Propogation and the best radio on the planet -- can't be beat!

VE7ATJ_Don

What a great day! QSO's with TWO stations from Africa today -- Swaziland and Cape Verde -- from the west coast of Canada, running barefootwith a 6500 into a vertical antenna!

This rig continues to amaze me, and i've had it for over 3 years now.

K2KXK

Yep. I absolutely love my 6500. It continues to amaze me.

VE7ATJ_Don

What constantly amazes me is its ability to pull out weak signals from 'the mud' and its ability to punch through pile-ups, etc over long distances with only 100W. Yea, Yea, I know the propagation gods have a lot to say about it, but wow, it is soooo much fun.

K2KXK

I upgraded from a 6300 so I could have more slices. I monitor 3 band on my 46” monitor and have 1 left over for splits, etc. I use an antenna which receives well on all bands to monitor and resonant antennas to transmit. I’ll never be without a Flex 😀. My backup rig is an Anan 100d which is a great radio but SSDR is so much easier to use for me.

WK2Y

Another ADD operator like me. I'm curious to know how you switch between transmit antennas?

Thanks and 73,

Bob

K2KXK

Well, my switching arrangement is a bit more complex than just switching the antennas as I have 1 click switching between the Flex and Anan. Essentially, I use a Raspberry Pi 0 running Node-red which drives a series of relays. It's all driven by an Amazon Echo so I can say "Alexa, set antenna to 1" and it will switch to my hex beam, etc. Lots of fun. If you want more of the gory details, let me know.

John K3MA

Your rig has very little to do with making those two QSO's. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of radios that would have allowed you to make those QSO's if properly adjusted and operated.

I am glad your happy with your 6500 and it has many positive qualities along with some negative ones. Continue to be amazed and excited by the pleasure you derive from operating it but don't loose your sense of perspective and reality.

John K3MA