The FLEX-1500 front panel.
by Josh Rovero, KK1D
Updated: July 25, 2010
FLEX-1500TM is a trademark of FlexRadio Systems.
The FLEX-1500 front panel.
The FLEX-1500 rear panel.
FLEX-1500 features and specs from FlexRadio Systems
This isn't a full review, as I've only had the FLEX-1500 for a couple of weeks.....
The FLEX-1500 is a small (4 inches wide x 6 inches deep x 2 inches high) and relatively inexpensive (sub-$600) HF and 6-meter transceiver suitable for fixed or portable operation. Power output is 5 watts on SSB and CW. The transceiver uses a RJ-45 microphone connector, and 3.5mm stereo plugs for both the headphones and key jacks. The back panel provides considerable flexibility for antenna hookups with receive only, 1 milliwatt transceive, and 5 watt transceive connections. Additional connections for a 10 MHz reference oscillator, 12VDC, and FlexWireTM are provided. The FlexWire port is a DB-9 with a push-to-talk (PTT) output, a PTT input, a two-wire high speed bidirectional bus supporting the I2C (I squared C) protocol, line-level audio input and output, and power output (5 VDC at 250ma max).
The FLEX-1500 is a software-defined radio (SDR). It requires a computer (for now, running Windows XP, 7, etc.)) to operate. The radio ships with PowerSDRTM version 2.02 Beta. The software provides many features, and has (to my way of thinking) an overly busy graphical user interface. The "Snap-Click" tuning takes a bit of getting used to. I don't understand why the "chosen" station isn't centered in the multi-mode frequency display. I find the "Panfall" mode more useful for tuning than the other modes. The receiver side of the radio sounds very nice, and the DSP filters are really remarkable.
Interfacing with Fldigi and other digital modes/logging software requires the use of Virtual Audio Cable (VAC), a 3rd-party software package. A virtual serial or com port program, like com0com or VSP Manager, is also handy for interfacing between the 3rd-party applications and the FLEX-1500.
Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN, has written a guide for connecting Fldigi to the Flex radios with VAC and Steve Nance's, K5FR, Virtual Serial Port Manager (VSP Manager). It works very well.
Right now I'm using headsets most of the time, a Plantronics USB via VAC, and a McKay wired for 3.5mm stereo and RJ-45 microphone) . There is a noticable delay between beginning speech and actual transmission of the speech with the USB headset. Have had no problem working stations in CT, NY, and PA with 5 watts PEP on 75 meter phone.
Unlike the earlier FLEX-5000 and FLEX-3000 radios, the FLEX-1500 uses a USB interface instead of FireWire. The reduced bandwidth available over USB versus FireWire, as well as other cost-reduction elements of the design result in a 48 KHz max spectrum/panadapter width. Several controls, like spur reduction (SR), can further reduce the max bandwidth. Here's a screenshot.
The software, owner's manuals and installation guides for all FlexRadios are available at the FlexRadio site.
