Since getting my amateur foundation MM3 licence back in 2006, I’ve never had my own HF rig. I started off with the Kenwood TH-F7E (still the best handheld I’ve ever had, and still occasionally use, VHF/UHF plus general coverage 500kHz-1300MHz all-modes inc SSB, FM, AM) mostly just having local QSOs with other members of the Galashiels radio club, and otherwise scanning amateur simplex, repeaters and otehr stuff like PMR/business radios and airband.
I never really got into HF at all for some reason. When I was small I would listen to my dad’s Yaesu FRG-7 HF receiver, just tuning through the bands to see what I could hear. At a young age I didn’t have any idea about the amateur bands (that weren’t indicated on the FRG-7 at all), so it was continuous tuning from the bottom of the MHz to the top, then changing the MHz dial up and tuning through again. My dad couldn’t really do much more, just having his B-licence so restricted to 50Mhz upwards on transmit.
When my dad got automatically upgraded to the full licence in 2003 with removal of the morse requirement he got a Yaesu FT-817 and could operate on HF, and in the years since (including when I had my own licence) I would sit next to him while he operated, either from home or in the car.
I started to get more interested in HF when I got SDR receivers from the Cross0Country SDR4+ and then the SDRPlay RSP1A, and that opened up the HF world of listening, and occasionally decoding data modes. My dad set up a rudimentary inverted-V dipole across the garden, tuned to nothing in particular without even a balun.
I got into DMR so that added to the VHF/UHF side of things, including networked DMR, which opened up communications a little more using my DMR MMDVM hotspot, as until then I was restricted to line-of-sight communications, which in the Tweed Valley means speaking to nobody except those in the same town, unless I went up hills, as we have zero repeaters of any description within range of home.
My interest in HF operating sort of grew after coaching a new local amateur into operating, initially setting up his Baofeng UV5R handhelds for simplex and repeaters (when he’s travelling around with his work), and then also getting him on networked DMR for talking to people, but he got interested in HF for proper international communication (rather than networked DMR with which talking to someone in New Zealand is no more a challenge/accomplishment than talking to someone 2 miles away, or using a mobile phone app like Facebook/WhatsApp).
So after much research, I got him on-air with a Yaesu FT-450D and a manufactured 40m endfed halfwave antenna.
Seeing this and researching HF rigs, hearing experiences of others, and also exploring the HF spectrum (another personal project that grew legs and became a spreadsheet of the whole RF spectrum from 0 to 10GHz), my interest in HF grew.
Out with my dad, when he had his FT-817 or Alinco DX-70, he tried to get me to operate with his radio, but I felt like I was using *his* station, and making a contact with someone using my callsign when my dad had just made contact with his, using the same equipment felt like “cheating”, like there was no experimentation or achievement when I was just repeating someone else’s “experiment” with a different set of letters in the conversation. I wanted my own rig.
After much research again I decided on a Yaesu FT-857D.
I borrowed the Gala radio club’s FT-897 and set it up in my room, with a manual ATU that my dad had. This was similar to the 857D, said to be almost identical in hardware (except display which was a slightly different layout of information), just in a different (larger) box with room for internal batteries or a PSU. I liked it, and did a little operating on it on HF, although not a lot. Lots of listening and familiarising myself with HF. My dad added a balun to the wire in the garden and that seemed to improve the reception a little on some bands, making it easier to get a low VSWR on tuning.
(Hint, for using a manual tuner, get a nanoVNA, then for each band go through every setting on the tuner until you get a minimum WR, then write down the settings, so in future tuning to each band is a case of setting the ATU to the pre-written settings, then you only have to transmit for 2-3 seconds to fine-tune it. Saves the rig’s finals being hurt, and also saves your hands being hurt turning through all the ATU preselector steps hunting for a dip in VSWR on the meter.)
I was wanting a “shack-in-a-box” as I like having maximised capabilities in a single unit I could go out with (up a hill) and set up with battery, a piece of wire, and operate. I set myself a budget of £500. Not really able to spend much, but I do have some savings and would rather spend a little to enjoy myself now, rather than be wishing I’d enjoyed life more, doing things I liked, before getting old and unable to.
I couldn’t really find any used FT857Ds from anywhere other than eBay, and I didn’t really want to spend that much unless I knew either it was a retailer, or someone I knew was trusted (like a popular radio club member or trader). Listing things as “spares or repair” when something is perfectly good and working protects the seller against people buying things, pulling required components out of them, then returning them as “not working”, however for buyers like me, it means there’s no comeback *if* something were to suddenly go wrong or a known but unmentioned fault rears its head.
So I waited. Some people recommended the FT-891 instead of the 857. Newer, a better display, but it only had HF campbilities, so no “shack in a box” aspect. I was tempted by the FT-817 or FT-818 as the price was not much more than my set budget, BUT the 5w was just a little bit on the low side. I was wanting at least 10w (the limit of my licence) and perhaps a little more (if/when I progress to intermediate licence, requiring studying and an exam).
So I decided to wait and see, but occasionally would look at other radios to compare capabilities. Brian, the local amateur I coached into DMR then HF, was happy with his FT-450D, but said that he was interested in getting a radio where he could see a waterfall of activity in the bands, as he was feeling he was missing a lot just tuning around by ear, and I would tell him at a glance at my RSP1A SDR receiver what bands were active with QSOs.
I started to think that, yes, a waterfall would be really useful, and I was feeling that tuning around on the club’s FT-897, I was missing a lot too.
I saw several SDR-based radios mentioned in some videos I saw on YouTube. Most were low power 5 or 10 watts but seemed to work fine at making contacts. Eventually I gravitated towards the Xiegu G90, and even though it doesn’t have UHF, VHF, or even 6m bands, looked like a nice wee radio. My “shack-in-a-box” idea started to evapourate a little when I realised that most of my VHF/UHF operating was FM anyway, so my Anytone ATD878UV and Baofeng UV5R would be adequate for things like SOTA (I presume 7w on Anytone into a slim-jim antenna would give pretty decent results from a hilltop, especially when I’ve seen my dad make a contact about 150 miles away with his Standard C558 handheld putting out around 2.5w).
Any events using SSB 2m like the PW QRP contest or VHF field day, we’re usually with the radio club using their rig anyway, but my dad has his FT-817, and a Yaesu FT-290R-II.
So seeing this little rig, the Xiegu G90, at £100 below my base budget, with 20w output, internal ATU (which can “tune a dustbin lid” according to reviews), and waterfall (albeit only +/-25kHz width rather than 10Mhz multi-band coverage like my SDRPlay RSP1A), I went into full research mode, watching YouTube videos about it, reading forum posts and reviews, and checking out accessories.
I came to the firm conclusion that with the Xiegu G90, along with my other handhelds like Anytone 878, and Kenwood TH-F7E, I’d have 90% of the capabilities I was looking for (minus SSB VHF/UHF, and anything on 6m/50MHz, both of which would be available by borrowing my dad’s radios if I needed to), and extra capabilities that I’d either have to do without or pay for (in the waterfall display, and antenna tuning unit, manual or otherwise).
Looking around, it seemed the cheapest place to get one was Sinotel, so I made a login there and added the Xiegu G90 to the basket. Based on reviews and some tutorial videos, I also purchased a set of feet (just cheap ones, not the whole frame with fan), and a larger metal tuning knob. Also I was sceptical about the power lead being short so I ordered some power connectors too, so I could make my own in future with “powerpoles” that seem to be the popular choice, and would let me made a modular system of connections I could switch between home-based 13.8v PSU, and a mobile battery such as 6Ah SLAB (sealed lead-acid), or (as I had also been looking at) a LiFePO4 12.8v 6Ah battery that would have the same capacity as SLAB but half the weight, so better for up hills.
Antenna is another thing I need to look into, but that’s another problem for later.
So after a few days of it in the “basket”, I took the plunge and ordered the set. £450 lighter (£390 plus £5 knob, £10 feet, £25 CE-19 interface and £17 delivery….ouch) but still cheaper than a used FT-857 without a tuner, I got a notification that it would be delivered on Monday. This was ordered on the Friday afternoon. I was hoping that DPD would work on weekends, but resigned myself to waiting.
Then the Saturday morning I got a text, “your parcel will be delivered today between 1621 and 1721”. So it was on its way, my first very own HF rig.
As an aside: As it happened I had a (slim) chance of a VERY cheap but fully working Yaesu FT-817. One was advertised in the RadCom magazine sales pages, used FT-817, used only on receive, £250 and within a few hours drive from us. However at the time I hadn’t committed myself to the Xiegu G90 and was still considering the FT-857D, and thought that in any case, the FT-817 would have been snapped up by about 9am on the morning that issue of RadCom fell on people’s doorsteps.
It would have been useful though. I would have been happy spending £650-700 for the G90 as a main HF rig for home and portable, with an FT-817 for any 6m/VHF/UHF portable stuff or as a QRP backup set. I may still keep an eye open for a similarly cheap 817, 857, 897 or even (if such a thing exists other than the FT8x7 series) a used mobile set capable of just 6m/VHF/UHF with SSB. I’ve seen sets like that with 10/6/2/70 FM only, but none with SSB.