Time for station upgrade 6700, 6600? other ??

Mike W1BFA in Maine

I know this will bring a bunch of conflicting ideas, but I welcome all thoughts.  After many years of 5000a and 6500 use and enjoyment it's time to think about phasing in a newer station.  My much loved loaded 5000a left last year and I still miss it at times.The vhf/uhf capability and goobering with satellites and PSDR enhancements etc. really made it an experimenters radio.  The 6500 is a rock solid workhorse and has given wonderful service for years.  I am tending toward the 6700 with its extended freq. coverage etc. making it more of a comparison to the 5000.  I know the 6600 is capable of many the same things.  I also realize the 6700 is getting long in the tooth and I may end up with a discontinued radio like my 6500 in fairly short order...  There may even be a new platform lurking in the near future I will wish I waited for ??  I would like to get the new radio in by this fall and it will be sharing duty with the existing 6500/Maestro/iPad for at least the winter.  We also all know Gerald et al are wicked good at keeping secrets, which is good for a company with government contracts but a little bit of industrial espionage would be handy for me right now!   Mike  W1BFA in Maine

Mike Presnell

Mike, if you have the coin, I would not hesitate a day longer, and get the 6700.  I absolutely love mine.  It has been a workhorse, and I have never had a single issue with it (for years).  I might have struggled through an occasional software issue with DAX during Windows updates, but we all did, and that is not specific to the 6700.   I also like the size layout of the 6700 since i have it rack mounted.  I rarely have more than 4 slices open at a time, so the 6600 would be a viable option for me as well.  If you were going to do serious VHF/UHF Sats the 2 transverter ports on the 6600 is a nice feature, but, I have worked many SATS with my 6700, just a few more cables in the back of the rig to make it all work.   Even if i were to buy mine today,  I would go for the 6700... and if/when a "new 6700" comes out, I would go back to Flex to offer me a nice deal on a trade-in.  Good luck with your decision.

Steve K9ZW

Johan _ SE3X

Bob Needleman

Mike W1BFA in Maine

Mark_WS7M

Michael N3LI

Patrick

I have a 6700 on the way, traded in my 6500 last week, which I had for over 6 years.  

Mike W1BFA in Maine

Well, with all things considered my gut is still leading me toward the 6700.  I still have a month or better before I will pull the trigger so there’s room for things too change..maybe something on the used market will pop up or something else.  I’m 67 and I already have flashes of thinking I should be simplifying my life.  For that reason  I am thinking this may be my last major radio purchase and that’s my way of justifying the price difference between the 6600 and 6700.  In the meantime I have lots of antenna work to square away and a new desk to build out of quarter sawn oak I had sawn out a couple of years ago.  Yes...   the desk is designed with spacing for the 6600 should things happen to fall that way.

David Decoons, wo2x

I am very happy with my 6700. I just ordered the 75 watt 2MLDPA amp from Q5 Signal, should be arriving Tuesday, in time for Field Day. We are going to do 3A with tents to provide social distancing spacing. My 6700 and Maestro will be the 6 and 2 meter station. Dave wo2x

Patrick

I have had flex 1500 and a 3000 and just traded in my trusty 6500 for a 6700. Never thought the 6700 would outperform my old 6500, but obviously there have been changes that have improved things. Love my new radio. Will have it up on 2 meters soon.

Bart Haynes

I had a 6500 and loved it but I really wanted a 6700 so I pulled the trigger. The 40 db of built in pre-amp for 6M was the driver since external pre-amps seem to bring in more noise compared to Flex's. An added benefit with the 6700 is having two towers separated by 700 feet lets me work different bands from each tower at the same time making search and pounce much more effective. In the winter I have multiple RX antennas which allows me a chance to select which antenna the propagation favors at that time and opens the door for me to work 160, 80, 60 and 40M bands all at the same time.

My pick is the 6700 and a Power Genius for the perfect combination.

Butch

I've owned a 6700 since October 2015. By far it has been the best amateur radio purchase I've ever made, and I've been a ham for over 50 years. The 6700 doesn't have the Contest Filters but I don't operate int close proximity to other stations so I've never had a need for them, (if you do after-market contest filters available). If FRS ever decides to drop the 6700 I hope they replace it with another 8 slice unit. Having the ability to set up 8 slices is awesome!

Butch

KF4HR

Rick N4RZ

I own a 6600M and a Maestro. Using MultiFlex I can then use both sets of physical controls on the radio at the same time. Since you liked the VHF/UHF capabilities of the 5000, you may like the fact that the 6600 radios have the advantage of two Xverter ports on the back versus just one for the 6700. So, you could get two high powered Xverters and still spend less than with a 6700. But the 6700 has advantages also, like native 2M reception with low level transmit plus 8 versus 4 slices. Both have two SCUs, so there is no diversity or multiple antennas in use at same time advantage for either radio. Whichever one you chose, I'm sure you will be happy.

Steve K9ZW

Presently I have a 6600M at one location, a 6700 at each of two other locations, and another 6700 as a "hot spare."

The 6700s are the bee's knees. While I seldom exploit the 6700s full capabilities, the extra number of slices is more than just a party piece.

My personal preferences would make the 6700s keepers where I could be talked out of the 6600M.

My first 6700 is serial number 11, so We are kind of accustomed to each other.

73

Steve K9ZW

Blog: http://k9zw.wordpress.com