Users near Omaha Nebraska using the new 6500-6700 Signature Series Radios?

steve · January 2015

Anxious to see and visit of possible a working user within say 50+ miles or ? of Omaha, NE

Would like to see a hand on demonstration/use. To far from any known upcoming HAM convention this year. Anxious to see a working situation. YouTube does provide some ideas...yet?

A working users of some experience would most helpful. Time frame...maybe 6-9 months of purchase. Not to anxious to try the old standby "boxes on the table" and magnifying glasses to operate a Yaesu, Kenwood or ICOM.

Think this is the way to proceed as my FIRST and LAST equipment investment..yet that hands on/eyes near experience might be the selling factor. No license yet...This might determine the investment procedure if I see it as I think it can be.

Tim - W4TME · January 2015

Please, show a little consideration to Steve who want to a new ham. He asked a valid question and some of the responses amounted to attacking him for wanting to "invest" in a great radio. We should all want to cultivate ANYONE who wants to participate in the hobby and not have his first interaction with members of this community being adversarial. Show some respect and understanding. Thank you Al, Dale and George for your thoughtful and appropriate responses. I have removed the posts that were not applicable to the question asked.

Cliff Batson N4CCB · January 2015

Steve, this is a bit like a teenager without a drivers license wanting to test drive a corvette. There is nothing wrong with getting a Signature Series radio as your first radio but I have another suggestion... Buy a used Flex 1500 for $500 and have fun listening. Play with the excellent and mature PowerSDR software on your 1500. You'll get 90% of the fun and you can sell the used 1500 at any time for what you paid for it. Meanwhile, keep studying for your license and I look forward to talking with you on the air when you get it. Cliff - N4CCB

Walt - KZ1F · January 2015

Hey Cliff, what's wrong with that 15 year old buying a Corvette, if (s)he can afford the payments?

KY6LA_Howard · January 2015

Be nice guys. That was an honest question from someone who has a legitimate inquiry Getting a license is not hard. It just takes an INVESTMENT of time.

Bill -VA3WTB · January 2015

And he investing in his station,,right? that's an investment to me....

Al_NN4ZZ · January 2015

Hi Steve,
If you were in my area I'd be happy to have you stop by. Good luck with you license and if you get the 6000 series you will surely enjoy it.

Eventually when WAN remote is available (V2.0 later in 2105) it will be a lot easier to let someone take a test drive from anywhere with internet access. Of course we'll have to address the licensing side of it for transmitting.

I think you can consider it an investment, amateur radio has provided many of us a lifetime of enjoyment. You could say its been Priceless!

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com

Cliff Batson N4CCB · January 2015

I meant no disrespect. I shouldn't have used that analogy. -Cliff

Dale KB5VE · January 2015

Having owned 12 flex radios you know I am sold. I have sold most if not all my radios to new flex users. I have used most of the other rigs out there and have come to the end result, Fles sdr is the way I will end up, and at 67 I can see making it to the 7xxx series! Many new. Hams come to me about what hf rig they should buy, no one should make that decision. So I ask what is your budget, what part of ham radio do you feel you will use, and how serious is your interest in the hobby. Most time I reccomend a used low end radio, like the ic 718 which will get him in the hobby and let him get operating experience. If he decides he wants to get deeper into the hobby, go box, dxing, emergency service, u hf/ VHF weak signal ect. Then he can recoupe his money and move on. At that time I might expose him to detail use of the sdr radio , the good, the bad and the ugly. Yes there is some of all three. I readily invite any ham to come by my shack and use my sdr 6500. And no ham should buy one who has not sat in front of one and used it. If the person does not have some bad and ugly about current sdr radios I feel the person interested find another Elmer. Not one of the 11 hams I have sold sdr radios to said that they found more issues than I told them about and not one has sold the sdr I have sold them. So I say he is asking for something anyone should do before buying any radio but especially a sdr radio. Sdr is not for everybody! Be a good sdr Elmer there is no perfect radio especially in the sdr radios. Steve as one of the previous post suggested get a sdr flex used and play with it. I suggest the flex 3000 100 watts great reciever and built in antenna tuner and you can find them for $1000.00 and the resell will be very good since they have quit making them and are very good radios. No matter what sdr radio you get you really need a quad core or better to avoid issues, yes someone will tell you fast they used a note book low end unit and it worked fine. But facts are the great thing about sdr especially flex is all the software which will work with the radio needs a good computer. Sorry to take so long a post but I am very passionate about flex but I try to be totally honest. I feel a 6500 is the best way to go for the money. Good luck.

George KF2T · January 2015

Getting to the actual question - I would be happy to set up a Skype or FaceTime session with screen sharing with you. I'm too far from Omaha, but understand you would like to see the radio in action before making a sizable investment in your great new hobby! Welcome aboard. Drop me a line if you'd like to connect.

Walt - KZ1F · January 2015

I think the jury is still out on whether it will be easy for person B to test drive person A's radio. If there is certificate authentication, which I would hope there would be only those holding the certificate could use the radio, otherwise anyone could. But we really don't need to debate here how many angels can dance on a pin head. 2105, that was Freud at work huh Al?

Walt - KZ1F · January 2015

My first radio was a Heath HW-101, I suspect it's price point was in the $500 range. My second radio was a Kenwood TS-530SP with a price point, I believe was, $600. I recall the high end had an $8,000 radio, this was back in the early 80's. I think you were right with the suggestion of an IC-718. I don't believe any SDR, esp the 3k, 5k, or 6k series is a good first radio. They make great 'all in' radios but one's first, by definition, should be a toe-in-the-water class radio. They may love the hobby or they may deem it just a notch above CB or find themselves moving into a (more and more common these days) deed restricted neighborhood. Sort of like should one's first car be a $160,000 Tesla or a used 4 year old Kia? I don't believe it should require a PC to run. That just adds a a level of complexity unnecessary for a first radio. I'd suggest a used Kenwood or Yaesu or Icom. The outlay of cash won't be so high that it represents a huge loss should Amateur Radio not be one's cup of tea. Then if they decide they like the challenge of QRP, a used Flex 600.

Another completely cool first radio, that works in a deed restricted neighborhood is RemoteHamRadio[.com]. It cost pennies a min with 1st class antennas, radios, and amps. This is the next best thing to living in your parent's basement, all the amenities your parents spent a career acquiring without the 'shame' of renting a 2 room walkup apt with a room mate. If Ham Radio is something you want to kick the tires on, that is a very low cost way to do it. I haven't priced out RHR sites but my guess is you are renting a tens of thousands of dollars shack. It's not, in my opinion, a good long term solution (barring the deed restricted areas) but it is a good inexpensive way to see if Ham Radio is for you. With RHR, the license is not optional.

SteveM · January 2015

This might be an even better first radio. Cost is free and anyone can use it since there is no Tx.

http://websdr.org/

Users near Omaha Nebraska using the new 6500-6700 Signature Series Radios?

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