Adding my new 6500 to a 1500 setup...

Ken - NM9P

As I await delivery today of my 6500, I am preparing to get my head wrapped around all of the setup routines. I have a question or two: I have been using DDUtil 3.0 with my 1500 and have set up about 5 or 6 Virtual Comp pairs for various Digi, Log & Keying functions. When I begin to install the 6500 this evening, should I "un-install" all of those ports and start fresh with the SSDR & SmartCAT on the 6500 and then add back functionality for my 1500 using the SmartCAT program? Or is this stuff really "smart" enough to sort it out for me? Will DDUtil conflict with SmartCAT? I would really like to do this once and avoid as much frustration as possible. Also, should I be able to operate BOTH the 6500 and 1500 simultaneously? I want to monitor my 6500 on the 1500 while adjusting audio, keying, etc. And I would like to add a transverter via the 1500 someday. Thanks, Ken - NM9P

George KF2T

Haven't tried using them both, but my migration from a 1500 to 6500 was very smooth. Don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to use them simultaneously. Different ports, different software. Just don't try to assign them both to the same COM ports for accessories - that might result in conflicts. As for your multiple COMs - that's what I did. Uninstalled the old virtual COM port application and went straight to SmartCAT. It does the trick nicely. Good luck!!

Dudley-WA5QPZ

Ken, The new CAT for 6000 series is pretty good about catching all the existing ports, physical and virtual and working around all you currently have installed.. I have had no issue running VSM 1.03 and CAT for Flex 6000 at the same time.

Al K0VM

Ken, For a breif time, I had both SSCAT VSP's and VSPE serial ports. That worked but seemd a bit clumsy. .. I have convinced myself that shared ports created by SSDR CAT are equivalent to ports created by VSPE or VSPMgr. I use SSDR CAT ports exclusively now. One end of SSDR CAT dedicated and PTT VSPs are automatically connected to the radio via the SSDR CAT program. AL, K0VM

K9DUR

Ken, Ken, Sorry I missed you in the NAQP-SSB last Saturday. We were both running S&P and I couldn't get your attention to meet up/down the band for a QSO. Would've been neat for my 6700 to talk to your 1500. Anyway, I am still running my F5K for everything except SSB, where I use the 6700. I have a single installation of DDUtil_V3 running one or the other radio (but not both at the same time). To switch from one radio to the other, you simply change the Signature/Legacy option in DDUtil. DDUtil_V3 does not use the CAT serial port to talk to the 6000, it uses TCP/IP. So, you set the Legacy option to talk to the port suggested by SmartSDR CAT & don't worry about the 6000 -- DDUtil sorts it all out. The rest of your COM port settings (logging program, etc.) in DDUtil remain the same as they are now. Sweet! 73, Ray, K9DUR

Ken - NM9P

Ray, it looks like I will have to redo all my ports, because I decided to do a "clean install" of the virtual ports, delete all virtual ports, close VSPManager, and start over with SmartCat. The weird thing is that yesterday I had my logging program (ACLog 4.1) reading the 6500 . Now I changed some things, trying to get the 1500 to "track" the 6500 so I could experiment with monitoring myself. Now I have it all messed up. The 6500 works fine, but I don't have the cCOMs going to the logger or 1500 working anymore.... Go figure.... Any suggestions? (I am not very far off, probably nothing more than an evening reading the manuals wouldn't solve.....)

Ken - NM9P

BTW... I only made a few contacts on NAQP, had lots to do....you might have even caught me in the mobile on the way to the office.

K9DUR

Ken, yes, you will have to re-create all of your serial ports, BUT you will be able to use the same assigments for both the 6500 and the 1500. However, you will only be able to talk to one radio or the other, not both at one time. You can only have one instance of DDUtil_V3, and that instance can be set to either Signature (6500) or Legacy (1500).