How Did My Brand New, Never Out Of The Box 6600M Know It Needed An Update??

K4ELO

As usual, excellent support from Flex!  You guys are great.

NX6D Dave

Looking at Michael's video, and comparing to my Maestro and 6600, I think this may be a situation in which the front panel is not making contact with the radio "back end", so it is sitting there hoping it will show up.  That would explain why the Connect button doesn't work -- nothing to connect to.

Andrew VK5CV

I use my F6500 with multiple clients and have seen a number of behaviours with the Maestro. The M series are another usage case.
There should be an option for a fast boot to the last stable state or some such.
Just like legacy radios.
I suggest a short push on the power button with a longer one for get update etc.
There are ultrasound machines where holding a button down while turning it on gives  faster access to imaging for emergencies.
Andrew de VK5CV

Gary Johnson

Steve had me try the tap the radio picture with negative results.  It seems that the section of the touch screen in the area of the info and connect soft buttons in inoperable.  I don't even get the little electronic "dimple" that shows where you are touching.  It will be back in Steve's hand to correct on Tuesday, hand carried by a friend who will physically pick up his new 6600 because he chooses not to subject it to UPS/FEDEX.

Mark_WS7M

Good deal.  I am glad he has some help.  The frustration was pretty evident.

mikeatthebeach .

i hope they "Flex" are shipping 6600M's with the bug free version of SSDR
v2.1.30 instead of v2.1.32 
73
mike

Gary Johnson

Wasn't the latest version of the software supposed to correct bugs not create them??  Maybe I need to read closer, since I asked Steve to ensure my radio was fully updated prior to leaving Flex next Tuesday.

K3SF

Must be, i received my 6600M on 28 FEB and been running it 24/7 most of the the since i received.It is running v2.1.32 Only down time was due to N'oreatser that blew thru here with 60+ mph winds.Enough force to know over tonne of trees, a freight rain just a few miles away and knock my power for over 12hours







During arrl ssb dx contest, i have been mostly playing around testing as many features as possible over and over. That is necessary to build up muscle memory so i dont reach for the wrong knob. A contest is perfect time to get is as much practice in the shortest period of time.



my station setup..the two world maps show 15m spot on left and 20m spots on the right, the top center show spots on all band. I can put whatever views i want on each of the monitors.

yep...this is an all mac setup running two mac minis running mac native s/w. However when needed i can run win10 or win 7 or both as virtual machines on each mac and still have macos running atthe same time.

oh yea..v2.1.32 is still running OK here....guess i got a good one

Gary...i am glad the you go to talk to someone who could help you out with the hardware issues. When people have working systems it is hard to understand why something doesnt work and it takes a lot more investigation and data  and talking to get to the root problem.

as you can see above my 6600M is doing just great and so far no issues. Hope you can be in that state of bliss soon.

Paul K3SF

Rick Hadley - W0FG

No such things as “no bugs”. The question is whether you want to deal with old bugs that may have been fixed in the new release, or new bugs that will be fixed in coming releases.

Gary Johnson

Yeah all things have BUGS, but locking up and needing restart over and over (as reported here) is something I don't need.  Unlike some of you with older versions available, a new Flex with new software has no other place to go to find a stable platform.

Rich McCabe

Gary,  I am using my 6600m via front panel and SSDR and the hiccups are pretty minimal. Course I am on radio #2  

I think you will be fine.

Rich

Gary Johnson

Rich,

Which version software??  The newest ending in 32 or 30.

Jd Dupuy

Another thoroughly explained answer to an issue. You stepped up to the plate and hit a good one. Try getting that sort of explanation from any other non US manufacturer. I was going to hold off until May to order a 6600M. But now I'm going to order on Monday and get in line!

Jd Dupuy

That looks sweet!

Rich McCabe

Gary,

2.1.32.104

Not saying the radio is perfect, but best I have owned.

Rich

Jim Runge

Gary. You can go to the flex download site and download older versions of the software. I switched back one to 30 instead of 32.

Dale - K4DG

All: I thought I'd close out this thread to let you know the outcome of the saga of Gary's non-functioning radio.

I visited Flex's offices today to drop off Gary's new 6600M for repair. Steve, N5AC, personally took charge of the radio. After a leisurely lunch I went back to Flex and Gary's radio had been repaired. From what I understand it was a bad display that had to be swapped out. Thanks to Steve and everyone at Flex for their great customer service.