Just bought the 6400m

KK4IBG

I just want to thank Tim at Flex for helping me a few years ago when my house burnt to the ground, he sent me a box to ship my flex 5000a to be fixed and did it for free because he heard about my disaster , so I'm here to finally buy a new Flex and I did the 6400m , I am a customer for LIFE. Thanks Tim

Mike-VA3MW

@KK4IBG

Thanks for your kind words! I will pass the on to the team.

73

David Decoons, wo2x

Tim, Mike, and the whole Flex team are like family to me. I see it all the time that their support is top notch.

Hearing what Tim and Flex did for you is a “feel good” story of how they stepped up to help make your day a little brighter after a tragedy. Hopefully no one was hurt in the fire.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave wo2x

KK4IBG

Thanks David , I was in the market for a new radio , my 5000a is great but wanted something new , I looked around but I know flex stands behind their products and their customers, so , to me , it was a no brainer .
no body was hurt , I lost everything, but saved my cat and of course my flex was saved by Tim at Flex.

KK4IBG

I wonder how long it will take to get it to my QTH ? I can't wait , I look forward to it. I am like a kid at Christmas.

Dave KC9EI

I thought it took FOREVER when I was waiting for mine but... it only seemed like it.

KK4IBG

Lol , It's excruciating. But I will be just fine.

David Decoons, wo2x

Glad the family and cat made it through unscathed. My cat is our baby!

Remember, cats have slaves!

You will love the 6400m. I do love my 6600m. One cool feature is Smart Control mode where you have SmartSDR running on the PC with big panadapter and control radio with front panel buttons & knobs. You will not be disappointed!

Dave wo2x

N1SH

Funny I joined the Flex family based on a fire as well. Lightning hit and the garage burnt, took out my radio in the process. House, dog, cat, kids, cars were all safe though. I feel for you with the whole house and everything going! very glad to hear everyone, pets included were safe.

KK4IBG

Thanks Guys , lol, my cat does have a **** and it's me, as I type this she just started meowing ,... so... , I yelled and said I'm up in the shack, anyway I guess it's time to feed the boss. lol, She's a total shack cat though.
David I really look forward to getting it , I may have to take time off from work to play with it.
This will be my third Flex , I gave one to my dad and he can never go back to a regular radio hehehehe got him lol.

KK4IBG

I just noticed that I used a word that I was responding to and that person that said it can say it ,But I Can't say it, What gives ???????????????????????????

KK4IBG

Okay , I just received my Radio , In one word , WOW , Okay two words WOW COOL !!! ECT.........

KD0RC

Congratulations! I think you will have a great time with that radio. I am currently in ND on a fishing trip operating my home station in CO. It is a blast! I plan on joining the Flex Radio Net on 14.329 at 11 Pacific time, noon Mountain, 1 Central, 2 Eastern. Join us and show off your new rig!

You can even listen to your own transmission on the net - Go to YouTube and search for WA5QPZ. Dudley will live-stream the net so that you can hear folks who are skipping over you, but hitting Dudley. Once the net is over and the live session is closed, you can go back there and listen to how you sound in Austin.

Mark_WS7M

Congrats on the new radio! Now starts the real fun!

I have a black shack cat. She is shown in the picture and she has been known to send a cat CQ using the paddles when I was not paying attention.

She actually likes to listen to CW and sometimes will meow until I turn some on.

Mark WS7M

VK7WH Winston

Thanks Mark for introducing your black shack cat to us.

It brought back memories of our two black Cocker Spaniels, both SK. They would sing, not necessarily in harmony, when they heard a sustained musical note, such as whistling, a down Morse key or me playing the piano. I thought it was the breed. Perhaps it was the colour😁

73, Winston VK7WH

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Just a minor correction. You don't need SmartControl, SmartSDR or a computer to have a large-screen panadapter and control an "M" model from its knobs.

KK4IBG

Mark, My shack cat really loves Radio she lays by the transmitter and sniffs the ozone from it it's funny but if she is walking around sniffing its time to unkey and find the problem , for some reason she always knows before the magic smoke is released.

KK4IBG

This thing is AWSOME !!!! I'm trying to find fault ,but can't , and don't want to sound like a fan boy , But holy cow!!!

It has replaced my 5000a in my main operating position and that old radio is going to my Ct Home to be remoted, the 6400M will be remoted for my Dad to use while I'm at work. once my Maestro comes in.

I am having so much fun , I am not even sure this much fun is even Legal. :P

The 6400M is a keeper , Love it !

Bob K4KBW 73

KK4IBG

How many of us have Shack Cats?

It seems like a lot , But would love to know how many of us have these radio station engineers that grace us with their presence.

Bob K4KBW Raleigh NC. 73

Mike-VA3MW

@KK4IBG

Bob, thanks for the comments. I actually shared it with the entire company.

Since most of them are heads down in development and engineering 'stuff' I like to share positive comments to show what they are doing is having a positive effect on people's lives.

73

Erik Carling EI4KF

My positive comments got moderated and did not appear. I tried it again without picture in case that was the issue but still no posting. But anyway, apart from needing a TURF file for my new 6400M, I love it and the great help from the Community.

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Erik

I am not sure why your post was not published, and I am looking into that. There are automated programs to can mark some posts as suspect. I'm still trying to figure out just how and what.

Feel free to try and repost.

73

Erik Carling EI4KF

Hi Mike, I was essentially agreeing with Bob. I have just changed to the 6400M from an Expert Electronics MB1. The positives in comparison, with respect to the Flex, are very noticeably improved sensitivity on 6mtrs and also to a slightly lesser extent on 10m and 12m ( previously I had to use an external 20dB pre-amp on 6mtrs); the receiver is quieter too and I also note that the up to +32dB internal preamp is low noise. I was used to a +10dB max preamp that lost 2dB through noise. The receiver is excellent as is the software as well as the display of same on a 4K monitor.

I was gratified to find that the best Skimmer, SDC, works with Flex (via DX-Bridge). For the last 5 years I have used SDC because I often found that the Afreet CWS could be tempermental as well as less accurate. There is so much very useful 3rd party software that works with Flex as well as hardware like the Stream Deck for which I now have fully laden profile, thanks to the wonderful Community contributors who helped me.

I do have some teething troubles. With the MB1 over the 5 years I used it, not once did I ever experience problems with a lack of RF immunity even with output powers up to my licence limit of 1500 watts. With the 6400M I was dismayed to find it reboots on 20mtrs with 40 watts. I have traced it to the ethernet cable and have a screened replacement on order. Lastly, even though the radio is internet connected and I could register with SmartLink, the test always returns the red dot fail. I have port fowarding done but maybe using a Huwawei B525 4G modem is my limiting factor. Can't have everything.

Overall though, I should have changed to Flex a long time ago. But at least I have now.

Erik EI4KF.

John KB4DU

We all have our teething issues with a flex, but once it gets sorted, there is nothing like it. 10M was really open yesterday, and without the pan display on a second band, I would have missed it

using smartlink over 4g is a challenge.

halmassey

Congratulations on your new purchase!

KK4IBG

Yes Sir , 10 meters is open , I look forward to it.

I learned most of what I needed to know by reading these boards and the info sent by everyone at flex.

Perfectly seamless installation into my station. The only problem was that they do not send cat treats for the shack cats.

KK4IBG

Thank you Mike ,

Please let the all the staff know they are greatly appreciated and of course you as well.

I really enjoy this hobby and could not even imagine what it would be like to have to use an old radio as a daily driver.

Don't get me wrong I love my old gear but Flex radio has changed my whole paradigm.

Bob K4KBW 73

KK4IBG

Still loving it ! I just wanted to let everyone know that and I have had no problems figuring anything out it is very intuitive.

Thank you Flex Team !!!!

BOB K4KBW

KK4IBG

Okay , still loving it after couple of months the only problem is when do you power it off , to do Life?

Anyone? these things are just fantastic!

Bob K4KBW

John KB4DU

Like most anything electronic, there is no clear answer. Some leave it on continuously. Others turn it on and off for each session. For me, I turn it off if I’m not using it for a few days. If I leave it on, but shutdown the pc, sometimes SmartSDR won’t connect properly after restarting the pc, so I now shut down the flex each time I shutdown the pc. The flex boot time is about the same as the pc, so not a factor for me.

KD0RC

Well Bob, I do stop to eat and sleep occasionally... With the remote capabilities, you can travel and still use your rig. When I go on camping/fishing trips, I usually bring my laptop in case there is good enough cell service to let me use my phone as a WiFi hotspot. I don't spend too much time on the radio while camping, but evenings before bed I am usually on for a little while.