I bought a partially-assembled SDR kit a few years ago. It's an older Softrock Xtall Lite 9.0 with the optional electronically-switched BPF, designed by Tony Parks. Well under $100 for the kit. I just "knew" that it had to be a cheap, compromise SDR receiver prone to overload, birdies, and anything else you can think of. The expensive ones like the Flex must run circles around it; you get what you pay for, right? ...
Well, in the process of learning what I need to know to finish this little tiny SDR and get it working, I'm hearing that it beats the receivers in the Flex 5000(A?) and the Flex 1500. (Owners of expensive Icom transceivers with SDR RX are using it for receive because the Softrock is superior.) The sources of this info appear to be reliable, but of course time will tell. (Newer versions of the Softrock are basically the same as what I have, but with attenuators in series with the 160 and 80 BP filters. And some transceive.) As for the Flex 6300, a friend of mine has one. Maybe it has a better receiver than the earlier Flex SDRs, but its SSB signal is absolutely awful to my ears, no matter what mic he uses or how he adjusts the audio EQ settings. His is not the only one. You can read all about it at www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=104013.0 73, Mike www.w0btu.com _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
