Welcome to the new FlexRadio Community! Please review the new Community Rules and other important new Community information on the Message Board.
If you are having a problem, please refer to the product documentation or check the Help Center for known solutions.
Need technical support from FlexRadio? It's as simple as Creating a HelpDesk ticket.

144MHz support on the 6700 with SmartSDR1.9.13

Nick Shaxted
Nick Shaxted Member
edited May 2019 in SmartSDR for Windows
I have been trying to integrate a new transverter this weekend and have noticed that SmartSDR v1.9.13 on Windows 10 does not handle selecting 144MHz at all on my Flex 6700.The software either hangs and fails to select the 144MHz band when asked directly, or the application crashes when I select it as a transverter with 144MHz IF.

Downgrading to SmartSDR v1.9.9 seems to work normally so looks to be a feature added in the latest release.

Can anyone else confirm the observation?

regards
Nick - dl4ogi 

Comments

  • EA4GLI
    EA4GLI Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2016
    I tried Nick and I cannot recreate your error.
    I can create a 70cm transverter with 144 MHz IF without a problem.

    After the upgrade to 1.9.13 I had some odd behaviors that shorted out with a Factory Reset.
    • Hold the OK button in the front panel while you turn ON the 6700-6500
    • A count down from 5 starts
    • Hold the OK button until it reaches 0
    • That will start the Reset process
    Remember to save your profiles and settings.

  • pa0bie
    pa0bie Member
    edited October 2016

    I have no problem with 144 MHz , direct into a PA and through XVTR with 1.9.13.

  • W0DHB
    W0DHB Member ✭✭
    edited November 2016
    I do not see the problem with 2m here Nick. Dave W0DHB
  • Nick Shaxted
    Nick Shaxted Member
    edited November 2016
    Thanks for all the replies.
    After carrying a Factory Reset I found I could select 144MHz again.
    Sadly following the discovery of the CW QSK "feature" last week my 144MHz portion no longer works. Well, more to the point, it is deaf -- barely hear an handheld from the other side of the apartment.

    Nick dl4ogi/gm4ogi


  • EA4GLI
    EA4GLI Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2016
    144 doesnt work on the Flex radio or you busted a preamp?
  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited March 2017
    Nick - if you are still experiencing the issue, please submit a HelpDesk support ticket (http://helpdesk.flexradio.com)
  • Nick Shaxted
    Nick Shaxted Member
    edited October 2016
    Following up further on this issue, the fault appears to have been a hardware related. The failure of relays to switch probably caused the software to hang. The 6700 has been fixed and appears fully operational.

    Nick dl4ogi/gm4ogi
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited March 2017
    I'm confused.  The 6700 has 144 Mhz built in so why would you use an external 144 Mhz transverter?


  • Jose B Rivera
    Jose B Rivera Member ✭✭
    edited May 2019
    Looking at the 6700 specifictions it seems it only receives 144Mhz. It does not transmit on that band.
  • Marc Lalonde
    Marc Lalonde Member ✭✭
    edited October 2016
    6700 transmit via XVTR port  whit  ~13dBm

    144 was popular IF for microwave transverter 
  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited December 2016
    To transmit on 2m at a power level higher than ~13 dBm (20 mW)
  • Nick Shaxted
    Nick Shaxted Member
    edited October 2016
    The reason for using a real transverter is manifold, the main ones are detailed below.

    To drive the 3cm transverter which is monted remotely on the dish I need to produce about 1w at 144MHz. You can't do this directly with the 6700 and I would be a little unhappy pushing the maximum power levels anyway. I think at 144MHz the power is limited to +8dBm anyway with it being higher at lower frequencies. Either way not enough for my system.

    As a true microwaver I am used dealing with very weak signal signals so look to whatever method I can to allow me to find that extra 0.25dB or less and have the best "radio" signal resolution the 6700 is able to offer. The advantage of using 28MHz as the IF and driving from there is that I am able to exploit the full potential of the fft bin size (1.25Hz), at 144MHz the fft bin size is larger and therefore weak signals are smeared across into adjacent bins and resolution is lost (and, it can be argued, ultimate sensitivity).

    I have 23cm, 13cm, 9cm and 3cm transverters. As the system (antenna, transverter chain and hf chain) was designed (not lashed up) with 28MHz IF in mind (originally an FT-1000mp) so as not to invalidate years of results by radically changing I felt it desirable to keep the same solution. Clearly a small rebalancing of overall system gain and its distribution was required but this was minimal compared to using the 6700 native144MHz solution.

    One of the options still is to use an 0Hz IF transverter which can give me a little highly controllable receive gain but also to give me extra power of up to about 4w. This is a Winter project but ultimately will restrict me to the performance of the native 144MHz portion but it is more likely that I will introduce the same 0Hz IF solution for 70MHz where the transmit power is similarly restricted on the tvtr port and external noise is the limiting factor..


    regards
    Nick dl4ogi/gm4ogi
  • Marc Lalonde
    Marc Lalonde Member ✭✭
    edited October 2016
    as for boost the VHF output  look 
    http://www.minikits.com.au/electronic-kits/rf-amplifiers/rf-high-power/2m-8W-Amplifier

    i use it for drive 1KW  W6PQL brick  from XVTR

    as for bin resolution 1.25 or 3 HZ resolution  did it really matter ??  as long as you have good LNA  ?

    and 28MHz if was usually to low for filter the LO leack and have clean TX

    73!
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Thanks Tim.  I'm using the 75 watt DEMI LDPA.  It never dawned on me to use a separate transverter.  I guess the nice thing about using the transverter is that it would be possible to program in an offset so that the radio would be on frequency.  I don't believe this is possible with the LDPA.

Leave a Comment

Rich Text Editor. To edit a paragraph's style, hit tab to get to the paragraph menu. From there you will be able to pick one style. Nothing defaults to paragraph. An inline formatting menu will show up when you select text. Hit tab to get into that menu. Some elements, such as rich link embeds, images, loading indicators, and error messages may get inserted into the editor. You may navigate to these using the arrow keys inside of the editor and delete them with the delete or backspace key.