Lately, I’ve been enjoying FT8, a digital mode that makes very quick contacts under nearly any kinds of conditions. Given that I don’t have great antennas (large, high in the air), having a tool which allows me to be active using lesser quality antennas and small radios is really nice.
Two radios that are really cool are the Xiegu X5105 and the Icom IC-705. Both are relatively recent radios and both are QRP rigs. The 5105 is always only 5W maximum while the 705 can go to 10W if powered by 13.8V DC. Both radios have batteries that last a reasonable length of time, making them ideal for going out into the field.
The X5105 has a built-in tuner which will tune the radio to a wet noodle just about… Of course, tuning a non-resonant antenna throws a lot of your power into the tuner, but at least some power gets out and the radio doesn’t get damaged. The X5105 is a very practical radio with lots of features, yet really simple and easy to operate.
The IC-705 is basically a “regular” Icom radio that you can hold in one hand and runs from a battery. It is a very equivalent radio to my IC-706 MKIIG which I use for mobile operation. The IC-705 does not have a built-in tuner (an external one that is build for the 705 is available and is also very nice, the mAT-705) it has everything else built-in. While operating out in the “wild” lately, I was able to use the GPS to record where I was (yes, my phone can do the same thing… :-), which also gives me exact time, though I can also get that from WWV.
Both radios are a lot of fun to operate and are definitely small enough to be able to take anywhere. Of course, all the “support” stuff I bring along overwhelms the size and weight of the radios. 🙂
June 15, 2022
My latest toy is an AFP-FSK from QRPGuys. It’s a cute little 5W transceiver that is built for FSK modes. I have built all of the band boards, so I can operate it on all of the bands though the power varies a bit by band…
On 20m, I pretty much make a few contacts each day with signal reports ranging from about -12 to -20 dB. Looking at pskreporter.info, I can see that I am reaching all over at those very low signal levels and it’s usually enough to make contacts. Interestingly, if I move over to FT4, I often find that I make contacts there faster (the mode is faster, I mean in less total time and tries). For instance, the first time I tried FT4 with the radio, I made a contact on either the first attempted call or the second, but it was solid in both directions AND with my very low signal level. I think that FT4 is used less and so has a lot less QRM on it.
In any case, it’s a cute little radio that is very small and lightweight. It’s entirely driven by VOX control, so it’s very easy to interface to the computer, unless, of course, you have the computers I do that seem to get all weird about the headphone port… 🙁
9/9/22
I have done more FT8 and portable over the summer. Conditions have been “normal” though some days I get nothing at all. In general, I use the X6100 a lot largely due to the built-in tuner; having the ability to adjust to whatever the antenna is giving me helps a lot, .especially when the transceiver throttles back under high SWR.
GD-88 from Radioddity:
The GD-88 is a very nice DMR radio that seems easier to program than the RD-5R; it is also more capable and has higher power. A very nice radio so far in my playing around.
2/19/24
10m is open like crazy for the last year or so. I have managed to work Australia, New Zealand, China, Asiatic Russia and a fair number of Europeans on <10W. All of my operation is QRP. The IC-705 and Xiegu X6100 both go to 10W if powered by 13.8V. The other QRP radios vary on 10m (generally about the limit of the power FETs they use) between 1 and 5W, so many of my contacts were made with only 1.5W.