Why I love traveling with the Xiegu G90 and why you should consider this transceiver if you’re looking for a small rig that’s easy to travel with. #Xiegu #XieguG90 #HFtransceiver
Just got a pair for my son and myself. Can't wait to get it up an running. Studying for my General. Paired it with a Buddistick. Hopefully it's going to work well. Thanks Walt.
My very first HF contact was with my G90. It’s was with someone transmitting with 1,000 watts from Texas. He was floored I was transmitting at only 20 watts.
Wait till someone answers you from 1000 miles away on a simple two transistor transmitter you built. Doug Demaw had lots of circuits in QST in the 70-80s.
I've had my general ticket for several years but never pulled the trigger on a HF rig due to all the costs. $1,000 minimum by my math for radio, power supply, antenna and antenna tuner. I have a handheld 2 meter I won at a ham fest. (Yaesu FT 60r) I have to say, you've convinced me finally to go with the G90. Thanks, love your videos!
I recently bought a G90 after watching your vids Walt,i have several Yaesu rig's which are currently sat gathering dust,i love the G90,thanks for the vids which led me to finally join the G90 club ..73 from England 🏴
Thanks for sharing your experience Walt. I feel the same way about my G90 as you do yours. I've recommended it to people just starting out, as you say, it gets the job done!
I've had mine for 2-1/2 years and I love it. Over 9000 portable Parks On The Air QSOs, most with a "travel-friendly" 40/20/10 EFHW and some with a Wolf River Coil vertical. I almost always get calls from Europe as well as all over the US and Canada from here near the east coast. About 1000 QSOs at home, too. In a test with a T-connector it heard every signal I could hear on my IC-7610, although not always as well. Best $440 I ever spent in ham radio!
Walt appreciate your sharing your thoughts and experiences and videos. I discovered this channel recently and have especially enjoyed the videos related to the G90 and POTA. While I have a TS2000 in my shack you have convinced me that the G90 should be my go to field POTA expeditions radio !
I have used the G90 on almost every one of my portable operations....a few people have seen my transceiver and then purchased their own. This is a great radio. It is also great as a general coverage receiver! 73
I just bought mine to listen to inspire me to get my General. There is a contest going on and I'm shocked how many states and international stations Im hearing on my first home brew. I watched this video before I purchased it and appreciated the review and your comment!!!!
@@thequarantinecatholic awesome, if you’re a Tech already 10 meters is on fire. I worked Europe and South America today during the contest with my G90 on 10.
Located in Lawton, OK I finished a "Clean Sweep" of the Route 66 Special Event stations (21 of them) using a mix of SSB, CW, FT4 and FT8. When connected to a Digirig sound serial device, the G90 performs well enough and getting better all the time with the firmware updates! I'm very satisfied with mine. Thanks for your video. I'm a former US defense contractor and former ex-patriot employee as well. 73s DE AG4KN - John
When I first got my novice ticket over 50 years ago, my rig had an input power of 17W (tube final), so my output power was just a fraction of that. I worked almost all fifty states and dozens of countries. One station I worked was running a full KW, and turned off his amp with little difference in signal strength. He then dropped his power to the minimum level and copy was still solid. Thanks for your comments on the G90. I picked one up to try on digital modes. Looking forward to getting it on the air.
Another happy G90 owner here. I also have the XPA125B amp and I have the W2ENY boom mic cable, this is my everyday rig and I get nothing but compliments with it.
Hi Walt, love your videos! Love your enthusiasm!.. Been binge watching G90 reviews, watched this one several times.. Have a 7300 on the desk, have a old Kenwood TS-50 for well over a decade-nearly 2, has been a suburb rig for camping/ field day type ops. Gonna order a G90.. plan is for motorcycle based camping (which is a lot like backpacking space-wise for gear) with HF ops.. looking forward to something lighter weight, less bulk, lower power requirements etc..- the Kenwood has and outboard tuner which makes is largish and about 12lbs not to mention a battery. I feel the G90 should work out well, especially with improving sun spot activity, looking at -1 S unit overall difference if running 100w in the Ts-50. Will be using a home made 49:1 EFHW @ 66' that has already proven effective..before I had an MFJ-9420 5w ssb which was crude-poor VFO (never knew what freq. I was actually on) but function able, made contacts to Hi and Cuba from AZ. The G90 seems more like a 20w version of the 7300 by comparison...should be awesome! Paul K7TTV
Hey walt Brian 2e0ilf here had this rig 2 weeks barely now snd its awesomevthe new updates are way kool just got myself a 49:1 unun added 66 ft of wire and it does not budge on swr meter keep ip the vids Brian Liverpool uk
I've owned and used a G90 for well over a year now and had a blast. Like you said, it's a lot of radio in a little box. I like mine so well I bought a second one to mount in my camper trailer. You would be hard pressed to beat this little radio and yes 20 watts will do very well. I've made contacts well over 4000 miles with just the G90 and a 5btv vertical. My main rig is for the most part collecting dust. 73's N4ZDX
Yep - my G90 is great. Just updated to the 1.79b03 firmware - the receiver, which I thought was already great, is even greater now with a really nifty dual bandpass filters. This thing is awesome on CW. My FT-991a is sitting on a shelf unused and I've been having a blast the past year with my G90.
I still dnt know (after update of firmware 1.79b03) how to adjust the bandwidth of RX audio - its default 2700. Any link/video/help on this ? Tried few but no success. Thank You. 73 vu3tbu
G90. My First rig on becoming licenced. All you say is true - and more. My G90 now is my full time portable rig using a linked dipole or 49:1 fed EFHW from NE England to the world!!!
Thanks for the tip on the power supply, ordered one (3-12v 5 amp) to use with my G90 - very impressed and quiet, so good that I ordered 2 more to use with my G1m and FT817. Came very quickly from China to VK - 73 Alex VK2ABE
Hi Walt. Many Hams do not realize that the difference between 20 watts and 100 watts is only 1 1/4 S-unit (on the receiving end). I use my G90 at home, and can usually work any station I can hear. Its a great radio with a lot of features for a small price. A friend got a G90 Recently...He is having a lot of fun with his G90 while his Yaesu 710 gathers dust!
Hello, Walt. Before I became a radio amateur, I was considering 1) M0NKA 2) G90 for portable operation. But finally bought the Yaesu-991a as my first radio. The touch and feel experience from Yaesu is hugely better (incomparable) neither to M0NKA nor to G90. And you always have 100W available. Many radio amateurs become radio collectors gathering tons of different radios. Finally, their collections of Chinese radios cost more than one FT-991a which is good both for indoor and portable operation.
Yes the FT-991a is an awesome radio. Just not sure if you can throw it in a backpack and travel with it as easy as you can the G90. That was what I was trying to show in this video. A small radio with a low power 4 amp power supply.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Hello again, Walt. I always work portable as I always lose the competition to the electronics making noise at amateur bands in the city. I use a 25 Ah LiFePo battery which offers 30A current with a minimum voltage drop while transmitting with 100W and lasts over 4 hours. What I was trying to say is that I'm ready to carry 3.9 extra pounds in the backpack in order to get a pleasant experience not only from the radio communication itself but from the tuning knob rotation feel as well :)
Both good points, Walt & Andrii…I’ve considered both. I Own neither. The G90 size and power is the draw for me, plus what Walt says in the vid. I’m in Hawaii where everyone has a 991 and they seem so big. Plenty of people use them for portable without a table and an easy-up tent It’s exciting that gear is getting so small. My problem is that I’m so remote and 5w won’t do it. Considering 100w is a game changer when you consider all the possible accessories. There’s something nice about the 20w and it’s still in the QRP realm, but once you get the 100w amp it seems like things might start to go sideways
@@Andrew-dg7qm I understand your situation, I have worked New Zealand from Kauai 5 watts SSB but it was hard and I wish I had my G90 with me at that time. I’m actually looking into smaller portable 100 watt rigs myself right now.
I'm looking at buying this radio, probably for Xmas. In the UK the lowest Foundation licence holders can use 10w but that could soon be upped to 20w and this is perfect. I currently use the X6100.
I have a short ton of 2M/70C and CB's. The G90 and that power supply are on my radar. Power supply first, budget, you know. Have to check what I can afford before I order the G90.
great little rig. i do enjoy mine as well. lots of cool features. works great as a qrp rig and qro to 20w to scare off the frequency squatters, lol. thx for sharing. k0klb
The G90 is kick butt. I was able to get my kit small enough to fix on my motorcycle. I just got back from a ride, and along the way I stopped and activated a park with my g90 and home made 49:1 efhw. It was great, and got several 59+ signal reports from over 1000 miles away
@@MopedWanderlust frank, I pack my G90 (wrapped in a towel), EFHW antenna (similar to the KM4ACK antenna), mic and power cord, battery (6ah LiFePo4), logbook and 7m telescopic fishing pole mast into a day pack sold by ozark tail (Walmarts in house brand). I then use a cargo net to attach it to the passengers back rest on my 2013 HD street glide. I have not done an over night trip with the radio, but suspect I would have enough room in my saddle bags for extra clothing and food. I also do not do motorcycle mobile, because that would be difficult, let alone dangerous.
A ham friend near by is talking about bringing his Xiegu G-90 by my home again to let me play around on 10 meters with my tech license. It is definitely a fun radio. KO4HPC Have fun Walt.
Thanks walt, you did convince me. I've found what I hope is a good deal for a 2nd hand G90, it should be here in a week or so. I already own a Yaesu FT-891 which is a great TX but not so suitable for mobile/portable opoeration and using self-made field antennas.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I certainly do hope so. It's more likely to happen during late spring/summer though, when I go to the QRA by the sea (Brittany). When over there, I intend to apply every bit of the useful advice you've given about antennas on the shore and the salt water boost, be it at the beach or on a pier. I've already thought of possible locations for this 😁
Love your videos. I’m relatively new to Ham Radio and an out of the box appliance operator. I’m in Europe now so will isten for you. So to my question-how do you connect the SHNIT to the radio. I have powerpoles and do not see it with the supply as an adapter.
I had to find one that matched one of the supplied fittings that came with the power supply. I’ll see if I can find the connector number type and will post is possible.
I've only just taken out a licence (having passed my exam 51 years ago!) and I've only been on air for 5 weeks. I'm using a temporary antenna, which is no more than a couple of bits of wire taped to my bedroom walls. (It's a sort of bent half-wave dipole for 20 metres, with a 1:1 balun and a line isolator included). Using that antenna, and the 20 watts from my Xiegu G90, I've worked Brazil (5945 miles), USA (3463 miles), Canada (2814 miles) and Kuwait (2860 miles) on 17 metres and Canada (2966 miles) and Kazakhstan (2538 miles) on 20 metres, along with many other countries from my UK location. (48 countries in total so far, in just 5 weeks). As the bands are starting to open up more, I know that I can still do MUCH better than that and I've already got my sights set on breaking the 10,000 mile barrier any day soon 🙂 So I'm certainly a BIG fan of the G90!
I keep looking at the g90, it would be a great rig for my bicycle mobile down here on the beach, but I have never found one as cheap as you mentioned, all the ones I've seen have been $800-$900. But I keep looking.73
I have one of these and agree with all of your points. It's a really good portable rig. One minor criticism I have is the built in speaker is not the greatest and there is no jack for an external speaker. I get around this by using a small powered speaker that I purchased on Amazon for just over $20. I feed it with audio from the headphone jack and it makes a huge difference.
You will love this radio if you get one. There's a lot there for the price. Yes filtering for RFI is fine, I haven't had any issues. Thanks for watching. 73 de K4OGO
very kool...if u would..what u use 4 antenna on the go?..i'd like do similar setup...on the cheap ...great job..very impressed...can u pls give further details..unless hav another video..if so..i shall watch
I’ve used several different antennas with this radios but for the two QSOs in this video, the UK contact was an EFHW and the USA contact was a helically wound vertical. I have videos on my channel of this radio here in Europe with different antennas. Thanks for watching and 73! Walt K4OGO
I used my G90 on field day (with the 100W amp) and it blew people away! Id be scared to take of the handles myself on it though, I tend to knock stuff over at times.
Awesome! It’s amazing how much smaller of a case you can get it in to travel with when you take the handles off. I’ll put them back on when I return to the states.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Yeah I want to get another portable radio and put this in a pelican case with a dedicated LiFePo power supply and have it as a "shack in a box" kit for activations
I finally took the rails off my Xiegu and put it in a lunch bag, it fits pretty well and is the perfect portable field go bag. Also, I got the 5amp 24-volt version of that SHNITPWR power supply and its awesome, I'm loving the little adapters that came with it, making it extremely versatile for different applications. And I was wondering what program you used in the video to visualize your contacts on the map at minute 3:32 thank you for the great Ideas!
Hi Adam, yes those adapters make that power supply so versatile. I used an online QSO map site to make that map, I think it was this one: www.qsomap.com/ All the best and 73!
@@audiesanchez2984 there is a green adapter that came with the SHNITPWR power supply. It has a (Positive +) and (Negative -) terminal. And then you can take the power cable that came with the Xiegu g90 and put the red positive to positive terminal on the SHNTPWR adapter and the black negative to negative. Be careful not to cross polarity or you can cause damage. I hope I answered your question
I am fairly new to everything. After reading this, I still don't know how to power my rig with the power supply... and I'm afraid to experiment and ruin my rig. I'm also wondering if it would be possible to make an adapter that runs through the Anderson port (on the fan). Have/ could you make a video that shows how to connect everything?
How did you connect the power supply to the radio? I'm looking at this for travel as well a a fill-in for my icom that's in the shop. Love the idea of being able to just take that adapter with instead of a battery, but still need the ability to run off of a battery for our frequent "micro field days" out here. Thanks and 73
I just bought a used one on consignment from an estate sale. Always wanted one to carry around with me. Just need to figure out what size battery to carry with it for about 3 hours of ssb contacts. 73's KG7COA
If an S-unit is 6dB and 20W is 7dB (okay 6.9897dB) below 100W, then you lose just about one S-Unit. Yes, it can make a difference, but it is also possible to make a lot of contacts with even less than 20W.
How did you mate that power supply with those funny power outlets on the G90? I would like to see a video on that. I agree that the G90 is a GREAT rig. But why Xeigu chose to put those funky power outlets on it I cannot figure out. Probably to sell that extra cooling fan that has Anderson Power Poles on it. So that they could get a few more dollars.
Would you recommend this or a yaesu ft-891? I’m looking for my first hf rig. And have a 15ah Bioenno battery for portable ops. I was originally looking at the ft-991a for a snack in the box style radio to use in my house but since I can’t really mount an antenna on the house I’m living in currently, I’m now leaning towards portable to work outside in my yard or at a park. Thanks and 73!
I would highly recommend this over the FT-891 as a first HF right because it has the internal antenna tuner which makes things much easier. I found that it’s also easier to use. The FT-891 menu system is a pain. 73, Walt
I am new to Amateur Radio, and interested in CW and FT8 as well as SSB and everything else. Will the G90 work well for CW and FT8 or is it missing anything?
The other day I made a contact with Belgium and Last night i made 3 contacts into Europe, I hit Lithuania, Italy and Poland From WA state. I also received a 55 or 44 all while using the internal tuner and a 41 foot wire with no 9:1 Unun. Do you have a battery you would recommend for portable work?
I use a small LifePo4 6 Ah battery. It is small, lightweight and lasts for hours. I've had it a couple years. I think the brand is Talentcell, I got it on Amazon.
Its a lovely radio, but its just a little bit pricey, cheaper than the IC705, but more powerful. If I didnt have the 705 or the uBitv6, I'd be tempted. Be intrested to know where you can get them at the price stated :)
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES That sounds great, thanks! I picked up my G90 today at the post office and I’m expecting the SHNITPWR, coax and a 9:1 for an EFHW antenna. I passed my general ticket last Saturday after a very long hiatus from ham radio. It’s great to be back.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES The SHNTPWR works great! It’s not too big and it’s light. And it doesn’t make noise, which is a plus. It was a piece of cake to wire the G90 power cable to the two-screw adapter plug. Correction on the un-un. It’s a 49:1 and it works pretty well. I need to get some elevation on the sloper. Thanks for this suggestion.
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Hi Walt! I just ordered a G90 based on your recommendation - great black friday pricing so why not go for it. I do have a question about power supply : 1. Would you still recommend the same type of power supply you show in the video? I worry about the "cheaper" power supplies and potential interference but maybe it's not an issue? 2. I was also looking at the LiFePO4 batteries on Amazon which seems like a great deal for portable - do you recommend a charger for those type of batteries?
Hi Drew, I would definitely get a better power supply than the one I show in this video. I’m currently using the 10 amp version of it now as I’m traveling and I haven’t had any issues but when I’m home I use a much better power supply. I purchased a 6aH LifePo4 on Amazon that came with it’s own charger, maybe look at that when your shopping. BTW the little 6aH battery is perfect, I’ve operated portable for 3 to 4 hours at a time with it.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I'm glad I asked before buying! I think for now since I really want to be portable and take this bad boy camping I'm just going to go the battery route. Already dreaming of some cool antenna setups to drag down to the beach with me as well. Your channel really hits a sweet spot for me because you have a ton of great info AND you're in a similar location (I'm in Wilmington, right down the coast from you). Your videos about the beach antennas are especially interesting to me. Keep up the great work sir!
@@Drew_Pearson thanks so much! You’re going to love that G90. You’ve got some awesome spots to go portable there as well. When I was a kid my grandparents had a place in Emerald Isle, been wanting to get down there and play radio.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES man, no kidding! There are tons of islands, neat little beaches, and other spots to set up shop for a lazy afternoon on the radio. In fact, in a couple weeks we're headed to Bald Head Island which I think could end up being a lot of fun - I need to get a kit together before then! I've never done any sort of portable operations before but I'm sure I'll find some good ideas for antennas in your videos. It seems like you are getting great results with that vertical pole/umbrella holder and bare copper wire out into the water. There is the USS North Carolina battleship here too - the local clubs do POTA stuff from there. That may be something cool to check out if you ever come down this way. Emerald Isle is such a great place for a vacation! I bet it's changed a bit since you were last there but honestly it still has a great "small beach town" vibe. Absolutely worth a visit. (Man I feel like I'm working for the NC tourism department over here...)
Gracias por compartir tu experiencia, tengo dos preguntas, 1.- qué tipo antena utilizas?, 2.- Donde comprar el original?, pienso que pueden existir copias desde China. 73
Buenos días, mirando el video, vi que mencionas el amplificador Xiegu, tienes experiencia o comentarios sobre ese amplificador?, valdra su valor funcionando con el G90?, agradeceré muchos sus comentarios, CD3VKL, 73
I’ve used this radio with several antennas. If you’re referring to the clips in the video, the UK QSO was an EFHW and the USA QSO was a helically wound vertical.
Great video, bit under powered for what I need, but if I had spare pocket money, I would probably get one. But checking 20m for you, as conditions into eu are fantastic, but not found you yet. Go well my friend 73 brian zl3xdj.
