Great vid, the thing I like about all this portable gear is its availability. SOTA and POTA becomes in the reach of many and as a fan of the great outdoors it just opens up and great part of the hobby. I’ve had my KX3 for 11 years now after donating a kidney to afford one (joke) I’ve never regretted it. Fast forward to now and portable kit is within the reach of many whose wish to give it a try. With a house move pending it will be some months before I will be operational from my new QTH so working portable will become a mainstay. Thanks for posting. Regards Mike
My KX3 is about as old. I used it only mountain topping, but since I moved/downsized to an apartment it has become my QTH radio, along with my balcony Buddipole. So I am looking for a field radio now. I bought a TruSDX but am not that impressed. But this little wonder sounds like a winner. Good luck with your move! VE7VIE
It is a great little radio, owned mine since July 2023 done several WWFF & POTA activations both SSB and FT4/FT8 with a home made 40m EFHW and love it. oh by the way it got built in Bluetooth. 73
I had a play with the bluetooth the other day. It works very well & would be brilliant if you wanted to do SOTA/POTA/WWFF on FT8. I didn't film it because watching someone else running FT8 probably wouldn't make a particularly interesting video! Only thing is it got a little warm after about an hour. I was running 10 watts which might be slightly exuberant for such a small radio.
Thank you for your dedication to amature radio - I love your SOTA videos, they are seriously inspiring, sadly SOTA summits near my QTH are few and far between, but when I get back to Wales will be more opputnity - I'd be new to SOTA, but I really enjoy the locations and the videos, as well as the practical demos. Thanks again ! 73 2E0FWE
That was good James. If you still have the radio, it would be nice to learn a little more about it and its features in a future video. Cheers, Fraser MM0EFI
I have to admit to being surprised how good it was. It's certainly not on a par with my Icom 705, but it's half the price of the 705. It's in the same price range as a Xiegu 6100. I would definitely have this over the Xiegu! The only reason I'm not buying one of these is I want to wait to see if the Xiegu 6200 is any good (although I'm not holding my breath). Apparently there is also a manpack version of the Lab599 TX-500 due to be released, which I am extremely interested in.
Haven't had a chance to get my hands on a G90 but it's definitely smaller & lighter than the G90. Both 20 watts. Both require an external battery. Not sure how the receiver & audio quality would compare? I've typically not been impressed with Xiegu in the past (specifically X5105 & X6100), although I'm guessing that the G90 probably has a bigger speaker due to its larger size. I suspect this is more durable than a G90 & will cope better with being bashed around in a rucksack. It's an interesting comparison.
Hi james. Great video. Ive also looked at one of these. I am holding out to see what yeasu and xeigu bring to the table for qrp. I am hoping the x6200 is a 20w unit which will be great for the new chages to the output power for M7's. I always said i never want a home radio but i quite fancy the ft991a then i have a shack in a box at home and run a full 20w on my compromised antennas. Currently have an efhw up on a 10m mast which has dropped down in the high winds we had the other night.
From what I'm hearing, I don't think the Xeigu 6200 is going to be much of a step up from the 6100 but I've heard suggestions of prices over the £1k mark! Not sure how true that is. Would be nice to see Yaesu bring out something to rival the 705. It seems to me that they are focusing on their range of base stations at the moment, although they could surprise us with an announcement at one of the big Hamfests. For the ultimate portable, I think the Lab599 man pack version of the TX-500 might be the one to look out for. To me, it's either the FX-4CR, Lab599, or the 705. I could be totally wrong but that's my take on it.
@@AmateurRadioUK yes you are absolutely right. I like the look of the lab 599. To be honest I not sure what I want. We all have different needs and there will never be a perfect radio. I love my 817 but it's getting old now. Will never sell it now I have it though. 73
@m7trsradio As you said, it depends what you are after. For an all band, all mode home base station it has to be the Yaesu 991a. I've heard good things about it and frankly, there's not much else on the market. I wouldn't get the FX-4CR as a base station. It's good but the receive isn't in the same league as the 705 or the 991a. Could always get the 705 & run it through a linear for home use.....best of both worlds?
Cheers Andy. It actually wasn't too bad. I set up just off the top of the summit on the downwind side, so managed to shelter (to some degree) from the wind.
Nice one James, was that actually a mountain, as the last small mountain I climbed took me 5 hrs hi hi. Wonder what height it was. More on that radio would be good, as many think it's rubbish .73.
Hi Brian. Summit reference GW/SW-008 in the SOTA scheme. 663 meters above sea level apparently. I'll see if I can squeeze another video or two out of it over the next couple of days. Unfortunately it is a loan item, so I will have to send it back soon.
Good video James and that looks an interesting piece of kit. I'm sure that it will be popular and the RX audio certainly seemed loud enough. What App do you use for logging on your phone? I'm still paper logging 😄 73 Chris M0RSF
Thanks Chris. In this video I was using the HAMRS app on my phone. It's the first time I've tried that app & i haven't made up my mind on it yet. It does POTA & SOTA, but unfortunately not WWFF (it's made by an American developer, so it's unlikely to have a WWFF template added anytime soon).
Hello Chris and James. I have also used hammers app but didn't like it but that was my opinion. There is always vk porta log or station master. The last time I was on the radio was CQWW and I did a paper log. I have log4om and n1nna or what ever it's called on my laptop. I think it's just finding one which works best for your needs. I don't get on the radio that much so even just qrz will work for me.
I use a 22ah UltraMax battery for my 100 watt radios when portable. Possibly a bit overkill for a quick 30 minute activation with this radio, but it's what I had to hand at the time.
