A and B on a 6400M

Bob

I am slowly going thru the 6400/6600M manual to learn this radio. I love the radio and what it can do BUT am confused about A and B. For example, when I learned how easy it was to work split by activating Slice B it amazed me. However I am not sure what else the two slices can do together on the 6400 M that are equally amazing and really want to learn what they may be. I watched Mikes video about listening on one RX to set your audio but I don't think I can do that with my 6400M. Would anyone of my fellow FLEX owners be willing to list some of the options? The manual is speaking a new language to me and eventually it sinks in but I am impatient.:) Thanks.

KD0RC

Hi Bob, The 6400(M) has two independent receivers (slices) that share a common antenna. So, just as you did with split operation, you can listen to two receivers (same or different bands) simultaneously. When I want to see if there is any 6 or 10 meter activity, I choose a profile that I created called "10 and 6". I have two panadapters open with 10 meters on one and 6 meters on the other. Since my beam works on 20 - 6 meters, I get good reception on the two bands simultaneously and can quickly see if either or both bands are open.

Another technique that I frequently use during Field Day is to have one slice on the phone segment of a band and the other on CW. That makes it easier to transition back and forth by simply turning on TX for the mode I intend to move to and mute/unmute the appropriate slices. Much easier (and quicker) to do than to explain...

Another thing that I do with two slices since I got a 2 meter transverter, is to set one slice on the repeater output frequency with the normal repeater options set. I put the other slice in simplex mode and set it to the repeater input frequency. Now when there is a station trying to check into our club net but can't hit the repeater, I can often unmute the input frequency and relay them in. If I can't hear them on the input, then this doesn't help.

A feature that I don't often use myself, but is an amazing thing is to use MultiFlex. This requires V3 of the software. V1 and V2 do not support this. With MultiFlex, you can have two operators independently listening to their respective slice, unaffected by the other. So if you are at your QTH listening on one slice, a friend could be remotely logged in and listen on a second slice. The limitation of the 6400 is that it only has one Spectral Capture Unit (SCU), so both slices share the antenna, RF Gain and Wide Noise Blanker settings.

Since the Flex 6000 radios only have one transmitter, you need to coordinate transmitter usage if two people are operating simultaneously using MultiFlex. This is most often done in multi-operator, single transmitter contesting. One operator is on the "run" frequency, while the other searches for multipliers. Good coordination and communication are necessary between operators for this to be manageable.

I hope that gives you a few ideas. Since I am a "one thing at a time" kind of operator, I don't use two slices concurrently very often, except for split operation and the cases discussed above.

KD0RC

Glad to help, Bob! I recommend going to YouTube and watching videos from Mike, VA3MW, Ken, NM9P, Tim, W4TME, Dave, WO2X and others. In particular, the videos regarding the AGC-T and RX/TX equalization will give you a really good understanding of how to set up these controls optimally.

By the way, your 6400M is capable of full duplex, so the video that you watched from Mike is indeed applicable to you. Ken, NM9P's videos on the topic are also excellent and go into a bit more detail.

If you are interested in creating your own applications, Dave, WO2X has done an amazing job of creating a Node Red environment and applications for Flex 6000 radios and accessories like the PGXL and TGXL.

Ken Wells

Something I often do is have one slice monitoring FT8 on one band, and use a second panadapter and slice to tune around on SSB or CW frequencies looking for DX, or listen to my buddies on the "rag chew" frequency.

Or, I set up two panadapters/slices and two instances of WSJT-X and monitor FT8 on TWO bands at the same time - doubling my DXing pleasure!

Or on 6 Meters, I listen to two frequencies at the same time "local FT8" on 50.313, and "DX FT8" on 50.323.

It is great to be able to "multi-task" my radio

Bob

Thank you Len! This will be very helpful I too am content to run one at a time which is what I have been doing to date and finding things as needed but since getting the FLEX am having a new experience and decided for the first time that instead of just learning how to turn the radio on and have QSO's which I have been doing for close to 70 years, that I am intrigued by this technology and am making an effort to get to know and use it as fully as I can. I very much appreciate your answer to my question.