Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Hi Dan,
Your posts bring up a couple of factors that I see shaping portable operator's preference for antennas:
A. Ease of setup/take-down/transport. K4SWL has taken this to an art form! But it is dependent upon C below.
EFHW antennas are easy to unwind/wind but require getting either onto a mast, post or tree. A mast requires a mount of some type. A ground stake requires a permeable turf and permission to do so. (Some parks don’t allow this.) A tree requires either a low branch or a way to get a rope up higher. A post will usually be a lower mount but there are exceptions.
I use either a tennis ball launcher or a cheap patio umbrella stand ($30 @ Academy Sports). Either is extra weight but no park official has refused the umbrella stand.
Ground mounted verticals require some mount although some are easy (e.g. Wolf River Coils tripod). Not very good efficiency with radials although Salty Walt (YouTube) uses a fiberglass mast for several verticals not requiring radials … but he’s often at the Atlantic sea water radial with one wire on a floater.
B. Effectiveness on the choice of bands. Verticals and wires vary but the doublet is indeed likely to be more efficient. With the sun spot cycle nearing its likely peak, portable ops rely on “it works” right now and relish their success. Your doublet, among others, will be much more appealing, Dan, when the SSN is at a low point, ? I suspect a portable 20M Yagiwill have its place in POTA ops then. Mosely makes a version of their two element tribander for portable use (same price).
C. Turf and environment of the operation. This is mentioned above but it’s a key issue that isn’t often discussed. Having plentiful trees and the interest in getting a wire antenna up to the height above ground where the fundamental frequency is optimal makes having a launcher of some type (drone?) a useful choice. If one only wants to collect the 10 contact minimum for a POTA activation, perhaps not.
D. Antenna efficiency. Dan, my observation is that the “it works” mantra drowns out the efficiency aspect when the SSN is high. This is just my observation from reading blogs, watching YouTube channels, listening to podcasts, and talking to other portable operators. Yep, it works provides some convincing justification of “easy/cheap” antenna choice. Let’s see how that might wane in a few years.
Good discussion here. Thanks Dan for your posts!
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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Frank M. Howell, PhD
Ridgeland, MS
frankmhowell (at) hotmail.com
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Requesting a summary of problems and solutions
I don't know hardly anything about radios. You have talked about problems and Solutions on this list, and I have no idea what you are saying. So I'm not sure if it's in your files, or if someone could provide a summary of everything that has happened And how they solved it. Be clear about what that means if you can like if you say leaking oscillator be clear about exactly what's going on for someone who doesn't know the definition of that. I had heard from someone I know in person who knows a lot about it that an amplifier can make overloading problems worse and I kind of know what overloading is I think, but I had read something that said it can improve them.
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Thank you.
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Dan,
I thought that was called a sloping dipole!
Jerry ---- Extra Ham Radio Operator: WF5W Registered Linu=x User: 275424 3D CAD designer
The most exciting phrase to hear in science - the one that heralds new discoveries - is not "Eureka" but "That's funny...". - Isaac. Asimov
On Wed, Dec 27, 2023 at 7:53?AM Dan Romanchik KB6NU < cwgeek@...> wrote: Well, in my book, an inverted V is a (mostly) vertical antenna, and it has the benefit of not requiring any radials.
73!
Dan KB6NU
CW Geek, Ham Radio Instructor
Author of the "No Nonsense" amateur radio license study guides
Read my ham radio blog at
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Power conversion for x6100
Hey y'all,
I've heard some talk here about the x6100 overheating during digital mode use, so I bought a fan to mitigate that some time ago. It works well. It keeps the x6100 cool.
What I am wondering is instead of putting a band aid on the problem, that maybe it would be be better fixing it for good, so the band aid is not needed. Hence a Buck converter to convert 13 - 13.8v down to about 10v. Is what I am hearing? 10v? I still want 10w TX output.
So, I was thinking of buying this product on Amazon:
It looks beefy. Has anyone used this product to do the 13.x voltage down to say 10v? If so, has there been any problems with using it with the radio?
As the battery drains during use, does the voltage from the buck converter stay the same or do you have to fiddle with that too?
Anyone found a better way, or a product that works well for this?
Jerry ---- Extra Ham Radio Operator: WF5W Registered Linu=x User: 275424 3D CAD designer
The most exciting phrase to hear in science - the one that heralds new discoveries - is not "Eureka" but "That's funny...". - Isaac. Asimov
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For strain relief, Ex-Lax.
As for the pigtail and barrel connector wear-and-tear, great idea!
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Well, in my book, an inverted V is a (mostly) vertical antenna, and it has the benefit of not requiring any radials.
73!
Dan KB6NU
CW Geek, Ham Radio Instructor
Author of the "No Nonsense" amateur radio license study guides
Read my ham radio blog at
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Although simple to make, I bought the $35 EFHW from my friend, Jason, KM4ACK. It is very portable. I already had a push up mast that I use, it takes literally 10 minutes to setup, and works very well on 4 bands (40,20,15,10) m.
Please save your $200, and buy something like this.
I have been to 15 POTAs with this antenna, and the x6100. WORKS EVERY TIME!
Jerry ---- Extra Ham Radio Operator: WF5W Registered Linu=x User: 275424 3D CAD designer
The most exciting phrase to hear in science - the one that heralds new discoveries - is not "Eureka" but "That's funny...". - Isaac. Asimov
On Wed, Dec 27, 2023 at 6:08?AM K9NUD-Steve < k9nud@...> wrote: [Edited Message Follows]
I just made a 20M EFHW using a discarded VGA cable. It worked fantastic!?
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73 de K9NUD
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
I just made a 20M EFHW using a discarded VGA cable. It worked fantastic!?
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73 de K9NUD
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Re: New radio, heat mitigation
Indeed there is an overvoltage issue with 12 V car power, as the excess voltage is converted to heat by the linear regulators inside the X6100. A car battery is about 12V, when charging this can be 14 V. Lowering the input voltage would certainly help! I hope the buck converter is HF clean.
BTW In the field I use an external battery. I now have a 3s Li-ion pack built for this. I was planning to add a buck converter, but left the idea.
I now go for a 3s LiFePo4 pack. This would bring the operational voltage down without having to use a buck converter: the nominal voltage of one LiFePO4 cel is 3.2V (instead of 3.7V for Li-ion). I.e. the nominal voltage of the pack would be 9.6 V, spot on for the X6100.
73's?
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Robert
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Yes, but I believe he’s wanting portable vertical antenna suggestions. ?:)
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One of the first things I did with my X6100 power cable was install PowerPoles on the end.? Later due to me getting stand with fan I made a 2-PP to single PP connector so could run radio and stand fan.
I do take care of any connector I plug into the X6100.? I have not had any issues.
73, ron, n9ee/r Ron Wright, N9EE/R Hernando Co ARES EC
Spring Hill, Florida also n9ee55@...
On Monday, December 25, 2023 at 09:42:41 PM EST, K8SAS <k8sas73@...> wrote:
Strain relief? The exterior battery is within feet of the radio, not like it is being pulled around. This was done to take the stress of the plug connection on the circuit board away so that the solder connections wouldn't loosen in time. This could happen between all the plugging and unplugging of dc charger and or external battery. Maybe overprotection, but I have seen this problem occured in laptops.
Thanks for your thoughts, but I felt a further explanation was needed.
73
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Re: New radio, heat mitigation
On Tue, Dec 5, 2023 at 01:55 AM, Robert PA1RL wrote:
Also see?? for options. Please keep in mind that cooling at the bottom (not the back) is the best option.
I followed your idea and found a similar unit on eBay. ?With luck, link and photo below. ?My X6100 gets warm. ?I only use internal battery and SSB. 
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Re: New radio, heat mitigation
Switching the charger off is recommended to prevent damage to the battery if the unit is run from DC power,
?
Also if you have the ability to reduce the input voltage from 13.8v to 11v-11.5 volt you won’t lose output power but the unit will run a lot cooler
?
Many of us also have some for of heatsink solution on the rear of the radio and some have fan stands as well
?
Below is the rear of mine with a number of 20mm x 20mm heatsinks, personally I tried a larger heatsink and found the ear panel was slightly convex so larger heatsink didn’t have much contact area for heat transfer to the heatsink so solution
changed to many smaller heatsink
?
?
Peter
M0PWX
?
?
?
Hi,
My radio is about 30C when receiving and charging is on.
When using CW it is ? becoming somewhat warmer but not that much. I don’t use digital modes.
In summer it becomes warmer and switching charger off is a good idea.
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Op 25 dec. 2023, om 23:04 heeft Patrick via < patrick.waugh@...> het volgende geschreven:
?
Mine heats up too hot to touch on external power, with charger off. ?Should I contact support?
_._,_._,_
?
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Re: Local Oscillator Leakage
Right, This will my last Xiegu as well, I’m afraid.
I’m ?a CW user therefore it is not a big deal but the AM/FM modes are pretty useless.
73 Edwin pa3bbr
Op 25 dec. 2023, om 21:44 heeft Dave via < dvfuller@...> het volgende geschreven: I like my 6100 but I have to overlook it's problems. I haven't noticed terrible leakage on it yet but I purchased a G106 and it was so bad that I got it replaced and the new one has the same problem. I will not purchase any more Xiegu radios.
A few weeks ago I purchased the Discovery TX500 and have found it to be an excellent qrp radio, kind of expensive but extremely well made, built like a tank and none of the problems like the Xiegu has.
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Re: New radio, heat mitigation
Hi,
You should absolutely.
My radio is about 30C when receiving and charging is on.
When using CW it is ? becoming somewhat warmer but not that much. I don’t use digital modes.
In summer it becomes warmer and switching charger off is a good idea.
Op 25 dec. 2023, om 23:04 heeft Patrick via < patrick.waugh@...> het volgende geschreven: Mine heats up too hot to touch on external power, with charger off. ?Should I contact support?
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Re: Local Oscillator Leakage
On Mon, Dec 25, 2023 at 11:44 PM, Dave wrote:
A few weeks ago I purchased the Discovery TX500 and have found it to be an excellent qrp radio, kind of expensive but extremely well made, built like a tank and none of the problems like the Xiegu has.
I agree, the TX500 will be better than the X6100, I bought it too. But the TX500 has a rather weak processor and is already packed to capacity. Further development of this transceiver is almost impossible.
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Re: The Other X6100 Group
FWIW, the other group has had 15 postings in December as compared to 325 on this group.
?
I am a member of both X6100 groups but I remember it was a pain to get an approval for the other one as I had to change my email address listed on QRZ and "jump through a few other hoops" to get approval.
Michael VE3WMB
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Re: The Other X6100 Group
Ditto Jerry,
Same efforts and same results and same attitude.
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I guess they do not want anymore of us in their group for whatever reason.
Brian
KG7AFQ
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Re: cat control help please
I have done this. Ports in device manager set to 19200 and in wsjt-x set to the same. Still rig failure.? I did upgrade to the latest firmware, but unfless Oleg’s firmware can read me the firmware version and base band I have no idea if it worked until I can get some sighted help to look at the screen. ? ? ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of W0AYE/BEN Sent: Monday, December 25, 2023 7:10 AM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [xiegu-x6100] cat control help please ? I use 19200 and which ever is the higher of the two ports, dont forget to set your audio settings to the x6100 USB and not the speakers of your computer
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Strain relief? The exterior battery is within feet of the radio, not like it is being pulled around. This was done to take the stress of the plug connection on the circuit board away so that the solder connections wouldn't loosen in time. This could happen between all the plugging and unplugging of dc charger and or external battery. Maybe overprotection, but I have seen this problem occured in laptops.
Thanks for your thoughts, but I felt a further explanation was needed.
73
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K4FMH
Randy K7RAN
K9NUD-Steve
Patrick
Peter M0PWX