USB Connections:6400M

Mark Griffin

Good Evening,

Currently I have a USB Cable connected to the USB Port right underneath the LAN Connection on the back of the Flexradio. That is currently being used by my Bandmaster V Interface. There is also another USB Port underneath the First USB Port. I have connected my SPE 1.3K-fA USB Connector to that. But for some reason that Port is not active because it will not communicate with my 6400M so that when I change the band, my SPE does not follow. Is there a switch or something to have both USB Ports Active? Or is there a way that I can add that connection for my SPE amplifier to the USB Section in the radio?

Mark Griffin, KB3Z

KD0RC

Hi Mark, Plug your cable in to the back of your Flex, then go to Settings, USB Cables..., select the cable and click the Edit button. This example is for my KPA 500, but it should be similar for your SPE.

From the USB Cable Interface Guide from Flex:

Mark Griffin

Len,

for some reason when I bring up the screen it only is recognizing the USB Connection for my Bandmaster V. It is set for CAT and TX Slice. And the standard 9600 Baud,8, None, 1. The Bandmaster controls my DXE Switch outside at the tower. It know which antenna to connect to, when I change the band on the radio. The radio is not automatically reading the second USB Cable for my SPE Amplifier.

Mark KB3Z

KD0RC

Hi Mark, the radio doesn't read information from the cable, it sends frequency information to whatever is connected to it (your SPE in this case).

Is your cabling wired as described above? Is it a true FTDI chip-based cable? Do you see the cable in the USB Cables screen as shown above? If any of these are not right, it won't work as you expect. If all of that is OK, then I would submit a helpdesk ticket.

Mark Griffin

Len,

If I plug it into the first USB Port it works. But if I plug it into the second, even though the little red light on the cable is flashing, the SPE Amp will not communicate with it. Why, I have no idea. I guess there could be worse things than that.

Mark Griffin

Len,

For some reason my Flexradio 6400M cannot handle 2 USB Connections at the same time. I guess that's one of the advantages to having the PGXL because you don't need to use a USB Port on the radio. But I need to send it in for service, and there's not much I can do about that. So it looks like I will be operating the CQWW CW contest with 100 watts.

Mark KB3Z

KD0RC

Hi Mark, I can use two USB ports on my 6400 no problem. I recommend submitting a helpdesk ticket. Flex Support should be able to point you in the right direction or let you know that there is a problem with your rig.

WX7Y

You can also plug in a Powered USB HUB to the USB port that is working if you happen to have a bad port.

I do know that the FLEX USB ports can't handle a lot of current and I don't use more then one device directly to the radio.

I use 3 FTDI Cables and the 2 Meter AMP connected to my Wired HUB and the 6700 works great and see's all 4 devices.

Mark Griffin

Guys,

I have found a round about solution to the issue at hand. When I disconnect the USB from my Bandmaster V, it still let's me know what antenna I am using. And that is a good thing even though things will not be automatically done, I can handle that. I connected the Amplifier Connector to the USB and now my SPE 1.3K-FA will track my band changes. I tried to get the amplifier to transmit last evening but that didn't work. But then I remember I have a connector that plugs into the TX Jacks on the back. So I plugged that into TX2 and then went into the Transmit settings and turned on TX2 just for 20 meters. I switched the amplifier to operate, Max Power, and set my RF Output on the 6400M to 15 watts. And I keyed the transmitter and it gave me about 1150 watts output. So for the time being the problem has been solved, that is at least for CQWW CW. I am hoping to pack the PGXL up today and take it to UPS for shipping tomorrow. Not sure if my PGXL is still under warranty or not. But at least I know that they will take good care of the problem down at Flexradio.

Mark Griffin, KB3Z