I am REALLY dissapointed inmy Flex 6400. I have been trying to make it work for 6 months and all fle

harry schmidt

I am REALLY dissapointed inmy Flex 6400. I have been trying to make it work for 6 months and all flex says is it my antennas. NOT. I finally had a Elmer try his sdr on. my antennas. np. please HELP. REFUND or compensation. !!

Steve

It would be good to know exactly what was happening with your radio.  Has it been posted before with details??

mikeatthebeach .

Harry If you got a Callsign and good on QRZ for an e-mail glad to help you Mike

Steve K9ZW

It is a matter between you and FRS. While some community members share you opinion that a ham when unsatisfied, for any reason, should publicly shame any manufacturer, it isn’t how you directly get their attention. The FRS folk are good stand up folk, so treat them like it - and treat them as you yourself would like to be treated yourself. If you think your particular Flex-6400 open a help ticket (you hopefully have already done one?). GL and 73 Steve K9ZW

N9VC

Looks like he just joined the community today. If he explained it to Flex the way he
explained here, I can understand while there are problems. I found his call on
Call Win. That is, if that is his real name. 

mikeatthebeach .

The FlexRadio people are great and many of us Here are Engineering People here on the community That said, solved issues together when they Have got tough for Others and FRS Anyway place you call out there or an e-mail Many willing to help the toughest issues I just solved an issue FRS was not sure about How to solve ! 73 Mike

Pat N6PAT

@Harry,

You didn't mention what the issues with your radio are. What is it doing or not doing?

Dan-N7HQ

Folks, 

Harry is a real ham, new to HF and has a Flex system.  I worked with him on a helpdesk request we created when he called in last week.  Unfortunately, without another radio or signal generator, there was no way to verify that either his radio or antenna system was working.  He had recently joined a local club that was holding a meeting last Friday so we left it that asking for a local Elmer would be a good next step. 

Harry contacted me this afternoon in the helpdesk ticket, informing that the local Elmer was able to verify his antenna system worked. So there could very well be an issue with his radio.  I'll take it offline from here.  Thanks for chiming in!

Best,
Dan

Pat N6PAT

It would be beneficial if there was a problem database available for owners to scan should the need arise. This way when problems develop an op can see if that particular problem has been addressed before and what the solution was. This would also provide a tool to identify potential issues (i.e. fans, heat sinks, etc.) that could be dealt with before they become a concern.

Scanning posts in this forum helps to a point but the results are likely not as comprehensive as a problem database would be.

Art - N4QNT

Please hook up a decent 50ohm dummy load and report your troubles...

N8AUM

sorry 2 hear u have a problem. My Maestro pooped out shortly after I got it and had to send it back to mommy. It was damaged by UPS during shipping on the way back,  Long story short, The Flex people  bent over backwards and fixed it at no charge ! There are tons of people here also that can help. What specifically problems are you having with your 6400 ? 
gud luck & 73  N8AUM

harry schmidt

that is my real Name. Harry A Schmidt KN4OEC. I put that out in frustration and a bit of anger.  I hope flex will work to get the radio fixed.  Everytime I tried to hear something on the radio all I got was static from day one.  Thinking it was my antenna I waited to get back to St. Louis to put up a better antenna. I thought it was me after repeated attempts to find the problem from Flex. I went back to study on getting my Extra license hoping to learn more about sdr in the process.  Finally i joined the St. Louis radio club and one of the Elmers, K4EQ  totally agreed after checking my antennas with his radio that the problem was the flex radio:  No sound radio disconnects when attempting to tune the atu.  I assume Dan will work with me to fix the radio.  

Steve K9ZW

Great that you have something going as appealing to fellow community members wouldn't help if you have a hardware fault.

As so many Flex-6000 users have experienced the radios work great.  And FRS has a great warranty & assistance program - everything from hosting this community, to the detailed whitepapers, to the effective help ticket system, to the knowledge center - all great stuff.

If your radio needs a trip in for investigation and repair, they do a great job.  Warranty is great, but even non-warranty repairs are modest.  Turn around is good too.  And they dig in to solve the most stubborn cases - one community member shared the industrial x-rays they took of his circuit boards  deep dive into his radio!  

Expectations are to hear you on the air soon!

GL & 73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com  

Bill -VA3WTB

Six months trying to get a radio to work? wow....

Neil D Friedman N3DF

From the FCC record, it appears you are living in an apartment.  What type of antenna are you using?

harry schmidt

to Neil. That was the reason I waited until I got to St. Louis to put up a better antenna (a
20 Meter dipole). I was using a MFJ-1625 window/Balcony mount. and also a 20M/2/M/440 COMPACtenna. neither one could get any voices only static.

harry schmidt

The two mentioned antenni worked fine in St. Louis with a differant radio. 

Neil D Friedman N3DF

A decent dipole will far outperform your other two highly compromised antennas.  Erecting your tower with a yagi on top will far outperform the dipole.   Running FT8 on 20 or 40 can net you a lot of QSOs when the band appears otherwise dead.  

George Fenwick

How many experienced hams say “no voices only static”. We would not use those terms. I suspect lack of ham radio experience and knowledge. In the end I suspect the problem is in his call: OE. Operator Error!

HCampbell WB4IVF

“Harry contacted me this afternoon in the helpdesk ticket, informing that the local Elmer was able to verify his antenna system worked. So there could very well be an issue with his radio.  I'll take it offline from here.  Thanks for chiming in!”

Dan is working directly with the op, maybe we the peanut gallery should take his hint.  (-:

harry schmidt

Duh of course I am new at this. That is why I needed an Elmer. You prefer phone or talk whatever. My ham speak is evolving. Sorry but the error was in the equipment. After several times in the hospital and much frustration I found the problem. Oscar Echo Charlie. +++

KI4P

well! JMO! all on here need to have their call with name or just call would be fine, would give us some sense who we are talking with!

harry schmidt

Harry Schmidt. KN4OEC

George KF2T

Harry, one thing that the Flex 6000’s don’t tolerate well is RF in the shack. An analog radio isn’t hooked up to a computer via ethernet; a 6000 requires it. 
Something to think about is your troubleshooting style. I do not know what your setup looks like, or what you’ve tried. A posting here with that information (screen shots and photos are GREAT) can go a long way towards identifying the problem. 
What kind of power supply are you using? What is the network connection? How close is the antenna to the rig? How is the antenna installed? What coax are you using? Did you try another radio at your location, with the same antenna? 
There are a lot of folks happy to help. Toiling for six months alone will drive you nuts.

 I’m a long time Flex user (original pre-order buyer). Live in an apartment and have balcony-mounted antennas. Have a blast on HF and VHF. Thousands of contacts around the world are within your reach. 
Good luck - and by all means, post some images and let’s see what we can do.

harry schmidt

Thank you. wish i had joined this community at the start of this big adventure. . 
Harry Schmidt KN4OEC

BL7IB

 very patient

BL7IB

I don't think it need much experience to distinguish if the 6400 is working or not.   

I got my 6400 today.     I opened the box, confirm no loosen part cause by USPS, connect 2 dummy loads, set my power supply to current limit mode and power up, connect to a simple antenna, tune to 14074, place my notebook microphone to decode FT8,    It is no voice only atmospheric noise / static.     FT8 decode a few CQ and I have a peace of mind that the RX is normal, very nice receiver.   

It took 15 minutes.

Dan-N7HQ

This is excellent advice, George.  Thank you.

N8AUM

Now u just have to wait for Winblows to mess things up LOL
Was decoding fine last night and NOTHING this morning. After numerous restarts it starting working again, have NO clue what happened ???

Wasted only 1hr of my time.
73 N8AUM Vidas 

Ken - NM9P

Harry,  I'm glad that you are having some success getting things sorted out.  This is the value not only of the Flex Community, but of having a connection with a radio club and real live Elmers on the ground!

One great part of this hobby is that most of us take joy in helping others become successful so that we  have more fun.  

Of course, there are always the few who have no patience with the inexperienced in the ranks.... like the guy who told me, when I was an 8th grader trying to get my Novice License, that he didn't need to waste his time answering dumb questions from a snot-nosed kid, so I should stop calling him....

Luckily, shortly after that, I was referred to a great ham who took me under his wing and helped me gain the confidence to take my test.  Then he encouraged me as I repaired my own used rig and made my first contacts.

There are always Elmers around to help... if you look for them.  I'm glad you did.

Ken - NM9P