Will the flex 6500 support 2 meters?

W2NER

From what I understand Flex is working on the FM mode to support 6 meters but will the flex 6500 ever have the optional band for 2 meters as well?

Stu Phillips - K6TU

No. Only the 6700 supports 2m without using an external transverter. Stu K6TU

Ken - NM9P

Anyone know of an inexpensive 2 meter transverter?

W2NER

I would like to know that too.  From what I found, $400 is a bit high to pay for one. 

Dale KB5VE

I know there is a 70 MHz filter in the 6500. I have wondered if that filter was removed would it be able to recieve 144 MHz. I was a early beta tester and the first smart sdr release had 144 on the the screen and when you clicked on it you got a panadapter with n Low grade noise, so I feel without the 70mhz filter you would recieve 2 meters . Remember only one of the scus in the 6700 will recieve 2 meters. There is a reason for that. I would like it for the fun of it but do bot see much use. There is a very reasonable priced transverter advertised on QTH?com. Probably made in Russia . Toy will have to put in a box and configure connectors.

W9OY

I had a ten tec transverter for 2 that was inexpensive 73. W9OY

W2NER

I have not been able to find much used at all.  Not 2 meters anyway.

W9OY

http://transverters-store.com/144mhz.htm

AE0MW

Following this line of logic, does anyone know if there are any decent wideband downconverters?  I'm not horribly interested in using my 6500 for transmit in VHF+ but there's a lot of interesting things up there I would like to see on the panadapter.

Ken - NM9P

Interesting...anyone have any experience with this transverter board?  It could be a fun project.  (Like so many others I seem to begin and never finish!)

Maximo

Hi, for the the tricky question is Why the 6700 does and not the 6500?
I meant, from the hardware point of view, Where the difference is?
73, Maximo

Maximo

Why?
What part of the hardware is different ?

Thanks

Walt - KZ1F

The 6700 has a second SCU which is where 2m lives (AFAIK). However, without an amp I believe the 2m output is something like 100mw or perhaps less. So, to compete with the std 2mtr rigs, you'd need a VHF amp to get it to 5watts or 20watts or whatever.

Maximo

You meant the SCU2 is different than SCU1 ?

Walt - KZ1F

Yes. I believe the second SCU only has 2m. You can look at the main FRS website, the real one, under Amateur to look at the product description for the 6700 and 6500.

G4NRT

I have a FRS 6500 and use it very regularly on 2m and 70cm and a little less so on 4m.  I use Kuhne (DB6NT) transverters which, although at the higher end of the market, are superb quality and work extremely well with the 6500.

I use Kuhne's 6-into-1 transverter switch to connect them to the transceiver.

My view was that, if I have bought a top-of-range radio then I should buy equally as good transverters.

David G4NRT

Tim - W4TME

SCU2 is identical to SCU1 in the 6700.  

The SCU in the 6500 is different than the two SCUs in the 6700, as they have a different RF preamp configuration designed to handle HF/6 and VHF.

To achieve 2m operation, we defined a different Nyquist zone for the 135-165 MHz range, meaning you can operate 2m on either SCU1 or SCU2

Maximo

Understood.
Apart from the RF preamp, Can we define that Nyquist zone in the 6500´s SCU?
Thanks

Walt - KZ1F

Sry Tim, my bad.

Philip KA4KOE

Makes sense David....kinda like putting cheap petrol in a high performance race car...

KY6LA_Howard

No

The Nyquist Zone is fixed in the 6500 and does not cover 2M

Maximo

Fixed?
You meant stone engraved?
;-)

Tim - W4TME

Howard is correct.  The Nyquist zone in the 6500 cannot be changed.

EA4GLI

It is definitely interesting to see if improvements can be made in firmware and software that could eventually lead to new functionality on the same hardware. For example, as Maximo asks, RX on 2m for the 6300 and 6500, or 4 slices on the 6300 versus the current 2.

It is always appealing to consider that in the future your rig will be able to do something that is not capable of now.

Walt - KZ1F

Sal, I always attributed the 2 slices, whether a physical limitation or marketing one, to be a marketing one. I'd be ripped if FRS sold a 4 slice 6300 for 1/2 of what I paid for the 6500. Doesn't the Chevrolet Cadillac use the same parts as the chevy low end, yet costs many times more?

So as not to be controversial I'll go with physical limitation.

EA4GLI

Well... I took for granted that that will also mean that the 6500 will go to 6 slices and the 6700 to 10

Walt - KZ1F

I still believe 8 slices was a market differentiator. Maybe it's me, but I don't know what to do with 8 slices, beyond bragging. And it wasn't worth $3k to me to acquire bragging rights. And that is regardless of "how many aspirin I take". I can program slice 3 to do any background work as I can program it to change bands. I say this as that still leave slice 4 looking for a playmate. So floks doesn't assume I just bashed the 6700, perhaps there are aspirin laden folks that can simultaneously work 4 pile ups or have 8 simultaneous Qs. I am not one of them.

EA4GLI

I felt that way when I had the 6300.... don't feel that way now that I have the 6700. You can always find a use for extra slices. For example, on 2 meters I like to be able to have all the local repeaters with their own slice. So I have a panadapter with 4 slices just for 2m and then use the others for HF.

Maximo

As far as I am aware, Flex-6500/6700 are equipped with ADC AD9467. That ADC covers up to 900 MHz !!
With the appropriated (external) filter and leaving the firmware option (to disable anti-aliasing filter) anyone could experiment to Rx in different Nyquists windows (at reduced performance).
Is that correct or am I wrong?

Walt - KZ1F

Sal? I've called you when you're on the other phone, in qso with someone, and talking to me, all simultaneously. So what exactly do you do when not relaxing?????

Tim - W4TME

Changing the Nyquist zone is not a capability that is user accessible in the FLEX-6000s.