Is this radio even worth buying for CW? It wasn't....until yesterday! CW POTA at K-5221
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- This is a radio you've seen once before on my channel. There's a reason you've only seen it once. It was an absolute mess on CW. Since that's my main mode of operation, I haven't really used this radio much. I was actually pretty disappointed in it.....that is, until I did the latest firmware update yesterday. Now this thing is absolutely fantastic on CW (and SSB and digital for that matter). Should you buy one? Maybe, probably, but good luck. They're unobtainum at the moment. What radio is it? Watch the video to find out :P
Thanks for watching and 73!
Evan
K2EJT
www.buymeacoffee.com/k2ejt
Intro: 0:00:00
Radio: 0:02:40
Wire Management: 0:08:28
Antenna Deployment: 0:11:40
Activation: 0:21:48
QRT and Final Thoughts: 0:51:45
Radio: BG2FX FX-4CR
Another great activation video. It was great seeing the FX-4CR in action and it appeared to do a great job. Even being able to see on the waterfall that the QRM was right over top of you is a nice feature at a reasonable price. I wish I would just pull the trigger on the KX2. Having the entire shack in such a small form factor is great, especially if this is going to be my primary CW rig for field activations. Looking at the current price of $1600 for the KX2 package, or $550 for the FX-4CR makes that FX-4CR a high value radio for the money. Great content that inspires me to push even harder in learning CW. 73
Great activation and well made video this little guy is really amazing nice contacts and great sound quality I’m impressed thanks for sharing 😊
73 de K7BCW dit dit 😊
Yeah, it's definitely a cool little radio!
Good video, I’m waiting for my next LICW beginners class to begin. See you there
As someone just starting to copy cw, I appreciate that you post the hunter on the screen. It gives me a chance to see how much if any I was able to copy. Interesting radio. I just wished it had cw memories, but still sounds like a competitor. 73 KI5VIR
Yeah, CW memories would be nice, but it's definitely not a deal breaker for me.
I totally forgot about this radio. I might need to pick one of these up. Great video as always.
I have one of those radios, and from what I have seen, I am willing to bet that there will be things added to the firmware soon for CW memories and some other nice features that have been mentioned on the group. 73
Glad the firmware update was successful and resolved the CW issues! Too bad about the intentional QRM, but you handled it well!
Thank you Evan for a great video. I'm new to CW and am warming up to do POTA. I learned a lot from your setting up the site.
Thanks! The first CW activation is a little bit scary, but after you get the first one under your belt, it gets a lot easier......and fun. Thanks for watching!
Hey Evan, another great video! Thanks for the section on wire management, I am definitely going to give this a try. BTW, I have now done about a dozen CW only activations and I am having a blast. 73 DE VE3IGS - Lyndon
Looking for a new rig, great to see your impression of the fx4cr! Thanks for the contact, I think I came reasonably close to your name eventually 😂
LOL I routinely butcher people's names
Thank you Evan for the video, I was also having some issues with CW on my rig. I just updated the firmware and it is now a lot smoother and cleaner. Thanks for the advice, hoping to take the updated FX-4CR out for a park activation soon, 73
It's a night and day difference
Had to watch this video again! Great activation. With the FX-4CR there is that nice little waterfall, but no decoder. Would a CW newbie be better off to get a radio with a built in decoder like the TX-500 or KX2, or is that not as useful as I might think. This little radio looks pretty great for the price. Just want to make sure that I spend my money wisely for my first CW rig. I will probably be "stuck" with it for a while after I buy it. Thanks for the great videos!!
I wouldn't even put a decoder on the list of things I want in a radio. They generally arent very accurate, and relying on a decoder is a crutch. Once you learn to copy well enough, you'll forget the radio even has a decoder. Now, the thing I do wish the FX-4CR had was CW memories, but it's certainly not a deal breaker. Thanks for watching!
@@EvanK2EJT Thanks for the response Evan. Those memory channels sure would be helpful to have, but as you said, not a deal breaker, especially at the price for the FX-4CR when compared to the TX-500, KX2 or even the IC705.
Yu markets this radio as covering 80m and above, not 160m. Does yours actually do 160, as you mentioned a couple of times? Just curious.
Good vid. Thx, Brent
No, I misspoke. It doesn't do 160. Good catch
Evan. Just a thought. If you are operating from the car for POTA, and weight is not a concern, an idea would be to move up to LMR-195 or 8X and a much shorter run (if you can). Granted, I know you aren’t struggling for contacts on CW, generally. But, as the bands get better and if you are using the higher bands (15M/10M, etc) you’ll get a little more power out, especially when at QRP levels. The attenuation on such a long run of lossy 316 can add up. Again, it won’t be dramatic, but a little better.I’m sure you know all this, but I’ve been exactly where you are before. I still use short (very short) runs of 316 at times for SOTA. But, weight is a factor at times. I know you don’t want to use “fancy” coax out in the woods, but shorter-ish runs of 195 or 8X isn’t that bad and they are pretty durable. I haven’t damaged any yet. Just my 2 cents, which isn’t worth much. lol. 😂
Oh for sure....if I'm running anything higher than 20m I run RG8X or better. When I'm running 20 down I don't really worry about it too much. It also depends on how far I'll be hiking in. If I'm near the vehicle, I'll run much better coax (assuming I'm operating on higher bands). Out in the woods, I generally run garbage. I had a really nice piece of ABR destroyed when the wind took my antenna for a ride, and ever since then I've run cheap coax in the woods. I'd rather be out $11 than $60. Thanks for watching!
@@EvanK2EJTRoger that man! Keep up the good work! Also, watch out for that super cheap 316. I’ve had a bad run before but I’m guessing you found a decent supplier. Nice.
I have the same rig and managed an update without to much of an issue. CW is improved but I hear something like a power buildup. I’ve had a sudden band change in mid qso. Known issue. Haven’t tried the fix yet. I wonder if that qrm was an atmospheric phenomenon. De n5vwn
Band change mid QSO is a weird one. I haven't had that happen to me yet fortunately. Thanks for watching!
what paddle do you use????
That's a BaMaTech TP-III
80-6
Yeah, for some reason I thought it was 160, but it's definitely 80-6
CW is much better except for the random band changes during transmissions.
Mine hasn't done any weird band switching and I've used it for several hundred contacts since the firmware update. I guess I'm just lucky LOL
I've noticed more and more griefing against POTA ops lately. Which is weird, because POTA ops are not nearly as disruptive to the bands as a contest or even a desirable DX station. I guess some smoothbrains just can't stand someone having fun in an unapproved way.
Yeah, it's gotten a little obnoxious. I try to ignore them, and if I can't I just QSY and start calling again.