Re: Local Oscillator Leakage
This issue is a bother with all radios using "zero IF". Even the Elecraft KX3 has the same issue. Elecraft was aware of this and introduced a "low IF" of 8 kHz switchable alternative, which eliminated the leakage. Accessible through special functions. Also with "balansing out" the opposite sideband. Can be read about in the KX3 users manual.
73 de Bjoern / SM6EHY
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Re: Local Oscillator Leakage
This is a known issue that Xiegu has elected not to fix? I assume then, that all of the X6100 exhibit this issue?
Jim
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Hi, ? I am trying to get cat control working so I can do ft8 using windows 11 and wsjt-x. I can not seem to get the port settings right. I¡¯ve read this list and the internet I I see it is either 9600, 19200 or 11500. ? I chose the x6100 for the rig and by default it shows 9600 in the wsjt-x config. ? I found a few vides but with no sound so that will not help me since I can¡¯t see it. ? Thanks for any suggestions. ?
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
The antenna I've been using for /p work for several years is a simple, 66-ft. doublet fed with twisted-pair wire. Up until this year, I would find a way to hang it from a couple of trees and operate it horizontally or operate it as an inverted vee from a single support. Last winter, I purchased a 10-meter SpiderBeam mast from Vibroplex and have been using that to support the antenna. The Xiegu has never failed to tune this antenna to an SWR of 1.5:1 or less on any band from 40m - 10m. The antenna tuner in my KX-3 does an even better job of tuning it.
My total cost for the antenna itself was $0. I used wire that I already had laying around. cost a little more. I spent $5 on the center insulator! To be fair, though, a friend of mine gave me the stealth antenna wire. The SpiderBeam mast cost me less than $100, inc. shipping.
I'm no antenna expert, but I gotta believe that my doublet is more efficient than a short, loaded vertical like the AX-1. I do know that I had great success with it this summer and fall on my POTA activations.?
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: Local Oscillator Leakage
Yep. First thing I noticed while comparing receiver sensitivity (by ear) ¡®tween the ¡®6100& a IC705 on 10m. The ¡®6100 was on the 4BTV+ in the back yard; the ¡®705 was on a 100ft LW & tuner in the front yard. Some 70ft of distance between the antennas, plus the different polarization. The ¡®6100 was definitely & easily audible ¡ª and not transmitting, either (!) Swapped antennas between the radios without a (by ear) perceptible difference. On a PM2 or my C.M. Howes 40m DCR, that I¡¯d expect. Didn¡¯t expect it on the ¡®6100.
Added this knowledge to my >75 birdies inventory & thought how, for all its (typical for Xiegu) shortcomings, the X5105 might still be the better radio. ;-) Maybe I should¡¯ve kept that¡¯n.?
Gl?delig jul til alle og 73!
--
Nils / W8IJN
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Re: New radio, heat mitigation
As KC3JJH mentions, there is a menu option for disabling charging during operation. The R1CBU firmware added a "shadow" option to the charging menu that disables it during operation, but allows it when not operating, so you don't have to toggle the menu option back and forth all the time. Very handy.
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Re: Local Oscillator Leakage
Hi,
I own a x6100 as well.
This is correct. Although I don¡¯t have a spectrum analyser I can hear the LO on another transceiver on the rx frequency. in the X6100. Further, it cripples the correct demodulation of AM and FM signals
73 Edwin pa3bbr
Op 22 dec. 2023, om 18:31 heeft AA7CL < aa7cl@...> het volgende geschreven: My friend purchased a X6100 and was over the other day demonstrating the radio. He mentioned some issues with poor transmit audio reports using the plug-in mic. I set up a local SDR receiver to listen to his audio and noticed a strong on-frequency
signal on the spectrum window of the SDR receiver This occurs on all bands and all modes. The X6100 wasn't directly coupled to the receiver of course. The SDR receiver was connected to an antenna switch which has an isolation of about 50 dB. The X6100 was
also connected to the same switch and switched to an outside antenna. The noted signal was significant.? I decided to measure the signal from the X6100? directly connected, using my spectrum analyzer. I found the signal which I suspect is Local oscillator
leakage (LOL), to be -47dBm. If the attenuator is enabled, the signal drops to -67 dBm and even more if the preamp is enabled. I'm curious if anyone else has measured LOL on their X6100??
As you can imagine, a -43 dBm signal is an extremely high level signal. In close proximity to another receiver that could equate to S9+30dB level!?
If you don't have a spectrum analyzer, you can get a relative measurement by connecting the X6100 to one port of an antenna switch, another test receiver to the other port of the switch and a 50 ohm load to the common port of the antenna switch. Make sure the
switch is selecting the X6100 to the 50 ohm load and make sure you
don't transmit on the X6100. Then set both the test receiver and the X6100 on the same frequency. Make sure the Attenuator and preamp are disabled on the X6100 and both radios on the same mode. You can then tune the test receiver
1 KHz lower in frequency for USB or 1 KHz higher in frequency for LSB. Make sure the attenuator on the test receiver's is disabled also. Look at the S-meter on the test receiver. What do you see? Ideally, you should have both the X6100 and test receiver terminated
in a 50 ohm load but this will provide some relative level.?
It is not uncommon to see LO Leakage on direct conversion receivers however, I think this the highest I've ever found. Curious what others are seeing...
Jim
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Re: X6100 maintenance manual
Nice and thanks! Any chance there is a schematic available?
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
Gale,
Sounds like you¡¯ve got a good plan for your portable sites¡
For others, it¡¯s the practical part of what¡¯s available at the site for expedient antenna deployment.
The stake in the ground works with a vertical and a counterpoise system. But¡some parks are very particular at putting things into the ground. In these cases, I use a small (but heavy) patio umbrella stand I picked up for $30 at Academy Sports. It will take everything from the stake to a mast to a painters pole to deploy a vertical. I¡¯ve not seen a park official banan umbrella stand, lol.
Trees are so abundant in my area that the EFHWs are very attractive, especially with the coax end attaching to the picnic table in many parks. But, alas, some parks claim that paracord over a limb, even temporarily, damages trees. So the patio umbrella stand with a mast for the farm end of the EFHW works in that case, too.
I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve got a good system that works for you. Some struggle with this so I hope my comments are useful for them.
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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Frank M. Howell, PhD
Ridgeland, MS
frankmhowell (at) hotmail.com
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Re: X6100 maintenance manual
Thank you, this is amazing and invaluable to have!
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
Hi Frank. For portable use, I tune my EFHW with the coax attached that will be used in the field. If I am going to use the 6100, I will add a choke at the radio, but with my G90, It doesn't seem to be bothered by common mode as much. Same with the uSDX. That said, I prefer to use vertical antennas overall.
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
Hi John. It is my experience that an inline choke is more effective on feed line than the snap on type.
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
K9NUD, Steve wrote:? Mike, are you using any kind of matching coil or transformer, or is it merely the 17' vertical and the radials (plus the 1:1)?
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Steve, no matching coil or transformer is needed.? If you want to work 80 or 40 meters though, you will need to get the MFJ-63.??
FYI, if you want to set up the vertical on pavement or rocky ground where driving a stake isn't possible, the Gabil GRA-ULT01 MK3 is an awesome little antenna tripod, but pricey at $120.? You can certainly use any heavy duty tripod you already own and mount the vertical on it.? I have one I sometimes use and can get the vertical up about 8 feet off the ground with added PVC pipe.? The radials then are then downward sloping -? their angle and how much slack you allow, tunes the antenna.?? On pavement, I bought some 12 inch tall safety cones whose base is weighted.? The 12 inch plastic tent states I use for the end of my radials fit through the hole in the top of cone and then stop when the hook on the tent stake catches on the top of the cone - perfect!
--
Mike NN3I
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Oleg,
Super! Thingiverse will get it to a much wider audience.
Thanks again as this will greatly facilitate my antenna builds¡
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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Frank M. Howell, PhD
Ridgeland, MS
frankmhowell (at) hotmail.com
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
On Sat, Dec 23, 2023 at 12:54 AM, K4FMH wrote:
Oleg responded a week or so ago to my original request that he post it the STL files for the base mount that he sent to this group. Oleg said he would.
Oh, sorry...?Thanks for reminding me! I really forgot. I posted the files on my page?https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6395998/apps There is something else for our hobby.
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
Hi Gale,
I build and use a lot of EFHW antennas¡giving many to other members of my portable ops team. There are two general approaches to how the balun wind is connected to the coax. There¡¯s either an external ground connection or not:
A. The so-239 or bnc connector has no external connector for a counterpoise (see B). This makes the coax shield the effective counterpoise. This will put part of the transmitted signal coming down the line to the radio.
IF a choke is placed at the balun connector, the antenna tuning suffers since the signal produces more standing waves. If the choke is placed at the transceiver end, the coax braid more effectively radiates part of the signal, making tuning a match easier.
B. If a connector to the ground side of the balun is placed outside the case, a small counterpoise can be attached which allows for a more effective match. I use 0.05 wl coins n the fundamental design frequency for a ¡°pig tail¡± style counterpoise. Sometimes I add a 1:1 choke at the radio (or tuner) end of the coax but only rarely.
When I build EFHW antennas, I attach a Rig Expert Stick analyzer directly to the balun using a pl-259 to pl-259 adapter when I hang them up for final wire length adjustments. I use the Bluetooth connection to the Antscope 2 software to make the sweep without the contamination effects of the coax. This allows me to get the antenna length ¡ª- and the 0.05wl pig-tail counterpoise ¡ª- more precisely tuned to each band: the fundamental design frequency as well as the higher harmonic bands. Most of my EFHW antennas get hung up in the field and don¡¯t require much ATU activity at all.
This is just how I¡¯ve come up with doing it but others may have superior methods.
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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Frank M. Howell, PhD
Ridgeland, MS
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
I have snap-on inline ferrite chokes, in various diameters.
Question for those with experience in these matters: do inline chokes work better than snap-on chokes? ?I do not know these things. ?I know the theory, but low on practical knowledge. ?(Just because a book says one thing does not mean it works that way in the real world.)
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Re: Portable vertical antenna suggestions
Hi Andrea,
These are good whips. I¡¯ve purchased four of them for my experimental antenna designs. I dealt with the M10 mounts by just buying some compatible hex nuts. I paid $11 USD each plus shipping. Took a few weeks to arrive but it was worth it for the price point and quality.
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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Re: Xiegu x6100 in combination with XPA125B issue
This is a good place to get a fairly priced choke core and they have some good info:
https://palomar-engineers.com/antenna-products/1-1-balun-kits
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Re: The Other X6100 Group
I was banned because I included a link to the 'TOADS' discourse concerning an X6100 problem someone was having. The moderator seems to be a bit over the top to say the least.?
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K4FMH
Joshua K1MI