Flex Radio Dream Station Set Up (Dream Analsis)

Joe Gann

Pacificon 2024: Mike and John Give me a free hat and I end up buying a PGXL instead of a 8000 upgrade from my 6400.

My current set up: M6400>PGXL>TGXL>Antenna Genius 8X2

All set up nicely in the Garage on Prime work bench real estate, Good so far , but it gets cold, and I am old so Let's set up a remote, and leave the Maestro for Springtime on the patio.

Amazon Here we go, Lets order some goodies to set up the Bedroom formaly known as the "Boys Room" as our Winter Operating Station.

Equipment Procured:

1. HP Omen Gaming Laptop Intel 14-core i9 - 13900HX Processor, 64Gb Ram,1TB SSD, Invidia Ge Force RTX 4060 8GB graphic Running Windows 11 Home.

2. HP ThunderBolt 4 Dock G4 Docking Station

3. ElGato Stream Deck MK.2 Studio Controller, 15 Macro Key.

4. Flex Control USB Tunning Knob

5. Creative Labs T11-2.0 Compact Desktop Hi-Fi speakers

6. LG Ultra Gear OLED45" Curved Screen

7. Logitec MX Keys Mini Wireless Keyboard & Mouse.

8 .Heil PR 781 Mic & Boom

The only thing left is to add remote power up capability to save a few trips up and down the stairs.

Set Up went mostly as planned and happy with the remote set up, then Gremlins began to appear.

Having the PGXL for only a short time working directly off the equipment line up in the garage first weekend was during AARL Sweepstakes Contest, Finaly they Hear me, Wow !!!

Today was the first full day working the remote set up for a whole day, and I began to notice problems with the Audio transmit. The PR781 is connected via the Docking station using a Disno USB Mic converter. Running transmit tests on 20 mweters

Using KFS WebSDR (HalfMoon Bay, CA ) and sdrutah.org, my audio sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a tin can at a very low level .

I spent several hours going back and forth between Smart SDR and Laptop settings for the micraphone to no avail.

Back to the Work Bench:

Plugging the PR781 Directly into the 6400 on the and Wonderful reports from the east coast on 20 meters @ 650 - 700 Watts using a NA4RR Hex beam.

Is there something I need to do diffrently in the Mic Configuration on the Smart SDR Cuerent mic settings: PC, iOs default Profile.

Does the Pr781 need Phantom Power to operate prior to going into the Docking Station?

Any feedback is Apreciated

73's

KJ6ZFS

Joe

James Del Principe

Did you rob a bank or sell a kidney ??? HI HI 😁

David Decoons, wo2x

The issue is probably with the PR781 and PC audio hook up. Test it with PC apps that use mic audio and you'll most likely get same reports.

I have my Dream Station in a server cabinet in the garage and run my Heil PR40 into the W2IHY EQ and EQ Plus then into the Y cable on a Maestro C. I gave up on trying to get the PR40 to work into a PC or MAC.

For my MAC I am using the Blue Yeti X USB mic direct into a MAC Mini M1. I get good audio reports with that setup. Again it is the X model and not plain Blue Yeti.

You might want to try a USB mic made to work direct to PC via USB. Selling the 781 could offset the cost of the new mic.

Joe Gann

Awesome Feedback David.

I am Kinda obsessed at this point scouring the Web for some insight, researching USB mic's now to compare it to the cost and effort of adding Phantom power supply's and preamp processors.

How is the Build quality of the Blue Yetti?

73's

Joe

David Decoons, wo2x

the Blue Yeti X is very nice. I believe difference from Blue Yeti to Blue Yeti X is the X model has four electret capsules while the standard Blue Yeti has two.

When plugged in, it creates a USB mic and sound card where headphones of speakers can be plugged into a 3.5mm jack on bottom of mic. Management of mic EQ and processing is done via Logitech G-Hub software.

I have not seen the Blue Yeti X for sale locally anymore (I bought it at Micro Center).

73

Dave wo2x

WX7Y

To go from the PR40 to the PC I use the "SHURE X2U" XLR to USB adapter but I see they are no longer available but there are two other models that has taken it's place that may work for you BUT they are not cheep. Great audio quality and the build is top notch.

Joe Gann

Thanks Brett,

The search continues

David Decoons, wo2x

the Scarlett 2i2 or Scarlett Solo may be a solution also.