[CQ-Contest] Flex radios

[Rudy Bakalov]

Don't forget that in a well designed station- including the radio- the only interface that matters is the logger.  During a contest I rarely even glance at the radio and if adjustments are needed I can perform them while still looking at the logger, often with my left hand (non-dominant). So anything that requires a mouse or touch interface falls short in the heat of the battle.

For example, as much as I love my Icom 7300, I find it a bit cumbersome when changing filters as I have to look at the screen. This is the main reason I will replace the 7300 with a 7610 when available.

Rudy N2WQ

Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate autocorrect.


> On May 24, 2017, at 12:00 AM, Ria Jairam <rjairam at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> There are very few Flex users who use them on DXpeditions. I suspect there
> is simply distrust in a radio that is primarily computer based rather than
> a radio with knobs. Elecraft is a known quantity and has knobs even though
> I find the front panel to be not as elegant as say, an icom or Kenwood.
> 
> At the Thursday contest and DX presentation Flex touted the Maestro as
> having a more simplified "knobs" UI than traditional radios. However I
> suspect that most DX and contest hams will still see it as a niche product.
> 
> Bouvet is going to use them, maybe opinions will change, or maybe not.
> 
> I am 100% sold on them, partially because I don't really like knobs and I
> find the computer UI to be much easier to use. But also they've cleaned up
> a whole lot of wires I had strewn all over the place and I can operate
> remotely very easily.
> 
> Ria
> N2RJ
> 
>> On Tue, May 23, 2017 at 10:44 PM, <john at kk9a.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I would imagine that the user interface is the biggest difference. It is
>> not
>> clear to me if you have the Elecraft K3 or K3S. I have the latter and even
>> though is a small transceiver and most buttons do double duty, there are
>> buttons to press and knobs to turn I find it nice to have a physical
>> transceiver. Both are easy to carry on an airplane, although I do not know
>> of anyone carrying a Flex to the Caribbean. Flex and Elecraft now have
>> matching lightweight legal limit amplifiers which is a very nice accessory.
>> 
>> John KK9A
>> 
>> To:     cq-contest at contesting.com
>> Subject:        [CQ-Contest] Flex radios
>> From:   Bill via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>> Reply-to:       cqtestk4xs at aol.com
>> Date:   Mon, 22 May 2017 10:07:36 -0400
>> 
>> At the hamfest last weekend I had some extra time Sunday and wandered over
>> to
>> the Flex radio site. and had a long sit down with one of the reps.  I did a
>> hands on with the 6500  and was truly impressed, especially with how "easy"
>> it
>> was on the ears.
>> 
>> I currently have a pair of K-3s for SO2R and have kicked around replacing
>> these
>> with the 6500.  I know K9CT as well as a couple others who use the Flex
>> stuff.
>> I really would like to hear from them and others about these radios and how
>> they compare to the K-3s in a contesting and Dxing situation...ease of use,
>> operator friendly, audio quality for listening as well as transmit etc.
>> Any
>> 
>> comments would be greatly appreciated.
>> 
>> Bill K4XS/KH7XS
>> 
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