Posted: 12/12/2013 2:36:55 PM EDT
I just read that Flex will be releasing a new version of PowerSDR. Looks like some major improvements inbound!
PowerSDR v2.7.1 is in Beta Testing
by Tim Ellison, W4TME - Customer Experience Manager We are happy to announce that PowerSDR™ v2.7.1 has been delivered to our internal beta team for testing. While it has taken a bit longer than anticipated to get this new release to beta due to the necessity to test the new FLEX-5000™ and FLEX-3000™ Firewire driver, we believe that the new feature available in this release will improve on the ever increasing stability and performance realized in the last several PowerSDR releases. Now that we are in beta testing, we anticipate that a public release of PowerSDR v2.7.1 will be delivered for the holidays later this month. So what can you expect to find in PowerSDR v2.7.1? Well, let's prove a little sneak preview... We have talked a little about a new 4.1.3 Firewire driver, so let's start with it. The new 4.1.3 Firewire driver has shown to provide better stability, increased throughput performance (lower latency) and resolved several bugs that sometimes resulted in Windows crashes experienced by a few users with previous 4.1.1 Firewire driver. This new Firewire driver has been tested with and is recommended for all versions of Windows supported by PowerSDR including the New Windows (Win 8.1). As noted previously, whenever we get a new Firewire driver, we have to perform extensive operational testing to ensure it works better than the previous versions. This type of development activity takes more time to test and validate than releases without new hardware drivers. Some of the other goodies in PowerSDR v2.7.1 include an enhancement to the PowerSDR waterfall display to increase the resolution and changes in the algorithms that decreased the computational overhead required to draw the display. By turning the display averaging off, what results is a high resolution time domain representation of the sampled RF spectrum. There is also a "weak signal" setup option that optimizes the waterfall display parameters for digging out weak signals from the noise. We are also very proud to announce the inclusion of PowerSDR-DataTransfer™ with PowerSDR v2.7.1. FlexRadio Systems has licensed an enhanced version of the PowerSDR database data transfer utility known as the K9DUR SDRDataTransfer by RNA Consulting. PowerSDR-DataTransfer facilitates the migration of database or configuration information from a previous to newer version of PowerSDR. One of the advantages of PowerSDR-DataTransfer is that it automatically takes care of any database changes that may be incompatible from one version of PowerSDR to another. A new feature of PowerSDR-DataTransfer is the Standard Mode of operation, where PowerSDR-DataTransfer searches your hard drive for any existing PowerSDR databases located in the default location and presents them in a "tree" structure, allowing for easy selection of the source and destination databases. After you select your source and destination databases, a single mouse click on the Transfer Data button is all that is needed to update your new version of PowerSDR with configuration settings from your previous version of PowerSDR. As with all new versions of PowerSDR, version 2.7.1 contains a variety of bug fixes and addition upgrades. Make sure you check out the release notes for a complete description of the new features and fixes when PowerSDR 2.7.1 is released. 73, Tim |
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Quoted:
I didn't have any issues with the firewire driver, but I am glad that Flex is still supporting PowerSDR. It would be smart for them to do so since the 3000 and the 1500 are current and mature products While the 6000 series are nice for many the 1500 and 3000 are a better fit. |
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Quoted:
I guess the real question for guys like us....is this the last update for PowerSDR? I think if they stopped releasing upgrades to PowerSDR it would not go well for them. It would effectively stagnate the 3000 and 1500 and one of the beauties of SDR is the ability to upgrade and add features. Without that that become just another radio. There are features I myself would like to see. So if this was the last version and if the features were not in there, Then it would be the last radio I bought from Flex. I tend to like FlexRadio Overall, but I'm not willing to give them a free pass and not all of my experiences with them have been good. They are a US Manufacturer and I believe they are going through some growing pains like many other companies they need remember that the customer is the one who ultimately make or break them. I firmly believe that id flex stopped providing upgrades to their mature but currently selling products it would pretty much burn them in the Amateur Community for a very long time. That all being said I look forward to the new release and hopefully some of the upgrades are the ones I have been looking for. |