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Differences between 6000 series and 8000 series beyond the FPGA

Pierre_VE3KTB
Pierre_VE3KTB Member ✭✭
in FLEX-6000 Signature Series

Greetings all,

I have a 6400 and I have never used an 8000 series of any description.

I am wondering if beyond the extra firmware capacity, if anyone has noted any significant difference in the performance of a given 6000 series model vs the equivalent 8000 series?

Maybe another way to ask is, for the features that are consistent between the two families, do they work more or less exactly the same way?

Thanks and 73,

Pierre VE3KTB

Best Answer

  • KD0RC
    KD0RC Member, Super Elmer Moderator
    Answer ✓

    Hi Pierre and Russ, For the short time that I had a 6400 and 8600 together in the shack, I didn't particularly notice any sensitivity difference. Atmospheric and man-made noise are such that any difference in sensitivity of the receivers is not really discernable, at least by me.

    I also can't say that I saw any difference in how quiet one radio is over the other. I connected my loop-on-ground antenna to RXA on both rigs using a T connector, and they sounded the same to me with no noise reduction engaged. I did not do any actual measurements; I just put one rig in one speaker and the other rig in the other speaker. Not real scientific, but as a practical matter, they sounded the same, other than less latency on the 8600 (slight echoing effect). This was not a great test, as I had to use a different set of speakers for each rig, but it showed that there is no dramatic difference.

    Where they differed significantly is in the new noise and notch functions as described above, and of course, the dual SCU improvements by going to the 8600.

Answers

  • KD0RC
    KD0RC Member, Super Elmer Moderator

    Hi Pierre, I have not noticed much difference given the same features (e.g. NR & ANF). Where I do see a real difference is the new features. For example, NRS (Spectral Noise Reduction) on the 8000 rigs significantly outperforms NR on the 6000 radios. ANFT (Fourier Transforms Automatic Notch Filter) is way better than ANF. On the 6000 series, NRL (LMS Noise Reduction) is much better than NR, but imparts a slight watery sound.

    So the 8000 series will outperform the 6000 series on new features (i.e. features that are too compute-intensive for the 6000). I anticipate more things like that as time goes by.

    I moved up from a 6400 to an 8600 and am very happy that I did. In this move, I gained diversity reception along with the better noise reduction. The combination is really great, especially on weak stations. Moving from a 6400 to an 8400 would bring some noise reduction benefits (and future benefits), but not the dramatic improvement that diversity reception brings.

  • Russ Ravella
    Russ Ravella Member ✭✭✭

    Hi Len,

    I read people comment that they think the basic receiver in the 8xxx radios is quieter than in 6xxx radios. More sensitive when everything is set exactly the same. Do you find that not to be true ?

    Thanks ! Russ KR6W

  • Pierre_VE3KTB
    Pierre_VE3KTB Member ✭✭

    Hi Len,

    Thanks for the feedback. I am very happy to hear that the noise reduction is improved as I think that might be the number one selling (buying?) point for me on a future rig, not to mention the diversity aspect.

    And Russ KR6W is asking the question I was looking to have some one answer, so thanks also to Russ!

    73,

    Pierre VE3KTB

  • David Decoons, wo2x
    David Decoons, wo2x Member, Super Elmer Moderator

    As Len mentioned, most hams would not see a difference in RX sensitivity as the QTH is noise limited. So, unless you live in a very RF quiet location, you would not notice a difference except for the new DSP noise mitigation features on the 8000 series, availability of adaptive predistortion, and some of the other features now and in the future that are 8000/Aurora exclusive.

    The big differences in the 6000 vs 8000 is the CPU, memory & FPGA upgrades.

    The 6000 series, even going back to the 6300/6500/6700 are still supported in software and users are still happy with them while others have moved on to the 8000 series. It is a personal preference in how you operate.

    Dave wo2x

  • Russ Ravella
    Russ Ravella Member ✭✭✭

    My Pleasure Pierre ! Len (like Dave) is awesome at responding to questions so we'll surely hear from him soon.

    73 Russ KR6W

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