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Author Topic: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?  (Read 2094 times)

W8JJ

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #30 on: May 13, 2021, 11:53:00 AM »

I own an IC-7610 and have no complaints. I use it exclusively at my contest station and it performs flawlessly and it's super easy to navigate. I've not owned a Flex other than the 1500 QRP rig. However, I do have an ANAN 7000 DLE MKII which is a dream to operate. If you're considering a full SDR radio, I recommend that you consider Apache Labs as well. By doing so, you have access to adaptive pre distortion (Pure Signal) technology and the TX audio is second to none at the moment. Finally, the ANAN user community is fantastic and supportive of new users. Come join the fun!

73 Tim W8JJ
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W7CXC

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #31 on: May 13, 2021, 01:08:10 PM »

Mostly AM? How 'bout a Heathkit DX-100 and a Hammarlund HQ-170?

+1 ..... or a ranger 1 or 2 and an R4. "Opinion"  The rigs you wondered about are over kill and perhaps not even the best choices for this classic mode of operation regardless of other features.
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #32 on: May 13, 2021, 04:54:57 PM »

The shack is full of homebrew radios and I got done with old radios long ago.
Its cool people keep them going and I enjoy working them, but like a 30 or 40 year old car, I would not want to drive it to work every day and have to fix it monthly.
That was fun when I had the eyesight and that was all you could get.
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KX2T

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #33 on: July 12, 2021, 07:43:44 AM »

Did you find or buy a 7610 or just get on the list for a K4?
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #34 on: July 12, 2021, 10:05:38 AM »

I am on the list for a K4.
I picked up an Icom 7600 to play with till then.
Not a great radio, about what a 756 pro3 offers, but a big plus is the antenna tuna is old school motorized caps and inductor and it will actually tune the swr out.
Easy to use Icom style, enough knobs and buttons to make things easy to operate.

Elecraft has a very detailed video of the K4 features and operation (what they have so far when the video was made) and it looks great to me.
I love that you can set the radio display to have the buttons and so on, and the big monitor can have just the band scope/panadaptor on it.
I can not think of anything I would want added or changed.

And it will only get better over time.

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WW1SS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #35 on: July 12, 2021, 12:45:31 PM »

I have had several Flex Radio's. I've had a 6400,6400m, 6500, Maestro,. I got rid of them all and am now using a 7610 and a Elad FDM-S2. My biggest peeve with Flex is the antiquated software. Sure there is Multiflex and Smartlink but the core software SUCKS in my opinion. Their fixes for bugs are far and few in between. There have been complaints for years about the NB,ANF, and DNR not working properly. They have no separate audio or IF scope like just about every other SDR program has. If a small company like Elad, Airspy, and SDRuno can have these features where they work correctly  . . . Why can't flex. The new K4 has it by miles over Flex. Cant wait for mine to be ready to ship as I am on the list also.
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #36 on: July 12, 2021, 02:16:45 PM »

The 6400m I had was great for casual use, great audio RX and TX, great display, the antenna tuner worked well.
But yes, updates are few and far between, and I liked powerSDR much better.
But hey, for $2500.00 the 6400m was quite good overall.

The K4 is a serious bit of coin for me but seems to offer what I want that nothing else does.

Its 2021 and you should be able to hook a mouse and keyboard up to a radio, it should have an hdmi output, it should have good audio, it should show the filter on the bandscope, it should connect to the internet for updates and support remote operation along with all the good sdr things.

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K7JQ

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #37 on: July 12, 2021, 02:59:47 PM »


The K4 is a serious bit of coin for me but seems to offer what I want that nothing else does.

Its 2021 and you should be able to hook a mouse and keyboard up to a radio, it should have an hdmi output, it should have good audio, it should show the filter on the bandscope, it should connect to the internet for updates and support remote operation along with all the good sdr things.

No question the K4 will be a superbly serious radio, for a "serious bit of coin" ;).

But as far as all the things you said "should" be on a 2021 radio, that would be nice. But I would think it all depends on what kind of operating you intend to do, AND what's in your wallet. All those features don't come cheap. For a sophisticated contester, in it to win or place high, the K4 would be an excellent choice. But if you just talk to your buddies nightly on 75 meters, quite a bit of overkill. But if you have a stuffed wallet, who cares ::).
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N6YWU

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #38 on: July 12, 2021, 04:03:57 PM »

Its 2021 and you should be able to hook a mouse and keyboard up to a radio, it should have an hdmi output, it should have good audio, it should show the filter on the bandscope, it should connect to the internet for updates and support remote operation along with all the good sdr things.

Sounds like what you are describing is, not a radio connected with some computer parts, but a computer with some RF parts included.  If the high-end amateur radio industry trends in that direction, look what happened to mobile phones, where that trend killed off all the radio-centric vendors, such as Motorola, Emerson, Nokia, and etc.

So which amateur radio transceiver vendor will become the next Blackberry?
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #39 on: July 12, 2021, 05:12:47 PM »

Well, that is the way its going, a computer (or a bunch of them) with some RF stuff attached.
The Flex and Anan radios are that, and so are the 7300 and 7610.

You can add knobs and screen, or not, or both.
A 16 bit direct sample rig is a basic these days, so it comes down to the software and what hardware they supply, one antenna port or three or four?
HDMI output or not, etc.
The hardware is easy and simple, the software is the key.
The Icom radios have very good software in most respects, a few things missing, the 7300 is missing a lot of hardware.
So far, the K4 looks to have all the hardware needed and the software looks great also.
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KX2T

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #40 on: July 13, 2021, 06:21:34 AM »

All ya gotta do is hurry up and wait, BTW the 7600 is a decent rig for getting on 75meters at night and rag chews but when the band gets busy it cannot cut the mustard, even the 7300 will kick its pants plus its got allot of phase noise but the NR and NB works well for the time period it was introduced.
By the time the K4's will start shipping I am sure there will be a 7610 Pro out, I don't see Icom replacing the IC7700 and they don't need a 7851A so the most logical choice is upgrade the current models, who knows they might extend there TX bandwidth to 4Khz that would please a portion of the hams who like ESSB and just love to waste frequency space like the Anan crew who run there TX out to 3.5 or soo then run pure signal on there big honking amps into mediocre antennas but they have very little midrange but lots of bass. When the low bands get noisy these same guys are totally lost among the static crashes during the summer month.
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #41 on: July 13, 2021, 05:33:07 PM »

Yes, the 7600 is very poor, I do not use it to get on the air with, or a receiver, I use it as a stable drive source of RF power for the big rigs.
Its really a 756 pro with a color screen.
I guess I could use it on 6 meters if I put up an antenna.

There is plenty of room on the bands most times, there is room for an additional KHz of bandwidth.
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KX2T

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #42 on: August 03, 2021, 05:55:12 PM »

sorry I disagree, the 756Pro series had a wider than anything front end roofing filter, not even close to the 7600, were the 7600 is not great at is if your a CW op and you like to get close to 20 over S9 signals 1Khz away, even a 7300 would spank the 7600 but on SSB its not a bad rig but when you use it on a packed band you find out its ultimate selectivity is lacking compared to a Flex, Icom 7300, 7610, FTDX10,FTDX101, TS890S, Anan 7000DLE these rigs have state of the art selectivity which are easily beats the slightly older design up conversion rigs by 30 or better db and that's were the rubber meets the road. The last of the Up conversion designs that were well executed were the 7851 and way behind it the 7700 but there cost is way too high.
I think the 7600 for a rag chew guy is a good rig, has that dual watch without the need of a second RX which by the way sometimes is a big waste but on the same band its nice. The roofing filters are nowhere near the ones in the later 7851 but do help but the 7600 can be had for between a kilobuck and maybe top out at $1400 with decent resale value.
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N2DTS

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #43 on: August 06, 2021, 07:19:18 PM »

Yes, I got the 7600 cheap.
I just got a 705 and think its great, much better RX and better audio then the 7600.
The 7600 is built nice, no screen problems that I know of, nice look and feel to the radio, the display is clunky by today's standards, but the price was low for a 100 watt rig with a built in tuna that works.
2 antenna ports plus an RX antenna port is nice, mouse and keyboard support built in.
The 7610 seems to have a lot of issues, is the screen issue fixed for real?
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NO9E

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Re: Icom 7610 or Flex 6400m?
« Reply #44 on: August 11, 2021, 12:11:25 PM »

There is a story by Bob Sherwood on experiences with the Flex and 7610. He found them roughly similar in performance, with 7610 easier to use. I don't think he had enough time to learn all the features of the Flex. 

The Flex and especially 6600 has unique features that no other radio has. For example full duplex, mechanisms to implement automation via USB cables, multiple access remote and local, SO2R.... If you like tinkering, exploring, trying new things, and tolerate occasional aggravations,  Flex will fit you very well.

If you just want to turn the rig on and operate, get 7610.

Ignacy NO9E   
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