Trade up options?

dlwarnberg

I'm considering once again trading in (if/when) flex has one again my FLEX-6500.... so I am now questioning which Radio would be best to trade up to... the FLEX-6700 or the New model 6600 or 6600M... 

So I ask myself... do I need more then 4 slices?  No but would be nice to have
Why upgrade?  I want to do full duplex SAT without having to use the switches (I use switches between RX and TX side for two separate transverters)..

So I'm debating... wait and trade up at some point and if I do to which radio... stick with what I have and just purchase the IC-9700, it will do everything I need for SAT work as well as local repeaters, etc...

Thoughts?

All feedback is welcome

Thanks
David
KK4QOE

Dwayne_AB6A

Im pretty happy with my 6600... Certainly nothing in the way I use the radio requires me to have the 6700... IMO, I like the current form factor of the 6400/6600 etc. Since the DSP's are the same between 6600/6700, I can only guess that once a new DSP pops, we will see a 6800. Time will tell.

Burch - K4QXX

Mark_WS7M

N2TU

Mike-VA3MW

Hi David

Off the top of my head:

• 6600 and 6700 both give you 2 SCU's.  That is a big difference and it allows you to make use of 2 different antennas at the same time
• You get a new 2 year warranty
• The 6600 gives you 7th order band pass filters and 4 slices
• The 6700 gives you 8 slices
• The 6700 gives you 2M at 5mw out but with the addition of the Q5 Signals amp you get 75 Watts out!  http://q5signal.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60&product_id=73.  Doing 2M on a 6700 allows you to be on 2M SSB, 2M Meteor Scatter, 2M FT8 and more.  All on 1 amplifier, 1 feedline and 1 antenna.   You can't do that with any other radio.
• Like I mentioned on 2M above, you can do the same on any other band as well.
• The 6600 can support 2 transverters and be able use both of the at the same time (Again, the Q5 Signals ones are great)

I'm sure there are a few more things, but (speaking as a Ham) I went from a 6300 to a 6500 and it was one of the best moves I made.  Having both SCU's makes it worth while.

I hope that helps some, Mike 

KF4HR

K1DLM

KF4HR

I'm not 100% certain about this but I believe the 6700 also offers one additional level of RF Gain (over the 6600/M)... +40db. 

David Decoons, wo2x

dlwarnberg

Bill -VA3WTB

Good your doing research, I have a few freinds that are very disapointed with the Icom 9700. It drifts off freq after warming up making sat work almost impossible.

dlwarnberg

I kind of like the low profile as well....

Thanks

dlwarnberg

Ouch... that's not good.. have not heard that one...

Thanks

dlwarnberg

I assume my GPSDO unit would move over to the 6700 without issue?

K1DLM

The GPSDO from the 6500 will work in the 6700. 

Mike-VA3MW

The IC-9700 does drift, but it does not exceed the specs presented by Icom.  I did some research on this and you can find some online tests.  

HCampbell WB4IVF

Bill -VA3WTB

I don't know if the cooling is really better. But different, with advantages.
They moved to one fan, down from four fans.
The larger fan runs slower.
They added 50% more cooling surface to the new radios.

HCampbell WB4IVF

Thanks for the clarification Bill.

BTW, one nice feature of the M models is the HDMI video out.  You get the advantages of a big screen without a PC and those pesky MS updates.  And even if you mostly use SSDR, having a built-in client in the radio can be handy at times.

dlwarnberg

good point

David-N5PSM

In addition,  Being able to monitor up to 8 repeaters at the same time during an event has great valve.  You can graphically see which ones are active and un-mute faded left,right or centered.

Steve K9ZW

WX7Y

Paul Bradbeer

Bill this is not true. Latest firmware allows the IC-9700 to be GPSDO locked: freq stability is now excellent on all bands. I have an IC-9700 and would highly recommend it to VHF and UHF enthusiasts. Paul M0CVX

Douglas Maxwell

In the UK there are no trade up deals. I’m just off the Phone with Martin Lynch who wants $6110 for a new 6600m against $1120 for my limited edition 6500 on version 2 software. Just ridiculous, looks like that’s the last Flexradio I’ll be buying. There really is no traction for Flex in the UK due to dealer greed.

Steve K9ZW

Your other UK dealer (Nevada Radio) has a display 6600M on offer at UKP 3700 (roughly $4600), so work your options.  (Not certain if your 20% Tax is included or excluded, but does sound better than the $6100 price either way).

The trade-up deals from FRS itself are its domestic market offering, with few overseas distributors able to match that program with one of their own.  It is market sensitive for allowances offered.  Some people have found it a good deal while other have complained.  

The low allowance your one dealer offered appears below market, which is their signalling that they really don't want to handle your radio as a trade-in.  Predictably you will find your direct resale price achieved should be more.

For those in the USA domestic market we tend to get riled up seeing the add-on costs in other markets.  What we tend to not include is that these dealer/distributors are not part of the factory, they have all sorts of additional costs ranging from import costs, local support arrangements (including training), to various sorts of regulatory costs - all unique to their market.  In the UK a 20% VAT (effectively ends up like our sales tax in terms of costs) gets applied as well in most cases.  

This is nothing new, unique or special to this radio - one of my vendors did a one-off sale to a mutual client for one of that end client's UK sites and the add-on costs easily exceeded the cost of the actual product.  This vendor did it as they have a corporate level program and the costs will be diluted across the overall sales to the end client, but the numbers were stunning.   

Sometimes an individual can make a small scale personal import to avoid much of the extra costs, but at the expense of uncertain support, unenforceable warranty, and having to scramble for spares.  Here we call this sort of product either personal imports or "grey market" product.  

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com 

Douglas Maxwell

Steve, the model from Nevada Radio is the 6600 not the 6600m, you can add another $1200 for an m model believe it or not. That particular radio has been on sale for months without interest and Nevada have no new stock. This leaves Martin Lynch in the UK to rule Flex prices if you want one today.

Andrew Thall

I also went from a 6300 to a 6500 -- a VERY good move IMHO.

Steve K9ZW

Sorry I missed that one wasn't a M-model. 

How much of the pricing issue might be from the low UKP value in USD?  

The spread between this 6600 and a 6600M if it includes the 20% VAT it is the spread to be expected.

The $6110 you were quoted for a new 6600M if VAT inclusive is also really right on the mark.  

Thinking the wrangle is that they made you an offer for your trade-in allowance that you feel is too low you might see what you could get for the old radio open market selling it yourself?

Not telling you what to do in turbulent times, but you may want to check UKP futures to see what your potential transaction might look like if Oct 31st brings the promised change.  As I type nearly 2/3rd of FX analysts are saying to buy UKP as they expect the value of the UKP pound to rise, but the studies do note high volatility.  That does mean that more than a 1/3 say it ain't so, and sell your pounds.  

GL and 73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com 

Mike VE3CKO