Changing how the 6600 is connected to a PC

Randy AA8R

I am switching from a Icom 7610 to a Flex 6600 that is soon to arrive while waiting for a Maestro. My plan is to connect the 6600 directly to my PC via a lan cable until the Maestro arrives. Currently the PC connects to a router/modem via WiFi which is about 100 feet away at the other end of the house. While waiting for the Maestro I will run a Cat 6 cable from the modem to a new 8 port router in the shack to then connect the PC, 6600, Maestro, 2x8 Antenna Genius and maybe in the future a PGXL/TGXL.

My question is when I switch from connecting the 6600 directly to a PC….to….connecting all devices to the new 8-Port router will that cause any problems? Is it pretty much Plug & Play?

Randy, AA8R

KD0RC

Hi Randy, pretty much plug and play. Make sure that you have everything set to use DHCP. Is it really an 8 port router or is it actually an 8 port network switch? An 8 port switch is probably the better option as the modem/router should serve up the IP addresses using DHCP.

While you are connecting the PC directly to the radio, you will get slightly longer connect times. Once you move to a DHCP-served LAN (i.e. connected to your router) the connect time from the PC or Maestro to the radio will be faster.

Randy AA8R

Thanks Len for the quick reply. Just bought a Netgear GS108 8-Port ethernet switch which I hope is what you were suggesting. I am a old Mainframe Cobol programmer and know next to nothing about the network world. So I have a learning curve ahead me which is okay. DHCP is new to me and I need to come up to speed on that.

Thanks for the advice.

Randy, AA8R

KD0RC

Hi Randy, that is exactly what I was suggesting! I have the GS108 here and it works great.

From one old mainframe programmer (PL/I, Fortran, COBOL) to another, just think of DHCP as a service running in your router that provides IP addresses to whatever you connect to it.

The way the radio works, it hangs out waiting to be assigned an address. As soon as it gets one, it is ready to accept connections from SmartSDR, a Maestro or anything else that is trying to connect.

If you plug the Maestro or computer directly into the radio, it goes through the waiting for an address before it figures that one is not coming, and it assigns itself a generic address in the range that a Windows machine will use if it is not served an address. We often call this "Field Day" mode, and is in fact, exactly how I operate during Field Day.

Field Day mode is great for debugging network issues. If the Maestro or computer won't connect (or some other problem). Plugging directly into the radio will show that the radio, cable and computer are all working (or not). You can very quickly home in on the issue before blindly trying all kinds of network settings.

I looked at the 7610 and the Kenwood TS 890S but went with the Flex when I had the opportunity to operate my friend Dave, W4WKU's Flex 6400. They are both really good radios, but for me, the Flex was the way to go. I am sure you will enjoy your 6600 - it is a really great rig that you are not likely to outgrow.