Considering how much care went into the design of the Flex amplifier,
which in many ways is quite remarkable, it?s surprising how basic CW
operation seems to have been shortchanged.
Could it be that they simply don't care much about CW operators?
While developing my own high power SDR, I'm not even including the CW
mode, let alone QSK capability. That's because I have long ago stopped
using CW. For years I kept a key on my desk, which became a decorative
item, and was there "just in case", but that case never happened. So I
finally removed the key from the operating position, and I see no reason
to bother with any CW-specific feature in any equipment I build.
But that's because I develop my stuff for my own use. A commercial
manufacturer is (or should be) market-driven. So, either Flex managers
don't think there is much interest in QSK, or they have a different
problem. This problem could be the basic QSK capability of the SDR
proper. SDRs do have longer latency than analog radios, which tends to
make QSK operation quite problematic. Clearly said, to accomodate
fast-enough QSK in an SDR, severe compromises may have to be made in the
filtering and some other processing, a faster (more expensive) processor
may be needed, and software design gets harder too. The keying with
TX/RX switching may have to be done directly in the FPGA, while all
other modes work through the main software.
So, if the perception is that CW operators make up too small a part of
the customer base, it's a sound business decision to not include QSK, or
even eliminate CW capability, in exchange for a better performance/price
ratio in all other modes.
Leaving aside the difficulties in the SDR proper, a vacuum relay
switching arrangement, or one using PIN diodes, is significantly more
expensive than using common plain relays, and offers few if any
advantages to those customers who don't operate QSK.
It finally boils down to how many customers absolutely want QSK.
Manfred
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Visit my hobby homepage!
http://ludens.cl
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