In looking for a more portable radio I picked up a Xiegu G90 based on like everyone recommending it for a low power portable beast. I picked up a Digirig so I can do digital modes with it and that is so much easier than the Signalink. This radio is capable of up to 20w transmit power and is much much smaller than my FT-840. There are a ton of videos out there reviewing this one and covering various configuration pieces so I won't go into too much detail unless someone asks.
This thing will do everything I need it to do for POTA type activity. Right now I'm doing mostly FT-8 as it is easier to do from my house with a more temporary setup in my backyard. (I'll be starting on my more permanent setup soon). Before I get into how it performed compared to my FT-840 let me cover the new antenna I picked up.
Not a great picture but you should get the idea. This is a JPC-12 antenna. It collapses down into a small bag and pretty light. I created 8 10' long counterpoise wires which fan out from the base. Not pictured in this is a capacitance hat that sits on top which I added earlier this evening before starting up a FT-8 session. This antenna has a coil in the middle that has a slider on it that you can move to adjust the antenna for which band you want to use it on. I only really played with it on 20m and 40m.
I was able to get pretty good SWR without a tuner by just adjusting that slider. There is more tweaking that can be done but I wasn't in the mood to work through all the bands and get them all figured out. So I primarily focused on 20m and had great results.
I had a couple sessions last night with the FT-840 on this antenna and made some good contacts. This was running at about 50w give or take and the conditions were "Good".
Today this is what I got with the G90 on this antenna while the conditions were "Fair" and "Poor". Now, this is just contacts. I was being heard much further out. There was just nobody participating on the far end or I couldn't hear them. The conditions were coming and going. I could start a session with someone and then lose them. Either way, less than a couple hours and 25 contacts. Despite the conditions, lots of people out doing contacts. Several POTA activators as well.
Anyways, I really like this setup currently. The G90 will be my POTA radio. Much easier to carry and pretty rugged. The antenna will also be part of my kit. It doesn't require staking it down. I had it out most of the weekend with windy conditions and it did pretty well. Not sure it could take a ton of wind but it can handle a good breeze at the very least. This, along with my POTA33H mast and EFHW antenna setup will give me a lot of options depending on where I go. I can easily do CW on this radio so as I learn morse code I will be able to do that with the G90. Eventually I'll get a QMX and then I'll have a super light QRP setup that does 5w, this G90 that does 20w, and then I'll have a 100w home radio if I keep the FT-840.
That's it for now. I'll be working on a couple projects over the coming weeks. I am going to build a 49:1 unun for my base station. I'm going to be building a 40m EFHW permanent installation in my backyard. I have the space and I have a couple options of how I run it that should keep it mostly unnoticeable so the HOA won't complain. With this I can get 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m and with a tuner 30m, 17m, 12m, and 6m. I might build a coil to add 80m or maybe when I get the tape measure out and do the math I might be able to do some sort of layout that I can naturally get 80m.
Alright, that's it for today. 73
