. Kits are exempt from that stupid restriction.

Not really.

The difference in price between the black box and front panel versions is close to the entire cost of an IC-7300.

The user interface did not impress me, it seemed very spartan to me, not what I would expect for $1000 worth of knobs and a screen. Although the screen was large and pretty.

It's the 7610 they are shooting at. That and the Apache stuff.

This really had me down in the dumps yesterday, being invested in Apache hardware. However, upon further reflection, I am now looking forward to a future price war

BTW the new screens are really nice touchscreens.

The M-Model layout was taken from the Maestro, as FlexRadio System's focus groups solidly backed the design.

Played with the WAN SmartLink which is part of the new models and part of v2.x of SmartSDR - it is super slick!

Now for the really fabulous part for folks on a budget - the radios some folks are selling off to buy a new model (Flex-6300 models especially) will run all the features of SmartSDR v2.0 and SmartLink.

There are some real deals out there due to old folks having a panic - somehow they just don't get it that ALL the Flex-6000 models are supported, just two are being retired from production.

A lot more about all this at my blog.

73

Steve
K9ZW

BLOG:  With Varying Frequency - Amateur Radio Ponderings by K9ZW