nickriale@icloud.com

N3NER

I'm wondering why the 6700 at the price point it is at the power level output for 2m is not on par with all the other radios that offer 2m?  At over $7,000 the output should be no less than 50 watts (47 dm).  Can someone explain why Flex decided to release it this way?

Jim Gilliam

You can buy an Icom 7850 for 12,000 dollars and not have 2 meters. For those radios that do provide 2 meters at a higher power level, they don't begin to compare to the features of the 7000. I am glad I am not in the ham radio manufacturing business. I am not sure I could stand the constant complaining and whining.

Bill -VA3WTB

W2NER,, you just discovered that now?
A lot of folks will chime in here on their thoughts,, but maybe someone at Flex will explain this.

Walt - KZ1F

Yes, I believe by his very wording the only relevant answer will be from FRS itself. All others would be, best case, speculation, worst case, outage for daring to ask FRS why they made the decision they made.

K9APW - Dick - Verona, WI

Am I missing something or when did the 6700 start transmitting on 2 meters without a transverter?

KY6LA_Howard

Yes the 6700 will,transmit on 2M and receive as well without a transverter.

Best guess for not including a more powerful 2M amp is to keep the price down as a 100W amp adds likely $400 to the selling price. Personally never used the 2M feature as I own lots of rice boxes so I am glad it hey did not waste my money. BTW. How about questioning GM or Ford why they don't have a battery car as fast as my Tesla.

Reg

The FLEX-6700 provides an exceptional receiver for 2 meters and it will also transmit at the mW level.  In approximately the same time frame that FLEX announced the FLEX-6700 another US manufacturer, Down East Microwave Inc (DEMI), introduced their 2MLDPA series of amplifier/preamps.  I purchased a 2MLDPA-75 and used it for some time.  The 2MLDPA-75 was in turn driving a higher powered 2 meter amp.

I have now purchased two new devices and sold the DEMI 2MLDPA-75.  I ordered the Beko HLP1000-LDP amplifier which should arrive next month from Germany.  The Beko amp accepts the mW drive level from the FLEX-6700 and produces 1000+ Watts of output.  I also purchased the Beko HPP-144 mast mounted preamp which will pass 2,500 Watts of transmit RF and it is a receive preamp.

At the moment I am installing new M2 2M12 antennas and the HPP-144 preamp on top of one of the towers.  I am hoping that the Beko 1000W amp will arrive in time for the the July and September VHF contests.

All of these purchases were based on insight provided by the FLEX team.  Early on, Steve N5AC posted informing everyone about in the FLEX Community about the DEMI 2MLDPA devices which combined a 30 or 75 Watt amplifier with a receive preamp.  A few months ago Gerald K5SDR told me about the new Beko HLD1000-LDP which can be directly driven to 1KW+ by the FLEX-6700.  On the Beko and SSBUSA websites I learned about the fairly new HPP-144 mast mount preamp which will pass 2500 Watts on transmit.

I realize that W2ENR asked for input from FLEX but I thought this post might be useful to any other FLEXer who is considering adding VHF capability to a FLEX-6700.  With the solar cycle declining I decided to add significant VHF/UHF capabilities to the ham shack in order to do some VHF/UHF contesting while we wait for the higher HF bands to return to peak activity.

Reg

KY6LA_Howard

Great solution. Now you got me interested in 2M again.

Ken - NM9P

Howard and Reg are both correct, I believe.. Adding equipment for high power output and all the switching and software necessary to support it would have placed much more engineering and financial stress on the 6700.

I think the original concept may have been to support microwave transverters with a simple low power 144 MHz output. Then some enterprising hams built on that idea, adding high gain amp designs.

The same options exist for those interested in the new extreme low frequency bands.....use the transverter output connected to a LF amp and antenna....

If we ask, "why didn't they add 2 meters?" We could also ask "Why not 432 MHz? Other rigs have that band as well."

If FRS wanted to sell their top rig for $11,000, I suppose they could add all those functions. Or they could skimp on other features.
BTW, the Kenwood TS990 doesn't have 2 Meters, either. And it was several thousand Dollars more than the 6700 when it was first introduced. They have since dropped the price.

Walt - KZ1F

I believe people are conflating multiple issues here. Yes certainly the 6700 is a fine rig with it with a very limited two meter capability so yes you can add stuff to it and as you talk about Ken, increasing the price to $11,000 yet many people on here even admitting that they bought it because they could it almost doesn't matter what it had for features they bought it because they could at the end of the day two meters is line of sight whether you pump it with 15 milliwatt or 1,000 Watts it's not going to make it to the horizon unless in one of those rare sporadic E circumstances. So it's how much money do you want to throw at it when it's only open 3 or so times a year. To each their own.

Dale Neace

You should listen more as 2 meters opens a lot more than 3 or so times a year E skip is rare but u get more troposphere propagation than E skip

Walt - KZ1F

Dale, I was on 2m quite a lot in the 80s and 90's I had an 11 ele 2mtr yagi at 20mters agl.

Tim - W4TME

We had numerous requests for a 144 MHz IF for driving u-wave transverters, so we added this as a feature to the 6700 as a product differentiator.  Making it a 100W 2M radio would have significantly increased the price because it would require a 2nd PA deck.  And as Reg commented, there are several companion amp products to make the 6700 a high wattage 2M radio that is more cost effective.