Compaq FLEX-5000A - Manual (Page 7)

From July 2008 QST © ARRL
Jots and Tittles (in No Particular
Order)
 The nearly 200 page Owner’s Manual
(updates available online) is comprehensive,
but the manual and its several supplements
can get highly technical. The book includes
some guidelines to set up the radio for that
first QSO. In addition, FlexRadio’s support
staff and the fraternity of Flexers are willing
to provide ample wise counsel to help you
and your FLEX become fast friends.
 If you like using memories, you’ll love
the FLEX-5000A, since you can essentially
store as many as you’d like, limited only by
the available space on your computer’s hard
drive. Under a “GRP” choice of AM, FM,
SSB or SSTV (there’s no CW group), you can
store mode, filter, step size, AGC, call sign,
frequency and comments. You can input 95
characters to the comments buffer, but only
about 50 of them show up upon recall.
 The ANTENNA SELECTION tab — as
do some other menus and tabs — offers
“Simple” and “Expert” user levels. At the
higher end, you can define not only which
antenna to connect but on which band, at
what transmitter power level and even at what
AGC-T setting.
 The FLEX-5000A includes built-in
test equipment. With the exception of the
power/SWR circuitry, the radio can test and
calibrate itself. As Youngblood explained,
“You can push a button and walk away for
20 minutes. When you come back, the radio
will have gone through the full factory test/
alignment procedure.”
 The FLEX-5000A’s MOSFET output
stage is rated at 100 W continuous duty on
all modes. This is a recent change that reflects
the results of additional testing, as the manual
warns against operating continuous carrier
modes above 40 W output for longer than
15 seconds. The radio box appears to have
adequate cooling, although it did get warm
and the fan came on continuously following
moderate exercise during a special event
operation on CW.
 The software version we used (v 1.10.4)
included some noise reduction (NR) “en-
hancements.” A few Flexers consider these
a step backward or, as one said, “a work in
progress.” FlexRadio support offered some
basic numbers to stick into the NR menu
(for example, how many “filter taps” are
optimal?).
 The FLEX-5000A offers a huge variety
of audio and RF connections and a substan-
tial switching matrix for accommodating
outboard transverters. This makes it pos-
sible to enjoy the SDR advantage on VHF
and UHF.
 The 0 BEAT button works fine on CW.
 The FLEX-5000A receiver sounds
excellent on the AM broadcast band. You
can set up an 8 to 10 kHz passband for great
audio fidelity. The automatic notch filter
readily dispatched a slight heterodyne I was
hearing on one signal.
 The two adjustable noise blankers are
exceptionally effective, and you can enable
NB(1), NB2 or both. NB(1) is the more ag-
gressive of the two
 Clicking the BIN (binaural) button adds
an entirely new dimension to SSB audio.
 The MULTIRX is great! It’s sort of a dual-
watch feature. Just for starters, while operat-
ing split you can keep inserting as much audio
from your transmit frequency as you prefer to
help stay ahead of the competition.
 For those contemplating remote op-
eration, say from a deed-restricted home
location, the FLEX-5000A may be an ideal
solution. It’s eminently remotable via the
Internet.
 A rear-apron stereo jack is designed to
drive powered computer type speakers, not
included. I’m pretty much a headphones guy,
but occasionally I’ll switch to the speaker.
Do this with the FLEX-5000A while operat-
ing phone, and you’ll also quickly discover
there’s no anti-VOX.
 Three band-stacking registers retain
frequency, mode, filter, preamp and other
important settings.
 The display ZOOM and PAN controls
let you zero in on the particular part of the
band you want to see in the display window,
and they permit some compensation for the
smaller chunk of spectrum visible at lower
sampling rates.
 The preamp is terrific. It neither raises
the noise level nor affects the receiver’s
dynamic range. I wondered, however, why
it couldn’t just be a button that illuminates
when enabled, like the ones on many
“hardware” transceivers. What’s there now
requires selecting “On” or “Off” from a tiny
pull-down menu. There is no attenuator.
 Very handy is the ability to establish a
separate low-power output level for the trans-
mitter while the ATU is doing its thing. Once
the tuner successfully matched an antenna I
expected to see 1:1, but it read 0.0:1.
 For digital modes, the radio employs
AFSK using upper and lower-sideband
modes, DIG-U and DIG-L.
So, Are We There Yet?
This latest FLEX has come a long, long
way from what we looked at in 2005. But, is
this the radio for which you would forsake all
others? In a word, maybe. Here’s why: The
FLEX-5000A requires its owner to engage
in what some might consider an excessive
amount of tweaking and experimenting to get
it working properly with a given PC (think,
“high maintenance partner/spouse”).
A decision to buy really hinges on
whether you’re up for the challenge of the
FLEX-5000A. Using and, especially, fine
tuning the FLEX-5000A for routine or spe-
cialized multimode operating can demand
a level of technical knowledge and acumen
that’s a step above that of the average radio
amateur, even in 2008 — and that’s even
excepting the “Expert Level” settings on
the transceiver’s menu. Perhaps “Flexer”
Steve, K5FR, put it best in his posting to the
Flex-Radio Web site. “The Flex family of
radios has brought a new ‘Event Horizon’ to
Amateur Radio,” he said. “These are exciting
times to be a ham.”
For the most part, I was able to get our
FLEX-5000A working to my satisfaction
on CW; the narrow, brick-wall filtering is
breathtaking, the keyboard and memory
implementation is superb and latency issues
were very nearly non-existent. To achieve the
same level of satisfaction on SSB did require
reconfiguring the radio with new sampling
rate and buffer settings.
Many happy Flex campers are enjoying
their SDR-1000s and FLEX-5000As, and
I had a great deal of fun using this radio
myself, despite — and possibly because
of — the challenge. With an expanding
user base and the efforts of the fine folks at
FlexRadio, I’m confident it will get there in
the relatively near future. Better yet, it will
keep on going!
Manufacturer: FlexRadio Systems, 13091
Pond Springs Rd, Suite 250, Austin, TX
78729; tel 512-535-5266; www.flex-radio.
com.
Summer reading List
Check out the April and October 2005 QST “Product Review” columns
covering the FLEX-SDR-1000 transceiver, available online at www.arrl.org/
members-only/prodrev/. Those inclined to delve more deeply into this subject
should also visit the award-winning series, “A Software Defined Radio for the
Masses,” by Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR, who’s FlexRadio’s president. These
appear in the July/August and September/October 2002 issues of QEX and are
available on FlexRadio’s Web site. Also, don’t miss “The FLEX-5000A as a Con-
test Radio — A First Look,” by Bill Heinzinger Jr, W9OL, in the May/June 2008
issue of NCJ. — Rick Lindquist, N1RL