Hi there! I was my station power supply, which is a 30 amp Alinco DM-33MV. It's a fairly small switching supply I bought 10 years ago. I've really enjoyed it. It has some nice convenience features, and I also really like having a meter as well. I just happened to have 2 12-volt server power supplies sitting to the left of the G-90, but they were not hooked up. This was a super-impromptu video, so I didn't really arrange anything for the video. I just sat the G-90 on top of a couple of plastic parts boxes, plugged it in and thought I'd just try it out. It was literally an afterthought to even grab my iPhone and shoot this video! On another video, you can probably see me using a portable battery supply that I hand-built. It's an 8 amp-hour LiFePO4 type, made from cylindrical electric bike cells and a small BMS (battery management system) to control charging and to act as an electronic fuse. 73 - Dave, K7DAA

@@DaveAndrus thank you Dave , 73s

Yeah, I'm very impressed with it. I haven't updated my firmware for awhile, and one of my friends told me that it has a setting for digital modes like FT-8 now. He's been using it on FT-8 at about 12-15 watts for the past few weeks, and is very pleased with the performance and DX he's getting. 73, and thanks for the comment! Dave - K7DAA

I would have liked to put up a 50 ft tower, and put the hex beam on top of that, but the cost and time were too challenging. I also knew that I was building a new house, and was planning to sell the one where this video was shot, so I didn't want to put up anything that couldn't easily be torn down a year or two later. So, like everything else in life, the antennas were a compromise! The hex beam was definitely a pleasant surprise. I would highly recommend it for 20-10 meters. The vertical in this video has a new home and radial field that works surprisingly well for DX, though. It performs way better than it did in this video. It's much more out in the open, with no houses or other obstructions around it. 73, Dave - K7DAA

That says a lot--glad you're having fun with it! 73, Dave - K7DAA

@ammoshortage I agree with you! Hopefully you can get a fairly decent antenna up in the air--it will contribute more to your ham fun than an "upgrade" to the IC-7300 will. The G90 has lower transmit power than the 7300, but the antenna can more than make up for it. Buy the G90 now, and use the extra $500 you save as an investment in a decent antenna. 73, Dave - K7DAA

It exceeded my expectations! Well-designed with quality materials. I will admit to one design feature I didn't really care for: The combination hose clamp/wire guides for each set of wires. You will spend most of your assembly time putting the hose clamps in the correct place, then threading each wire through the small eye on the back of the clamp, along with a plastic bushing. Multiply 6 arms times 5 bands, giving you 30 of these things. Once I had everything in place, though, I didn't need to tune anything. It easily handles full legal power without any fuss, and does very well with heavy winds. Thanks for the commend and your question! Dave - K7DAA

Thanks Dave! I truly appreciate your feed back! Lord willing i will have a plan to buy their antenna and erect it next spring. Dx Eng sells quality stuff so your comments reinforces this. I suspect every Hex beam on the market has similar construction so i am not sure we can avoid the design of the hose clamp design issue you pointed out? @@DaveAndrus

I think you'll be pleased with it. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had stage 4 colon cancer about 10 years ago, so I feel for you! Make sure and take the time to learn how to find all of the features of the radio, and what buttons to press to get there--you'll be very rewarded by all the fun little surprises this radio has. Also, check out the many videos on KZbin that describe various features. Good luck with the new phase of your ham career! 73, Dave - K7DAA

I wish you well 👍🏻

I agree 100% with your first two antenna observations. As for the vertical, I have also had poor experiences in the past with verticals. HOWEVER, I moved the vertical in this video to my new house, and I've been totally amazed at how well it does now. What's the difference? At the new location, I have a much larger yard, and the antenna is located about 100 feet way from my house, and we are also on a gentle rise that has us a few hundred feet above the rest of the town. At the old location, it was only about 25 feet from the house, which also had aluminum siding. So lots of obstruction. This vertical is like a completely new beast! I feed it with LMR-400 coax that is buried under about 24 inches of lawn and dirt, so it doesn't pick up noise, and it doesn't need a choke balun because the earth takes care of that. I'm also using fewer radials than the location in the video, so it's not helped by better ground conductivity. We also have no overhead power or telephone wires--all underground services. At the location in the video, we had power lines running along the back of our yard. I'm sure they added a bunch of noise. I can only conclude that the vertical really wants to be out in the open. I also have to say that I think the Butternut vertical is the most efficient one I've ever used. It has no lossy traps. So there you go--it really surprised me how well the same vertical works now. It just doesn't like buildings, trees, overhead wires, etc. Thanks for your comments--I really appreciate them! 73--Dave--K7DAA

@@DaveAndrustake a look at the momo beam t10. I think you’d like it. I ran a hex for a short while until the ice crumbled it. I decided to stay with more solid antennas. Which butternut do you use Dave?

@@JayN4GO I have a Butternut HF-9V. I haven't heard of the momo beam before. Thanks for the tip--I'll look it up! Yeah, icing can be tough on hex beams and cubical quads. 73, Dave

Hi Don @wd8dsb I appreciate your analysis. The dipole and the hex beam both have baluns on them at the feedpoint, so hopefully there is less chance of picking up significant feedline noise, but it's still possible. I also had ferrites on the feedlines where they entered the house. Another possibility is that all of the hex beam's active area (basically the W-shaped driven element) is above the level of the roof, and about 10 feet above the feedpoint of the dipole. So it is above most of the noisy things in the house and nearby buildings. The dipole is an inverted-V type with ends that droop down to about 10 feet above the ground. The vertical, of course, is on the ground. So my guess is that the vertical is most subjected to a) blocking by buildings and trees, and b) noise pick-up of digital noise from the house about 20 feet away. The dipole is a bit less so, but some of it is still blocked by the house, and it runs nearer to noisy things just inside the house. Interestingly enough, that same vertical is now mounted at the back edge of my new property a few miles away on a half-acre, and is about 100 feet from the nearest house. It's now an excellent, low-noise antenna! The feedline is LMR-400 run about 2 feet underground in a PVC pipe. So the only things that changed were the radial system and proximity to buildings. I actually had a more extensive radial system at the house where this video was taken, so it can't be because of a better ground or radials. I often wonder how much better the vertical would have been if it were mounted on the roof with a resonant counterpoise! I've been a ham for almost 60 years, and still work professionally as an RF hardware engineer. I'm still completely fascinated with antennas from 200 kHz to 75 GHz, and the variables that affect them. The fact that I get to design them and also play with them in my spare time is just the most fun for me! Thanks again for stopping by, and 73, Dave - K7DAA

I think you'll really enjoy the rig--and that is a great deal you got. Since a simple dipole is only about 8 feet 4 inches on each leg for 10 meters, it's much easier to find a spot to put it up, For a dipole, just think of a capital "T". The top horizontal line of the T is about 16' 8", cut in the middle, with the vertical line of the T being the coax that feeds it. The center conductor of the coax connects to one size, and the coax braid to the other side. You can then string it up between trees or whatever you have available. You can also turn it 90 degrees and use it as a vertical dipole, with the coax going away horizontally for maybe 15 feet. Do a search on KZbin for "simple 10 meter antenna" and have a look at lots of possibilities. Try to get it at least 15 or more feet in the air for best results. Alternatively, you could also make a simple vertical antenna that can sit at ground level. You can use any type of metal for the 1/4-wave vertical element (again 8'4" to start with). I've seen painter's poles used, as well as just a wire tiewrapped to a 8-9 foot piece of bamboo. Then lay several radials on the ground--length is not important. Connect the coax braid to the radials, and the center conductor to the vertical pipe or wire. You want to insulate the vertical part from the ground. You could start with just a piece of wood or plastic. Try to keep the vertical, as well as any antenna, away from things that could block the signal, like your house, etc.

@@DaveAndrus I got the Alinco DM 330 MTV. What gauge wire would be a minimum size for powering the G90? I'm thinking 14 gauge would be okay.

@@AlvinMcManus Yes, 14 Ga will be fine as long as the wire length is under 6-10 feet or so. The G90 puts out 20 watts RF, so draws about 5-6 amps or less on voice peaks. You'll also notice the short, thin power wires that come with the radio, and the included 10 amp fuse. The idea here is to minimize the voltage drop caused by any extra resistance in longer, thinner wires during the highest current peaks. By doing this, the radio's transmit linearity during peak power demands is best. Depending on the radio design, that can result in better sounding transmit audio, too.

@@DaveAndrus okay I have the power pole connectors, wire (12gauge) crimper, all the tools. I'm a tool junkie I confess. I just scored a used MFJ-812B SWR/Wattmeter for 10 bucks. Once the bench is built I can start the setup. Antennas are pending.

It's still working just like you see in this video that I took right out of the box. No problems or issues, no complaints. Thanks for stopping by! 73, Dave

Hi Alvin! It was good to chat with you on our repeater last week! Welcome to a really fun hobby. SDR stands for "Software-Defined Radio". Rather than use a bunch of transistors and discrete (analog) parts, an SDR radio uses a chip called a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). A DSP is a combination of a microprocessor and a bunch of fast internal digital logic to do all the jobs of demodulating the RF signal (SSB, AM, CW, etc) and turning it into audio we can hear, plus it also runs the display, and processes your input from turning knobs and pushing buttons. It also takes the audio from your microphone and converts it into an SSB voice signal directly. So features and improvements can be added by software updates instead of changing out parts inside the radio. So, most of the functions, or personality, of the radio are software-defined rather than defined by parts that are soldered in. The personality of the radio can be changed by changing the software that runs the DSP. Almost all of the cheap Chinese handie-talkie radios have some form of DSP chip in them, making them cheaper to build. There are also "full" DSP and "hybrid" DSP radios. There is almost always a need for some analog (transistors, capacitors, inductors, etc) to interface the DSP to and from the antenna, so just about all ham radios are hybrids. For example, to boost the SSB signal from your mike up to 20 watts of RF, there are beefy amplifier transistors there to do that. On the receiving end of some radios, analog parts are used to filter and convert the incoming RF signals to an IF (Intermediate Frequency) that is compatible with the DSP's processing speeds. DSP has given us the capability of filtering and processing the incoming and outgoing signals from your antenna with much more precision than we can usually get from old-school full analog radios. So you get better bandpass filtering, CW decoding, a nice antenna tuner and many other features that are controlled by the software in the DSP chip. DSP is now extremely common in ham radios, even though some don't actually advertise that DSP is inside. If your radio can do software updates, it's likely got at least some DSP inside. Another side-bonus of DSP is that there are fewer parts that have to go into the radio, so they can be built more cheaply, with software making up for the analog parts that aren't used. I hope this helps a bit. Feel free to experiment and ask questions--that's how we all get started. I'm a professional RF (radio) Wi-Fi engineer, but I got started by fooling around with a crystal radio, then CB, then ham radio when I was a kid. I still remember how disappointed I was when my first little kit project let out a bunch of smoke when I turned it on for the first time! But it was a learning experience... 73, Dave

@@DaveAndrus thank you for that complete, yet concise explanation. It makes a lot sense to use a DSP and good software. No wonder the radios are smaller than in the 60's.

Thanks, I appreciate that. I've actually upgraded to the Elecraft K4 about 18 months ago, and the K3 is now my backup. 73 and thanks for stopping by!

Yea, no empty beer cans to be seen!

Yes I do, and it's still working just fine. If you search for my callsign (K7DAA) on QRZ.com, you can see a photo of my ham station with the Xiegu rig on the first shelf. It's a nice little rig for the price. Thanks for checking out my channel--more to come now that the snows have melted! Dave

Thanks to you both for this question. I was wondering how it was holding up. I’m looking for something a little more portable than my 7300. I was leaning toward a 891 but with the G90 you get so much more.

@@timothymorris1499 If they were the same price, I'd say the 7300 is all you would want, but it's more than twice the cost of the G90. As you know, the 7300 has a very nice, large display, and a few more knobs. With the G90, you have to find things in more combinations of button presses, but it's not bad. I don't have any problems remembering how to turn some option on or off as long as I use the radio once in a while. So really, the main difference is 100W vs 20W, but at more than 2X the price. The 7300 can drive a linear amp right out of the box, if that's at all important to you (it shouldn't be). The G90 requires an external dongle, that brings out the PTT for an amp. I've driven my Elecraft KAT-500 to full output on 20 meters with it! The first thing most of us want to do with the G90 is to get an external speaker, and it can't drive a speaker directly. There are workarounds, though. You can buy an amplified speaker, or do a fairly simple mod inside the G90 if you have good eyes and soldering skills. That's not to say that the G90's internal speaker is terrible, but I want one that has wider frequency response most of the time. Your mileage may vary, as they say. Comparing the G90 with the Yaesu FT-891, I'd lean more towards the G90. The 891 is more of a no-frills radio. Again it's 100W vs 20W but that's not such as big deal if you want to use it as a grab-n-go radio. BTW, I plan to use the G90 and a battery again for this year's Field Day next month. Maybe I'll shoot a few more videos for KZbin like last year. Let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like to see. 73 and thanks! Dave

Literally just recommended this video,thanks for sharing.

Yeah, nothing like a good directional antenna to bring the signals up out of the noise. It also limits the overall noise level into your receiver because much of your gain is in one direction rather than from all around you. 73 and thanks for the comment!

I've heard a number of similar comments, and I did just what you suggested during my field day operating with this rig. I think I cranked the RF gain down even further, and signals just popped out of the noise. My elmer during my Novice days taught me to pretty much leave the AF volume knob alone, and adjust the RF gain control instead. I've pretty much done then ever since. Thanks for the comment!

It's small, light and made of plastic. It also has detents rather than turning smoothly. I don't find that to be a problem though. This is quite a small radio, and they've put as many buttons and knobs on the front panel as possible, so the main tuning knob really couldn't grow much beyond its present size. If you want some heft, you'll need to look more in the range of a full-sized transceiver. Even my Yaesu FT-817 and 818 radios have small main tuning knobs, since they are also small and portable rigs. As I've mentioned in other comments, given the price and size of this radio, I think it's pretty decent. The size of the tuning knob on this radio is about the same as a volume control on a full-sized rig. It's about 3/4 inch or 2 cm in diameter. Thanks for watching, and for your question! Let me know if I can help you with any other details. Dave - K7DAA

@@DaveAndrus Thanks for the response. I don't know.... maybe i'm 'old school', but I have to have a nice, precise, weighted tuning knob, even on a small rig. One of my rigs, and Yaesu FT-450 had come with a plastic, but slightly weighted knob - then they came out with a heftier, nicer one for the FT-450D, so I purchased it and installed it. The rig feels a lot more precise, and more satisfying to use now! Perhaps there are some aftermarket nicer tuning knobs for the Xiegu. I'll check and see. 73!

K7DGF: That's a great deal! I've bought stuff from Radioddity before, and they've always had good prices and service. Hope Santa brings you that EFHW antenna! 73 - Dave, K7DAA

Hey Frank, Absolutely--you nailed it! 73, Dave - K7DAA

Hi Rick! Yeah, you're totally right about that! If you read my comment on the video at the top, you'll see that I mentioned just pulling my iPhone out after the QSO started. I never intended to make a video before I got started, so that's why it's so amateurish! I can only get better from here, right? 73, Dave - K7DAA

Yes, it's STILL one of my favorites. I've owned a total of 3 of these! I bought my first when it was a new product in the late 80's. I kept it until about 2014 when I let one of my best friends that was just getting into the hobby makes some contacts on it. He literally begged me to sell it to him. I had some seller's remorse off and on until I finally saw another for sale about 2 years later for about $400. Then another one fell into my lap from a silent key. I had to do the "all dots" repair on both of them, and also some minor updates and calibration. This one in the video is the one I bought in 2016. I calibrated the S-meter for a true S-9 reading with 50 microvolts input, so you're seeing a pretty accurate representation of the received signal strength at my end. Notice also how high my noise level was that day: S-7! So...I now have 2. Then I also bought a TS-450 that I got for a song because it had quit receiving. I opened that one up and found a cracked pc board around the SSB filter. Must have gotten dropped or had some rough screwdriver work done around that area, but it looks like new. That was a 10-minute repair. Now I have 3 TS4x0's, so I must like them. Can't beat their beautiful TX and RX audio, even with the built-in speaker. Thanks for watching and for your comments! 73 -- Dave

Thanks! I was just using the built-in microphones on my iPhone Xs. The speaker on top of the Xiegu G90 is quite small, like the size of the speaker on a handie-talkie, but seems better quality. I have also used an external amplified speaker plugged into the Xiegu's earphone jack with good results. Thanks for your comment!

@nanado11 Roger, thanks for stopping by! In this video I was using the firmware that originally shipped with the radio 2+ years ago. At that time, there was no way to adjust the mike gain. Make sure that your Xiegu firmware is up-to-date. Last time I checked, I think it was v1.77, but I could be wrong about that. With the newer firmware you can now adjust the mike gain. I would suggest using the default setting first, and checking on-air with more than one person as I did here. This has two benefits: First, you are more likely to get an answer to your CQ as I did if you mention that you are looking for an audio report. We hams love to be helpful, so someone who might otherwise pass you by may stop and give you a quick report. Second, you'll find the "sweet spot" easier with some actual over-the-air tests with other hams. Because you are running lower power (20 versus 100 watts), I would leave the compression turned on most of the time. It will make your transmitted signal stand out a bit more. That's how I ran it in the recent Field Day contest, and I had no complaints about audio, and an almost 100% response when I called someone. It's not mike gain, but I would strongly recommend turning your receiver RF gain down to about 10-20% instead of the default 100%. This will make the receiver sound quieter, without so much noise "pumping" up and down when someone is talking on SSB. It's just overall a better sound. And don't worry about not being able to hear the weak ones when you do that. Turn the audio up a little maybe to compensate, but not too much, unless you have a hearing impairment. Modern receivers have lots of gain, and turning the RF gain down will still give you plenty of sensitivity while making it much easier on your ears, especially if you're on 40 or 80 meters with lightning crashes causing crackles over the air. Believe it or not...I still haven't adjusted my mike gain up or down from this first QSO I recorded! It's set at 10. So don't spend a lot of time worrying about one single correct setting. Just enjoy. So mike gain at 10-12, compression ON, receiver RF gain down to 10-20%. Those are my present settings. I hope you have a great experience with this little radio. Please comment back to me on your experiences. I try to answer all questions and comments posted here, and I'm going to try and do more videos in the future. Maybe I should include one that shows how I set up the radio, including mike, antennas, etc. 73 -- Dave, K7DAA

@@DaveAndrus Dave, thank you for your recommendations. I’ll definitely follow your suggestion’s. Take care and 73, Roger W8RLP

@Turtle I think you are right. At the time I recorded this, Xiegu had not provided a way to adjust the mike gain. Due to many folks asking for this ability, Xiegu provided it in a firmware update, which we all loaded and now use. They have added a number of other nice features via firmware updates as well. I'm very please with the new controls! 73 -- Dave

@Turtle Thanks for your question! In some past comments, I recommended the FT-891 as a possible first rig over this one, but I think I need to change that position because of some experiences I have had with the Xiegu lately. For your particular needs where you want to using it as a portable radio, I think this would be a very good choice. It definitely will give you more features and power than other 5-watt class radios, especially when you compare the cost of this one over the others. You will have 6 dB more power output at 20 watts than a 5-watt radio, which is a full S-unit on the other end of your contact. This will definitely help you to be heard. The antenna tuner works well, and is a big advantage when operating portable. The only minor advantages another QRP rig like the FT-817 or 818 would have are internal battery and coverage of the VHF+ bands. To that end, if you have a 5-watt walkie-talkie, you won't care about the 817/818's coverage, and the internal battery on that radio will only last you a couple of hours. If you are concerned about backpacking weight, the Xiegu and a 5-8 amp-hour LiFePO4 battery are going to weigh just a little more than the 817, but not a lot more. So yes, I think you will be very happy with the Xiegu G-90 for your portable operations! 73 -- Dave

Andy, sorry to hear about your 891. One of my good friends in Morgan Hill, CA, recently had to send his FT-991 (not the "A" model) into Yaesu for a second time. I've been very lucky with about 8 Yaesu radios to never have needed any repairs. Y'know, the more I use this Xiegu, the more impressed I am with it. I originally bought it on a whim because it was a new design being offered at $400, so I figured I couldn't lose for that price. It's worked flawlessly since then. One of the things I've heard from others is that you need to really crank the RF gain down to something between 10 and 20%. When I used it for Field Day recently, I found that it was really quite noisy until I did that. I left it at about 12% the whole time and it was much quieter and better to listen to. Have you had to do this as well? Just curious. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment! 73 -- Dave

@2Meter Crew : First of all, I love your YT logo! I dropped by your channel and sub'd. I used to live in Morgan Hill CA, so very familiar with Mt. Diablo and the Bay Area in general. Now to your question: I'd love to have done the TX comparison test, but didn't have time. I'm also in a different city a few miles away from the house that had this 3-antenna setup, and I don't have the same ability to put the hex beam up on the new house (spousal approval factor and solar panels everywhere!). I'm also right up against the mountains to the east of me, so EU and a good part of the USA is harder now. If I had the hex beam up and turned it to the east or northeast, all the little electrons would bounce off and come flying back at me. I'm that close to these 9,000 ft monsters! I could certainly do Japan or the south Pacific though. If you have a look at my vid that mentions the temporary mag loop, you can see my yard and the mountains. I still have the hex beam, and am planning to set it up periodically in the back yard. The Butternut vertical is also permanently installed now, so I can make a new video comparing them when I get the time. I really appreciate your comments and suggestion!

Vlolove very. Vv. v l y oy and thget oo getwere you out b t too @@DaveAndrussee d y.

I did some tests on 20, 10 and 6 meter, and typically gain about 2 S points, over my end fed.

@Miami SWL Radio : I really appreciate your comments, and also your challenge to me, asking for more videos. That's quite a complement! My biggest challenge is time. I work full-time as a senior RF engineer for Roku. I design the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hardware that goes into Roku TV's. My wife and I also built a new house, as you can see from the video about the mag loop. I have just not had the time to do more, and I wish I did. I also wish I still had the hex beam up on my roof, but I promised my wife not to put it up on our new house. We have lots of solar panels, and the antenna mount would not coexist happily with them. At least I do now have a permanent vertical antenna that gets great range, except for Europe. We are now surrounded by the Rocky Mountains to our east and north. So my DX opportunities are not quite the same as they were at my old house with the hex beam on the roof, unfortunately. I definitely plan to make more videos as time permits, and I promise that I will take up your challenge to do some videos of me making contacts on the air. I have this wonderful new Elecraft K4 transceiver that is just a dream to use, and it makes QSO's even more fun. I will record some and post them here. I might even do some for the ARRL Field Day on the last Saturday of this month (June 2022). Thank you so much for your kind thoughts and encouragement!! 73, Dave - K7DAA

@@DaveAndrus That's fantastic Dave that would consider that. And congrats on your new home. Solar panels may prove to be a challenge as far as creating noise on HF but it can be overcome with an MFJ-1026 Noise Canceller. They simply work and work well. Fussy, but well. They're made for 100 watts but can be modified for QRO. Some videos on this on KZbin. But it's great that you have your vertical up. Sunspot numbers are insanely high today having topped a record in 2014! Cycle 25 has started with a bang. Europe will be easy even with a vertical. Things have radically changed. We're all pressed for time so it's with great joy that I hear you will try. It's really not just me that looks forward to this. There are thousands that look forward to this and you've got the gift brother. I was in broadcasting in my youth and it's just cool to have a proper demeanor and cadence on HF. And hey, everyone is doing POTA outdoors, fun, but saturated. Get some indoor action like this video also! Thanks again for posting this magnificent vid. Look forward to more!

@@624radicalham Funny you should mention solar panel noise. I actually have the MFJ-1026, but I haven't tried it out yet. I bought it about 5 years ago for my old QTH in Northern California, but I haven't really needed it here. When I designed my solar system, I was very concerned about the noise it would generate. I selected a dealer/installer that has a lot of experience with the Enphase system. I spent almost $1,000 on ferrites, and had them installed on both the input and output sides of the Enphase IQ-7+ inverters that go on each of the 33 panels. The result is so quiet that I really can't tell when the sun is up and they're generating power! I'm very happy with my choice. Now, I don't have antennas mounted right next to the panels, so I don't know how much noise pickup I would have in that case. It's something I might try one of these days. We live in a neighborhood where something like a hex beam or a Yagi on the roof just would not fit in with the aesthetics. I'm very fortunate that my neighbors have all told me they don't care if I do that, but still... 73, Dave

Chas, you're very welcome! I appreciate your comments. Regarding these magnetic loop antennas, I have built a couple of my own from scratch, and really got the mag loop "bug". I'm assuming that you also saw my other video that shows my MFJ loop, correct? The main advantage to the MFJ is that it is one of the very few that can be remotely tuned. If you have it mounted outside or in your attic, this will be super important to you. All mag loops are very, very high Q, so once you tune them to a particular frequency, you can't move more than about 15-30 kHz until your SWR will shoot up above 2:1 or more. So you have to keep re-peaking the tuning of the loop as you move around the band. If this sounds fiddly and complicated, don't worry. You'll get used to it pretty quickly. An advantage for hams with limited horizontal or vertical room, such as folks in HOA-restricted housing, is that mag loops don't really need to be hoisted up in the air. The only reason to elevate them is just to avoid things such as buildings that could block the signal I made my first home brew mag loop with about 10 feet of 5/8 inch copper tube from Home Depot that I bent into a 3 foot diameter loop. I had a second-hand butterfly capacitor that I found on eBay for $12. For my first on-air test on 17 meters, I hooked up my Elecraft K2 transceiver running 15 watts, and mounted the loop with tie wraps to a short wooden stick that I pushed into the grass. It looked like the skeleton of a 4-foot tall lollypop. My first contact on SSB from Northern California (I'm now in Utah BTW) was with Hawaii. The guy gave me a 5-7 report. Without moving the loop, my second QSO was with a ham in Maryland. He gave me 5-9 and was truly shocked when I told him I was running 15 watts, and the bottom of my antenna was about 12 inches off the ground! Mag loops are not miracle antennas, but I was feeling pretty good about my $30 antenna that day! Another thing I should mention is that, except for the MFJ loop, the ones I'm going to list here are not capable of running above 25 watts. This should not be an issue for you if your are using the G90, since it is a 20 watt radio. If you ever decide to build your own, the capacitor is the key to how much power the loop can tolerate. A tuning capacitor with widely-space plates is necessary, and that's what the MFJ has inside. The only other downside to these commercial loops is that they are all $500 and up, post COVID. Here are a few places on the web I can suggest. I own an earlier Chameleon CHA-F Loop 2.0 mag loop. Here is their new version 3.0: chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/cha-f-loop-30 The MFJ mag loop: They sell either a 30-10 meter, or 40-15 meter model. I have the one that goes down to 40 meters, but its efficiency on that band is lower. Most all mag loops generally, and not just MFJ's, are going to give best performance on 20 through 10 meters where the loop size is closer to 1/10 of a wavelength: mfjenterprises.com/collections/antenna/type_loop-antenna+company_mfj#collection For truly portable operation, I have a PY1AHD Alex Walkham loop. It is a light-duty handheld type, not suitable for permanent mounting, but people do put them on light-duty tripods. I love mine. Alex is a cool Brazilian dude that has designed lots of loop antennas. You can buy these at DX Engineering, an excellent ham shop: alexloop.com/ Also, don't forget to check the eHam.net product reviews for these and other antennas: www.eham.net/reviews/view-category?id=13 Finally, there are lots of KZbin videos of either commercial or home-brew loop antennas. Just search for "mag loop" or "loop antenna" and you'll see lots of suggestions. I also highly recommend Dave Casler's ham channel, and here is a link to his explanation of how mag loops work: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5CZpYiFprymnrc Well, maybe I should do a video for my channel where I line up my mag loops and show how they compare. Hmmm... 73 and welcome back to the hobby, and to HF, which I firmly believe is where all the fun happens! Please don't hesitate to ask more questions. I try to answer all of them. Dave - K7DAA

Hello Peder, and thanks for your question! I think your question is a good one, and is something that many new hams ask. It is difficult (but not impossible) to find a small antenna for the HF bands that will work as well as a full-size antenna. The reason is that the wavelengths of the HF radio signals are quite large (160 through 10 meters), and an efficient antenna normally needs to be at least 1/4 of a wavelength in size. There are basically two types of antennas: a horizontal, such as a dipole, and a vertical. A third type you may want to consider is known as a magnetic loop. A mag loop can be quite small, and is very efficient, but needs to be re-tuned constantly as you change frequencies within a band. If the loop is mounted vertically, it can be used very close to the ground with good results. A dipole is generally mounted horizontally, and is normally designed with two 1/4 wavelength legs, for a total of 1/2 wavelength long. So, for the 40 meter ham band, it would be approximately 20 meters (about 66 feet) long. It can be made shorter with loading coils, which I will mention below, since the same technique can be used to shorten a vertical antenna. If you don't have space for a traditional dipole antenna that is fed in the middle with coax, you might also find that an end-fed dipole antenna, which can be supported on just one end, such as a tall tree, might be useful to you. It is still 20 meters in length, but might be easier to mount at just one end. A bonus advantage is that the matching coil (in a plastic box where your coax connects to antenna) helps the antenna to work on multiple bands. So an end-fed 40 meter antenna will also cover the 30-10 meter bands as well without making any adjustments. Just search on KZbin or Google "end fed dipole". A vertical antenna might be a good choice for you, since it can be mounted directly on the ground. You do need to spread out some radial wires on the ground, though. At least 8 wires of a random length (I would suggest 5 meters) are necessary at minimum for any 1/4-wave vertical antenna. These radial wires are not special. They can be bare or insulated wire, and can be very thin. A vertical antenna can be made smaller than 1/4 wavelength by adding a loading coil, which is basically just a coil of wire that adds to the electrical length of the antenna while keeping it smaller. Maybe you have seen HF mobile antennas that do this. One such very cheap antenna you can buy is known as a "Hamstick" type. Hamstick is a brand name for a shortened mobile antenna that is capable of working on a single HF band while keeping the antenna short. Most are are about 5-7 feet tall (about 150 to 210 cm). A Hamstick-type antenna is a fiberglass rod with wire coiled around it to make it electrically the same length as a full-size 1/4-wave antenna. So, for the 40 meter amateur band, instead of being 33 feet (10 meters) long, the antenna is much shorter. This would be wonderful, except that there is a price to pay for this shortened length: lower efficiency. A short antenna will not radiate a signal as well a full-size one. So there is a trade-off, but that does not mean a shortened antenna is a bad idea. For some of us that do not have space for a full-size antenna, this can be a very acceptable design. You might also find another type of short vertical antenna interesting. It is designed for mobile use also, but it has the advantage of being able to cover several ham bands by moving the loading coil up and down inside the antenna remotely. Such an antenna is usually called a "screwdriver antenna" because the first designs years ago used the motor from an electric screwdriver to move the coil up and down. I have used screwdriver antennas while mobile, as well as mounted in my back yard or garden. They are expensive (US$400-600 typical), but work very well if you want to cover multiple ham bands without changing coils. I suggest Tarheel antennas, since I have been very successful with their "Little Tarheel" model. They are located here: www.tarheelantennas.com/ The same coiled-wire trick can be used to make horizontal dipole antennas shorter. A horizontal dipole, unlike a vertical antenna, needs to be up in the air as much as possible to avoid the effects of the ground that lowers its efficiency. A magnetic loop is a very interesting antenna. It is small--typically 1 meter in diameter--and made from copper or aluminum tubing about 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) outside diameter. It needs a variable capacitor to tune it to the desired frequency. It can be quite efficient, being close to a full-size dipole. As I mentioned before, though, it needs to be re-tuned if you change frequency more than 10-30 kHz. I have experimented with mag loop antennas quite a bit, and you can see a commercial version I bought from MFJ in one of my other videos here. In conclusion, there are small antennas for HF, but they are less efficient than full-size. If you accept that, then you may be happy. You can also use the same "Hamstick" idea to build a dipole as well. Just buy two, and mount them horizontally (or even vertically, if you have the available tree or other structure to hang it up. The coax should run horizontally away from the antenna feedpoint for some distance, though. Here are some commercial examples of smaller antennas you might find interesting. In all cases, please also try searching for these antennas on KZbin, using keywords such as "short vertical", "short dipole" or "portable antenna", or "magnetic loop". Short verticals: www.wolfrivercoils.com/ mfjenterprises.com/collections/antenna/products/mfj-1640t www.qrpkits.com/pac12.html Short dipoles (some can be vertical as well): www.buddipole.com/ www.qrpkits.com/dualbanddipole.html Magnetic Loops: chameleonantenna.com/ mfjenterprises.com/collections/mfj/products/mfj-1782?_pos=9&_sid=5e95307eb&_ss=r (This is the antenna in another of my videos--it can be remotely controlled) By the way, I suggest either the 40 or 20 meter ham bands as the best bands to start with as a new ham. 40 meters is open both day and night, and contacts can be made for 400 to 2000 miles (650 to 3200 km). The longest distances are made in the early evening hours. The 20 meters band covers longer distances world-wide, but it is mostly a daytime-only band. As the sunspots increase, it will stay open longer into the night. It also has the advantage that antennas are 1/2 the size of 40 meter antennas. Good luck finding the right antenna for your needs. Please feel free to ask me any further questions you might have!

Peder, if you are interested in trying to build your own HF antenna that fits in a small space, here is a very good KZbin video that shows how one guy designed a homebrew version of the famous BuddiPole antenna: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGekhYtoj56YrdU 73, Dave

@@DaveAndrus Thank you for this treasure trove of information!

@@pekkanikolaus You are very welcome! Please feel free to ask questions anytime. Hopefully I can help you get your ham station set up if you have not done so already. I started when I was very young, so I have had quite a few successes (and failures) in my ham radio life!

Yeah, that's always been the problem with MFJ. Sometimes you get a well-built unit, and other times it looks like they don't have any outgoing quality inspection.

Hi Mike! Awesome chatting with you about non-business things. Thinking of getting a ham license some time?

Tom, thanks for subscribing! I agree with your assessment. It definitely is a good radio for portable operation. It compares favorably with the Yaesu FT-817/818. The Yaesu does 2m and 70cm, and has internal batteries, which don't last very long. Other than those minor things, the Xiegu easily beats it for the internal antenna tuner and the waterfall display. Both very useful for operating portable.

@@DaveAndrus I like that it has a CW detector. learned in another video sometime you need to adjust the receiving speed to get good decoding.

@@liontomh I'm glad you found that info. I totally forgot that it had decoding capability! I use CW a lot, but honestly I haven't tried it (yet) with this radio. Yeah, most CW decoders work better if you give them a rough estimate of the expected receiving speed. Otherwise, many of them will falsely start decoding dits at high speed when it's just noise. I hope you have fun with yours. Let me know how it goes 👍

Yep, that's why it's always a good idea to collect several different signal or audio reports before deciding what to do next. That said, Xiegu did do a firmware update to give customers a mike gain control after this video was made, so I wasn't the only one having issues with the transmit audio. I appreciate your comments!

So I'm not the only one that fantasizes about such things 😄

Edin, it depends on your budget. It's one of the least expensive new radios you can buy, and it works well. The only downside is that it puts out 20 watts, while most hams start with a "standard" 100 watts. As a new ham, it can be a bit frustrating to make contacts unless you hook this to a very good antenna such as the hex beam I used in the video. If you have a bit more to spend, I would recommend the Yaesu FT-891, which is about US$640. It doesn't have the band scope, but it covers all of the HF bands plus 6 meters, and has 100 watts output. Search KZbin for a number of videos that feature this radio to get a sense of what you'd be buying. Other than the lower transmit power, though, this is a very good little radio. Thanks for visiting my channel!

@@DaveAndrus I wish it had antenna tuner for that price. So hard to decide :)

@@EdinGacic If you don't mind, allow me to write a long essay here on my opinions of the G-90 vs other transceivers: Yes, you're absolutely correct--it is definitely a trade-off. The FT-981 is pretty basic, and does not include such nice things as a built-in antenna tuner and a panadapter (or also called waterfall or spectrum display). Its small size is similar to the G-90, and that makes it easier to use portable or mobile, though, so keep that in mind if you ever consider those modes of operation. Again, it very much depends on your budget, and also on your list of priorities. For example, an antenna tuner may not be as important to you if you plan to only use antennas that are resonant on the bands you want to use. You could also tell yourself that you could add an external antenna tuner a bit later when finances allow--sort of a pay-as-you-go installment plan. Based on my own observations as a ham for more than 50 years, I see very few hams that only have one transceiver, one power supply, and one antenna. There are certainly hams that do just that, but most of us collect various pieces of gear as time goes on. We buy and sell, collect, trade with each other, share various things, and some lucky hams get gifts of used radios and other gear from ham friends or elmers. I have done all of those things. You might decide that it's most important to you to buy a first transceiver and then add various accessories as time progresses. Or you might decide that you want it all now, and buy a top-of-the-line model with everything but a coffee maker built in. It's up to you. Personally, I like the idea of buying lower-cost gear and then adding to it over time. I think this is probably what you are planning to do, and I think that is a great way to start! Here are my opinions on new radios currently being sold that you might consider: Xiegu G90: If you buy one now for about $450, you'll have a nice radio that has an antenna tuner and a panadapter built in. Regardless of which radio you buy, you will also need a power supply that can put out at least 20-25 amps. This will "future proof" your power supply choice for the future. Next, before too long, you'll probably also want to buy an external speaker, since the Xiegu speaker is very small. After that, maybe a desktop microphone. Next, you'll very likely wish you had more power output, so you spend more money to buy a power amplifier that will boost you to 100 watts. Remember that the G-90 antenna tuner will not be useful if you add an amplifier. The amp will need its own antenna tuner rated for 100 watts, or whatever power level you purchase. If you add the cost of the Xiegu and an amplifier together (plus a possible antenna tuner), you will end up spending as much as you would for a transceiver that has all of the Xiegu's features, plus the higher output power. But...you did this over time that allowed you to save money to buy those things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Yaesu FT-891: I mentioned its lack of antenna tuner, as you also noted. It also lacks the panadapter. It does have the advantage of being designed and supported by a mainstream manufacturer, so you are getting a quality user interface and good factory and repain support if it is ever needed. This same observation applies to all Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom radios. Yaesu FT991A: Excellent radio that has HF, VHF and UHF coverage. It is a competitor to the IC-7300 I mention below, with the addition of the bands above 54 MHz as a bonus. The IC-7300 has a much bigger display, but they are otherwise close in features. It is about $100 less than the IC-7300. Elecraft: is also a great brand, but they do not have lower-priced radios. I own an Elecraft K3 and love it, and I just got my new Elecraft K4 last week. What a wonderful radio, but it's about US$5,000! I also have Elecraft K2, KX1, and the other transceivers they have sold in the past. Some were kits, and some, like the K3 and K4, we factory-built. I guess you could say I'm an Elecraft collector. Icom 7100: If you have the money, and you want 100 watts and an antenna tuner, consider the Icom IC-7100. It's an older design without a panadapter, but is has the bonus of VHF and UHF operation built in, since it can do 144 and 432 MHz. I have one, and it's a very good radio. No color screen, and it's a radio with a separate main body and control head, so you can have a very neat, minimal footprint on your desk. It costs about US$1,000 now, but before COVID, it sold for as low as $750 new, so maybe it's not a very good bargain at the moment. Icom IC-7300: Excellent radio, with all of the features we have discussed. It is the number 1 selling ham transceiver for a good reason. It has been about US$999 on sale, but is presently $1200. Still a very good radio with everything you would want. It has an excellent 4 inch color display that everyone loves. For about the same money, I would easily recommend it over any other radio. While others have been impacted by COVID, this one has not had much of a price increase as of January 2022. Kenwood: The TS-590S or SG is an excellent radio, and I have one as a remote base that I operate over the Internet. It lacks a panadapter, and that's about the only downside. Unfortunately, COVID has boosted its price to about US$1500. It used to be priced as a competitor to the Icom and Yaesu radios in the same price class. Many people love the "Kenwood sound" in both transmit and receive audio. Me too. Radios I do not recommend for a new ham: Yaesu FT-450, Icom IC-718 and IC-705 (and any QRP power level radio having 5-10 watts output). These entry level radios are the ones that new hams buy, and then sell when they gain more experience. Their price on the used market does not hold up well, and they lack some features, such as variable mike gain, that will often be annoying. They are very good, entry-level radios otherwise, but you will not be happy with the limited features after a few months or years of operation. Other than that, there is nothing inherently wrong with them. I don't recommend low-power radios for any new hams, because they will get frustrated shouting at people that can't hear them, get frustrated, and leave the hobby. The Xiegu is a bit higher power compared to the usual QRP radio, but it's 20 watts will still be frustrating with an entry-level antenna, such as a simple dipole mounted close to the ground, or a vertical antenna (vertical is often much better though). You'll make contacts, and some will surprise you, especially as the sunspot numbers increase over the next 3-4 years. But you will also struggle a bit more, so keep that in mind. Once you decide to upgrade to a 100W amplifier, you've paid as much as a better radio would cost. One last comment about low-power radios in general: They are fun for a ham that is interested in more of a challenge. Some hams get really crazy and operate radios that transmit less than 1 watt. They are also fun for portable operation, where you want a minimalist radio setup you can carry in a backpack or even in just one hand. Low power is definitely a challenge and can be quite fun, but it is also definitely not a good point of entry for a new ham. I operate QRP radios routinely, and enjoy them. There. I didn't quite write a book here. Maybe a pamphlet or a short story. 😀

@@DaveAndrus thank you for your input. Well I am new to the ham radio but this is what I understood too and you confirmed it to me. What I think as of now is that probably will just go and get the FTDX10 I can get it now for €1,242.86 because of Yaesu 200 EUR cash back and I can get it VAT excluded as a business purchase. I also really like the Yaesu FT-891 and get can it for €587.39 but lack of the tuner is a really hard hard tradeoff for me, because I want to be portable too - so after i add a tuner to it its bulky and adds costs and I guess Yaesu FTDX10 can be considered portable too - if i make a nice case for it i can take it on summits and work it remote - I really don't care about the waterfall and actually think by eliminating it one can concentrate more on listening and talking using the radio then looking at it :) So I am sure it will be one of those two radios. I wish also that they build a radio that is modular in a firmware sense that has all that FTDX10 has and also possibility to use low power for expedition work for digital modes to extend the power draw when off grid. I am new to the ham radio just two months but learned a lot from watching videos like yours and now I have AnyTone 878 II and use it on analog and DMR but think that I will love HF DX stuff. If you are on DMR give me a call KO4VDC is my callsign :) Cheers and love your videos and input. Thanks a lot 73

@@EdinGacic The FTDX10 is an excellent radio with great features. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. I didn't include it in my list of radios because I got the impression that you were looking at the lower prices. Thanks for your kind words! I hope to meet you on the air sometime. 73, Dave K7DAA

Thanks for asking! The shack setup has gotten more organized, and we've had time to unbox more general household stuff. We ordered furniture for the main floor living room, and it finally showed up last week, after only one year of waiting for delivery! Like a lot of other things, we can blame Covid for the delays. We've been in our new house for a bit over a year now, so there is still plenty of this and that to do before we consider ourselves "settled in". My biggest failure to get things done is my antenna system! I did put up a G5RV antenna whose apex was only about 25 feet, and it worked well, but then we had a big storm that blew it down into the back yard! Our mini Australian shepherd puppy chewed it all up before I could recover it. So...back to just my MFJ mag loop and a 250 foot long end-fed wire that follows the top of my vinyl fence in the back yard. More of an NVIS type than a "real" antenna, but at least I've got something to use. I also have a Kenwood TS-590S at my 91 year-old dad's house about 10 miles from me that I can control remotely via RemoteHams.com software. It's very convenient. It uses an offset-fed dipole that's useable with the radio's internal tuner over 160-10 meters. It works very well. The fact that I have this radio setup is probably why I haven't been as worried about putting up the best antenna here at my home.