So far so good!

Gary L. Robinson

I installed the new update 1.4.11 on my 6300 and had no problems or bad surprises. I left the old version on the system and did not uninstall it. I also installed the FDV Waveform and it worked like a charm. I had used FreeDV with my previous rig, the Flex 1500, and it worked best using an external usb sound card and was NOT trivial to set up. I did NOT find it was desirable to leave hooked up all the time either. With the "Waveform" experience I was astounded how simple it was to set up. And it added a FDV button on my list of modes! Nothing to do but select the mode and start operating. I switched to 14.236 and voila! A FDV QSO already in progress and I was getting good copy. I then had 2 QSO's of my own with good reports. I was running 400w to a dipole. However ... FreeDV (FDV) is NOT a weak signal mode. The mode, itself, is nowhere near perfect BUT it is a work in progress. It takes a S7 signal or stronger to have reliable decoding of the signal and does not work well with QRM, etc. Still fun to play with when signals are good though. But the simplicity of the Waveform install on my 6300 was just short of magically amazing to me. It takes all the virtual audio cable and other setup problems you face away - and it could NOT be more simple! It integrates the mode into the radio and does not "get in the way" with anything else. Again, I say WOW! Thanks you FRS for the Waveform install feature. ---Gary WB8ROL