Started with a FT817 years ago then a KX2, now a X6100. KX2 was best of the bunch but pricey if you got all of the features. X6100 is fun, has a great screen, good rcvr and good price Ron W9RCJ
X6100 was my most recent purchase. Used an X108G pretty extensively in the field until just recently. Also a good performer, being the predecessor to the G90.
FT-817. After watching K6UDA's 705 introduction, the QRP bug bit. I've done 2 POTA activations with it and hunted some from my backyard. I've been taking it with me on business travel but actually haven't made a QSO while in that mode of travel.
I travel for work internationally and have had started with a K2, KX1, K1. I’ve won contests operating with the K2 (HI8/NM6E because I was the only entrant!). All of the previous radios were with an MP-1. Now with my KX3 I run EFHW and a Linked Dipole from Packtenna or the ParEnd Fed 20/30/40. QRP build character and drives ingenuity. But a good Prefix gives 10-20db. I’ll be doing another trip to the Bahamas and operate as C6/NM6E with the KX3 and a bioenno 6AH with the Packtenna carbon fiber mast and tripod setup in May. Traveling with the kx3 is a whole lot easier than with the K2. Great rig for sure.
Don't forget, no need to climb mountains, QRP works on NVIS, I did lots of SSB contacts on a 150mi radius on 10W. 80m, 60m or 40m are bands for this (IC703+). And from the city, I did DX on 20m, on 17m and 6m QSO too on 10W easy (Elecraft K3, Xiegu X108G). Antennas were : full length dipole on lower bands, and i had a 8 ft vertical stick on 20m and 17m and a 5/8 wave on 6m.
Hi, I have been licensed longer than you are years old. I think you have a great RUclips channel…that is long over due. I have nothing to add, just positive compliments. 73, Bill KZ3DX
This is not on the list but I have a Hermes lite 2, which is a qrp sdr. The ability to connect to my network is a game changer because I can listen from my iPhone anywhere in my house. And the four receivers let me listen to an ssb net and monitor js8call in between working Ft8.
I use the 705 and the TX 500 . The TX-500 Is becoming the 1st string quarterback because of it's durability. Sometimes it rains and snows on summits. And also the dust and dirt plays a factor.
Such a good subject and so hard to choose, the best one I use for quality is the 705 although it could need accessories but for quick plug and go it's easily the Xiegu X6100 . For high quality it's the Kx2 , but saying that the Yaesu 817 is a solid performer .Such a hard choice to make - I have a prediction Yaesy will bring out a QRP - SDR HF radio with a screen like the FTFX10 - thanks for your stream.
The Xiegu G90 is a very nice rig. Having the 20 watts available will usually get me heard for checking into nets etc. I also have an FT-817ND, IC-703+, and an X6100. They all have their pros and cons. Back to the G90...the built-in antenna tuner will match ANYTHING!
@@tlogesbr The sensitivity is excellent and compares favourably to more expensive radios. You can also adjust the receiver bandwith and independently adjust the upper and lower filter skirts to reduce interference.
QRP is good in the town where I live. There are people near me who are on medical equipment, they are easily disturbed by high power radios. Get me on a farm and I will have high and low power radios, as well as Baofeng or three.
The IC-705 does it all for less than most of its competition in a package that's tidier (less wires) and perhaps even smaller once you add all the extras that the IC-705 can do, plus the remote features through wifi that most others can't do, it's really hard to beat for tech savvy HAM's that are into digital modes. Other features I've grown to love are its ability to make recordings using an SD card as well as record repeated beacon mode CQ messages when doing POTA/SOTA. The battery on the back can be charged either through the 12v port or it can be trickle charged via 5v USB (when off) in a pinch so you can charge it directly from a wide range of power sources, including cheap solar panels meant only far charging cell phones. This radio would even be at home as a main base station radio with an amplifier and external tuner if you can only afford one radio. It's main downside is its potential relative fragility when compared to some QRP due to its luxurious touch screen and non water resistant enclosure. Also its size and weight is a consideration when hiking (SOTA) if you don't need all the features. It also only has one antenna out, meaning you will need to come up with a solution or manually swap antennas to work both VHF/UHF and HF bands.
Clarification Jason on the KX2. I have done numerous POTA & SOTA activations with the KX2 for my RUclips channel and it will do 10 Watts on the internal battery for a period of time before it will reduce to 5 Watts. I know that I have completed 2 POTA’s in a day and still been on 10 Watts on the internal battery with the KX2. Ham-Solo K0FYR
I've been using a G90 for 20 months, mostly for portable FT8 and CW and its outstanding. I use a 7300 in the shack but for mobile/portable the G90 is very hard to beat IMO. I had an X5105 but sold it.
Just a small correction. The KX3 will put out 10 watts on the internal battery and 15 watts on external power.............. not 5 watts from the internal battery like the kx2. Otherwise, great info!
Good review. Many great choices depending on how and where you wish to operate. The Chicoms are killing it on price point vs. features. American quality costs big $$$$, but can be worth it if you are a more serious outdoor operator.
With the TX-500, we never know if or when things will normalize with Russia for quite a while. That could be the hot ticket and hard to get item for some time to come. I live mine and the firmware is pretty well developed. But, I do hope for the best for lab599, they deserve success.
@@robc3863 For what it's worth, the lab599 team explicitly spoke out against the invasion early on. I have one bought at $800, and feel like it was priced more than competitively. Not so sure at the current prices.
You predicted it. Right at 12:20, FT-818ND discontinued…now what? That’s why I’m rewatching this vid! I had my mind made up, now it’s over, at least for a new one…we’ll see what happens!!
As a guy who wants to get into ham and have been gun shy on what to buy. I can't want to watch this video. I have been looking at the ft-818nd but don't know if still worth the buy. (I'm mostly going to use it camping backpacking.)
The question is what do u do for qrp/ field operation. Most of your radios will be fine in the shack or on the deck. Field/durability there is only one on your list that I would take. Discovery has very low power consumption and is built to take on outdoor extreams. There is currently no equal to this rig when it comes to real time outdoor operations.
I’ve had 2 or 3 FT 817nd’s over the years, looked at the FT 818’s when the came out. I do have an Xiegu G108X I think it is, 20 watts, small screen. Had an Xiegu G90 better than the 108, screen too small for my eyes. When the IC 705 became available I looked at them for months finally did OK at a ham fest so I bought one. I do like Icom rigs I’ve had Yaesu, Kenwood, rigs they were all great rigs. I somehow always gravitate back to Icom. Still and all I have several different antennas for my QRP rigs G108X, IC 705 from wires to the AL 705 loop antenna for the 705, BuddyStick, I do enjoy QRP, not as active as I’d like to be try and go with our club and their QRP sessions on Saturday’s. Enjoy DE Mark AI4HO
Good show Jason. I had a Yaesu FT817ND for about 10 years. Used it mobile and at home. Also did a lot of picnic bench ops. I'm interested primarily now in a 705. Just waiting for used prices to go sub 1K.
@@forgetyourlife the used market has gotten way out of hand. I know the market will only bare what people are willing to pay. If people would put their foot down and refuse to pay more for used that what they would for brand new it’s not going to change.
Jason, you say that you need the CE-19 with the Xiegu 5105 and G90 to do digital. That is not 100% true. In fact, the CE-19 is just a port extender for the ACC port. It does not replace an extra soundcard. Instead of carrying the CE-19 and a million of cables with you, you can just buy a external USB soundcard and solder a cable for the ACC port. It is very simple. And you can't avoid the soldering as the cables that are shipped with the CE-19 require soldering too. Best solution is to have a cable with an integrated USB soundcard. This way you need 2 cables, the CAT cable which ships with the X5105 and the USB sound card cable that connects to the ACC port. Perfect for SOTA.
My point was that you need an external device to do digital modes on these radios, unlike the x6100 which has the sound card built-in. Whether you choose the CE-19 or another device, it is still extra equipment that is needed to make these radios do digital modes.
I am looking at getting another 100 watt radio as well as a qrp radio. I bought an 891, but like the idea of lower power usage in the field. I would like more radios that use little juice while not being used.
KX2 is doing 10 watts! it doesn't care if it's internal or external. And yes, there is no better balanced radio for SOTA - 10 watts with internal battery, tuner, great receiver, ultra portable.
I remember a YT video comparing IC-705 power usage (Rx especially) and found it takes quite a lot less idle juice than the FT-818. How do the KX2, KX3, and Xiegu models compare?
Nice job on this video.. I use both the Xeigu G90 and ic-705 and operate SSB 5w and below.. both are great radios but if you want to work QRPp, the ic705 will work down into the milliwatt range which is an even funner challenge for SSB operators.. Thx for sharing.. Kevin ~ k0klb
Hey! Considering you own both G90 and IC-705, would you be able to comment about receive sensitivity on both radios? Is IC-705 much better than G90 on this aspect?
@@tlogesbr Hello Tiago.. I wish I could help you but I've never compared them side by side to listen for the difference.. I'd hate to comment either way about the rx sensitivity, but I can say I'm not disappointed with the performance of either of these units.. They are both great units to have and if needed, you can QRO to 20w with the G90.. Sorry I didn't have a more definitive answer for you.. Maybe there are some YT videos out there that can help.. Thanks, 73 Kevin ~ k0klb
FT-818/817 are also the most popular satellite rigs (most ppl use 2 in a bag). Just wish it had a bigger, better screen. Does anyone know if it's easy to hook up an amp to it?
Greetings dear friend. It has been the question of many Radio Amateurs in the world and I would like to hear your sincere and technical opinion if possible because this has become a worldwide debate with controversial opinions. Are the new transceivers with Touch-screen technology really reliable? wouldn't they be easier to give technical problems? Or is this a meaningless myth?
I used to have a FT-818, later switched to IC-705. I am still looking at KX2, because of the integrated tuner. But otherwise, IC-705 is a great rig, no way to sell it, it's "my... my precious"... :-) I am using it with mAT-705 mkII and works perfectly, just a bit of additional cable-ing on the summit. VHF/UHF SSB/CW also appreciated a lot, I've participated in tens of contests with it. Xiegu look nice, the specs, etc, but these always have some bugs. I am too poor to buy cheap radios... :-)
Aloha Jason 2.0, what a great video! I love my G90, it’s great all around survivalist rig and not to tough on the wallet either for what you’re getting. I would like to get any amplifier but don’t know what to buy? Maybe you can give me an idea on what amplifier works great on HF QRP rigs. 73’ Todd WH6DWF 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I'm still new but absolutely LOVE my tx500. Menus are super easy to navigate and I'm not worried about breaking it if I'm a little clumsy while learning other aspects of radio craft. Although with all of the bans on Russia i would imagine that they are going to be really hard to get new for a while.
I am a 705 user. So far, it has been a great DX radio. However, I have not been able to make contacts with it. I think it was an antenna problem: I was using a non resonant 140 foot long wire (same as my base station which performs great with the ICOM 7300 w/o a tuner.) My problem I think is that our mountain tops tend to be rocky and I can't get it off the ground. So I am rethinking the antenna. Since my trips are in the day, I don't think I need the 80 meter band which I use at home. I have built but not yet tuned a portable 40m and 20m fan dipole which I want try next. I also think I need a light weight mast for SOTA. I also use an Icom ID-52A which has been great in making contacts with its rubber duck. When I bought the 705, I thought it's bands were the same as the IC-7300 so I haven't used it's VHF/UHF capabilities. My goal with the 705 was HF. But now realizing this, I also have built a a VHF/UHF antenna for it and will deploy it later this week to compare with the ID-52A. It took me a while to learn the ID-52A. We live in a canyon so it is essentially unusable at home. But I can not say enough good about the ID-52A once I am out of the canyons. I expect that once I have the antenna situation sorted out, I think the 705 will perform as well. 73 AI7MY
I have a IC705 and I use a AlexLoop Hampack with it and have made many contacts. The loop is a little touchy to get the SWR down, but it is a good solution with a small footprint. I also have a Chameleon cha micro but don't have a tuner for the 705, and I believe that would be a better option when paired with a tuner. Best of luck with the 705 its a great rig.
Working on getting my ticket right now. Currently leaning towards QRP operations due to having a heart condition. I have a pacemaker in my chest, so I am concerned with high output from communications equipment. What type of transceiver would work best for my situation. Looking to go CW as it might be my best chance to stay within QRP operations. I also live in a neighborhood with a HOA so antenna choices will be critical. What kind of small antennas would work within the QRP scope, without drawing undue attention from neighbors? Thank you, for any advice you can offer. 73.
Would be great if you could tabulate the weights of these radios (noting that they may or may not have an internal battery). I run a G90 for SOTA and it's a heavy beast, forcing me to scale down to a 4.5Ah LiFePO4 battery. But I have no complaints about its performance. I've made SOTA contacts in France from NW Nevada and Southern Utah on 20m SSB with nothing more than the G90 and a Hamstick mounted on a little tripod with about 18 radials. I'll probably buy a lighter radio this summer because the weight of the G90 limits the amount of water I can carry. Was interested in the TX500, but obviously it isn't an option right now. Happy to read suggestions for alternatives. The internal tuner and soundcard options aren't essential for my SOTA operating, since I would just use a resonant antenna and don't use digital modes on mountaintops (not enough operators outside of FT8 to make it worthwhile).
Still have my IC703+. No longer made. Little brother of the 706 family. But has an interal impedance matcher. Sips power when on battery. 0.6 w standby. Amp/hrs on standby and full power might be good metrics to show.
@@HamRadio2 I used it on 10w to get to Texas and 7290 nets during Uri on a marine battery. QRP and low power ops are good op skills to have diring a no main power situation.
ALL HF 100 watt radios are ALL QRP radios. Unless you really need a compact QRP radio there are a lot of small HF radios like the FT- 991a and other radios are small enough to be easily portable for field operations.
Jason I have a g-90s with a gsoc Ive done rtty with it . the gsoc has 2 sound cards in it. Waiting on FT-16 and FT-8.on firmware for it. You might have ft-8 in yours.Mone only has BPSK, RTTY, AND CW. MY STOCK CONTROL HEAD ENCODERS STARTED RUNNING BACKWARDS. LET ME KNOW.
@@jordantri It seems picky on when it gives you 12W though. I think your external supply needs to be above a certain voltage because it only gives me 12W on my power supply at my shack. But all my portable batteries only give me 10W
I have a few of the radios mentioned here and nearly all are great fun: The TX-500 is my most recent purchase and is fantastic to use. It's rock solid, has an excellent receiver and is easy to navigate. The X5105 is a solid little box too. Its tuner will match pretty much anything you care to attach it to - from random wires to step ladders (yes, I've tried). The G90 is, without question, the best bang-for-buck HF radio on the market at the moment. 20 watts and great TX audio on SSB. It's a great radio for the car. The FT818 (pretty much the same as the 817ND that I have) is a bit of a dinosaur. Yes it does 2m and 7cm but it's a pig to use compared to the others. For CW use, it really needs the optional filters which are no longer available. Yaesu really need to up their game in this market. They probably will, given the success that ICOM have had with the 705.
@@GreyGhost-r4z please do say where the filters are available... The sotabeams thing is ok at best - I have one fitted in my 817nd. It creates images of strong CW stations due to its DSP chain. I contacted sotabeams about that when I first fitted it and their response was less than helpful. It's no replacement for good mechanical filtering...
Yes, as a Technician you can talk about 10M from 28.3 - 28.5 - I have mentioned this in MANY videos. But after you upgrade to General, you can take advantage of the other 7-8 bands that come in that radio.
sad yaesu did stop making the ft818, (now 2023) the price on any new still out there is over a grand USD. even used are higher that your listing for a new one a year back. no new radio to replace it. many can not understand yaesu's thinking. they build a great radio and then stop making them (not just the ft818).
Hello, I ordered an FX-4C SDR QRP Transceiver and I cannot operate in 3 650 kHz, in Romania this frequency is used, I can do something so that the Transceiver can transmit there as well. I am waiting for your message, I would like with a software if possible. Looking forward to hearing from you
You want an SWR of 1.5:1 or less, usually. 1:1 is a perfect match. Some antennas are WAY out of match, making them a 3:1 or 6:1 or 10:1. Tuners limited to 3:1 will tune everything from 3:1 down to 1:1 but they won't tune an antenna that is a 6:1 match. A 10:1 tuner will tune a wet noodle, not matter how out of match it is.
Really? Seems to me all these radios have adequate sensitivity, besides receiver sensitivity is going to be more important for the station you are communicating with since you are running low power.
@@steveschilling9573 Can't work them if you can't hear them. If you look at the Sherwood reports, the KX2/3 is the only QRP radio in the video in the top 20. Remember the difference between 5W and 100W output is about 2 S units.
When Q-signals were created, QRP meant "low power" or "decrease power" - it wasn't until later years that folks started putting an actual number on it, and there is nothing official about that. QRP simply means "lower power"
@@HamRadio2 I was going to build my own, but I had three broken fingers earlier in the year, and, while they had healed, right before I was going to order it, the three fingers stiffened up again, making SMD soldering difficult... So I used their option to have it sent to a builder in the US who made it for me and installed an internal ATU. It is an amazing little rig. It has build in sound card, so all you need is one USB connection for digital modes. It also has build in decoding of some digital modes plus RTTY and CW... You can also plug a USB keyboard into a secondary USB and type to the digital modes, RTTY, and CW. It is an all mode radio, but unfortunately does not do UHF/VHF except that some specimens seem to be able to cleanly transmit on the 6m band. I have no experience with 6m so I have not tried that yet. You really should review one... Warning though... There are a LOT of Chinese clones, and while some are very good, most seem to have problems(like touch screen not working, etc...). I got mine from the creator in England. There are also a few spin off projects, like a 50W version and ones with much bigger touch screens.
@@HamRadio2 I've listened to comparisons, nearly all modern SDR have the same designs which use few components. The famous Tayloe quadrature mixer, the IQ output sampled by an MCU, the Hilbert transform, and an audio amp. My $150 phone's audio uses a $2 chip that has audio quality and a spec that matches the best Bang & Oulfsen, so its not about cost now. My uSDR transceiver's audio quality is superb especially on a $30 Midland speaker, and cost just $140
For the money, the G-90 is a superstar. It has a more sensitive receiver than a Yaesu 891. The 9 to 1 range of the tuner along with the swr graphing of the entire band on almost all bands is fantastic. CW decoder, Bandscope, 20 watts, ability to shift the bandwidth, Decent filters, great audio and so much more. Is it perfect, no. Smallish screen, no built in battery and a little larger and heavier than others. Don't know why, but I love this radio....It is the swiss army knife of portable radios....It just works. I operate portable once or twice a month, usually POTA and so I just can't justify the expense of the top end portables. I've used the saved money to buy or make a variety of good portable antennas. My main purpose for having a G-90 is for EMCOMM. I think it is by far the best EMCOMM portable. It can be modded for the 27 MHz band (CB) also. No 2M or 70 CM, but I prefer a 50 watt radio for those bands.
@@HamRadio2 Yes, but durability that 818 will be better, and if the 818 added -on bhi DSP, haha, for SSB, CW, the 818 C/P value would be ahead 705. I didn't play digital especially J65,FT-8, because ... just use mobile phone，it will be better and better and fun a lot, I dislike play keyboard with my rigs 😅😅🤣 In fact, I am so envious who play CW well, it's really the spirit/soul of the Amarteur radio.
@@TingILi I never said the 705 was #1 or that the KX3 beat it. If you listen to the first part of the video, the order of radios is by price, not by which is first and last.
Always wonder why folks are steered to buying new gear when an existing 100w transceiver can just be turned down to 10 watts ?? I see many videos of folks driving cars up to picnic tables in Parks On The Air… my 7300 is just fine and includes all of the features and sips battery when set for 10 watts. Not looking to open a religious war for summits on the air, just saying if you are driving to a “Park” just take your barefoot transceiver, turn down the power….presto QRP… out of pocket $$$ = zero dollars
I own ONE QRP radio, the Icom IC 705. I use it in my Silverado as I travel. A great radio. Thank you Jason for your videos!
Thanks for watching
Remember Techs have HF privileges on:
Phone: 10m
CW: 10, 15, 40, 80m.
Digi: With 10m CW.
Tiny slivers, but some space.
Started with a FT817 years ago then a KX2, now a X6100. KX2 was best of the bunch but pricey if you got all of the features. X6100 is fun, has a great screen, good rcvr and good price
Ron W9RCJ
X6100 was my most recent purchase. Used an X108G pretty extensively in the field until just recently. Also a good performer, being the predecessor to the G90.
FT-817. After watching K6UDA's 705 introduction, the QRP bug bit. I've done 2 POTA activations with it and hunted some from my backyard. I've been taking it with me on business travel but actually haven't made a QSO while in that mode of travel.
I travel for work internationally and have had started with a K2, KX1, K1. I’ve won contests operating with the K2 (HI8/NM6E because I was the only entrant!). All of the previous radios were with an MP-1. Now with my KX3 I run EFHW and a Linked Dipole from Packtenna or the ParEnd Fed 20/30/40. QRP build character and drives ingenuity. But a good Prefix gives 10-20db. I’ll be doing another trip to the Bahamas and operate as C6/NM6E with the KX3 and a bioenno 6AH with the Packtenna carbon fiber mast and tripod setup in May. Traveling with the kx3 is a whole lot easier than with the K2. Great rig for sure.
Don't forget, no need to climb mountains, QRP works on NVIS, I did lots of SSB contacts on a 150mi radius on 10W.
80m, 60m or 40m are bands for this (IC703+).
And from the city, I did DX on 20m, on 17m and 6m QSO too on 10W easy (Elecraft K3, Xiegu X108G).
Antennas were : full length dipole on lower bands, and i had a 8 ft vertical stick on 20m and 17m and a 5/8 wave on 6m.
I do a lot of QRP with an 8,000 mile radius with 10 watts on a half wave efw, in an $140 uSDX rig
KX2 for SOTA, I've made coast to coast QSOs with it. Everything you said about it is true, rock solid, longevity, made in the USA 👍
Thanks for sharing!
internal batt 10 watt ext 12 watt
I have added the G90 to my shack, a little beast for all portable hf radio operations. 15 watts took me to Belarus recently from Chennai, 6515 kms dx.
Hi, I have been licensed longer than you are years old. I think you have a great RUclips channel…that is long over due. I have nothing to add, just positive compliments. 73, Bill KZ3DX
Thanks for the comments!
This is not on the list but I have a Hermes lite 2, which is a qrp sdr. The ability to connect to my network is a game changer because I can listen from my iPhone anywhere in my house. And the four receivers let me listen to an ssb net and monitor js8call in between working Ft8.
I use the 705 and the TX 500 . The TX-500 Is becoming the 1st string quarterback because of it's durability. Sometimes it rains and snows on summits. And also the dust and dirt plays a factor.
Such a good subject and so hard to choose, the best one I use for quality is the 705 although it could need accessories but for quick plug and go it's easily the Xiegu X6100 . For high quality it's the Kx2 , but saying that the Yaesu 817 is a solid performer .Such a hard choice to make - I have a prediction Yaesy will bring out a QRP - SDR HF radio with a screen like the FTFX10 - thanks for your stream.
The Xiegu G90 is a very nice rig. Having the 20 watts available will usually get me heard for checking into nets etc. I also have an FT-817ND, IC-703+, and an X6100. They all have their pros and cons. Back to the G90...the built-in antenna tuner will match ANYTHING!
Hi Ivan! Could you comment about G90 receive sensitivity compared to your other rigs?
@@tlogesbr The sensitivity is excellent and compares favourably to more expensive radios. You can also adjust the receiver bandwith and independently adjust the upper and lower filter skirts to reduce interference.
KX2 is the only hf radio I’ve ever owned. Use it at home and for SOTA. Even use it to check into a traffic net daily.
Good timing for this coming up today... I'm eyeing a few QRP radios at the moment!
I love that Lab 599 radio!
Used a Xiegu g90 for mobile for over 2 years, fantastic little rig I won't be trading in anytime soon
Xiegu G1M 5 watts, no tuner, a little long in the tooth, but still available for right around $250.00 USD. Hard to beat great little radio.
KX3 all day everyday. 9 years since I had it surgically attached. 👍🏻
Hellz yeah, lol
QRP is good in the town where I live. There are people near me who are on medical equipment, they are easily disturbed by high power radios. Get me on a farm and I will have high and low power radios, as well as Baofeng or three.
I was just looking at this topic today. You read my mind.
:D
The IC-705 does it all for less than most of its competition in a package that's tidier (less wires) and perhaps even smaller once you add all the extras that the IC-705 can do, plus the remote features through wifi that most others can't do, it's really hard to beat for tech savvy HAM's that are into digital modes. Other features I've grown to love are its ability to make recordings using an SD card as well as record repeated beacon mode CQ messages when doing POTA/SOTA. The battery on the back can be charged either through the 12v port or it can be trickle charged via 5v USB (when off) in a pinch so you can charge it directly from a wide range of power sources, including cheap solar panels meant only far charging cell phones. This radio would even be at home as a main base station radio with an amplifier and external tuner if you can only afford one radio. It's main downside is its potential relative fragility when compared to some QRP due to its luxurious touch screen and non water resistant enclosure. Also its size and weight is a consideration when hiking (SOTA) if you don't need all the features. It also only has one antenna out, meaning you will need to come up with a solution or manually swap antennas to work both VHF/UHF and HF bands.
Clarification Jason on the KX2. I have done numerous POTA & SOTA activations with the KX2 for my RUclips channel and it will do 10 Watts on the internal battery for a period of time before it will reduce to 5 Watts. I know that I have completed 2 POTA’s in a day and still been on 10 Watts on the internal battery with the KX2. Ham-Solo K0FYR
Good info, thanks
I've been using a G90 for 20 months, mostly for portable FT8 and CW and its outstanding. I use a 7300 in the shack but for mobile/portable the G90 is very hard to beat IMO. I had an X5105 but sold it.
I’m torn between those two models. What features made you choose the G90 over the X5105?
Receive on my 5105 is very noisy.
Just a small correction. The KX3 will put out 10 watts on the internal battery and 15 watts on external power.............. not 5 watts from the internal battery like the kx2. Otherwise, great info!
I use the hdfc v6 radio. From from M0NKA (known to some as Rs-918) . Xiegu g90, G1M , and 3 N7DDC Auto tuners.
I've read about the RS-918 but never used one.
Nice talking speed. No waste of time. I have an IC-705, use it on a small table tripod. If there will be a successor with tuner I will buy it.
Thanks
Good review. Many great choices depending on how and where you wish to operate. The Chicoms are killing it on price point vs. features. American quality costs big $$$$, but can be worth it if you are a more serious outdoor operator.
With the TX-500, we never know if or when things will normalize with Russia for quite a while. That could be the hot ticket and hard to get item for some time to come. I live mine and the firmware is pretty well developed. But, I do hope for the best for lab599, they deserve success.
Overpriced at $700+ in my view, and I wouldn't by Russian out of principles
@@robc3863 For what it's worth, the lab599 team explicitly spoke out against the invasion early on. I have one bought at $800, and feel like it was priced more than competitively. Not so sure at the current prices.
Good job Jason.
Thanks for watching
I love my KX2 and thanks Jason, good video
Thanks for watching
I just got my technician's license. Is HF the only way to do qrp or can I get into qrp before I have my general
QRP means low power, so you can do low power on any band or freq.
You predicted it. Right at 12:20, FT-818ND discontinued…now what? That’s why I’m rewatching this vid! I had my mind made up, now it’s over, at least for a new one…we’ll see what happens!!
All I do is QRP. however 80% of my operation is SOTA.
W5THC in Houston: ii really like your videos.
Thanks for watching!
As a guy who wants to get into ham and have been gun shy on what to buy. I can't want to watch this video. I have been looking at the ft-818nd but don't know if still worth the buy. (I'm mostly going to use it camping backpacking.)
The question is what do u do for qrp/ field operation. Most of your radios will be fine in the shack or on the deck. Field/durability there is only one on your list that I would take. Discovery has very low power consumption and is built to take on outdoor extreams. There is currently no equal to this rig when it comes to real time outdoor operations.
I love QRP! But my interests are CW only so I like going ultra light, which means--usually--a KX1. It's a shame it is no longer made.
Yeah I'd like to get my hands on one of those some day
Both interesting and useful. Thank-you.
Thanks for the great review!
the FT-818nd replaced the FT-817nd just about 2-2.5 yrs ago
Correct
I’ve had 2 or 3 FT 817nd’s over the years, looked at the FT 818’s when the came out. I do have an Xiegu G108X I think it is, 20 watts, small screen. Had an Xiegu G90 better than the 108, screen too small for my eyes.
When the IC 705 became available I looked at them for months finally did OK at a ham fest so I bought one. I do like Icom rigs I’ve had Yaesu, Kenwood, rigs they were all great rigs. I somehow always gravitate back to Icom.
Still and all I have several different antennas for my QRP rigs G108X, IC 705 from wires to the AL 705 loop antenna for the 705, BuddyStick, I do enjoy QRP, not as active as I’d like to be try and go with our club and their QRP sessions on Saturday’s. Enjoy
DE Mark
AI4HO
Good show Jason. I had a Yaesu FT817ND for about 10 years. Used it mobile and at home. Also did a lot of picnic bench ops. I'm interested primarily now in a 705. Just waiting for used prices to go sub 1K.
not going to happen. Did you notice it actually went up this year?
@@forgetyourlife the used market has gotten way out of hand. I know the market will only bare what people are willing to pay. If people would put their foot down and refuse to pay more for used that what they would for brand new it’s not going to change.
Jason, you say that you need the CE-19 with the Xiegu 5105 and G90 to do digital. That is not 100% true. In fact, the CE-19 is just a port extender for the ACC port. It does not replace an extra soundcard. Instead of carrying the CE-19 and a million of cables with you, you can just buy a external USB soundcard and solder a cable for the ACC port. It is very simple. And you can't avoid the soldering as the cables that are shipped with the CE-19 require soldering too. Best solution is to have a cable with an integrated USB soundcard. This way you need 2 cables, the CAT cable which ships with the X5105 and the USB sound card cable that connects to the ACC port. Perfect for SOTA.
My point was that you need an external device to do digital modes on these radios, unlike the x6100 which has the sound card built-in. Whether you choose the CE-19 or another device, it is still extra equipment that is needed to make these radios do digital modes.
Great video again, thanks. Xiegu also makes a G1M radio for less than the G90 Is there a reason you do not have it in the review?
It's an older model and I don't have experience with it. It might be just fine
I am looking at getting another 100 watt radio as well as a qrp radio. I bought an 891, but like the idea of lower power usage in the field. I would like more radios that use little juice while not being used.
KX2 is doing 10 watts! it doesn't care if it's internal or external. And yes, there is no better balanced radio for SOTA - 10 watts with internal battery, tuner, great receiver, ultra portable.
No
@@danielesteban4590 Yes, it does 10 watts on the internal battery.
QRPver Minion SDR ... one of the lightest and best qrp radio tranceiver ...
I remember a YT video comparing IC-705 power usage (Rx especially) and found it takes quite a lot less idle juice than the FT-818. How do the KX2, KX3, and Xiegu models compare?
The KX radios take much less juice because of the smaller screen than the 705.
Xiegu models are different, depending on which one.
165mA for KX2
@@haiduc32 I believe that's less than the 705. Still curious how the 5105 and 6100 compare.
Have 4 of the nine kx3 andic705 are myfavorites
Maybe a daunting challenge for a new Technician, General soon. But, my first goal is pushing portable low power to its limits.
Nice job on this video.. I use both the Xeigu G90 and ic-705 and operate SSB 5w and below.. both are great radios but if you want to work QRPp, the ic705 will work down into the milliwatt range which is an even funner challenge for SSB operators.. Thx for sharing.. Kevin ~ k0klb
Thanks for sharing
Hey! Considering you own both G90 and IC-705, would you be able to comment about receive sensitivity on both radios? Is IC-705 much better than G90 on this aspect?
@@tlogesbr Hello Tiago.. I wish I could help you but I've never compared them side by side to listen for the difference.. I'd hate to comment either way about the rx sensitivity, but I can say I'm not disappointed with the performance of either of these units.. They are both great units to have and if needed, you can QRO to 20w with the G90.. Sorry I didn't have a more definitive answer for you.. Maybe there are some YT videos out there that can help.. Thanks, 73 Kevin ~ k0klb
FT-818/817 are also the most popular satellite rigs (most ppl use 2 in a bag). Just wish it had a bigger, better screen. Does anyone know if it's easy to hook up an amp to it?
The KX3 is awesome. Amazing receiver.
Love the channel thank you I use ic705 and love my x5105 made the best contacts it beat my kx3 so save your penny’s lol 😆
Greetings dear friend. It has been the question of many Radio Amateurs in the world and I would like to hear your sincere and technical opinion if possible because this has become a worldwide debate with controversial opinions. Are the new transceivers with Touch-screen technology really reliable? wouldn't they be easier to give technical problems? Or is this a meaningless myth?
KA6TVX X5105 5 watts not 10 with external powe supply
I used to have a FT-818, later switched to IC-705. I am still looking at KX2, because of the integrated tuner. But otherwise, IC-705 is a great rig, no way to sell it, it's "my... my precious"... :-) I am using it with mAT-705 mkII and works perfectly, just a bit of additional cable-ing on the summit. VHF/UHF SSB/CW also appreciated a lot, I've participated in tens of contests with it. Xiegu look nice, the specs, etc, but these always have some bugs. I am too poor to buy cheap radios... :-)
Aloha Jason 2.0, what a great video!
I love my G90, it’s great all around survivalist rig and not to tough on the wallet either for what you’re getting. I would like to get any amplifier but don’t know what to buy? Maybe you can give me an idea on what amplifier works great on HF QRP rigs.
73’ Todd WH6DWF 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I'm still new but absolutely LOVE my tx500. Menus are super easy to navigate and I'm not worried about breaking it if I'm a little clumsy while learning other aspects of radio craft. Although with all of the bans on Russia i would imagine that they are going to be really hard to get new for a while.
hi Jason
You make very nice videos, we are waiting with excitement
I please , can you open a page in hamsignal and publish your videos?
Could you please make a video about fully open source radios like mchf?
Kenwood I wish
Right?
Sounds like the IC-705 flogs the KX3.
I’m going to be on the lookout for a FT-817 or FT-818. 2M SSB is a bonus since that is popular around here.
I am a 705 user. So far, it has been a great DX radio. However, I have not been able to make contacts with it. I think it was an antenna problem: I was using a non resonant 140 foot long wire (same as my base station which performs great with the ICOM 7300 w/o a tuner.)
My problem I think is that our mountain tops tend to be rocky and I can't get it off the ground. So I am rethinking the antenna. Since my trips are in the day, I don't think I need the 80 meter band which I use at home. I have built but not yet tuned a portable 40m and 20m fan dipole which I want try next. I also think I need a light weight mast for SOTA.
I also use an Icom ID-52A which has been great in making contacts with its rubber duck. When I bought the 705, I thought it's bands were the same as the IC-7300 so I haven't used it's VHF/UHF capabilities. My goal with the 705 was HF. But now realizing this, I also have built a a VHF/UHF antenna for it and will deploy it later this week to compare with the ID-52A.
It took me a while to learn the ID-52A. We live in a canyon so it is essentially unusable at home. But I can not say enough good about the ID-52A once I am out of the canyons. I expect that once I have the antenna situation sorted out, I think the 705 will perform as well.
73 AI7MY
I have a IC705 and I use a AlexLoop Hampack with it and have made many contacts. The loop is a little touchy to get the SWR down, but it is a good solution with a small footprint. I also have a Chameleon cha micro but don't have a tuner for the 705, and I believe that would be a better option when paired with a tuner. Best of luck with the 705 its a great rig.
Working on getting my ticket right now. Currently leaning towards QRP operations due to having a heart condition.
I have a pacemaker in my chest, so I am concerned with high output from communications equipment.
What type of transceiver would work best for my situation.
Looking to go CW as it might be my best chance to stay within QRP operations.
I also live in a neighborhood with a HOA so antenna choices will be critical. What kind of small antennas would work within the QRP scope, without drawing undue attention from neighbors?
Thank you, for any advice you can offer. 73.
Good luck!
Would be great if you could tabulate the weights of these radios (noting that they may or may not have an internal battery). I run a G90 for SOTA and it's a heavy beast, forcing me to scale down to a 4.5Ah LiFePO4 battery. But I have no complaints about its performance. I've made SOTA contacts in France from NW Nevada and Southern Utah on 20m SSB with nothing more than the G90 and a Hamstick mounted on a little tripod with about 18 radials. I'll probably buy a lighter radio this summer because the weight of the G90 limits the amount of water I can carry. Was interested in the TX500, but obviously it isn't an option right now. Happy to read suggestions for alternatives. The internal tuner and soundcard options aren't essential for my SOTA operating, since I would just use a resonant antenna and don't use digital modes on mountaintops (not enough operators outside of FT8 to make it worthwhile).
I did that with a few of them here
ruclips.net/video/p5h1vGTTEPI/видео.html
Still have my IC703+. No longer made. Little brother of the 706 family. But has an interal impedance matcher.
Sips power when on battery. 0.6 w standby.
Amp/hrs on standby and full power might be good metrics to show.
703 is a great rig
@@HamRadio2 I used it on 10w to get to Texas and 7290 nets during Uri on a marine battery. QRP and low power ops are good op skills to have diring a no main power situation.
Thanks Jason
ALL HF 100 watt radios are ALL QRP radios. Unless you really need a compact QRP radio there are a lot of small HF radios like the FT- 991a and other radios are small enough to be easily portable for field operations.
Jason I have a g-90s with a gsoc Ive done rtty with it . the gsoc has 2 sound cards in it. Waiting on FT-16 and FT-8.on firmware for it. You might have ft-8 in yours.Mone only has BPSK, RTTY, AND CW. MY STOCK CONTROL HEAD ENCODERS STARTED RUNNING BACKWARDS. LET ME KNOW.
Forgive spelling.
KX2 will do 10W on the internal battery. If the battery gets below a certain voltage then it will drop down to 5W
With the newest firmware, it will do 12w with external power. I don't know if the extra 2w are important, but it can do it.
@@jordantri It seems picky on when it gives you 12W though. I think your external supply needs to be above a certain voltage because it only gives me 12W on my power supply at my shack. But all my portable batteries only give me 10W
I have a few of the radios mentioned here and nearly all are great fun:
The TX-500 is my most recent purchase and is fantastic to use. It's rock solid, has an excellent receiver and is easy to navigate.
The X5105 is a solid little box too. Its tuner will match pretty much anything you care to attach it to - from random wires to step ladders (yes, I've tried).
The G90 is, without question, the best bang-for-buck HF radio on the market at the moment. 20 watts and great TX audio on SSB. It's a great radio for the car.
The FT818 (pretty much the same as the 817ND that I have) is a bit of a dinosaur. Yes it does 2m and 7cm but it's a pig to use compared to the others. For CW use, it really needs the optional filters which are no longer available. Yaesu really need to up their game in this market. They probably will, given the success that ICOM have had with the 705.
Filters exist for the 818.... I guess I can't mention where you can get them... Don't buy the chinese ones. SotaB_____
@@GreyGhost-r4z please do say where the filters are available... The sotabeams thing is ok at best - I have one fitted in my 817nd. It creates images of strong CW stations due to its DSP chain. I contacted sotabeams about that when I first fitted it and their response was less than helpful. It's no replacement for good mechanical filtering...
So where are the links?
X6100 might be on my list
Why are you talking about just upgraded to general when i got my tech i went out and picked a ts-520s and started using 28.300 to 28.500
Yes, as a Technician you can talk about 10M from 28.3 - 28.5 - I have mentioned this in MANY videos. But after you upgrade to General, you can take advantage of the other 7-8 bands that come in that radio.
sad yaesu did stop making the ft818, (now 2023) the price on any new still out there is over a grand USD. even used are higher that your listing for a new one a year back.
no new radio to replace it. many can not understand yaesu's thinking. they build a great radio and then stop making them (not just the ft818).
Hello, I ordered an FX-4C SDR QRP Transceiver and I cannot operate in 3 650 kHz, in Romania this frequency is used, I can do something so that the Transceiver can transmit there as well. I am waiting for your message, I would like with a software if possible. Looking forward to hearing from you
I don't know - I suggest contacting the manufacturer.
Xiegu X5105 does not do 10 watts.
Nice from Russia witch love
What does it mean when some antenna tuners are 3/1 and some are 10/1. I can’t find anything about the differences.
You want an SWR of 1.5:1 or less, usually. 1:1 is a perfect match. Some antennas are WAY out of match, making them a 3:1 or 6:1 or 10:1. Tuners limited to 3:1 will tune everything from 3:1 down to 1:1 but they won't tune an antenna that is a 6:1 match. A 10:1 tuner will tune a wet noodle, not matter how out of match it is.
Ty That explains it perfectly.
KX(2 or 3) or go home. Receiver sensitivity is the winner here.
Indeed
Really? Seems to me all these radios have adequate sensitivity, besides receiver sensitivity is going to be more important for the station you are communicating with since you are running low power.
@@steveschilling9573 Can't work them if you can't hear them. If you look at the Sherwood reports, the KX2/3 is the only QRP radio in the video in the top 20. Remember the difference between 5W and 100W output is about 2 S units.
@@AA0Z The Sherwood tests are not focused on sensitivity but rather selectivity. None of the radios mentioned have poor receiver sensitivity.
QRP is 5 watts or less for CW, 10 watts for SSB... Not 20.
When Q-signals were created, QRP meant "low power" or "decrease power" - it wasn't until later years that folks started putting an actual number on it, and there is nothing official about that. QRP simply means "lower power"
The Lab599 was not available way before the Russia/Ukraine war.
HRO had some about a month before.
@@HamRadio2 wow I wish I had known!
No mcHF love??? 😞
I really like mine. I actually prefer it's receiver over my IC-756 pro 3, and the Icom is no slouch.
Never used one
@@HamRadio2 I was going to build my own, but I had three broken fingers earlier in the year, and, while they had healed, right before I was going to order it, the three fingers stiffened up again, making SMD soldering difficult... So I used their option to have it sent to a builder in the US who made it for me and installed an internal ATU.
It is an amazing little rig. It has build in sound card, so all you need is one USB connection for digital modes. It also has build in decoding of some digital modes plus RTTY and CW... You can also plug a USB keyboard into a secondary USB and type to the digital modes, RTTY, and CW. It is an all mode radio, but unfortunately does not do UHF/VHF except that some specimens seem to be able to cleanly transmit on the 6m band. I have no experience with 6m so I have not tried that yet.
You really should review one...
Warning though... There are a LOT of Chinese clones, and while some are very good, most seem to have problems(like touch screen not working, etc...).
I got mine from the creator in England.
There are also a few spin off projects, like a 50W version and ones with much bigger touch screens.
Elekraft is way overpriced for what it is, better is a McHF which is a similar format has a great colour display and just $400
If you put those 2 radios next to each other, you'd hear where the difference is
@@HamRadio2 I've listened to comparisons, nearly all modern SDR have the same designs which use few components. The famous Tayloe quadrature mixer, the IQ output sampled by an MCU, the Hilbert transform, and an audio amp. My $150 phone's audio uses a $2 chip that has audio quality and a spec that matches the best Bang & Oulfsen, so its not about cost now. My uSDR transceiver's audio quality is superb especially on a $30 Midland speaker, and cost just $140
Xiegu should be proud
For the money, the G-90 is a superstar. It has a more sensitive receiver than a Yaesu 891. The 9 to 1 range of the tuner along with the swr graphing of the entire band on almost all bands is fantastic. CW decoder, Bandscope, 20 watts, ability to shift the bandwidth, Decent filters, great audio and so much more. Is it perfect, no. Smallish screen, no built in battery and a little larger and heavier than others. Don't know why, but I love this radio....It is the swiss army knife of portable radios....It just works. I operate portable once or twice a month, usually POTA and so I just can't justify the expense of the top end portables. I've used the saved money to buy or make a variety of good portable antennas. My main purpose for having a G-90 is for EMCOMM. I think it is by far the best EMCOMM portable. It can be modded for the 27 MHz band (CB) also. No 2M or 70 CM, but I prefer a 50 watt radio for those bands.
@@johnkaelberer237 Yeah brother! I dig my G90 as well. I typically just operate QRP and it's fun!
They need to fix the receive noise and add better bcb filtering so AM broadcast doesn’t bleed through on the Xiegu
KX3,>FT-818,>IC-705 ...
FT-818 doesn't beat the 705.
@@HamRadio2 Yes, but durability that 818 will be better, and if the 818 added -on bhi DSP, haha, for SSB, CW, the 818 C/P value would be ahead 705.
I didn't play digital especially J65,FT-8, because ... just use mobile phone，it will be better and better and fun a lot, I dislike play keyboard with my rigs 😅😅🤣
In fact, I am so envious who play CW well, it's really the spirit/soul of the Amarteur radio.
Durability, perhaps yes. I don't think the 705 is very durable, but it is much newer, with a better receiver and more options than the 818
@@HamRadio2 If only based on the feathers that 705 is the number 1, but why KX3 beat it?
@@TingILi I never said the 705 was #1 or that the KX3 beat it. If you listen to the first part of the video, the order of radios is by price, not by which is first and last.
Hey Jason, check the comments to your replies and get back to me please.
NO russian of anything!!!
Always wonder why folks are steered to buying new gear when an existing 100w transceiver can just be turned down to 10 watts ??
I see many videos of folks driving cars up to picnic tables in Parks On The Air… my 7300 is just fine and includes all of the features and sips battery when set for 10 watts.
Not looking to open a religious war for summits on the air, just saying if you are driving to a “Park” just take your barefoot transceiver, turn down the power….presto QRP… out of pocket $$$ = zero dollars