Comparing 20 watts to 100 watts for HF Ham Radio #hamradio #portablehamradio #amateurradio Link to Callum’s @DXCommanderHQ great video on decibels: • Fast Easy Guide to Dec...
Passed my General last week and got a G90 based on all your great videos. Got a piece of Menards speaker wire chucked in a tree outside my apartment office window and IM TALKING TO THE WHOLE WORLD. You were right dude…. 20Watts is all you need. Thanks for the great info on your channel, you got me up and running QUICK.
I'm also Xiegu G90 owner. Today DX QSO: AC1NU Jonesboro Maine USA - distance 6592 km - Band 40m, VE9FI Hampton New Brunswick CANADA - distance 6009 km, Band 20m, JH3NGD Akashi City Hyogo JAPAN - distance 8457 km, Band 40m. Vertical Ground Plane Antenna 41 ft. TX power 20W. You inspired me Walt. You're doing a great job. Keep it up. 73 from Poland 🇵🇱, SP5NT
I agree Walt, I just sold my FT-891 and if I got another radio to use as a portable it would be another G90. The built-in tuner, the waterfall -the price- it’s a much better unit for me too. Still my base unit is a 7300 and I’m very happy with it.
I bought my G90 and the battery because of your recommendations. I have been using it for POTA and LOVE the radio. Whenever I mention your name at the dinner table, my wife asks, "What are you buying now!" Hey, we all need an Elmer for this fantastic hobby of Ham Radio. Thanks for all you do. 73s Walt!
Thanks Walt. I've just come back to amateur radio after a 40 year break. In the UK this means my old licence is now a full licence. I bought a g90 because it is ideal simple rig to ger me restarted. I've worked stations over 5000 miles away on your 17.5 feet antenna video construction 😊 so thank you very, very much. It's ground mounted in my back garden in the middle of a housing estate in Gloucester UK. This was a great video because i have been toying with buying a 100w radio. A side point is 20w also doesn't cause any problems with my very near neighbours. Thanks again for your great videos. 73's Jerry G6YSJ
@@paulsengupta971 One of my friends has a HDTV antenna mounted on the same mast as a 3 element 6 meter beam. Running 100 watts he reported no interference.
Very cool Walt! I just got my Tech license and was inspired by your videos to start my journey with the G90. I live in Reno, NV and I just made my first DX contact with Australia today on 10m! Super excited! Cheers and 73!
Home built linked EFHW and 20W got me into Canada no problem the other evening on 18MHz SSB. Running an IC7200 on a battery portable. Antenna up a tree somewhere north of Tokyo. I can get into VK land on 10m daytime with 5-10W JS8 on a short horizontal EFHW. Great fun. Admittedly sometimes the other end’s antenna does help a bit but hey, it’s all part of the hobby. We’re capped at 50W portable anyway so 100W is out the question.
The only real difference between "low" and "high" power in my experience is that qrp fades go a little deeper but it also makes me a better listener/operator. Thanks Walt. 73 from K1NEO, Maine.
I have been playing with my newly licenced 25 watts on my base station 450D Yaesu and I have to say that you are absolutely correct. I was always happy with 10 watts and will continue to use it but 20/25 watts is definitely the sweet spot. The G90 is still the best portable rig - the s/h prices show how popular they are. 73 .M7BLC
Agree - I’m either using FT891 with 20W or FT818 with 5W out in the field. No shack here, only portable operation. 20W is perfect for SSB, 5 for CW, FT8 aso…
I check out the G90 before i got on air think may of saw a few of the vids with you and yours, but i can say even when using 10 watts i had no problems making contacts love mine its great...walt another great vid..this is the way of the ham
Couldn’t agree more! I live in South Eastern Australia near Melbourne and using my G90 had a great QSO on 20m with Ben PD2BA in The Netherlands using 20 watts into a Mad Dog Coil and a 5.2 metre whip from eBay in my backyard. Ben received me at 5/7 about 15 miles out of Central Amsterdam. A video of the QSO is up on my RU-vid channel. The difference between 5 watts and 20 watts is a lot more stark than the difference between 20 watts and 100 watts I’ve found. 20 watts is a great compromise between performance on air and battery size etc. Keep up the great work on your Channel! 73, Craig VK3CRG
Right on point Walt and good job on the laying out the facts. I have a G-90 and an 891. I see little difference in contacts made between the two. The G-90 has an edge with size, weight, power usage and a fantastic tuner. The 891 has a slight edge in power and it's excellent DNR. You are not wrong in your decision Walt. I have thought about selling my 891, but decided to keep it for a couple reasons. One, it's in a faraday cage as a back up should the worse happen. Second reason to keep it is for when the bands get really bad. Either because of the solar flares or when we get to the solar minimum and contacts get much tougher. In those cases, that one "S" unit might make the difference in getting a contact or not. In most cases, that one "S" unit doesn't make much difference. No matter what radio you are using, the antenna is always one of the biggest factors in your success. Using the correct configuration for the desired distance, the right band and the most efficient antenna will make far more difference than one "S" unit. Some may disagree....it is what it is. I love the antennas you build. Ham radio does not have to break the bank. I often recommend the G-90 to new hams. It makes a great base radio and is great portable. It lets them get on the air and gain experience so that they can make better choices in the future as to what additional ham radio equipment they will need and buy. You don't have to be the biggest mouth on the air, especially when your ears are lacking. 73 !
Sold my 100 watt rigs years ago. Not against more power, some people live in less than ideal places an a little more power helps them get out. Using less power means you can carry less power. Smaller batteries, smaller wire, smaller transformers. I don't even own a tuner. To each their own though. Do what you want and have fun.
I enjoyed your video. Thanks. I will keep my K3S because I can turn the power down and not have receiver issues with a lower-tech rig. I did a in real time test with two QRP operators and you are right. The one ham could hear me 100% copy with one watt on 20m. I reduced further to 0.10 watt and he could not understand words, but he knew I was there. Keep up the interesting videos.
Love it. I only use my FT-891, but I rarely toss it up to 100 watts. 25 watts is plenty and keeps that battery running longer. 20 watts of the G90? It's darn near perfect for portable work.
Hi Walt, first of all, thank you for the videos! Love them all! Just made a couple of SSB contacts today from Japan to south Australia and to Fiji using the FT-817nd on 5 watts and a vertical antenna right next to the salt water! Around 5k miles! Love it! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hey there Walt! I was many times inspired by your videos, especialy about the half square antenna that I built and tested with very good results. My experience differes from yours, I prefer my Alinco DX70 (probably because I had to repair it before using it). I have and enjoy my IC-705, I do have a tuner but I'd rather have a good antenna than a tuner. With more power I can make contacts easily, while I had to really struggle with the Icom (beautiful radio, she was the reason I finally started to go out and make contacts). But with the bad propagation these days my Alinco breaks the pile-up in a breeze. Oh, that db scale you posted threw me off, I normally use dbm (0db=1mW)
I came to the same conclusion and love my G90. I bought a new 891 and Mat 30 tuner on impulse and only used them once amd will be putting them up for sale.
Great Video, agree 100%. I have made thousands of contacts with my G90 and it is a great POTA radio. But with that said I wish Xiegu had better quality control. My G90 has a few weird glitches in that limit the power I can use on different bands and if you want to use an AMP you cannot. Too bad I didn't figure out the issue was the radio till after the warranty was expired. I not saying not to buy a G90 just make sure you run it through the paces to check everything out.
I use a Yaesu FT 1000D ( the Beast ) as my home transceiver and a Xiegu G90 as the rig I use to activate with. The G90 is such an amazing rig! 👍 73 Walt! 😀 De N1XV
QRP for life! Im very satisfied with my x6100 10W with a chinese vertical telescopic whip! Best setup for me! I also tried 75W amp but didnt considered any big difference 🤷♂️ YO5ZL
Hi Walt, a very timely video. I have a G90 arriving this Sunday. Looking forward taking it to the lake, on trips, bike rides, pedestrian mobile, automobile mobile, operating from different rooms in the house, on the patio, in hotels, possibility on a cruise this October just to hear what the signals sound like in the Caribbean - no chance of transmitting on the ship. . Maybe even take it to the Maryland or Delaware shore this summer for a salt water ground. Much easier than taking my Yaesu FT-857, 20 Amp Power Supply, Antenna Tuner, antennas, etc. Thanks for all the GREAT videos and explaining things in a simple down to earth way. You don't really know something until you do it.
I totally agree with you here. 20 Watts is the sweet spot in terms of power for portable, or even at home. It's a shame that the 6100 isn't 20 watts otherwise it would of been a G90 killer. If the IC-705 had 20 watts on HF, then wow, that would of been a keeper too. The G90 is a fantastic radio, great audio, ATU, SDR Technology and 20 Watts... Great video!
Hi Walt, I love my 100w Yaesu FT-450D, which is My flagship radio. However, I seem to keep it in the Faraday bag at home and only use my G-90 & FX4CR for both base station, field work and RV travel. 20 watts has gotten me to Alaska from POTA in the woods in Florida. As well as all over most of North & sometimes South America. Plus Ireland, France, Germany with just my portable antennas. I fully agree. I have more fun with my 20 watts, then ever with my flagship 100 watts. Good video, thanks! AC3EA
Hello Walt, thanks for yet another video that makes a lot of sense. I actually own these two and I have been using the G90 almost exclusively for my portable ops so far. I will keep the FT891 however, because it's a lovable TX I can't really imagine parting with, for when I shall be able to do some base ops in the summer house and because of the 6 meter band. Talking of power, I'm always amazed when I hear OMs announcing that they push out over 1 kW like this French guy working in the Middle-East last week-end...
well done Walt, I've been operating on 10 watts or less for years and have worked the world, comes down to the the right location and efficient antenna's, a good signal to noise helps a lot.
Love my G90 too! I use it in an off grid outbuilding, dedicated to radio (& storage), where I use a pair of 8 amp/hr LiFePo4 batteries, kept up with a 100 watt solar panel and Renogy charge controller. Perfect set up to feed in my two HF antennas: an OCFD dipole with a 4:1 balun & random wire 44 ft long with a 9:1 balun.
There is a new version of the G90 called the G90N. Better heatsink, power pole connector, only 10w out. It's for the Chinese market, but it's likely that the heatsink case and power pole will come to the main version. I spoke to a Chinese ham on Facebook. He told me it's because they have to register radios onto their licence at a government office. This can be hundreds of miles away. There is a new online registration system for radios under 15w. So this radio can get people on the air easier on their lowest licence class. The heat sinking is just sides like the bottom of the G90 we have.
Every now and again I get the itch to buy a new radio to "upgrade" from my G90 (going on 4 years of ownership). I haven't found one yet that I can justify the payout. The G90 is the best bang for the buck. Portable I use the 6Ah lifepo4 and my shack is powered by swapping between a pair of 20Ah lifepo4. From Central Kentucky (SSB): all 50 states, Europe, Central Russia, South America - through homebrew antennas. 20 watts is plenty.
I fully agree. As the old saying goes, spend as much as possible on the antenna. Then if there is money left over, buy a radio. 20 watts is more than enough and into a superior antenna will do wonders.
Walt, brother as a Ft891 owner I will pray for you! 😆 I own an FX-4CR and love it. My only draw back is I am looking for a tuner for it. I am considering buying a G90 because it comes with a great tuner. I do love your videos keep them coming 73
As a new ham, I understand the logic with the lower power usage. I also have the 891, and just keep the power settings down. Just because there's 100watts available, doesn't mean you need to use it? 😉Unless you really need the extra $$, I would have just kept 891, but you do you. Enjoy the video content 👍
Very, very hard to NOT fall in love with the G90, the ATU is phenomenal and you're right, 20 watts is a wonderful sweet spot, and look how much money folks save when they purchase a G90!!!
I love my G-90. I’ve had my Yaesu FT-710 and G-90 out on POTA activations. The G-90 performed equally as well. Besides it tunes better, is MUCH EASIER to haul around, and I can operate for many hours on a smaller amp battery.
Walt, you do you and what is best to enjoy the hobby your way. That's what it is all about. I have both the FT-891 and FTdx10. Great radio's. My main gripe is that they will not go below 5 Watt. My first Yaesu was a FT-890 bought new in the early 1990s. That one went easily to around 1 Watt. As I am not an outdoor operator, I now use an SDR (on a big screen) that will go as low as 60mW. Great fun. And yes, I am definitely in your camp that 20 Watt is the sweet spot and works well for outdoors, for all the reasons you mentioned in this video. Take care.
I set up a winter ham shack in my basement built a 20m speaker wire vertical,,,my G90 was the rig i used ,,the contacts on 20m were unbelievable!! A sad day is comming when i take it all down to put the grill and picknic table back,,,,this fall ill put a rybokov in its place and hope for the best 73 thanks walt
I can fully understand your reasons for passing along the 891. I had one on loan for a month or so, but could not make "friends" with it. Brilliant quality signal, built like a tank. But it is quite heavy, and power hungry too. I don't like lugging around batteries, so I ended up not buying the 891. I have an old FT-817nd which I love to bits, and also own three Xiegu (G90, G106 and X6100) radios that keeps me busy. I like all my HF radios for widely different reasons, none of them scientific! 😀I find the area between 5w-20w more than ample for me. So there you go, carry on with your blasphemy, I'm standing right beside you spouting the same! Love your videos, 73 Jan M7HNK
About a year ago I became interested in portable operations using what the military calls field expedient antennas. I bought an 891 and Z100A tuner and played with a few antennas as I learned from Google searches and watching some RU-vid videos and in that process I discovered your channel and the G90 radio. I bought a G90 soon after and I've hardly used my 891 since then. I do believe it's a shame you got so many criticisms because you sold your 891 but a lot of people will sell things that are, as one ham I know calls, "in excess of my needs." Soldier on Walt, soldier on.
Thanks for good information Walt. I'm actually not into SSB mode, I'm more like a cw guy, but I support your thoughts and ideas on qrp. I personally really do think it's more rewarding running qrp. I remember my first cw qso qrp 5W from Norway to Italy, 40m. Great great fun I must say. I would love to have G90 once.
Couple of sunspot cycles ago I was using a "born again" CB ground plane shortened 6.5" to tune it to 10 M. I was talking to a fellow (SSB) in Nicaragua who could calibrate his TX power down to 1 mw. BION, I could still hear him Q4 - 5 at 5 mw, but lost him below 2 mw into the noise. We are at SS peak 1 right now, no, not as good as that one, but good. Most manpack radios run 20 - 25 watts. Bonnie, KQ6XA who founded HFPack used a Yaesu VX-1210 for all her stuff. 25 W. Worked. 73, Jerry wa2omu
48 years ago I had a KW204 tx and KW202 rx, sold them and got a Yeasu FT101E, both 100 Watts. Turning the power down as low as possible on 10m in the 80's I was still getting out. Sold that and went QRT for ten years after moving QTH, built a QRP rig, 80m + 20m 4 Watts s.s.b. and c.w. and later added all h.f. bands and now adding 60m. Currently using an FT817ND 5 Watts s.s.b. and c.w. with attic dipoles and regularly getting 1,000+ miles on 17m and 10m. One Watt c.w. recently to Bulgaria and Finland on 10m. My Pixie on 60m with 350 mW out got me 180 miles QSO with a SWL report from 220 miles. Just getting back into it after suffering S8 noise 160m to 20m from internet broadband which cleared up in February when it went to fibre optic cable. G4GHB.
Thanks Walt. New to HF and researching radios. This video gives good points for me to consider. What other 20ish way radios are you looking at? I've been looking into the SBITX V3 as well. Looking for a small backpack radio for backpacking/ SOTA/POTA. Thanks, Jeff
I’m looking at the Guohetec PMR-171. I’ve seen some good and some bad reviews on it. I highly recommend the Xiegu G90 if you are just getting started in HF. It’s absolutely a great place to start.
Im all about the brand.... Have a lot of Yaesu's but would buy a chinese radio like the G90 or a FX-4CR but I draw the line at junk like icom. My FT897 does 20 watts with the built in batteries. Works great and I've got all the stuff needed to go portable with it.
Great points, Walt. I am mostly a CW guy and do a lot of POTA. I'm always shocked at how much DX I get with my G90. I recently got the FT891, it's a great radio and has many features like memory keyer, better receiver and such but it's a power hog even when you turn down to 20-40w, also no tuner. I often still travel with my G90.
What timing! I’ve been conflicted on these 2 radios for months and am getting ready to buy in the next day or so . I was convinced on the FT891 until this week. Your channel has provided some great insight on the G90. In your opinion, is the additional cooling fan needed if I’m just using SSB phone? 73!
No I have been running mine for 3 years in the heat with no fan. It gets a little warm at times but the fan really isn’t necessary for just SSB. 73, Walt
I have both radios, the G-90 and the 891. Each serve their purpose and I won't be getting rid of one over another. But the one thing I wish the G-90 had, and that is the Yaesu DNR--hands down it beats the G-90 in that department. Friend of mine just ordered the sBitx V3--does about everything including opening your can of soup...Will have to ask how he likes it. 20w and again, around $400. Maybe this will end up being a new radio genre--above the usual QRP, but below the 100w base station.
Good info in the video. I love my 891 for a number of reasons but never run it at 100 watts! You are correct in the power comments. Under most conditions 1 or 2 S-units are insignificant. Occasionally it does make a difference but only for the contester or extreme weak signal operator. Conditions make the most difference and choice of band etc. I run several power levels but 20 to 50 watts is almost always the choice. I also never run any rig ( except my old boat anchor Johnson Viking Ranger II ) at full power. Even my 1500 watt rated amplifier only gets pushed to 750 watts for maybe the rare new country! It still has the original tubes from the 1980’s! The old rule of thumb used to be you need to quadruple your power or antenna gain to make a worthwhile improvement in signal strength. For me it’s the receiver that counts most. Also the way the front panel controls are set up can make or break a radio for me. It may be what you are used to. I want everything to operate like my long gone TenTec Omni 6 plus! The Elecraft K3 and the FT-891 suit me. I do wish they both had the sound of my old Drake 2B but they are not bad.
Im looking at an 891 as im struggling with to work an hear us stations on it, even with tweaking settings and antenna setup i can work Europe perfectly fine on my g90 tho at 20w
I got a G90 a couple months ago. My plan was to take it with me when I go fly kites and use a kite to lift the antenna. I wanted to make sure I knew how to use it well so started playing with it at home. I love that thing. So far, there was only one time that I couldn't complete a contact and felt like one more S unit may have done it. Meh. Great radio and 20 watts is enough.
I used to talk into Europe from my car with 25 watts on 10 meters back in the 80's when the cycle was up but today the noise level is so bad on 20M and below that no matter how much power you run won't help .
I'm in Arizona and whenever I'm doing POTA I pretty much run 100w ever time. This is because I'm trying to get more contacts throughout the country and get a lot of comments how I'm being heard better than a lot of POTA activators. It's also nice when hunting when I can hear the operator compared with those running low power and fighting QSB.
Hi Walt. I have an FT891 but would love a G90 ( keeping FT891 though) to keep in my car boot. Simple quick set up but have heard some poor comments on the G90. I know you love it but £400 pounds in the UK is still a lot of money if it is going to have screen problems etc. 20 watts sounds perfect with no extra tuner etc. like yourself I like sitting by the sea operating. Love your videos. Scott
UK licences have just been updated from a max of 400w to 1Kw and the dealers are selling big amps hard... but all you need is 20w and extra power just adds to the noise level. I agree Walt 20 watts is a happy place to be on power output.
Hey Walt, I got the inspiration to get my G90 from your videos and style of working. Have always been curious about how far I can reach with the 20w of it. Would you be interested to try a CW DX test from G90 in Central India to a G90 with you at your QTH? If that works, maybe we can try SSB?
20 watts isn’t QRP 1st of all. But with that said in order to increase your signal by 1 S-unit you need to double your power twice. 10 watts is QRP for SSB in most peoples standards, 5 watts for CW/FT modes. When I 1st became a ham back in 1997 I was always told QRP was 5 watts or less no matter what. QRP technically doesn’t even mean low power. It means lower your power, there’s a difference. Any how, starting with 5 watts real QRP power in my opinion, 5*2=10,10*2=20 or 1 S-unit. 20*2=40, & 40*2=80 or another S-unit so that’s where an up to 100 watt would come in handy. I definitely see your point in using 20 watts as it’s 1 S-unit higher than 5 watts. Antenna is always your biggest cheapest power gainer. As you have proven in many a videos here on the channel. I recently installed an FT-891 & ATAS120 in my car. I’m not impressed with the ATAS to say the least. But it makes an example of where 100 watts is really needed because the ATAS120 is nothing more than a rubber duck on the HF bands. Your sacrificing performance for ease of use, big time! Needless to say it’s time to kick the ATAS down the road. Another great video Walt! 73 de W2ITG
Right on Walt. I get grief sometimes from folks about 20w and chinese radios, but for working portable I agree with you on 20w. I do cheat with the X6100, and will use a small amplifier pushing 30w sometimes.
Agreed Walt. It's amazing how much you can get out with less than "barefoot" power. I recently had a 30 min rag chew with a station in Japan (from WA) using my FT-818, 6w with a resonant whip antenna. I think the antenna was key. We both had each other S9. Of course the propagation gods must be on your side.
I couldn't agree with you more sir. Me being new to hf starting only with an HR2510 tuned down to only transmit at 15 to 20 watts and a homebrewed rotary dipole. I have worked most of Europe and the farthest I've reach is Brazil at 19, 900 plus kilometers from where I'm at. One time, a friend lend me his Anytone 5555 and an amp that can do 100 to 150 watts. Comparing it with my setup, it only does showed only a slight difference except when conditions is bad. Honestly, it is the thrill and excitement that I get with just 20 watts. With higher output there is not much thrill because you know the chances of making a contact is high. What more, if can build at least a 3 element yagi. 73, and all the best.
I started off with the yaesu 817. Not a good radio for a noob. I bought the 45 w Tokyo hi power amp and that made the radio much more enjoyable on voice ssb. I use this setup now on field day and it works well on digital and voice.
Well said Walt. 20 watts is more than enough. And you can always reduce the power on a 100 watt radio. So where did these people get the idea you need to pump out a lot of RF to make contacts? I have heard guys say they won't even talk to another station unless he is 20 over! I don't get it. I could care less what my RST is or what his RST is. As long as we can communicate, that's all that matters. There isn't a spot on this planet I haven't worked with 5 watts on CW. Read the FCC regulations: 97.313 Transmitter power standards. (a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.
The only area where the FT-891 might have an edge over the G90 is in the quality of the receiver. Would be interesting to see a side-by-side test to determine whether the Yaesu radio is able to pull weak stations out of the noise any better than the Xiegu radio. My experience of using the G90 for SOTA tells me that the receiver is decent.
I was morning show host on KBRT-AM 740. The transmitter was on Catalina Island. The radials extended into the ocean. The 10KW signal was stronger than 50KW due to the salt water boost. The daytime signal was second strongest in Southern California (second only to KFI). A subcontractor welding one of the towers caused a fire that nearly destroyed the city of Avalon. They were kicked off of the Island. KBRT is now 50KW landlocked in Orange County. The 50KW signal covers less than 70% of 10KW in salt water. If you lived in Colorado, South Dakota, Ohio or another landlocked state, would 20 watts still be adequate?
Good stuff, I’m an AM DXer. Thanks for sharing. I used nothing but 20 watts for two years while working in Poland well away from saltwater and still made some consistent great contacts.
I have a FT857D and rarely ever ran it above 20-30 watts. I now have a FT991A and again, I keep it at between 20-30 watts. Worked a lot of stations with it into a random end fed antenna strung on the inside railing of my deck. I don’t need the 100 watts, but what the heck, it’s there should I ever need it.
fwiw, I run a 7300 with a AV-640 vertical antenna. I also have a 800w amp-of which I've used only a handful of times in the last several years...i should sell it.. lol..
I'm learning CW now, and playing with my IC-705 - trying to track how far my signal goes on RBN, I don't really see a difference from the builtin battery at 5W, and with a external one at 10W. So I would agree with you on this point.
