开云体育

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
  1. Xiegu-X6100
  2. Topics

My new X6100 arrived today

 
Edited

After a few years of using the G90, I'm as impressed -- maybe more impressed-- with the x6100. ?The sound with the Xiegu external speaker I got with it is very nice and makes the radio less harsh-sounding and more relaxing to listen to. ?The X6100 seems to have a slightly more "quality" look and feel than my G90 (my first and only other HF radio, which I love). I forgot to check which firmware it shipped with. ?I'll do that tomorrow. ? (Edit to add: ?App - V11..7 August 2023, Base V1 1.6 March 2023)

I pulled it out of the box and immediately starting using it; I haven't read the manual yet (but I will in a few minutes). ?Hooked through a window to my sloping PAR EndFedz 10/20/40 MkII pulled up in a tree in the back yard, I made some quick contacts from my home on the eastern border of upstate NY to some distant POTA activations in Kansas, TX, and CO using 20 and 40m. ?Nice.

I can't wait to get out into the parks and up on some summits with it. ?:-) ??
--
Bob
KD2TTM
 

You'll love the radio. I really like mine even with some of its small deficiencies. One other thing make sure you do three or four complete battery discharges to where the radio shuts off and make sure when it's fully charged that the battery reading is around 8.1 or 8.2 volts. If I remember correctly it takes about 6 to 7 hours to completely charge it.
 

I left the charger on the radio overnight after receiving it yesterday. ?I used it outside on internal battery power this morning until it got down to 7.4V and then ran it for a while indoors on my Bioenno LiFePo 12V battery. ?I just hooked up the DC charge cord with the radio set to charge "on" and the charge light came on but is not blinking. ?After a while, I disconnected it to take a look at the on-board battery voltage and it was up to 7.8V. ?I'll let it charge all night again. ?But I'm disappointed the charge indicator doesn't work properly. ?:-(

I love the radio otherwise. ?The bands were great today. ?I made one contact to a POTA activator in Georgia and he gave me a 5-9+10 signal report. ?He was pretty surprised when I told him I was transmitting with 5 watts of power!
--
Bob
KD2TTM
 

On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 05:10 PM, Bob KD2TTM wrote:
But I'm disappointed the charge indicator doesn't work properly. ?:-(
Mine does the same thing. ?I leave mine charging overnight.
I miss the blinking charging light, and the green/yellow/red battery indicator on the screen.
Otherwise, it still transmits, as far as I know.
 

Mine blinks sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t, even when it does it stops blinking and goes solid long before the battery is topped off.

On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 16:10 Bob KD2TTM via <rscott900ss=icloud.com@groups.io> wrote:
I left the charger on the radio overnight after receiving it yesterday.? I used it outside on internal battery power this morning until it got down to 7.4V and then ran it for a while indoors on my Bioenno LiFePo 12V battery.? I just hooked up the DC charge cord with the radio set to charge "on" and the charge light came on but is not blinking.? After a while, I disconnected it to take a look at the on-board battery voltage and it was up to 7.8V.? I'll let it charge all night again.? But I'm disappointed the charge indicator doesn't work properly. ?:-(

I love the radio otherwise.? The bands were great today.? I made one contact to a POTA activator in Georgia and he gave me a 5-9+10 signal report.? He was pretty surprised when I told him I was transmitting with 5 watts of power!
--
Bob
KD2TTM

 
Edited

I read about cycling the battery in the X6100 so I left mine running on the internal battery this morning. ?I thought it would do an auto-shut down at 7.2V, but I got as low as 7.1V (briefly dipping to as low as 6.7V when I keyed the mike) without the battery icon turning red or the unit shutting down. ?It's currently still chugging along at 7.2V. ?I'll update if it ever shuts itself down! ?:-)

Update: ?The X6100 voltage got down to 6.9V and the battery icon did turn red but the radio never automatically shut down. ?I turned it off at this point for fear of damaging?the lithium battery. If the cells are lithium ion, then dropping to voltage that low ?(3.45V per cell) can be hazardous, right? ?Now, I'm worried...
--
Bob
KD2TTM
 

No. The batteries are still not discharged at 3.45 volts you must let them discharge till the radio shuts off you will not damage the batteries as the radio knows that 6 volts is the bottom where it shuts off. You should have followed the instructions from the beginning. The charging circuit needs to learn the battery capabilities. You charge the battery till the lightning bolt in the display goes away which means the battery is fully charged and should read 8.1 or 8.2 volts. Then turn the radio on and run it all the way to shut off. You should do this four times and don't stop in the middle of it and do something else with the radio. The initial battery preparation for this radio is kind of convoluted but they do have instructions.
 
Edited


From the January 19, 2024 extended directions from Radioddity:

7.8 Charging the battery pack

If the voltage of the internal battery pack drops below 7.4 V during operation, the Xiegu X6100 temporarily deactivates the transmission function. If the voltage drops below 7.2 V, the Xiegu X6100 will switch off completely to protect the internal battery pack from excessive discharge. ?(bold-italic emphasis?mine)

I WAS following the directions from the beginning, in Section 7.8 (which make no mention of cycling the battery) but when I saw that the voltage?had dropped lower than the reading that those direction implied was damaging, I stopped it! ?The procedure for cycling the battery wasn't in the body of the instructions, but in an addendum. ?You make it sound like I disregarded the instructions. ?In fact, I read them carefully and when things weren't going as they were described, I played it safe and stopped.

Bob
KD2TTM
 

I forgot to mention: ?The battery charging indicator light does seem to be working as intended. ?Lithium battery chargers work in two stages: they start off with constant current charging (during which the indicator light on the X6100 blinks) and finish with constant voltage charging (during which the indicator light stays lit). ?And, according to Radioddity, the indicator remains lit even after full charge as a reminder that the charger is enabled.

More from Radioddity: ?
--
Bob
KD2TTM
 

Ok, if that’s how it’s supposed to work then mine is working fine.? But even a Beofeng charger will change color when changing is finished, every charger I have seems to do that except my X6100.

On Thu, Feb 1, 2024 at 21:58 Bob KD2TTM via <rscott900ss=icloud.com@groups.io> wrote:
I forgot to mention: ?The battery charging indicator light does seem to be working as intended.? Lithium battery chargers work in two stages: they start off with constant current charging (during which the indicator light on the X6100 blinks) and finish with constant voltage charging (during which the indicator light stays lit).? And, according to Radioddity, the indicator remains lit even after full charge as a reminder that the charger is enabled.

More from Radioddity: ?
--
Bob
KD2TTM

 

Ok, if that’s how it’s supposed to work then mine is working fine.? But even a Beofeng charger will change color when changing is finished, every charger I have seems to do that except my X6100.
True. ?Since the X6100 has an actual battery voltage meter rather than a crude battery level icon with three or four bars, I guess I can live without the finished-charging indicator. ?It's easy enough to estimate charge times once you know what the full charge voltage is (8.1V indicated ) and how long it takes to achieve it from fully discharged (approx 6 hours). ?

The other disappointment is not being able to charge while operating on external power.

Before I bought the X6100, I used a 9Ah Bioenno LiFePo battery and a solar panel to power my G90 for operating outdoors. ?As long as there was some good sun, I could operate almost indefinitely. ?So, I'm guessing that regardless of the X6100's battery and charging idiosyncrasies, it will work out just fine for me.


Bob
KD2TTM
randy, k8zfj
 

'also rec'd a new to me , used 6100 whose original owner only used it for digi modes. only digi mode i plan to use is cw, so getting familiar with? all the functions.
pota -bound in a few days !
--
72's de k8zf, randy
 

You’re going to like it, have fun?

On Sat, Feb 3, 2024 at 15:36 randy, k8zfj via <rj7388=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
'also rec'd a new to me , used 6100 whose original owner only used it for digi modes. only digi mode i plan to use is cw, so getting familiar with? all the functions.
pota -bound in a few days !
--
72's de k8zf, randy

randy, k8zfj
 

so far, so good . tho disappointed with internal battery life while doin some casual operating at 3w, listening and figuring out which buttons do what? :)
--
72's de k8zf, randy

1 - 14 of 14