wanted flex 6500

ea5iwt

wanted
flex 6500 in clean condition and 100% working order
please send picture ands price and picture of the serial number for what year it was made
vy 73 elanpaim@icloud.com
ea5iwt/g0uut

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Bear in mind that Flex says it can no longer reliably service the 6300 and 6500 due to parts unavailability.

Butch

Bear in mind that Flex says it can no longer reliably service the 6300 and 6500 due to parts unavailability.

This is the first I've heard of this. Does anyone know if this is a permanent parts issue, or parts problem that will be eventually resolved?

Butch, KF4HR

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Service Bulletin 6/28/22. Flex says it will make a repair if it can do so with parts that are available.

Butch

Thanks Neil. I missed that. Reading between the lines, the 6300 and 6500 models may be on their way out. I've venture a guess the 6700 probably has many common components of 6300 and 6500, so I wonder if we'll eventually see a similar Bulletin on the 6700?

KD0RC

Hi Butch, the 6300 and 6500 are no longer in production. The 6700 is still in production, and is the flagship rig for Flex.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Len—I bought a 6600M because eight slices amounted to overkill for me, a Q5 transverter was, for my purposes, adequate for 144 MHz operation, and I wanted an HDMI output to enjoy large-screen operation without a computer. Did I miss any desirable features of the 6700?

Neil N3DF, Dayton, OH

KD0RC

Hi Neil, I think you got it right. The price of the 6600 is more attractive as well.

Butch

Did I miss any desirable features of the 6700?

Each to their own of course. I'm involved with multiple HF interests across the HF spectrum (SSTV, Rag Chewing and Nets, CW, Digital, DX'ing, Contesting, 10M FM, etc), and I like to monitor many of these activities at the same time. Over the last 6+ years owning a 6700 I've found having 8 slices not only allows me to monitor many bands, but also different segments and modes within bands. I find this is particularly useful when all the HF bands are open and/or during Contests.

I use multiple 27" monitors on my PC so I can move the slice or slices that I'm currently focusing, onto their own separate monitor. I don't miss having a HDMI port because I have a Mac Mini running SmartSDR for Mac which is driving 65" TV, which I run as a 2nd client.

I also have a Down East Microwave 2MLDPA connected to my 6700 which allows me 2M access without having to tie up a HF slice as one would need to for a 2M transverter.

I sincerely hope Flex continues the 6700, and at the end of its life cycle they replace it with another 8-slice transceiver. After seeing the advantages of using 8 slices all these years, I definitely wouldn't want to go to 4.

Butch, KF4HR