New FLEX user coming on-line!

K5BGP

Hello everyone,

Today I started a new journey -- I ordered a FLEX-6400 and am joining the Flex family. I'm a Mac/iOS user and have been eyeing the Flex radios for quite sometime. The SDR features are greatly appealing to me. For eight years, I've been using a Kenwood TS-590S which is a great radio, but lacks the state-of-the-art features that I really want in a truly computer-controlled radio. I've been very impressed so far with the pre-sales support that I received from Michael Walker (VA3MW), and from what I can see from the Flex community, it's a supportive group of folks who are eager to advance the ham radio hobby.

My radio is two weeks out (approximately), but I wanted to say hello now, and expect to be a regular contributor to this forum.

73s!

VK7WH Winston

Welcome to the Flex Community. I’m sure you will have heaps of fun with your 6400.

There are many knowledgeable members here willing to help, so if you run into any problems please don’t hesitate to ask for advice.

Best 73

Winston VK7WH

Lee, N2LC

Welcome to the crowd!

K3SF

welcome aboard to Flex Cruise lines ;-)

you are in for quite a journey to destination known and unknown...

There are many Mac user here too ( me being one)  that are more than happy to help you at any time

'see' you onthe air

Paul K3SF

WR8F

They must be waiting on a shipment of radios from the factory to fill backorder. I ordered 9 days ago and was told then it would be 2 to 4 weeks before it ships.

K5BGP

Thanks everyone. I've already purchased Dog Park Software's dogparkSDR and intend to use that on my iMac for control. I'm sure I'll get the iOS app as well, as I hear it's quite good. Glad to see other Mac users as well. I'll give everyone an update on this thread when my radio arrives.

K5BGP

Just an update: I ordered the radio on Tuesday, February 18th. Two days later I got an email that the radio shipped from Round Rock, Texas, and is scheduled to arrive on Monday the 24th.

K5BGP

My FLEX-6400 arrived this afternoon -- six days after ordering! The radio was double-boxed and well packaged. Minimal documentation was in the box (as it should be), but was enough to get me started. I had already downloaded and purchased Dog Park's dogparkSDR for my iMac, so I was ready.

Installation was mostly a breeze, with a few slight hiccups:

1. I ordered the rack mount ears, which came in the box with the FLEX-6400. All went well until I looked at the screws on the side of the radio that needed to be removed. I knew they were Torx, but wasn't sure of the size. I emailed Flex support at 2:45PM thinking it would take a while to respond, but to my pleasant surprise, Tim (W4TME) responded at 2:56PM (11 minutes) to tell me that the **** head was a Torx-8.

2. I also noticed that the power cable which came with the radio had Anderson power poles on one end, but truncated wire on the other end. I didn't have any spare ring terminals in the shop.

With a quick trip to Lowes for a Torx-8 screwdriver bit and a couple of ring terminals, I had the rack ears installed and the power cable setup a short time later. Then I moved the radio into the rack space next to my desk, hooked it up to the Astron power supply below, and connected it to my network via ethernet.

dogparkSDR found the radio right away. I've already made a few contacts on 80 meters this evening.  A microphone came with the radio, but I'm using a desk mic connected via USB to my Mac. Signal reports so far are good, and I'm told the audio sounds great.

I'll have more to report on later as I learn the software and the radio, but thus far I'm really pleased with the performance. The radio also looks totally rad in the rack with that glowing blue Flex insignia (see the pic below).