Manual update required for Flex-6600M

danparsons

Section 30 of the "Flex 6400M and 6600M User Guide" obtained from http://www.flexradio.com/downloads/flex-6400m-and-flex-6600m-user-guide-pdf/ needs to be updated.

Specifically, the manual currently states:
"With the radio powered off, press and hold down the Power button until the Power LED blinks white, then release the Power button."

This is 100% incorrect. On my Flex-6600M, the button never, ever blinks white. It turns a SOLID white if you hold it down for a few seconds. If you keep holding it down until it "blinks white", that never happens. Eventually it blinks GREEN if you don't let up. 

I suspect the correction to the manual should read:

"With the radio powered off, press and hold down the Power button until the Power LED turns white, then releasde the Power button".

danparsons

That said, maybe I'm wrong, because after doing this, the radio still knows my call sign and a few other things. So as a follow up:

(1) The manual should state that this reset option is NOT a full factory reset 

OR

(2) I am doing this incorrectly and the manual should make that impossible by spelling out a 100% accurate step-by-step procedure for a full reset.

Wayne

I made this statement back in March and it has never been addressed or even acknowledged by anyone at flex to this date its like they are in total denial that the radio doesnt behave the way the manual says it does.

It looks to me like the whole manual for the 6400/6600 was a hack cut and paste job from the maestro manual. It seems to me the person doing the manual should have a radio there beside him verifying everything they cut and paste but no time for that get them radios out the door and when we get time we will update the manual along with those 2 to 4 year issues that are still being pointed out as ignored and not corrected.

One day they will realize that these little things are part of the customer experience and actually cause sales losses when the repeated answer is about the same each time yep its on the to do list, yep well fix that, yep its being tracked oops that bit buckets been overflowing for a while now.

Well that story results sometimes in yep I really like a flex radio but yep that major other brand has better documentation and works almost as well and costs less also so yep i think ill look at that one at the store where i can touch and feel it then yep u got them in stock and i can get it today yep heres my card give me one.

Sospbox Off

I love my 6400M and I really like the fact that there is so much more open documentation on it even if its not correct or up to date. It presents a challenge but many want a turn key documented system instead of a patch this ask that why dont it work like the manual says type of rig.

Im sure I said too much so ill go back to trying to figure out the not so updated api info commands again.

danparsons

Wayne, thank you for drawing this to my attention. I will be maintaining a list of ignored issues for this $5k radio I just bought and will be contacting Flex on a regular basis via telephone until they are at least acknowledged properly. They will either get to know me on a first name basis or acknowledge. 

Wayne

Dan im sure you be at the top of there list ... one of my sayings everyday im forced to add another person to my list of people that can just ....... my donkey .. :-)

Tim - W4TME

A factory reset does not change EEPROM data, only the internal database.  The call sign info is stored in the EEPROM

danparsons

Thanks for your post Tim, however you addressed only one tiny portion of my entire post. Please address the following:

(1) How do I perform a 100% full reset of my Flex-6600M?

(2) Why does the manual still contain misleading information despite being published 458 days ago? 

Tim - W4TME

Well, I appreciate you bringing this to our attention. I have already sent a correction notice to the team that writes the documentation.  And I apologize that humans were utilized in writing and editing the manual and that this one minor issue regarding the LED being solid rather than blinking was inadvertently missed.  Sometimes humans make mistakes. Can you find it in your heart to forgive us for this egregious oversight? ;-)

danparsons

Oh, of course! I can forgive any mistake. It's just when it takes a year+ to address issues, no matter how small, that forgiveness can be difficult.

Tim - W4TME

1.) After doing a factory reset, you will have to manually erase the radio nickname and your call.  If you do just the factory reset, it will reset about 99% of the radio's configuration.

2.) The FLEX-6600M manual is not 458 days old.  There wasn't even a 6600 working that long ago, just a prototype.  And the software has changed a lot since then and now.