Welcome to the December 2025 Flex Insider!
CEO Update
Dear Friends of FlexRadio,
As 2025 draws to a close, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to you, our amateur radio community. Your passion, feedback, and continued support are foundational to everything we do. This year has been one of renewed investment, meaningful progress, and hard work across the entire FlexRadio team.
We made a deliberate and substantial commitment to amateur radio in 2025, delivering multiple SmartSDR software releases that continue to expand what your radios can do. The release of SmartSDR V4 marked a major milestone, introducing powerful new functionality and refinements that improve on-air clarity, operating efficiency, and overall user experience. From enhanced noise mitigation and signal processing to workflow and usability improvements, these updates reflect our belief that software innovation is just as important as hardware excellence.
Alongside these software advances, we were proud to introduce the Aurora Series, a truly transformative step forward in HF radio design. By combining our new high-efficiency Class D switching transmitter technology with an integrated architecture, Aurora delivers the world’s first 500-watt HF radio in an approximately 18-pound package. This breakthrough reduces heat, power consumption, and station complexity while delivering serious performance, opening new possibilities for how and where amateur radio can be deployed.
None of these achievements would be possible without the extraordinary effort of our people. Our engineering and software teams pushed the boundaries of what’s technically possible. Our operations team worked relentlessly to turn advanced designs into reliable, high-quality products. And our support team continued to serve the community with professionalism, patience, and deep technical expertise, often while juggling the demands of new product launches and rapid change. This has truly been a company-wide effort.
Beyond amateur radio, FlexRadio also continues to advance important work in the government and defense sectors. Our software-defined radio and RF technologies are being applied to critical communications and signal intelligence that support resilience, awareness, and connectivity in challenging environments. These efforts are about more than contracts, they are about applying our core expertise to technologies that help protect lives, strengthen global communications, and contribute to a safer, more connected world.
Throughout all of this, the amateur radio community remains at the heart of FlexRadio. Your trust allows us to invest boldly, your engagement helps guide our roadmap, and your enthusiasm reminds us why advancing radio technology matters.
From all of us at FlexRadio Systems, thank you for being part of this journey. We are excited for what lies ahead and deeply grateful to share it with you.
Warmest wishes for the holidays and the year ahead,
Matt Youngblood
FlexRadio CEO
Aurora update
AURORA CTO UPDATE
December 2025
Aurora has officially entered production and radios are shippng.
I’m very pleased to share that Aurora has reached this major milestone.
Aurora hardware is complete, all supply-chain items are in hand, and the radios moving through the factory today are true production units. As each radio is built, it goes through a full burn-in and verification process and is then cleared for shipment. With those systems in place, the transition from development to delivery is now underway.
To support the start of shipments, we’ve made significant improvements to our automated factory test infrastructure. These changes allow us to validate more radios in parallel while maintaining the consistency and performance standards we expect. The focus is on throughput without compromise — getting radios built, tested, and shipped efficiently and correctly.
On the software side, SmartSDR v4.1.5 has been released and will be the first version compatible with Aurora. This release represents the shift from development and field-test software to a fully supported production release aligned with shipping hardware.
As many customers already know, Aurora has been in field testing for more than six months. During that time, it has seen extensive real-world, on-air use, including demanding contest operations.
One example is VE3RZ, who successfully operated Aurora remotely in both the CQ World Wide CW Contest and the ARRL 160-Meter CW Contest. That kind of sustained operating stress has been invaluable in validating the platform ahead of general shipment.
For our international customers, we continue to work through EU RED cybersecurity compliance. Until that process is complete, we’re not yet able to ship Aurora radios to Europe. We’ll share an update as soon as this testing concludes and European shipments can begin.
As a reminder, we committed earlier this year to beginning shipments in Q4, and we are doing exactly that. With strong demand and a growing backlog, fulfilling current orders will naturally extend well into Q1 2026.
Reaching this point has taken an extraordinary amount of effort across engineering, software, manufacturing, and compliance. Seeing Aurora move from concept to production and now into customers’ hands is incredibly rewarding for the entire team.
Thank you for your patience, enthusiasm, and trust throughout this journey. We’re excited to finally start shipping Aurora and look forward to hearing your first on-air reports.
73,
Steve, N5AC
CTO & Aurora Program Manager
Product Updates
Flex-8000 Series
All FLEX-8000 series radios are currently shipping from stock. Please allow ten business days from completion of payment for shipping notification.
Maestro
Maestro units are currently shipping from stock. Please allow ten business days from completion of payment for shipping notification.
NOTE: Stock and shipping intervals are current as date of publication and are subject to change. Please check our website for current availability and shipping intervals.
Holiday Hours
In observance of the holidays, FlexRadio will be closed on December 25 and January 1.
Our offices will reopen on the next business day following each holiday.
Please note that FlexRadio Support will also be closed on December 24, December 25, December 31, January 1, and January 2.
Support requests submitted during this time will be addressed as quickly as possible once our team returns.
Education
We have three unique and engaging talks that we are excited to deliver to your club members.
Each presentation is delivered by Mike VA3MW.
Aurora 500 watt Transceiver. Mike (VA3MW) from FlexRadio will be giving a detailed presentation on the new Aurora HF Series, an exciting advancement in SDR technology. This new platform integrates a high-efficiency 500 W transmitter, amplifier, tuner, and power supply into a single compact unit—bringing high performance and modern design together like never before. Mike will cover how Aurora offers reduced heat, lower power input, and full network control, all while keeping the familiar operating experience FlexRadio users appreciate. It’s a big step forward in the evolution of HF/6m transceivers.
FlexRadio – Not Your Dad’s HF Radio. Our most popular presentation, this talk explores the differences between traditional HF radio using Super Heterodyne Receivers and today’s Software Defined Radios. We’ll showcase and explain the advantages of these advanced technologies. If you have received this one already, then possibly consider one of the other 2.
Getting Started in Remote HF Radio Remote HF Radio Operation has become mainstream. This presentation is perfect for those planning to set up a remote station or just interested in how easy it is today. We’ll cover radio choices, power control, and more!
If any of the clubs you are associated with would like to schedule a presentation, please reply to this email with your preferred dates and times and the talk you are interested in.
We’ll get it on the calendar for the coming season.
Email michael@flexradio.com.
Event Calendar
Hamcation: February 13-15th, 2026
Yuma Hamfest: February 27-28, 2026
Come visit us and also enjoy the FlexRadio talks being delivered or just stop by the booth and say hi.
Trade ins / Trade ups
Are you ready to upgrade to the FLEX-8000?
For customers in the United States, we are thrilled to offer a trade-in program for your current radio towards a new FLEX-8000 order. If you are outside of the United States, you may wish to consult one of our International Distributors.
Trade in any Current HF Radio Gear!
We aim to provide the most equitable trade-in values, which will be assessed approximately 30 days before your scheduled shipping date.
This timing ensures that we can offer you the best value based on the most current market conditions.
Until that time, we will not provide a trade-in dollar valuation.
Contact us
If you need to reach out to us, you can find us at:
512-535-4713 — Option 1
Bread Financing
FlexRadio has partnered with *Bread Pay® to offer purchase financing options.
Learn how it works by visiting https://www.breadpayments.com/choose-how-you-pay/
Subject to approval of credit application.
Bread Pay® loans are made by Comenity Capital Bank, a Bread Financial® company.
