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Xiegu X6200 SSB Field Test: A Morning POTA Activation at Lake James

On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, I needed to make a morning trip to Hickory, NC, to take care of some family business and visit my father. I started my day early because I also wanted to be back in the Asheville area by noon. Some quick calculations over morning coffee and I decided I had … Continue reading Xiegu X6200 SSB Field Test: A Morning POTA Activation at Lake James β†’

Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day!

On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, I took my production run Xiegu X6200 (on loan from Radioddity) to the Blue Ridge Parkway for its first POTA activation. The activation was a success, with good band conditions on 40 and 30 meters. You can read that field report by clicking here. Later that day, I had a … Continue reading Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day! β†’

The New Xiegu X6200: First POTA activation in CW with a production unit!

If you’re following the new Xiegu X6200 closely, you might recall that I took a prototype version of the radio out two weeks ago for a POTA activation. Propagation was so challenging–as in, a complete radio blackout in North America due to an X-Class flare–it took about 90 minutes of calling CQ POTA to snag … Continue reading The New Xiegu X6200: First POTA activation in CW with a production unit! β†’

Xiegu X6200 Trial by Flare: Answering your questions and sharing my field notes

Update as of May 31, 2024: I’ve just learned that the prototype unit I used for this activation has been superseded by a production model Xiegu X6200. While many of my initial impressions remain valid, some of the bugs and quirks I noted have likely been addressed in the production model. When I published this … Continue reading Xiegu X6200 Trial by Flare: Answering your questions and sharing my field notes β†’

More details on the Xiegu X6200

Well as you know the bands have been fairly poor so I have no stories to share with you about β€œRare DX” and even my Parks on The Air (POTA) activities have been less than usual.

A while back I did post about the β€œNew” Xiegu X6200 and how it looked impressive β€œon paper” and was waiting to get more info before making any opinions (good or bad) on the unit.

Here is a link to that post.

Above picture from Xiegu website.

Well the X6200 is now available for sale and from some actual dealers rather than the usual Chinese companies…

The information I comment on today is from the Waters & Stanton website who are selling the unit in the UK….

The prices I quote are from their website including their estimation of Duties and Taxes in Canadian $$$.

The price of the radio is 795.00 in Pound Sterling and from there the websites calculates the following…

So if you take in the above sub totals it looks like the converted price of the radio is $1389.70 (CDN) then you add the Duties and taxes of $226.73 (CDN) giving a total of $1616.43 (CDN)

But remember the disclaimer from above:

The estimated duties and taxes are based onΒ CA$1,389.70Β of product and may fluctuate due to changes in currencies, shipping costs, clearance fees or how the items are classified by customs. Duties and taxes may be collected upon delivery of the items.

So at this point I am guessing (yes guessing) that the retail North American Price will be fairly close to the above price in the range of $1600 -$1700 (CDN) but remember that is my β€œBest Guess”.

From what I can see of the details of the 6100 they will be in competition with the ICOM IC705 and the ELECRAFT KX3.

Lets see the reviews that should be available on YouTube very soon and then make your decisions from there.

If it is as good as it seems… It still could be a contender in the upper end of the QRP rigs.

73bob

Disclaimer: This post is me thinking out loud. I am not recommending or endorsing any of the products listed above. I believe that you if you are thinking of purchasing one…. That you should do all your research and draw your own conclusions before you buy one from whatever source you choose.

Its all up to you.

More details on the Xiegu X6200

Well as you know the bands have been fairly poor so I have no stories to share with you about β€œRare DX” and even my Parks on The Air (POTA) activities have been less than usual.

A while back I did post about the β€œNew” Xiegu X6200 and how it looked impressive β€œon paper” and was waiting to get more info before making any opinions (good or bad) on the unit.

Here is a link to that post.

Above picture from Xiegu website.

Well the X6200 is now available for sale and from some actual dealers rather than the usual Chinese companies…

The information I comment on today is from the Waters & Stanton website who are selling the unit in the UK….

The prices I quote are from their website including their estimation of Duties and Taxes in Canadian $$$.

The price of the radio is 795.00 in Pound Sterling and from there the websites calculates the following…

So if you take in the above sub totals it looks like the converted price of the radio is $1389.70 (CDN) then you add the Duties and taxes of $226.73 (CDN) giving a total of $1616.43 (CDN)

But remember the disclaimer from above:

The estimated duties and taxes are based onΒ CA$1,389.70Β of product and may fluctuate due to changes in currencies, shipping costs, clearance fees or how the items are classified by customs. Duties and taxes may be collected upon delivery of the items.

So at this point I am guessing (yes guessing) that the retail North American Price will be fairly close to the above price in the range of $1600 -$1700 (CDN) but remember that is my β€œBest Guess”.

From what I can see of the details of the 6100 they will be in competition with the ICOM IC705 and the ELECRAFT KX3.

Lets see the reviews that should be available on YouTube very soon and then make your decisions from there.

If it is as good as it seems… It still could be a contender in the upper end of the QRP rigs.

73bob

Disclaimer: This post is me thinking out loud. I am not recommending or endorsing any of the products listed above. I believe that you if you are thinking of purchasing one…. That you should do all your research and draw your own conclusions before you buy one from whatever source you choose.

Its all up to you.

An early look at a new Radio

Recently (at least for me) the bands have not been the best (understatement) and so rather than tell you about the contacts I have (or not) made …. Here is a bit on a new radio coming that if it lives up to its hype might wake up the QRP market a bit.

DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING POST IS NOT A ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRODUCT LISTED BELOW. IN THE PAST WE ALL OF HEARD ABOUT GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS ABOUT 1ST ATTEMPTS OF A NEW RADIO.

If the early info give to us by XIEGU is accurate this could be a welcome addition to the QRP part of the hobby.

Draw your own conclusions from the post and then make your own decisions…. Buyer Beware

==========================================

The radio is the Xiegu 6200 which is from the company that has given us the G90 and the X5105 both of which are excellent radios once the β€œgremlins” were removed from the firmware.

Although I never operated a G90 I know quite a few operators from the POTA world who did (and still do) and they never complained about it (at least to me) and their signals always sounded great

I did operate a X5105 as my POTA radio for a while and foolishly sold it.

So let me show you the Xeigu X6200

All the following info comes from the Radioddity site: https://www.radioddity.com/products/xiegu-x6200

so once again do your research and come up with your own opinions…

Looks good but looks can be (might be) deceiving.

So its β€œeye candy” Looks great but what about the stats?

Once again from their website.

Xiegu X6200 – A new generation flagship ultra-portable transceiver that uses a high-performance DRFS platform architecture and offers a convenient user experience for amateur radio enthusiasts.

It has a 4-inch color screen, a built-in battery pack, an automatic antenna tuner, a microphone, and a recorder. It also supports various SDR features, such as digital filters, noise reduction, pulse interference elimination, and spectrum/waterfall display. It has two USB interfaces, an ACC interface, a 3.5mmKEY interface, and an S/P interface. It has two external expansion component slots for additional applications and peripherals.

Highlights
– HF/50MHz all-mode
– Detachable battery pack
– Built-in efficient automatic antenna tuner
– Integrated standing wave scanner and voice pager
– Integrated modem, preset message, CW automatic call
– Integrated USB line control/transmission, built-in sound card
– Support remote control, wireless FT8 operation
– WFM broadcast reception, aviation band reception

But what about the specs?:

Xiegu X6200 Sneak Peek
on March 21, 2024
1. The images currently displayed are only of the engineering prototype, they do not represent the final form of the product.
2. For more latest news, please subscribe to the Radioddity newsletter.
3. Please credit the source when reposting the images.

All the data used in this blog posting has been provided by the Radioditty Website and or the groups i/o site via a link on the above mentioned website and I thank them for it

My comments follow:

Yes…. its output is 5w….. but it is a QRP radio so….

From what I see so far this radio could/might be a contender against the IC705 and the KX3 from the expected price point. How will the 6200 perform? This depends on the firmware and has yet to be seen.

DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE POST IS NOT A ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRODUCT(s) LISTED ABOVE . IN THE PAST WE ALL OF HEARD ABOUT GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS ABOUT 1ST ATTEMPTS OF A NEW RADIO.

If the early info give to us by XIEGU is accurate this could be a welcome addition to the QRP part of the hobby.

Draw your own conclusions from the post and then make your own decisions….Β Buyer Beware

Am I rushing out to buy one? NO!!! but it does have my attention and I will be following the reviews and if they are good…. you never know it might make it into my radio kit

73bob

Update! The Xiegu X6200, What Makes It Different?

The Xiegu X6200, an upcoming ham radio, incorporates DRFS architecture, eliminating limitations of traditional IF design and reducing analog components. This promises enhanced performance and wider radio spectrum access. The implementation distinguishes X6200 from previous models, potentially making it attractive to portable QRP ham radio operators. Expected release is in early 2024.

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