Upgrade without Internet

G4NRT

I have a FlexRadio 6300 which is in use in my 'other' QTH in Harare, ZW.

It is currently running v2.5 software and when I next travel there (whenever that may be!) I would like to upgrade it to v3.  The problem is that we do not have an internet connection in our house because we are too remote from the city to get connected.  I connect it to SSDR by plugging an ethernet cable between my laptop and rig directly.

Is there any way that I can purchase the upgrade in such a way that I can do it without any internet connection?  The only other option being to export the rig from ZW, import it back to the UK, upgrade it here and then export / import again with all the concomitant costs.

Thanks in advance and 73 de David G4NRT / Z21NRT

Mike-VA3MW

Hi David

Not really.  The radio needs internet to call home and validate its license.

Is there any way you can connect the radio to a Cell Phone hotspot?   Assuming you use a laptop to install SmartSDR V3 first.   It only needs a brief connection.

Mike va3mw

Bill NE1B

On your next trip to Harare, take the 6300 and laptop to the city.  Visit a pre-arranged business or residential contact, that has internet, to "update the software" on the radio.  Then you can "buy" the upgrade.

Bob Needleman

David - Mike is correct. I tried that also (downloading ver. 3.1.12 to a PC, then connecting 6600M to PC via ethernet and it would not work. You must connect the radio directly to the router for it to download the updated version.
Bob K3AC

G4NRT

That's what I thought would be the case.  

I will probably have to heave the entire lot with power supply over to the city.  Internet cafes are phenomenally pricy and their speeds ranges from 0.5mbps to 2.0mbps if one's lucky.

Zimbabwe really is a very poor, third world country with around 96% unemployment and the lowest life expectancy of any country in the world.  Internet speeds and availability are not high priorities!

I can't use my mobile as a hotspot ... I will be paying probably something like $10-15 per megabyte for data and the 2.4.9 build was over 50mb just for the PC side quite apart from the rig side ... it wouldn't be economical.   My UK supplier has no roaming agreements so I have to use a PAYG SIM and buy really expensive data bundles.  

I should have thought of this problem when I bought the 6300 - just for use in Africa .. It seemed such a good idea at the time!!

Many thanks to those who responded ...