Author Topic: New HF radio on the market  (Read 9425 times)

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DragoSapien

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New HF radio on the market
« on: December 26, 2013, 12:10:24 AM »
I wasn't aware Wuxon was getting into the HF market.

http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=302&category_id=65

Some of you more experience Hams please look at this and see what you think. The price is only $359.95
Dosnt look like it has much power.

Tempstar

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2013, 06:22:12 AM »
Neat little radio at a fair price. I suspect there will be a lot of them on ebay in a year or so....A lot of QRP radios end up either being sold or "shelf warmers". It would be a great radio for expeditionary digital work, not so much for anything else.
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AD

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2013, 10:28:03 AM »
+1 on Temps comment.

QRP or low power radios are "good " if you plan on digital modes or CW and then you giving up 95 watts on most other radios like a 857D.    If your in the market and your cash strapped, wait for a deal on a good used HF like a Yaesu or Icom.
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spacecase0

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2013, 04:22:52 PM »
I bet it takes a fair amount of the ft-817 and KX-3 market,
I bet it is a perfect backpack psk31 radio
wonder if it even comes with a microphone

idial1911

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2013, 12:20:56 PM »
The only thing that has impressed me with the baofeng and or wouxan radios is the price point.

My neighbor got the newest in the baofeng lineup. Talked about how great it was for the buck for about 2 weeks.... Then he went out and bought the id-51a like I have from Icom and hasn't touched the baofeng since. The baofeng has now been relegated to the go bag.

I am not saying they are bad, just saying you get what you pay for. If you are a ham.. and want to play radio, not the best choice. If you are a prepper, who just wants to have a radio "incase" and wants to get into the game on the cheap it's a good pic.

This new HF rig is the same to me..
The more I learn, the less I know.

DragoSapien

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« Last Edit: December 30, 2013, 08:25:54 PM by DragoSapien »

Lamewolf

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2015, 10:17:03 AM »
Neat little radio at a fair price. I suspect there will be a lot of them on ebay in a year or so....A lot of QRP radios end up either being sold or "shelf warmers". It would be a great radio for expeditionary digital work, not so much for anything else.

Really ?  I can see lots of uses for it !  Ecomms, backpacking, SOTA, camping, backup rig just to name a few.  At 1.2 amps max current it would be great for power outages.  I know a lot of folks let 5 watts scare them, but I have worked the world with much less !

spacecase0

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2015, 12:25:02 PM »
at least now we have reviews to read
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/11065

Tevin

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2015, 08:44:19 PM »
I run a lot of QRP and have been fairly successful with it. I don't know anything about the Xiegu other than what I've read. It seems ok. You get what you pay for. It does not appear to be ruggedly built. If you're looking for a backpack radio, that ain't it.

The FT-817ND is the unrivaled gold standard for QRP rigs. It cost almost twice as much as the Xiegu, but you get a truly portable radio that does't need to be handled gently. You also get coverage all the way up to 70cm, a front panel antenna jack, and an internal battery.

The Xiegu looks like it fits the same theme as all the other Chinarigs: Decent, but not great. For $360 it will certainly attract curious experimenters/rag chewers who don't want to commit to spending $650 or more on an 817.


Quiet1

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #9 on: December 14, 2015, 09:18:13 PM »
at least now we have reviews to read
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/11065
From the third review down:
Quote
If you accept it for what it is and what it costs it can bring lots of pleasure.
Goes for a lot of things.  Radios, guns, whisky, women...
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Lamewolf

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2015, 06:26:54 AM »
I run a lot of QRP and have been fairly successful with it. I don't know anything about the Xiegu other than what I've read. It seems ok. You get what you pay for. It does not appear to be ruggedly built. If you're looking for a backpack radio, that ain't it.

The FT-817ND is the unrivaled gold standard for QRP rigs. It cost almost twice as much as the Xiegu, but you get a truly portable radio that does't need to be handled gently. You also get coverage all the way up to 70cm, a front panel antenna jack, and an internal battery.

The Xiegu looks like it fits the same theme as all the other Chinarigs: Decent, but not great. For $360 it will certainly attract curious experimenters/rag chewers who don't want to commit to spending $650 or more on an 817.

I have an FT-817 and its a great little rig, but I disagree with the statement that it doesn't need to be handled gently.  The controls on the FT-817 could be broken very easily if mishandled and in fact the selector control on mine (very old rig) is quite loose and operates very "jumpy", but this is from wear, not abuse.  I also have an Icom 703 and I feel it is a much more robust QRP rig than the 817, it just doesn't have the VHF/UHF bands, front panel antenna connector or internal battery pack but does have a very good internal auto tuner and mine will handle up to a 10:1 mismatch with ease, plus the 703 will do 10 watts out.  Personally I never use the front panel antenna connector on my 817, the cable gets in my way of the selector control.  And I don't use the internal battery pack, and always run it on an external gel cell battery anyway.  Even thought of using that compartment to store a small CW paddle !  Anyway, the little china rig looks to me to be a good starter QRP rig for someone that wants to get in on a budget !

spacecase0

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Re: New HF radio on the market
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2015, 11:29:02 AM »
here is another radio that is pretty low priced,
but it works fantastic
http://www.genesisradio.com.au/G11/
a bit of assembly required