Dean,
I'm just writing to encourage you that I've had the v2 hardware device since April 2023, which I started using since mid-November 2023 (with v3.0 alpha version). Currently, the 64-bit v4.4 firmware is the latest and I've made nearly 10 thousand QSOs in mostly digital modes with an antenna sized for 7 MHz and usable well on 7-14-21 MHz without an antenna tuner.
I'm writing all this because there is a possibility, if you're interested, don't give up and you'll learn a lot of new information.
--
Gyula HA3HZ
HA3HZ