Help me understand the Flex-6400 receiver

N8FNR · January 2018

First off let me state that I have a 6400 on order, 7/10/2017.

The 6400 has two independent receivers. My take from reading the spec sheet is that one can listen to any two bands at once and each panafall can display a a bandwidth of up two 7Mhz. Is this correct?

Thanks
Zack N8FNR

Tim - W4TME · January 2018

Each radio has panadapter and slice "resources". The FLEX-6400 has 2 slice and 2 panadapter resources. They can all be used at the same time and on whatever frequency you want (within 100 kHz to 65 MHz).

For example, you can have two panadapters open with two slice receivers in one panadapter and none in the other panadapter. This configuration would be good for working split and monitiring a different band for activity.

Or you can have one slice receiver in each panadapter and work two bands while using digital mode software like WSJT-X.

And yes, each panadapter can show up to 7 MHz of spectrum at a time. The can overlap too, as the resources are independent.

N8FNR · January 2018

Thanks Tim. Looking forward to the rig!

N8FNR · February 2018

But I can only use one antenna at any given time, correct?

Wayne · February 2018

The slice receivers on the 6400M must use the same receive antenna, however you can assign 1 of the slice receivers a different transmit antenna then the other one then by pressing the TX on your desired slice receiver you can choose which to use for tramsmitting based upon the frequency set in the selected slice receiver.

David Okay Patton · May 2018

Why must the two panadapters use the same antenna? I would love to have one of the panadapters on 6m and the other on an HF band, but it doesn't work well at all, since I'm using two different antennas? Is this a software hardware limitation? Only disappointment I've had with the 6400.

Bill -VA3WTB · May 2018

Your radio has one SCU.

David Decoons, wo2x · May 2018

Because the 6400 only has one ADC. The ADC is what takes the RF and converts to digital. The 6600 has two ADCs so it can listen to two different bands on two different antennas. Dave wo2x

Wayne · May 2018

Tim I keep seeing you say the frequency range on the 6400M is up to 65 Mhz however I don't seem to be able to tune the vfo up that far, is there something I am doing wrong?

Tim - W4TME · May 2018

You are doing nothing wrong. That was a typo on my part. It is up to 55 Mhz.

David Decoons, wo2x · May 2018

Blame it on the bad shoulder :-)

David Okay Patton · May 2018

Thanks Bill and David. Your replies make sense. While I'd like that extra Flex-a-bility to monitor both antenna ports simultaneously, cost is a big consideration: the 6400 is still my best option. After some experimenting last night, I realized I could use my HF antenna to at monitor the 6 m band, I just needed to increase the gain a bit.

Craig Williams · May 2018

"I have a 6400 on order, 7/10/2017." ??? You mean 2018 some time?

Help me understand the Flex-6400 receiver

Completed · Last Updated November -1

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