Cool stuff, Thomas. I operated for about an hour on Field Day with my X6100 at 10 Watts and a dipole made of 18 AWG hookup wire and strung out low into two trees with paracord. I managed to make my first 4 Field Day QSOs on 20m SSB with this setup !

18:40 There I am. I remember working you. I had my keyer set to 18wpm but it sounds more like 20 or 22wpm. That was all over my remote station. Great video as always. Kyle AA0Z

I have experienced no overloading issues with my X6100, in the field or at home in the shack. I might be lucky, but really it's been fine here. I also have a IC-705 and many other QRP rigs to compare it with. I am LOVING the X6100. Mine is running full Armbian Linux with FT8 / FLDIGI / QSSTV, etc, all on board! Its got some quirks, but none of these are presenting any problems for me in actual use as yet. It's one for the tinkerers for sure (maybe not so good for your traditional "black box" operator). But I love it!

Mine will be here Friday, can't wait to play with it. Almost bought a 5105, then decided that for the extra few dollars this one was a better option for me.

Sounds like a difficult radio to love

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Am I that transparent? :) I really want to like it more than I do. I prefer the X5105 over the X6100 though.

That side tone reminds me of the gi Joe walkie talkies from the 80s. Remember the Cw button? Man it picked up every cordless phone on the block back then. Haha

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

Oh my goodness that brings back memories. Yes it does. In fact, I went to a B52's concert in the early 90's and Fred Schneider used a GI Joe walkie talkie to make the beep sound in Rock Lobster! He could have used a X6100! 😆

I really want to love this radio, but the more reviews of it I watch, I'm thinking it qualifies for the "over oooey under pooey" award.

First, let’s say that the icom ic-705 is not in the class that the Xiegu x6100 is because the icom 705 does not have an internal antenna tuner even though you have to spend an arm and two legs trying to buy one. So forget the 705 and go with a 6100 and read below. A comment if you don’t mind. First, let me say this was an outstanding fantastic video you did. I’m talking about the 6100 Xiegu now. When I first bought it last year, I had high hopes for it. And sure enough it had problems. For example, you could not finetune it. That portion just did not work. But finally with the last upgrade, I have spent quite some time with the radio. Thank goodness because before when I bought it, I left it in a box and wanted to spit on it every time I walked past. But after I made the last software upgrade it now has wonderful fine tuning and I actually was able to send Winlink over it with just the USB interface cable that came with it. I also did WSPR with it. And was able to find tune and do CW with it. It seems like the little box with its upgrade is coming into its own. So I think now if someone talks about it, they should first upgrade the 6100 with the latest firmware and find out that it is coming into its own. I really really like the 6100 now however there’s one thing I do not like. And that is the cheap rinky-dink tinny sound coming out of its speaker. But other than that, with a set of earbuds, I can hear it pretty clearly, and if I was to go portable and want to grab a quick radio that has an internal battery and yes, it has an internal antenna tuner I am giving second thoughts about it and may start carrying it whole lot more. With its internal battery and microphone on the front of it you can almost use it like a walkie-talkie. So the 6100 to me is coming around. I think it can safely be considered when looking for a QRP radio. Because it can also do all the digital modes. Finally, the fine-tuning works. So don’t discount that Xieugu x6100 anymore until you’ve done the last software upgrade, and I think you will be quite impressed. Oh yes, I don’t want to forget, saying that I was so easily able to send Vara HF Winlink email without an external sound card. The one built in this little box is doing just a great job. So this little boy is climbing the ladder.

@ThomasK4SWL

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your comment. Excellent!

Awesome!

Super

Hi Thomas, love your activation video's I do have one comment to make though. I have tried to hear you on 20mtrs but never manage to do so, thats why an effiecient resonant antenna would certainly help with us european stations who dont have big yagis to try and work your QRP signals. So even though you are the chased after station, it would be better with a properly tuned resonant antenna to give us a chance of a Pota or Sota contact. Just saying. keep up the activations and maybe one day ;-)

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

So actually, more often than not I'm using efficient, resonant antennas. This year, maybe 60-70% of my activations have been with 40, 30 and 20 meter end-fed half-waves. The UK and Ireland is, for whatever reason, a very tough catch where I live in North Carolina. Most of this summer, though, I'll be here in Canada (as VY2SW) where I should think it'd be much easier. It is true that more efficient antennas yield better DX. (Save the times I work Europe with the Elecraft AX1. That think is made of witchcraft!)

Thomas, yeah, the receive on the X6100 sounds awful. As always, thanks for the video.

Love to see you activate a site with a Xiegu G90

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

That's unlikely to happen soon. :) I owned a G90 and did a number of activations with it. I even reviewed it for The Spectrum Monitor magazine, but when I started doing CW, I found that I never needed more than 5 watts and liked a lighter kit. Here's my review: swling.com/blog/2020/09/a-review-of-the-xiegu-g90-general-coverage-transceiver/

Hello Thomas, another great video. Sorry but glad to know I'm not the only one who has Fumble Fingers at times. I've been doing POTA activations almost daily and have noticed recently more and more CW operators seem to be sending CQs on top of me while I've been on the frequency for awhile. Its not the band conditions where people can't hear you. They just start sending and even tuning without QRL? Also, this spring it seems to be less CW POTA activators than dong the winter. That's one of the reason I started activating daily because I couldn't find enough CW operators to improve my CW skills. Plus its a nice 4 mile bike ride to the closest POTA site and the exercise helps with my cancer recovery. Maybe it s just me.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

Only yesterday I was out working stations at an activation and another op simply started CQing on top of me. They were quite strong. I have to assume conditions on their end were such that they couldn't hear me and didn't notice the stations calling me either. I tend to just find another frequency and wait for the RBN to update my POTA spot. I think your POTA cancer therapy is working. It'll surely give you a good CW workout! You're doing an amazing job!

@n4jaw

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThomasK4SWL Thanks Thomas, nice of you to say that about my recovery. Not only am I getting a good physical workout but yes indeed the CW workout is coming along equally well. hi hi

@JayN4GO

2 жыл бұрын

@@n4jaw Jim have you considered trying the medium speed contest on mondays? Only lasts an hour and the exchange is name and number “as in the nr of contacts you’ve made”. It’s kind of laid back. The ICWC started it for people around 20wpm -25 to get a good Cw exercise. Saw you spotted today but couldn’t hear you on 20. Chat soon

@n4jaw

2 жыл бұрын

​@@JayN4GO Hey Jay, Not yet. I hear them all over the band on Monday when I'm up early activating around that time. I try to complete my activations before 1300 & let them have the band. I have been dong the K1USN Test the past couple of weeks. It's helped a lot along with the SKCC schedule.

@JayN4GO

2 жыл бұрын

@@n4jaw doesn’t get any better than those two groups.

Once Xiegu started correcting early issues with firmware updates I was starting to come around to the idea of buying one of these. If the receiver overloads that easily though it's still a no go for me as I operate from home more often than portable. There's a lot of RF nearby so I suspect I wouldn't enjoy using it much. I also like SWLing and it doesn't seem well suited for that either. I really wanted the X6100 to at least be good, but it looks like it's still not there yet. Thanks for the informative videos Thomas.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

If you have RF near you, you'd need a BCI filter for the X6100. It's very easily overwhelmed by local RF.

@claudeintheshack

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThomasK4SWL That would help with the nearby AM station for sure, but I'm also worried about the handful of amateurs nearby that run 1kW plus lol. No overloading with my current rig unless I get too close to their operating freq. not sure how the X6100 would handle that.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

@@claudeintheshack It's hard to know, but I can tell you that the X6100 is pretty easily overwhelmed. In your shoes, I'd look for a different rig.

Good video Thomas 👍❗️I got my X6100 when they were first released, it was a very nice looking radio with one of the best QRP displays I’ve ever seen. I was very excited when it arrived but I started having one issue after another, I worked on resolving the issue but every time I got one resolved another up pop up so I returned it. I will stick with XIEGU X5105 for now I hope 🤞 Xiegu gets the issues resolved. 73 KV5P

I had the similar problem with overloading. I thought that maybe (as many things in this radio) this was a problem with just single unit that I've got. So I've got another one and it was the same (although this 2nd unit did fix one issue that I had with 1st unit but also had more birdies than the 1st one). Anyways, I was able to reproduce this issue on my units with 100% reproduction ratio. Every day at noon, the AM broadcast radio from Romania (~1000km away from me) is transmitting for exactly 57 minutes with 300kW at 7310kHz. I can hear the music all over the 40m ham band, especially the first half of it. No matter where I go with the frequency, this music follows the VFO and is always at the center of the waterfall. In my case reducing RFgain to lower than 40 (from default 63) would mostly remedy the issue but it was still too much for me. Also - no other radio that I had, not FT817, not G90, not even the cheap (tr)uSDX, had this problem. I do have a broadcast station about 20km from my QTH but it is broadcasting DVB-T and FM broadcast, not on HF.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this feedback. Yes, without the assistance of an external BCI filter, I believe the X6100 overloads more easily than any other transceiver I've ever tested including the X5105. I feel it's the biggest problem with the X6100.

At the end of the video, you uploaded the log via the HAMRS log, but - when did you enter the qso info into HAMRS? Did you do this after each contact (out of camera shot)?

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I typically add each contact into HAMRS immediately after logging each QSO on paper. I typically do this off camera because there's not a lot of space in the camera shot. That and me trying to fumble with my phone keyboard to input callsigns is not a thing anyone wants to watch! 🤣

I have a somewhat related question for you, do you have a convenient way of measuring wire lengths and how do you label and store them? 73, Bob WK2Y

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

So I simply use a measuring tape most of the time and stretch the wire multiple times across the tape to add up to the length I'm shooting for. When I built this particular antenna, I didn't have a measuring tape, so simply used an 8 foot picnic table: qrper.com/2022/05/qrp-pota-at-fort-dobbs-no-antenna-no-problem/ If I store lengths of wire, I usually mark them with tape noting the length in feet. With most of the antennas I build, I simply remember the length, but will label them if similar in size and build to others.

Looks like your counterpoise is on ground. I use a 30ft long counterpoise off the ground. And 1.2 swr on 20 30 40 bands.

@ThomasK4SWL

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I rarely elevate my counterpoise, although I know at times it might help with efficiency.

Hi Tom.I have the x5105 and G90 and like them.Do you like the X6100 as much as your X5105?I have seen good and bad remarks about the X6100.Do you like the Lab 599 better?It is about twice the cost.Ron NB3W

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

I tend to prefer the X5105 but that's because the battery lasts much longer and it does what I need it to. Some folks really love the X6100 but I haven't warmed up to it as much as I hoped I would.

having the x6100 but man there so many bugs and birdies.... even enabling bluetooth makes the radio crash...

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

It's truly a mixed bag. Unfortunately.

What guage of speaker wire are you using for the antenna?

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

This one is 16 gauge, I believe.

What type of coax and length do you use?

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

In this particular activation, there was no coax because I was using a binding post adapter and wire. Typically, I use various lengths of RG-316 however.

My X6100 makes a buzzing sound from a relay during auto ATU tune. Is this normal ? Does anyone else have this issue ?

@ThomasK4SWL

Жыл бұрын

Hoping someone can help you with this. My X6100 didn't make any buzzing sound other than the normal ATU work to find a match with relays.

Hi Thomas, I have the impression that most of the owners of this Radio are not happy. Have you ever tried the ZM-2 with these 2 pieces of wires connected directly to it? I've been thinking of getting a ZM-2 to use with the IC-705 but It's not clear if I could use antenas like this one you are using, connected to the ZM-2

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

You know, I've never tried one of these UNUNless random wire antennas with the ZM-2. I will give this a go when I'm back int he States. The ZM-2 is a great ATU and quite capable of matching most anything. Curious if others may have tried this with their ZM-2. Might be worth posting an inquiry on QRPer.net.

Would a 16:1 UNUN have given a nice low 1:1 SWR.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure. I'd have to sort out the impedance of that antenna as-is to see what ratio might work best. Basically, any UNUN would help make it easier to match. The X6100 has no problems sorting out the match without an UNUN though.

@DAVIDGREGORYKERR

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThomasK4SWL I always thought it best to use an UNUN so as not to put stress on the output stage you it is better to be safe rather than sorry and be out something like $600-00c for a new XIEGU X6100

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

@@DAVIDGREGORYKERR I always assumed that in a radio like the X6100, KX2, etc. (with built-in ATUs) that a wide range ATU between the finals and the antenna serve the same purpose: to match impedance. I know when using a radio without an internal ATU, it's super important to make sure that SWR is in check to protect the finals from being stressed. Am I missing something in your point? I'm not a radio engineer. :)

@DAVIDGREGORYKERR

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThomasK4SWL Like I said it is better to be safe rather than sorry no one wants to have to replace a transceiver because they let the magic smoke out.

@ThomasK4SWL

2 жыл бұрын

@@DAVIDGREGORYKERR I hear ya. I'm not going to worry about it too much with this class of all-in-one field radio because they were designed around using random wire antennas like this. In fact, Elecraft even suggests it in their KX series ATU manuals! :) I've been using antennas like this with my KX3 for nearly ten years--hard to believe the radio is that old nearly. :) I think the fear would be operating a mismatched antenna without implementing an in-line L/C match or lowering the impedance with an UNUN.

KA6TVX the sequence to get cw messaging working is “APP” Modem then “MSG”

@RicSpivey

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, if you're looking at the Fullscreen scope, like with the radio settings across the bottom of the screen, and you press MSG, you're editing the messages. If you're looking at the modem screen for decoding cw, then press MSG, that's when it will TX the messages from memory.