Problem Reports

Don Judd

I have owned a 6600M for a year now.  Sure seems like a rather high number of glitches being reported on various Flex models.  Are these posts a  sign of abnormally high product problems or just normal operator learning curve discussion?  Could also be reflective of short staffing related to COVID.  Don

Ted VE3TRQ

Don, all you will hear here are those experiencing difficulties, or having questions how to do things. You will not hear spontaneous messages of how pleased people are (rarely, anyway). Expect that any forum like this will be filled with problems, complaints, and questions :-)

There are hundreds of happy campers out there that you won't hear from.

Neil Friedman

Thousands.

Charlie, WA3UTC

Millions

Ted VE3TRQ

FlexRadio could wish :-)

KI4P

i love my 6400! 1 1/2 years and solid as a rock!

K3SF

i am one of a million...

my 6600m has been flawless
fro years now
and

it is one from the first production Lots

Paul K3SF

Harold Rosee

The best radio I have ever had in my 50 plus years of being on ham radio.  I love my 6600M and can't imagine not having a Flex radio.

W5ZZT

FRED W9TB

My 6600M is over 2 years old and it is the best radio I have ever owned. I would not trade it for any other on the market at any price if I had to operate it.

James Whiteway

Don, I also am a happy owner of a 6600M. One of the first batch sent out. It developed a PA problem ( no output) recently and is waiting in line to be sent in for repair. I don't fault the radio as I am a long haul truck driver and may have left it connected while I was out on the road.( I normally disconnect all my radios from antennas and power source when away from home) The only real complaint I have with my radio, is not the radio itself, but with the firmware and software (SSDR) And that is the Automatic Notch Filter, which is ineffective with carriers on top of a QSO. Other than that, ( which can be fixed) I love this radio. The spectrum display is second to none. I have other radios to use till my 6600M gets repaired. And I enjoy them all. But, the closest on to the 6600M, in visual performance is a Xeigu G90 I recently acquired. Fun little radio. But not a 6600M. James WD5GWY

Don Judd

Thanks to everyone for your positive responses.  Good to hear.  I too have been very pleased with my 6600M.   73,  Don

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Don

It is human nature to report problems than praise, so that is what you see.    Also, we have such a large install base that you will also hear more dialogue as that install base grows.   As I know the install base (and, no, I can't sare) I can honestly say that the problems you hear are a small percentage of the entire install base.  

I hope that helps a bit even though I had to keep it a bit vague,

73, Mike

Bob Needleman

James - I am also a fairly new 6600M owner and pleased with it so far. I agree that the ANF filter is not very effective on eliminating interfering carriers. Hopefully, they'll work on that feature in future SSDR updates. Like you, I always disconnect my ant. and power down completely after I'm done - and learned that I must wait at least 45 secs. before disconnecting the pwr. supply, which is a bit strange as I've never had to do that with any other SDR rigs, but guess it takes more time to fully power down the CPU of the 6400M/6600M. 
73,
Bob K3AC

Ted VE3TRQ

The "Off/On" switch on the Flex radios are an example of "soft power switches". They do nothing other than generate an interrupt (or set a register that software reads). Once the switch has been activated, it is up to software / firmware to do the appropriate things to gracefully shut down.

I know it's a bad comparison, as the operating system in the radio is not Windows, but think about how long it takes to actually shut down your PC after telling it to power down - it all depends on what is running. The running processes will be given a signal to shut down, then the master process will set a timer and wait until every process reports. If they don't all report, the timer will expire and a forced shutdown will eventually happen.

In the case of the Flex, there are components that are still powered, and not fully reset unless external power is removed. It is one of these not-quite-powered-down components that will monitor for the On/Off switch to be pressed again, generating a new interrupt that initiates the radio to "run" mode.

Everything takes time :-(

Steve K9ZW

Approaching FlexRadio by the problems presented in the Community Forum would be like only reading the troubleshooting & faults sections of the manual for your car.

You would be scared off if you only read the "doom & dread" parts.  

Reality is the exceptions that get posted here are the results of thousands of users logging thousands of on-air hours.  I've had at least one 6000 series radio running constantly since they came out (my oldest 6700 is serial number 11).  I've had MUCH more trouble with my desktop PCs over the seven years of running a 6000 (I unboxed my first 6700 on June 21st, 2013) than the radios - despite being in the early-adopters group where we were installing new software ever couple weeks prior to General Release.  

I've had radios go in for bench work, to receive product upgrades though.  

My operating buddy George W9EVT's IC-7800 has gone in for repair six times over the period, his Orion-II has again lost all its configurations, his TS-990S looks like it is headed for the shop, each of the Alpha-9500s has gone in at least once... yes none of the ham radio gear is immune.  I'm due to update his Flex-6300 & Maestro when it is considered safe to physically visit.

But I've logged over 10,000 QSOs on my Flex-6000s, and George has likely been on the air 14,000 plus hours over the last seven years.

What our FRS community team lacks is steady posting of personal successes?  Might think that is mostly because we are contently on-the-air making QSOs rather than hanging in forums.  BTW I made six FT8 QSOs on my #2 Flex-6700 while typing this reply.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com