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Flex 6400 vs 6600
Val DM1TX
Member ✭✭
Is it worth the price difference for a non contester Ham? Are these models at base the same?
First of all I seriously consider going for the new 6400 with Maestro. I have played with Flex Radios at Hamradio Friedrichshafen (which is a shy of 180 miles from my house :-) very year. Excited but still a fear of a black box :-). I am just thrilled by the possibility to work remotely from a different room or somewhere else on these planet while the 6400/or 6600 sits at home QTH. It is also matching my purchasing possibilities, without the danger of rushing my XYL to Emergency Room when I will break the news about the new purchase :-). I have read on this forum though that new 6400 has a higher permanent S5 noise vs 6600 or more expensive models. I have also read stories about 6400 units failing to boot which send me to panic mode. I understand also the differences between new models.More radios so slices. Higher ADC sampling rate. No clue what exactly the Contest Grade Preselector as 3rd Grade vs 7th Grade really means for average Ham. But is it same RX quality on all models? I am currently using a Yaesu FTDX-3000 (with an AirsSpy HF+) , which I have to admit has one of the quietest receive performances out there for the price. My Ham habits are mainly hunting for DX stations and rarely participating in a contest for practice of my CW skills rather then for winning anything :-). So yes I am a CW man. Can anybody share an insight on these issues? Does anybody test FTDX3000 vs new 6400 side by side? Appreciate any answer or honest advice. Vy 73's de DM1TX. A would be Flex user. Greetings from Munich, Germany.
First of all I seriously consider going for the new 6400 with Maestro. I have played with Flex Radios at Hamradio Friedrichshafen (which is a shy of 180 miles from my house :-) very year. Excited but still a fear of a black box :-). I am just thrilled by the possibility to work remotely from a different room or somewhere else on these planet while the 6400/or 6600 sits at home QTH. It is also matching my purchasing possibilities, without the danger of rushing my XYL to Emergency Room when I will break the news about the new purchase :-). I have read on this forum though that new 6400 has a higher permanent S5 noise vs 6600 or more expensive models. I have also read stories about 6400 units failing to boot which send me to panic mode. I understand also the differences between new models.More radios so slices. Higher ADC sampling rate. No clue what exactly the Contest Grade Preselector as 3rd Grade vs 7th Grade really means for average Ham. But is it same RX quality on all models? I am currently using a Yaesu FTDX-3000 (with an AirsSpy HF+) , which I have to admit has one of the quietest receive performances out there for the price. My Ham habits are mainly hunting for DX stations and rarely participating in a contest for practice of my CW skills rather then for winning anything :-). So yes I am a CW man. Can anybody share an insight on these issues? Does anybody test FTDX3000 vs new 6400 side by side? Appreciate any answer or honest advice. Vy 73's de DM1TX. A would be Flex user. Greetings from Munich, Germany.
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Hi Val
The 6400 is the best value HF rig available based on many things, a lot of it my personal experience. Designed from the ground up to be used by multiple sources and applications and not limited by 1 RS232 port like all other current HF radios.
All of our 6000 series radios are contest grade/ready. Not that you need it, but when you need a brick wall in the front end, you have it.
In digital modes, I copy more than I have with any other radio. Hands down.
Make sure you watch some of the videos on the FlexRadio YouTube channel.
73, Mike va3mw4 -
Val, I ordered the 6400. After investigating the comparisons I upgraded to the 6600. I am not a contester. I am thrilled with my decision. The main reason for my decision was that an antenna tuner is a must for me to protect the radio from my wire antennas withSWR across the band. 6600 includes tuner. My intent was to get Maestro later. I see no need to do that. I operate the same way with SmartSDR regardless of P.O. cal or local remote. Two SCUs help with using on two bands so you are not in wide mode with not frontend filtering. If working split with 6400 you have no other monitoring you can do. You don’t have to listen to monitor because you can see the panadapter to monitor band openings. Many more features. Regardless you will enjoy either radio. I didn’t want to be looking to buy an upgrade to 6600 in a year or too. 73 W9JJB Bill2
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I don't agree, but these are not factors in choosing between the 6400 and the 6600.0
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I think if you have the ability and luxury of installing multiple antennas, and I mean, good directional beam antennas at several feet above ground, it would be worth the extra cost of the 6600, otherwise, if you are in a HOA restricted neighborhood like I am, it may not make sense as you can have the best & greatest radio in the world, but if you r antenna $ucks, it may not make sense the extra expense IMHO.1
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I didn't know Gerald invented the panadapter. Is this a fact?0
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Yes it is, Gerald was the first one to introduce SDR to ham radio. He began writing a program at home to operate his SDR radio, Later he desided to call it PSDR. And he invented the deversity receive used in PSDR.0
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Other radios had early bandscopes, but the Panadapter combined with waterfall with the resolution we see in the Flex is a relatively new thing. It is currently the best I have seen.0
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You may be correct, Gerald started development of PSDR in 1999 as he started the first SDR radio in ham radio.0
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Ken, I am not questioning that. I just think that we, as frequent posters here, should be more careful with our statements. I enjoy my 6700 panadapter and I appreciate many of the things Geral et al. have done with SDR for the hobby, but that doesn't make them the inventors of the panadapter, of radio waves or of s-meters.
I don't understand why Bill doubles down on his unfortunate statement.0 -
Were did I double down? I just said that you could be correct. It was Gerald that created SDR in ham radio. The radio's you mention had some sort of band scope as you call a panadpter.0
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Salvador, I really don't know what your doing,,if you follow along you will see I said two times that you can be correct, and that I have been historically incorrect.
Gerald created SDR and I just rolled PSDR in with that and that may not be correct time wise.
As I said, the older radios had some kind of a band scope, if you wish to think of them as panadaptes that's ok.
Please follow along...0 -
Val, I’m just a casual SSB operator and wanted a taste of Flexradio. I already have an Icom 7851 as a legacy appliance radio. The 6400 offered me a very economical entry into true SDR and prevented issues with spending too much. I figured that I could sell the 6400 and upgrade to the 6600 later if it was worth it. This was a good decision for me, and it may work for others too.....2
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Hello everybody, I was so surprised to see that a lot of people were answering to my question. This will just further consolidate my trust for Flex Radio Community and its dedicated users. Thank you all for taking from your precious time to answer. Trust in this Community made my decision easier :-) It is done! I am selling my 1.5 years old Yaesu FTdx-3000D. I have no complaints about it. Just a great rig! It is on eBay as we speak :-) I will take the leap of faith for the Flex Radio! I feel that the new radio will fit better with my lifestyle and available Ham time. I am also happy the the lack of knobs and switches would make my new Rig virtually Child Proof. We have two boys and you know how much they love pushing buttons :-) However I am still not decided which one of 6400 or 6600 would be. I have to be honest and say that huge price difference is what make me think this through. I see that Flex Radio is selling so called Certified Preowned equipment and looking also on a possible older 6500 (which I believe is the earlier version of 6600?) so 4 slices and 6600 performance on a better price. Another thing is to find out where the 6400 would be on the Sherwood Test list. I am thinking on a 6400 with Maestro or just a 6600. Prices are however much much higher here in Europe than in U.S. This is a show stopper for many of us here in Europe when buying U.S. made radio gear. I know in the end is just Business for the Owners of Flex Radio but if a price compromise would be made for the EU customers I am sure many many more would immediately jump in the Flex radio boat. Even if this could be done one time per year with a special price for HamRadio event at Friedrichshafen! Anybody at Flex Radio listening? And as Dante said here I have to point out that I have a small garden lot with limited options for big antennas. So I am just using a trapped dipole, a vertical and waiting the spring to put up the Cobweb antenna (from EAntenna). As I mentioned before I am 99% CW operator and I love the DX-ing. I think Flex Radio is now the natural option these days when propagation is not really helping. I see also that 6600 has an ATU included. No option to buy it without. I would still want to use my RF sensing MFJ-993B a great antenna tuner for my conditions. And then I simply do not understand why the ATU in 6600 is not better? I've read that the ATU from older 6500 is doing a much better job (this and the fact that it has 4 slices made me think of a preowned 6500 instead of a new 6600). Is it so difficult to implement an ATU as good as Elecraft has on its tiny KX3 on the Flex Radios? Most of us living in the cities have compromise antennas that need a good ATU. Is it the new 6400/6600 cooling fan noisy? How easy is to use the software and connect a Keyer to the laptop and to work as you would sit near the radio itself? It is not a lot of recent information out there. I would love to hear your comments further on. Whishing you all a great weekend! 73's from DM1TX op. VAL2
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Bill: My 6600 fan is turning slowly but fast enough to make a light click..click..click noise like an old wind up clock. (I checked inside and there is no obstruction to the blades.)1
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Just as another data point, my 6600M fans are so quiet, I need to put my ear next to the radio to even hear them and know they are turning. Never run above 50W, so have no idea how loud it might be if pushed to the limit.1
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Fans? What fans?
73
JIm, WQ2H
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Sky, if your fan is clicking you should contact Flex and tell them. They can send you a new fan so you can replace it your self .1
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Hi Bill. I am completely with you on this page. I have this weird experience that I can here stations burried in noise band level distinctly when using the audio of my AirSpy HF+ then directly on my Yaesu FTdx 3000D. And the AirSpyHF+ is doing nothing else than getting the RX OUT from Yaesu. I hope I am not going nuts. And that for me was also a green light to go full SDR as in Flex Radio SDR.0
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Hi Andrew, Did you have both FTdx300 and 6300 for a while? I am interested if you compared them on same antenna, band conditions etc.0
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