Remote Flex-6700 Start/Reboot

Remote-On Setup

Occasionally one of my radios needs to be rebooted, which requires someone to push the front panel button unless you have made other provisions.

My other provisions need to change, as the grad student/remote worker who has been around our place is moving on to the next phase in their life sometime later this year, so my text/phone call method of rebooting my radio will change.

Following along with FlexRadio’s “approved” method, which they do as a kit (at the time of this writing it is out of stock though):
https://www.flexradio.com/documentation/remote-on-kit-qsg/

Basically through software you configure the radio to use an RCA rear panel jack to sense if it should boot when power is present, rather than staying in a standby stage.

While it is perfectly possible to use a Smart Plug/Strip to simply shut off and turn on the power to the power supply feeding the radio, it is inelegant and also takes down everything else powered by the same power supply.

The slick way is to manipulate the RCA jack to control the radio as the radio expects.

I’ve had good experience with the Kasa Smart Plug units, have had one on test for 3-1/2 years at this stage. I’ve also used the power strip version to reboot electronics for family in assisted living, which saves me time and allows the reboot and manually sequenced restart to happen if the unit is in quarantine or if I am away. (I just need internet access to help them out.)

Here is the part list of what I am using for the Flex-6700:

Kasa Smart Plug HS103
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S57PQSM

Digital Loggers Enclosed AC/DC Power Relay with Protection & De-Bounce. Screw Terminals. 120V Trigger Input
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017743I7S

https://www.digital-loggers.com/ac.html

https://www.digital-loggers.com/acspec.pdf

RCA to Bare Wire Cable
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RYWV7J6

The wiring is simple, as you use the the top two (the common and the normally open) as shown in this FlexRadio provided picture:

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The Setup Same Again but for Keying the Radio

Now it is a more advanced thing to be able to remotely key the radio for specific tasks. I am using the same setup plus a block style Y-splitter to do this task.

PTT Remote Setup

The Y-splitter allows access for my foot PTT which I use in the shack.

RCA Male to Dual RCA Female Jack Y Splitter Audio Adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09724M8Z7

FlexRadio may have the kits back in stock:
https://www.flexradio.com/products/flexradio-approved-remote-on-plug-and-play-kit/

Otherwise without the Y-Splitter buying casually via Amazon ended up significantly cheaper, as I bought multipacks to do several of my radios.

(I decided to not make up a buying list as I would expect the particular items to be revised, refreshed or updated over time).

Here is what the App looks like on an iPhone:

Kasa App Buttons for Flex-6700 #1

73

Steve
K9ZW

Lending a Helping Hand – W9EMY’S First HF QSO

Spending the long Memorial Day weekend on Washington Island (WI-001L) Wisconsin, I learned that Emmett W9EMY had taking his Tech & General tests together, applied for a vanity call as he was sequentially assigned a tongue-twister call, BUT hadn’t made an Amateur Radio contact!

One of his Elmers, George W9EVT seemed to have presumed that Emmett W9EMY had his station on the air, and like true gentlemen they “talked around” what could have been a question of “Hey W9EMY, how about knocking out some QSOs?”

Emmett had asked to look at my ZeroFive Flagpole Vertical Antenna, and when I asked him if he had his station running and how did he like making contacts, I learned he hadn’t been on the air.

Well that sure needed to be fixed!  So tuning the Island QTH Flex-6700 across 20 meters, we heard Rick VE6CQ holding court, working stations at a good pace.  So we listened and talked about the parts of the QSOs until a nice opportunity came up to have W9EMY call VE6CQ.

Turns out I had the microphone gain too hot, as I had switched to a Neuman mic on a boom for Emmett to us, but left the settings for another mic.  Rick VE6CQ came back with additional information that our settings were messed up.  My mistake fixed in less time that it takes to type about it.

Emmett W9EMY and Rick VE6CQ had a great classic QSO with VE6CQ throwing in an on-air pep-talk about amateur radio, HF and I think he may have worked in an appreciation of life itself in there somewhere.  I was inspired by Rick VE6CQ’s pep-talk even though I was the Elmer rather than the new guy that day!!

Time restraints kept Emmett’s first foray limited to that first QSO, but I did do a quick FT8 demo as Emmett wanted to see that in operation.

Then we arranged a Sked (scheduled contact) for the following day, and Emmett W9EMY from his home Flex-6400 station had a roundtable discussion with myself on my Flex-6700 and George W9EVT who was on his Kenwood TS-990S.

Now that we were all within a small local circle kind of made it easy,!  Actually W9EVT and I are a fifteen minute walk apart, and Emmett is another twenty minutes or so further west than George W9EVT is  from my QTH.

Was fantastic to get another new ham on HF for their first contact!

And to hear Rick VE6CQ’s pep talk was icing on the cake.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Another Portable HF Option – Elecraft KX3 for Portable Activations

Elecraft KX3

 

Looking into 2022 I hope to participate in a few activations.

With Tom K0TTC scheming to do a newer park on Detroit Island (which is a Wisconsin island in Lake Michigan – you have to love the reuse of names across the Midwest). Hoping we can catch a few other nearby Islands as well.

Having missed having a nice simple portable HF setup on my recent trip around Lake Superior, I’d like to be ready for some HF on an envisioned Lake Michigan circle trip in 2022.

I’ve had three radio options I could use. The Flex-6600M could be pulled from service at my work QTH station, I’ve used a TenTec Jupiter (and Pegasus) for this in the past, and I have a SGC SC-2020 that could be used.

What Big Ears you have! – Being Heard – the All-FlexRadio (AFR) Station

I mentioned the great reports I was receiving with the AFR station (All-FlexRadio), and as being heard is the the easy part of making QSO’s, it seemed a good time to talk about the “Ears” of the AFR station.

There are two parts of most aspects of reception – hearing the raw signals and having a method to reduce the signal to a particular station which you want to make a QSO.

Across the panadaper SSB signal traces crowd the screen.  Use of the various signal processing settings mitigates some of the crowd, but there remains a lot of signals to pick through.

Think of this like going to a crowded party where everyone is talking.  There are so many simultaneous conversations that one has to concentrate and focus to pick out just one.  A hard of hearing person may hear only a fraction of the conversations, and because of their lower ability to hear also misses much of the general “conversation buzz” that good ears need to work to pick through.

The AFR station is good ears for sure.  And I need to carefully use the software tools and my own hearing processing to pick out stations.  The challenge is to focus in on just one station.

FlexRadio has a number of videos on how to manipulate SmartSDR to achieve optimal QSO rates.  As fair warning, if you want to simulate the deafness of legacy radios you will need to work harder at tweaking settings in SmartSDR.  Conversely if you want to have run rate with the leaders in the pack, your SmartSDR settings will be less intrusive.

One obvious factor in this listening part of the equation, is the great performance of the Tennadyne T-12 Log Periodic Antenna.

I can hear you now!

73

Steve
K9ZW

Hearing and Being Heard – the All-FlexRadio (AFR) Station

I have been running the All-FlexRadio (AFR) setup on phone (SSB) with the new T-12 Log Periodic, and very pleased with the balance between Reception (RX) and Transmission (TX)!

Audio to Radio Frequency Chain of the AFR setup (All-FlexRadio) is:

• Sure SM5B Microphone
• Behringer Audio Amp
• Flex-6700 with SmartSDR Software
• Flex-PGXL Amp
• Flex-TGXL Tuner
• AS302N Lightning Arrestor
• Tennadyne T-12 Antenna at 76ft

All cables are hardline, Belden 9913F7 (drops) or LMR400 (jumpers).

Presently I don’t have the rotator wired at the tower base and shack ends, so the Log Periodic has been stationary. The connectors I needed to repurchase as I put them someplace so very safe when first ordered that they haven’t been found since, just arrived.

Rather enjoying reports when running barefoot of “I have you K9ZW 5-9 plus 15” and then turning on the “heater” but loafing at 500 watts, to receive 5-9 plus 30 reports!

Happy camper here!

73

Steve
K9ZW

Running a Comprehensively FlexRadio System – September 2021

It has taken quite a while to assemble an all-FlexRadio setup.

FlexRadio took longer than expected to introduce the Amplifier (PGXL) and Tuner (TGXL) components. To FlexRadio’s credit the general releases were held until the units were sorted out to some pretty exacting standards, and just like the radios the PGXL & TGXL continue to be worked on for improvements.

Here is my basic system at the Home-QTH:

Flex-6700 — PGXL Amp — TGXL Tuner — Antennas

At the Home-QTH Antenna 1 is a Zero-Five Flagpole Vertical and Antenna 2 is a T-12 12 element Log Periodic

Here is my basic system at the Island-QTH:

Flex-6700 — PGXL Amp — TGXL Tuner — PowerMaster SWR Meter — Antennas

At the Island-QTH Antenna 1 is a Zero-Five Flagpole Vertical

For reference the Work-QTH setup is:

Flex-6600M — Vertical Antenna

In all cases an Array Solutions AS302 arrestor is in-line before the antenna.

Main software is SmartSDR (Windows) either by LAN or WAN using SmartLink.  I do have SmartSDR (iOS) and SmartSDR (Maestro) to fall back on, but mostly am using the Windows version.  (Also have DogparkSDR available on my MacOS machines.)

For a while I am going to run everything in this simple configuration.  Actually rather frustrated with myself in the implementation of antenna switches and various additional sensor/software packages.

The Home-QTH and Work-QTH are able to be kept on standby 24/7, but island infrastructure being unreliable leaves the Island-QTH able to be up only when someone is in attendance.

73

Steve
K9ZW