6400 Missing Front Mic Connector

Lee

So, I paid like $40 for a 3 foot cable and now it is suggested to re do it with a 90 deg plug. Also, now I need to go buy a 4 pin XLR so to have a decent Lenght Mic cable.
A 3 foor Mic cable...you have to be kidding...who does that!

Bill -VA3WTB

I don't know about the fit, but at least making a cable, you won't have to unplug from the radio anymore. Matter of fact I read were someone made a cable that looks after most connections on the radio,  Maybe that is something Flex should market.

Lee

No...you missed the point I HAVE to unplug from the radio because the connection is poor at the back of the radio...an extension will not fix this. (And yes I have used deoxit to clean the connections)

Bill -VA3WTB

I can't help you with that, open a helpdesk ticket If your plug is not working as it should.

Lee

The Mic jack and plug are fine...they just are not a quality fit/function....will see how it goes...if I have more of the issue I will do a help desk ticket. Thanks

Rich McCabe

Lee,  One of the things that Flex did was bring us a better radio with the 6400/6600 at a lower cost.  There is no doubt that the delivered on that.

In my opinion they made several compromises to accomplish this which included using as much as the Maestro as possible on the front of the M radios. These compromises trickled down to the non M radios in what I assume was an effort to keep them uniform.

I really don't like their choice of all rear connections and even though its a MAJOR chore for me to  plug anything into the back of the radio, its not a deal breaker for.

I do not like the 1/8 connections even though I do not anticipate them to be a problem.  My biggest issue is what I consider a non industry standard which left many scurrying to buy cables and adapters to use the radio.

Flex really should offer a breakout box to bring the cables around the for those that need it. 

It's annoying I can no longer plug my choice of paddles in the front so I had to install extensions along with the headphones.

I have had ZERO issues with the 1/8" (3.5mm) jacks or my 1/4" mic. I would not rule out that expensive cable you bought could be as much as the culprit as the Flex.

Like I said, I don't like how they chose to do this but I really think you should be able to use it with 100% reliability.

Rich

Lee

Rich...that expensive cable was purchased from Flex!

Rich McCabe

LOL

Clay N9IO

Lee I too am using 3 foot extension cables on all of the connections including ptt except ptt I decided to solder on a 1/4" female inline Jack so I didn't have to change the 1/4" plug on my foot switch.
My radio is the 6600 but I have a Heil hc4 DX mic I like and that requires me to use the 1/8" jack not the 1/4".
I bundled and tagged the mic and ptt for easy identification up front similar to a breakout box like Rich suggested (actually that breakout box is a great idea). Really it's not been a problem here at all.
Also the cables were purchased on eBay from a couple different vendors. Relatively cheap.

Ernest

Next time READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. 

Delbert McCord

Do you feel better now with it in bold and underlined?

Delbert McCord

This has left such a bad taste in my mouth that the 6400 still sits in the box but now it has the cable on top of it. 

mikeatthebeach .

For $500 more , an option added, get the Flex6600MX with front Panel Mic Connector
LOL !!!

Steve G1XOW

You might want to speak to a few mobile phone repair shops before making statements like that Michael. My understanding is that connector breakages are in fact #2 in the list of faults under warranty: 1=broken screens, 2=audio jacks, 3=start buttons, 4=power jacks.

Of course it is all down to selection of quality of components within the design.  I saw this problem on an IC7300 recently, i.e having to jiggle around with the plug to get both audio channels working correctly.

If a TRS jack is becoming intermittent within a matter of months from new then it does not look good long term.

BTW Apple use very high quality jacks with gold plated contacts and they still break.

Lee

I don't know the quality of the 1/8 jacks Flex is using..BUT I hope if there is a better one...they make a EC to start using it before a lot of radios go out. In my case it is not from it moving around...my radio has not even been put back into operating position becaus the Mic cable is too short. Now I am looking for a 6' 4 pin XLR cable to use a an extension so I can slide the radio into it's operating position and still have a reasonable length to it. If I have to unplug/plug again I will send it back for repair under warranty. 

Lionel

In my research prior to ordering a 6400 I noted the location and type of connectors for interface to my station.  The best solution for me was to build a two foot umbilical with my preferred connectors. Connectors from Parts Express, cables from surplus USB cables; cheap.  I plugged into the Flex connectors once, on the day the 6400 arrived.  It's been fine.  It works for me.  No issues.

Lee

Glad to here that...Hope my issue was just a fuke...maybe in MFG the jack had some corrosion/oil/something...I have cleaned it with deoxit...and we will see if all is good. Thanks

Tim - W4TME

If you happen to pull on the mic cable where the motion is translated to the plug/connector, you may need some strain relief to prevent that from happening.  All my connections, except for the coax are tie wrapped to a strain relief bar behind the radio.  I have to plug and unplug connections many times a day to mimic customer's radio configuration for support.  The strain relief serves two purposes; the cables stay in the same orientation as the back panel of the radio and if I accidentally pull too **** a cable, it does not stress the connector.

KI4P

I know this is an old thread! Hope to pick up plugs and make my own cable from 3 Xlr to 1/8 stereo plug for my 781 I just bought, I like standardized stuff. Would have been nice to use 1 size for both radios, oh well, I still love my 6400! Thanks for great radio, always will be something someone doesn't like. Richard

Delbert McCord

Its December 8th 2019 and I finally got to use my Flex 6400 today. When I did connect it in Febuary of this year I had a problem with it, called Flex and they had me send it in (free this time with the 6300 it cost me just under 200$). It sure works good, I love it (I loved the 6300 as well). I am being forced to down grade to windows 10 from windows 7 so I thought I would try it out here without disturbing the windows 7 setup so I could always go back to the 6300 if it had a problem. Next thing to do is try and learn how to use the software for the iPhone (had to get one to work with my hearing aids, its great to be able to hear again!) I have the rig set up (and yes I had to make the cables I can do these things again because I can walk again, 160 lbs lighter and moving just fine) but my doctor does not want me sitting at the computer very much so I am going to see if I can get it working with the iphone next year after I have finished downgrading my work computers to windows 10 and with that I am moving them to one of my retail stores and after that is done I can do the port forwarding on the router that I read is necessary. Can not mess with it until the stuff is no longer here at my house because I can not have it offline. 

I was wondering if I could just use a second router and port forward its ports but if I just wait until the first of the year then I can do anything I want with the router here. 

Thanks to everyone for the help they sent my way with suggestions!

Del K8OCN