Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
At some point it is not, will the hardware work, but does anyone remember
how to run/fix the hardware. In the USAF ('63-'67) I was
instructor-operator of an Instrument training flight sim that pretended to
be a F-80 Shooting Star or T-33 jet trainer. It was nearly all vacuum tubes
(including diodes) except for selenium rectifiers and a couple solid state
devices. It was a bunch of interconnected analog computers (absolutely
nothing digital except two position power switch ) ON/OFF.
About 10 years ago I saw one in the Fayetteville, Arkansas air museum (same
exact make/model/variant that I used) and the docent (retired colonel) said
some electronic engineering types from the university looked it over and
proclaimed it non-repairable. My translation of non-repairable (after having
inspected it) is collectively we don't have a clue about tube type analog
computers filled with autosyns, selsyns, rate servos, position servos,
shaped card potentiometers, and on and on... much less angle of attack, true
flight path elevation angle and such
Radio gear can be this way too. Anyone built, used or even adjusted a
coherer/decoherer lately?
The rate of obsolescence varies from appliance operator to tech weenie.
When the gear is out of warranty or at least when it is old enough to not
have a strong following it becomes unmaintainable for the appliance operator
whereas the tech weenie might keep it going for decades.
Flex gear like the 5000 might be kept running indefinitely with the current
release of software when there is no formal support for newer/better. Only
if there are custom electronic devices embedded in the system for which
there is no practical work around would maintenance get quite difficult in
case of a failure.
I hope that if for any reason Flex abandons the software that it does the
right thing and donates the source code to the community or at the least
publishes the interfaces so that other software might be attempted (not
trivial.)
If the ENTIRE program were open source there are some of us who might tinker
a bit with it. Among the many entries in the synopsis of my checkered past
after the physics, math, and electronic engineering of the early days (large
rocks were still hot) came a retreading in BS computer science and MS
software engineering. I did some time in the trenches as analyst and
programmer and I'm not smart enough to know better than to dabble a bit in
my dotage. I suspect there are plenty of other folks in the community whose
capabilities and experience far exceed mine.
I suspect a Flex such as my new 5000 can last as long as I do and
significantly longer in the hands of another tech weenie.
73 Patrick AF5CK
--
From: George Works wor...@hughes.net
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 10:28 AM
Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz
Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Patrick, you are no doubt right on all points. There are still 50 year-old
computers, like the IBM 1620, around in museums and I suppose they still
work. The real issue is, will the early adopters who bought the Flex 6000
series still be happy with 50 year old technology, or will they have long
since replaced it with a series of shiny new radios that have
breathtakingly better performance, and fit in a shirt pocket?
George
On 23-Aug-12 11:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
--
Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years?
Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry
worry etc.
I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and
8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix
based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early
90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the
guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty)
OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still
works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all
the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs.
He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been
the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He
also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws.
Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long
after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it
meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up
there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running
because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well
enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000
will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades.
73 Patrick AF5CK
___
FlexRadio Systems
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Sent from my iPhone On Aug 22, 2012, at 4:21 PM, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com wrote: On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 1:15 PM, Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com wrote: The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! What is wrong with the one you have that is working right now? Grab a couple spare motherboards if you are worried. And as for software, Windows XP will run just as well (or badly) 50 years from now on your new old-stock motherboard as it does today. If you want to keep your 5000 running for the next 50 years, it is eminently possible. -- Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL 3191 Western Dr. Cameron Park, CA 95682 br...@lloyd.com +1.767.617.1365 (Dominica) +1.916.877.5067 (USA) ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Gentlemen, Good grief! At age 74, do you have any idea how I react about what's going to happen in 50 years? I ain't alone! And I don't hold back when someone suggests that I buy some sort of extended warranty! I did almost have a fit when I discovered that all of the Hi8 video tapes I had used for a period of ten years no longer play thus leaving a huge hole in my family history. For what it's worth, if you haven't checked your octal socket vacuum tubes lately you might be surprised to find that the adhesive that held the glass to the tube base has failed! If someone had told me in 1954 that this was going to happen I might have been excited! 73 Lee K9WRU - Original Message - From: Drax Felton draxfel...@gmail.com To: FlexRadio List flexradio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 2:33 PM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Mickey Baker wrote: The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! Not difficult, just an add on board or Firewire to Ethernet adapter which is available now and I'm sure will be available for a long time to come for whatever flavor of buss comes along in the future. You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! Maybe not from Walmart or Best Buy, though I wouldn't swear to that. But, I know you can get almost any model laptop from Dell with a Firewire option installed. That may not be true of their newer Ultrabooks but once again there is the Firewire to Ethernet adapter and they all have Ethernet capability. Will Ethernet still be here in 50 years? Probably not, we will outgrow even it's speed capability. Most everything will be some flavor of wireless or optical by then but I'll bet there will still be converter interfaces. ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! I've already checked it out on Windows 8 preview and it works fine. Windows 8 is mostly a user interface upgrade to make it more suitable for Tablet/Touch screen devices. Will it work on whatever OS is here in 50 years? My guess is it will run in a virtual machine environment. 73, Rich - W3ZJ 73, Mickey N4MB ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
[Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
-- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs. He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Patrick, you are no doubt right on all points. There are still 50 year-old computers, like the IBM 1620, around in museums and I suppose they still work. The real issue is, will the early adopters who bought the Flex 6000 series still be happy with 50 year old technology, or will they have long since replaced it with a series of shiny new radios that have breathtakingly better performance, and fit in a shirt pocket? George On 23-Aug-12 11:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote: -- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs. He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Here's a question that I haven't seen come up in this thread that I think is more important whether we can use a particular rig or not in 50 years. Will amateur radio still be around in 50 years? The average age of hams is going up each year and it seems more and more difficult to get young people interested in the hobby. Although, I am happy to say that I have both of my sons (ages 13 and 10) interested and the 13 year old is close to testing for his Tech ticket. I am just concerned that the hobby will disappear before the next 50 years pass. As a community we need to work harder and find innovative ways to get younger people involved in the hobby, or it is going to fade away. My age? 49. 73, Lee - AK4WN On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 11:28 AM, George Works wor...@hughes.net wrote: Patrick, you are no doubt right on all points. There are still 50 year-old computers, like the IBM 1620, around in museums and I suppose they still work. The real issue is, will the early adopters who bought the Flex 6000 series still be happy with 50 year old technology, or will they have long since replaced it with a series of shiny new radios that have breathtakingly better performance, and fit in a shirt pocket? George On 23-Aug-12 11:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote: -- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs. He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ -- Lee Herbst - AK4WN Give God your best and let Him do the rest - Facing the Giants ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
I guess as with all advancements in technology only time and the market will tell. I guess it is a good sign that we are all not still using FT-101Es or TS-530s. Some folks are and I would be they won't be interested an new rigs. 73 Greg On 8/23/12, George Works wor...@hughes.net wrote: Patrick, you are no doubt right on all points. There are still 50 year-old computers, like the IBM 1620, around in museums and I suppose they still work. The real issue is, will the early adopters who bought the Flex 6000 series still be happy with 50 year old technology, or will they have long since replaced it with a series of shiny new radios that have breathtakingly better performance, and fit in a shirt pocket? George On 23-Aug-12 11:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote: -- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs. He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 11:01 AM, Lee Herbst lcher...@gmail.com wrote: ..Will amateur radio still be around in 50 years?... === Good question, Lee. A recent QST editorial mentioned that ham club participation is decreasing because members can no longer see well enough to drive at night. That struck me as a not-good sign! More generally, it's really hard to look 50 years ahead at anything. In 1962 when I got out of college, ham radio was going strong, and was in some senses a cutting-edge technology, much different from today's situation. Every day on the high bands, overseas residents and service-members used ham phone patches to talk back home. The electronics technology that was to come was totally beyond comprehension. Flex made a design decision at the outset to build a ham radio that is embedded in a bunch of other system components over which they have no control: not only Windows, but VSP, Firewire, VAC, and as you point out, ham radio itself. Who knows what changes will come to the whole matrix of those components? Who in 1962 would have foreseen that phone patches would give way to Skype!? Wherever software is involved, the speed of obsolescense is obviously much much faster than hardware, but in any event we should just have fun with it in the present moment and not fret about what's to come -- probably what's coming up will be even more fun. Tony KT0NY -- http://www.isb.edu/faculty/facultydir.aspx?ddlFaculty=352 ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
This is not a criticism of the current line of thought being expressed but is the F5k really 'old-tech'? It made its debut in 2007 and although the architecture of the latest wave of SDR's to come out is moderately different, the bulk of the processing is in software. I agree that PC's will evolve and in the not too distant future die out as the processing power of tablets and handhelds advances. Firewire cards will still be around for years to come because like HD-DVD's those who adopt the technology will stick with it come rain or shine until their nose bleeds or a better alternative emerges that is consistent with their point of utilisation. An example here is the music industry which still relies heavily on FireWire because there is limited alternative commonly available technology which supersedes it. As to the interface - yes, I'm sure there will come a day when it is no longer economic for FlexRadio to support PowerSDR as a legacy product - this is natural software evolution. But like Patrick said of his friend, the product will outlive its support structure and when Flex no longer supports it, there will be other programmers who will want to step in to the breech and continue the evolution cycle. The 5K is still very close to the top of the food chain. Although I'm a useless programmer, I'm sure that more features and better performance algorithms can be squeezed out of the bytes and nibbles for a generation to come. === To save pursuing separately, a short comment about the hobby from one who's been there for 25 years, so not quite a veteran. This is speaking from a British perspective in the sense of population density. The UK has the highest incidence of powerline networking in the EU and quite possibly the world but don't hold me to the latter. The European controls on EMC have failed because of bogus Conformity being claimed by large-scale exports from the likes of China, where, amongst other things the CE stamp (which stands for Chinese Export) looks almost identical to the CE European Conformity stamp. Convenient. My point from this is that I am seeing the largest exodus from the hobby by my piers and our forebears that I believe has ever happened - all due to the insane rise in the noise floor caused by non-conforming SMPSU's, badly designed EMC and-the-likes, combined with intermod from a plethora of mains systems deluged with powerline networking. The horizon is changing, rapidly and if the seasoned hams cannot hack the noise, what hope is there for the newcomers? Yes, they won't know anything else but if they set up their G5RV's and find S9 on the bulk of the amateur bands, it won't take long to get tired of it. That scenario is alarmingly common in my part of the world... Then there's the erosion in good operating practice and procedure but don't get me started on that... One of my closest friends was forced to quit 2m a few weeks ago because that is now S9 PLT at apparently random times of the day (and night). The hobby is eroded and complacency combined with an unhealthy dose of 'head in the sand' is quickly becoming one of the more significant threats to amateur radio. The hobby will evolve - it's inevitable - 25 years ago I was doing MS/ moonbounce with a speeded up tape recorder. Then came the PC. Now we can do SDR and decode AFSK with our Android and iPhones. I realise that much of this latter diatribe will be of little significance to the lucky guys who live in rural spaces like those found in the US. Not every amateur lives in a rural location and sooner or later, like has happened here, urban and suburban operating will become troublesome at best and impossible at worst. Each and every one of us who enjoy the use of the spectrum owe it to ourselves and our descendants to protect the spectrum - it is a finite natural resource where commercial interests supersede everything - radio regulations included. I can vouch for that since I was at the Spectrum Stakeholders meeting in London for PLT where the communications regulator was frightened into submission by a threat from the EU trade representative (DG Enterprises) who quoted Treaty - No barrier to free trade and he cited hams as being one of the biggest threats... [/rant] Glad that's off my chest. Nige. G7CNF On 23/08/2012 16:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote: -- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer,
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
I have taken up pool because of Prince Harry. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
The death knell of ham radio will be when sufficient corporate (and governmental) interest in bandwidth/frequencies outweighs the interest/political clout of an ever shrinking club populated mostly by ever decreasing numbers of aging folks with dwindling clout and relevance. The graying of ham radio is only one facet of its eclectic problem set. Ham radio will not suffer a slow dwindling death of a thousand cuts due to its graying. When the political clout thing toggles such that those who profit by or desire to use the bandwidth for commercial reasons out weighs the clout of the ham community (as a whole, worldwide) then rapid regulatory change will occur and virtually overnight ham radio, as we know it, will be as obsolete as heliograph, talking drums, smoke signals, etc.. It may be difficult to recognize what will be left of ham radio in 20 years. In the mean time I intend to party on and not get too emotional too far in advance, not start crying before I'm actually hurt. Ham radio is rapidly becoming irrelevant. I'm not pleased by this fact but there it is pure and simple. We delude ourselves into thinking our role in emergency communications is so useful that we will continue to be rewarded with our electromagnetic sand box in which to play (become trained for emergency service) ad infinitum. Not so. We are getting ever closer to an ubiquitous Star Trek communicator functionality with cell phones, sat phones, VOIP, etc. that ham radio is becoming, in many respects, as cutting edge as the crank the handle to ring the operator phones. I truly enjoy a good QSO and providing for it by technical means not available to lay folk suits me fine (I also dabble in CW) but that is because my expectations, standards, and what makes me feel good was set by standards of an older time. Cowboy action shooting and Civil War reenactment appeal to others of the anachronistic bent. Flex Radio is a darned good way to get our techie fix and fulfill our need to connect with someone to talk to at random. I am a big supporter of Flex radio. They provide a darned good service to my chosen community. I wish them all the best in the future, whatever it holds for them. 73 Patrick AF5CK -Original Message- From: Lee Herbst Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 11:01 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. Here's a question that I haven't seen come up in this thread that I think is more important whether we can use a particular rig or not in 50 years. Will amateur radio still be around in 50 years? The average age of hams is going up each year and it seems more and more difficult to get young people interested in the hobby. Although, I am happy to say that I have both of my sons (ages 13 and 10) interested and the 13 year old is close to testing for his Tech ticket. I am just concerned that the hobby will disappear before the next 50 years pass. As a community we need to work harder and find innovative ways to get younger people involved in the hobby, or it is going to fade away. My age? 49. 73, Lee - AK4WN On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 11:28 AM, George Works wor...@hughes.net wrote: Patrick, you are no doubt right on all points. There are still 50 year-old computers, like the IBM 1620, around in museums and I suppose they still work. The real issue is, will the early adopters who bought the Flex 6000 series still be happy with 50 year old technology, or will they have long since replaced it with a series of shiny new radios that have breathtakingly better performance, and fit in a shirt pocket? George On 23-Aug-12 11:17, Patrick Greenlee wrote: -- Won't the RohS solder fail in Flex before 50 years? Availability of Win7... Firewire... etc. Obsolescence, scarcity, worry worry etc. I bought a Samsung clone of a PC XT with switchable clock speeds of 4 and 8 MHz with an 80386 CPU around 1987 after donating my Tandy 6000 Unix based multi-user 'puter to the Starvation Army. Somewhere in the early 90's I gave it to a friend complete with user friendly data base in the guise of an on-screen Rolodex (HP software, really nifty) OK, flash forward to present day... He still has the computer, it still works fine, it is his daily user, and it his only computer. He has all the word processor, data base, and other productivity software he needs. He is NOT a New Shiny Ball kinda guy. He is not anti-tech having been the Pres and CEO of a HoverCraft design and manufacturing company. He also knows how to use a brace and bit, hand planes, and hand saws. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Lots of things going on to attract younger people to the Hobby: http://www.arrl.org/youth The total number of station licenses has slowly increased over the last several years. In June 2007, the number was 655K. In June 2012, the number was 706K. Pete, wa2cwa www.manualman.com On Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:01:21 -0400 Lee Herbst lcher...@gmail.com writes: Here's a question that I haven't seen come up in this thread that I think is more important whether we can use a particular rig or not in 50 years. Will amateur radio still be around in 50 years? The average age of hams is going up each year and it seems more and more difficult to get young people interested in the hobby. Although, I am happy to say that I have both of my sons (ages 13 and 10) interested and the 13 year old is close to testing for his Tech ticket. I am just concerned that the hobby will disappear before the next 50 years pass. As a community we need to work harder and find innovative ways to get younger people involved in the hobby, or it is going to fade away. My age? 49. 73, Lee - AK4WN ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Many of us were more influenced by his companions but in the interest of inclusiveness I will not demand that you don't ask and don't tell. -Original Message- From: Ross Stenberg Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:57 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. I have taken up pool because of Prince Harry. Some of us will be able to operate our Flex 5000 (and other models) long after the naysayers are pushing up daisys. Old tech isn't bad tech if it meets the requirements. I didn't give up swimming because I'm not up there with the most recent incarnation of Mark Spitz or give up running because Prince Harry and Usain Bolt are both faster than me. I swim well enough and run fast enough for my purposes and suggest that the Flex 5000 will meet the requirements for a lot of us for decades. ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
[Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
This has been explained but may bear repeating/amplification. Flex customer demographics include a high percentage of tech weenies and a fair number of whatever is the latest greatest new shiny ball folks. Some folks have to have the latest tech gadgets whether or not they understand the technology. This is not to say that techies aren't interested if their wad permits. The 5000 is still one of the best most capable radios available for anywhere near its selling price. The new radios promise to be EVEN MORE. So the folks who have to have the new shiny ball will bail on the 5000 to get the next latest thing. Ditto the tech freaks to whom better is worth a lot. Hype aside, the Game Changer is an evolutionary change (likely a true evolutionary LEAP) but still not a REVOLUTIONARY change. SDR was a revolutionary change compared to the traditional hardware implementations of radios. Given you are shopping performance vs price you will find the 5000 to have a better figure of merit (divide performance by price) than lots of traditional radios, radios incorporating some DSP, and likely the new Flex offerings too. Still if you want higher tech and better performance and are willing to pay for it, the new Flex is the good deal. The cutting edge of tech typically costs disproportionately more than a half step or more back from the bleeding edge.. Tech doesn't stand still. Buyers of the NEW flex radios should savor the moment (months/years) of superiority before Flex or some other outfit makes another leap forward. It wasn't that long ago that the IBM PC booted from floppies and ran a clock speed of 4.77 MHz and was THE thing nearly every tech weenie wanted. Technological obsolescence comes at an ever accelerating rate. It is the way of the world. Until or unless there are fundamental changes in operating modes not conveniently handled by a 5000 They should serve well for many more years. Collins S-Line gear still works well and does what it always did. The 5000 may turn out to be the SDR equivalent. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
The Collins line works sixty years later, what about the Flex 5000? Technology has it plusses and minuses --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Patrick Greenlee patric...@windstream.net wrote: From. Collins S-Line gear still works well and does what it always did. The 5000 may turn out to be the SDR equivalent. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! 73, Mickey N4MB On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 2:31 PM, Burt k1...@yahoo.com wrote: The Collins line works sixty years later, what about the Flex 5000? Technology has it plusses and minuses --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Patrick Greenlee patric...@windstream.net wrote: From. Collins S-Line gear still works well and does what it always did. The 5000 may turn out to be the SDR equivalent. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ -- Mickey Baker, N4MB Fort Lauderdale, FL *“Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand. Involve me, and I will learn.” *Teton Lakota, American Indian Saying. ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
well, my 30+ yr old Osborne I was still working when i tossed itfinally...73, w5xz, dan cp/m, man that was 'fun'... --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com wrote: From: Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. To: Burt k1...@yahoo.com Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 8:15 PM The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! 73, Mickey N4MB On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 2:31 PM, Burt k1...@yahoo.com wrote: The Collins line works sixty years later, what about the Flex 5000? Technology has it plusses and minuses --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Patrick Greenlee patric...@windstream.net wrote: From. Collins S-Line gear still works well and does what it always did. The 5000 may turn out to be the SDR equivalent. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ -- Mickey Baker, N4MB Fort Lauderdale, FL *“Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand. Involve me, and I will learn.” *Teton Lakota, American Indian Saying. ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 1:15 PM, Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com wrote: The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! What is wrong with the one you have that is working right now? Grab a couple spare motherboards if you are worried. And as for software, Windows XP will run just as well (or badly) 50 years from now on your new old-stock motherboard as it does today. If you want to keep your 5000 running for the next 50 years, it is eminently possible. -- Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL 3191 Western Dr. Cameron Park, CA 95682 br...@lloyd.com +1.767.617.1365 (Dominica) +1.916.877.5067 (USA) ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com wrote: On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 1:15 PM, Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.comwrote: The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! What is wrong with the one you have that is working right now? Grab a couple spare motherboards if you are worried. And as for software, Windows XP will run just as well (or badly) 50 years from now on your new old-stock motherboard as it does today. If you want to keep your 5000 running for the next 50 years, it is eminently possible. One more thing: keeping a KWM2 running depends on having a stock of tubes, some of which are no longer produced. -- Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL 3191 Western Dr. Cameron Park, CA 95682 br...@lloyd.com +1.767.617.1365 (Dominica) +1.916.877.5067 (USA) ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale.
Gee our old LaSalle ran great! Those were the days... Archie and Edith Bunker, circa 1970 Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:19:37 -0700 From: w...@att.net To: k1...@yahoo.com; fishflor...@gmail.com CC: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. well, my 30+ yr old Osborne I was still working when i tossed itfinally...73, w5xz, dan cp/m, man that was 'fun'... --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com wrote: From: Mickey Baker fishflor...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Lots of lightly used Flex Radios for sale. To: Burt k1...@yahoo.com Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 8:15 PM The Flex 5000 will likely work 50 years from now, but who will have a machine with FireWire? That's going to be difficult in 5 years, much less 50! You can't get a notebook computer today (other than the MacBook Pro) that has it! ...not to mention that Windows 7 machines will be hard to come by way before 2062! 73, Mickey N4MB On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 2:31 PM, Burt k1...@yahoo.com wrote: The Collins line works sixty years later, what about the Flex 5000? Technology has it plusses and minuses --- On Wed, 8/22/12, Patrick Greenlee patric...@windstream.net wrote: From. Collins S-Line gear still works well and does what it always did. The 5000 may turn out to be the SDR equivalent. 73 Patrick AF5CK ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ -- Mickey Baker, N4MB Fort Lauderdale, FL *“Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand. Involve me, and I will learn.” *Teton Lakota, American Indian Saying. ___ 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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.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.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
