15 Years later

Before And After Shack Pictures

Before, lots of wiring and a mess above the monitors.

After, removed the shelf and mounted a new 16 port Netgear Smart Switch.

The three Radios, the Yaesu on the bottom has no use anymore, the Flex 6300 dominates.

The new Netgear Smart 16 port Switch

The Wonderful World Of SDR

Listening to Shortwave via the SDRPlay RSP and SDR Console V3

All sorts of programming after 8:00pm CST!

Two slices via the FlexRadio 6300

Listening to the FlexRadio 6300 via my HP Omen Laptop, awesomesauce! 

The FlexRadio 6300 Is Here!

Long story short, they got a bit confused when I got there because somebody scanned the name wrong. They eventually found it and it had to remain in the back of the car for the entire day.... the horror!

Here it is in its temporary location until I can move everything so it's where I want it.

Here is a screenshot of everything running. The big screens have the 6300 on the left and SDRPlay on the right.

More to come, I'm playing with the 6300 on my iPad 2, it's a bit overwhelmed so I'll switch to the laptop for around the house operation. The Maestro is back ordered so playing the waiting game on that, 4 weeks hopefully will go fast!

UPS Exception

The dreaded word "EXCEPTION" is never good. I just received their email stating due to a mechanical failure they will "TRY" to deliver my package as soon as possible.

Last time this happened, it took weeks to resolve so I'm calling for an update first thing in the morning. I don't know how hard it is to get a truck to the location of the mechanical failure and load it up and move on, this wasn't sent ground, it was sent via the expensive option of 3 day select.

DRAT.....

New Radio And Head Unit Are On Their Way!

I ordered the FlexRadio 6300, FlexRadio Maestro and the Astron SS-25 power supply.

The Head Unit Maestro is on a 4 week back order but the rest should be here by this coming Wednesday. I'll post more when it gets here.

I have a dedicated 20m and 10m Dipole ready to go and the SDRPlay will be used as well as the Yaesu MP1000 Mark V and the Icom 746 Pro.

Now, I have to re-arrange the entire shack to prevent RFI issues and antenna coupling.

I'll post back next week.

Time For A New Transceiver!

I am researching a new radio, the contestants are the Icom 7300, the Yaesu 3000 and the FlexRadio 6300 and Maestro Combo.

I know it's not really fair to compare the first two to the FlexRadio but these are the 3 I picked. I ruled out the Yaesu 3000, I hated to do it but Yaesu is behind the curve right now, the 3000 has been out a long time as have their other radios.

I like the Icom 7300, but being able to take the head unit for the Flex 6300 around the house and even to the RV, SOLD! The Maestro is back ordered so for now I'll use my iPad to remote control it and my also my laptop and desktop.

I'm ordering the FlexRadio 6300 tomorrow after talking to them about the Maestro back order.

The FlexRadio software, awesome!

FlexRadio 6300 Front (controlled via PC, iPad or Maestro head unit)

FlexRadio 6300 Rear Panel

FlexRadio 6300 ATU

FlexRadio Maestro Head Unit

D Day June 6th 1944

SDRPlay on Windows 10 Super Computer

So far so good using SDRPlay with a 20m Dipole in the attic.

Happy Memorial Day!

SDR Time

I decided while playing with HDSDR software (link here - This downloads HDSDR's Installable) that instead of making HDSDR work with my current radios, I would instead purchase the SDRPlay RSP1 to use as a stand alone radio. If it turns out to be the bees knees I'll get another one to enhance using my Yaesu MarkV, the scope for seeing the entire band looks to be awesome.

I ordered the SDRPlay last night, looks like I'll get it next week. In the mean time I'm going to bring a 20m antenna and some coax with me this weekend to prepare for using this with my laptop. 8mhz of bandwidth requires decent horsepower so I'll be using it with my HP Omen laptop which has a high end i7 and 16gigs of memory.

I gave HDSDR a spin using the sound card from both the Icom and Yaesu and connecting via RS232 and came away impressed so I'm looking forward to seeing how this whole SDR thing plays out. I'll post a review when I have some time put into it.

Side note, I'm also looking to purchase either the Icom IC-7300 or Yaesu FT DX 3000 some time soon. I'm keeping the Yaesu Mark V, it's simply too awesome to let go of, plus it was a gift, I don't sell gifts. I may replace the Icom 746Pro next year with the newer Icom 7100 so I can use it in my SUV. That's it for now, I have posted more this month than the past 3 years, I'll try to keep it up!

The new Yaesu SP-9000 is here!

The Yaesu SP-9000 came almost 4 days early! Awesome! 

Brand New Yeasu SP9000 to go along with the Mark V

Should be here by May 27th!! 

Added A New To Me Icom 746Pro To The Shack

It has some tuning issues but when using the computer it works perfectly. I bought it on eBay so we have a portable rig to take to the RV if needed. It's nice to be able to record from both radios, capturing some great QSO's and a few not so great ones featuring the loon up in Canada, his tirades when he's been drinking could be turned into training recordings for new Ham's in how not to behave when on the air.

I can control both radios from my PC, I can also remote control them from the internet so I can listen from the RV which is nice.

That's it for now, hopefully I post more than once every two years going forward.