I'm prepping for my General and like with my Tech I needed a reasonably priced starter radio. My choices were between a G106 and a G90 -- which I ultimately went with a G90. But what bothered me the most was the initial faulty reviews of a pre-production G106 which deemed the radio as a bad quality device. This is due to the aforementioned hampering my decision because I needed solid information on both radios -- not someone's opinion about a pre-production unit which is bound to have issues. It was because of content producers like this channel and others who reviewed production versions of the G106 that utimately gave me the info I needed to make my decision. To me both the G106 and the G90 are overall good radios but for my purposes the feature set of the G90 won out in the end. Which, again for what it is designed for -- the G106 is perfect for those HAMs who need/want a simple to use but good quality radio.
It's pronounced "Shee-eh-goo" or Shay-goo, my UK brother :) Source: my Chinese wife ;) And thank you for this balanced look at the radio and your use analysis. I agree that it should be pretty good for an HF beginner. I think it should be quite nice for no-nonsense portable operations too. I would prefer the price be a little lower, but still a pretty clean package for what you pay.
With the latest firmware v 1.B01 there is a mic gain setting in menu #5. I'm glad someone has recognised what this radio is meant to be - BASIC, SIMPLE and STURDY. 73 Ed DD5LP.
Regarding RF test gear: I totally support your need for some! On whim a couple of weeks ago I checked what shipping would cost to send you my R&S CMU 300. USPS told me it's too large to ship while the cost by UPS told me the money is better spent buying something already in the UK :| I think a Rigol like the ML&S guys used in their video would be great for you (or me, for that matter ;). They run $1000 here in the States which seems very reasonable to me. Edit: I assumed your PP link is a good place to send funds for gear. Pitched in a little and will do more next month... as long as you don't make me buy any more radios! ;)
Raymond, thank you so much for your gift! Totally gobsmacked to receive your PayPal gift!! Thank you. I will certainly use this to benefit the channel! Thank you sir! I will be looking at test gear soon, but as you say, it’s very expensive. There maybe other ways to do it cheaply, but I need to do some investigation. 🙏
So many biased comments based on another professional youtuber's unfortunate video about this radio. This transceiver is what it is, and is a good option at the price point and size.
I like the idea of G106 but it's a bit to basic, for around the same price if I was just starting out I'd still pick a second hand FT-817 ND just to have the extra options of a full multimode radio that covers topband to 70cms.
Mat, just found this video as i'm really tempted to buy a Qrp transceiver to take on holiday etc mainly for CW traffic, i assume (i may be wrong) headphones plug into the base of the mic ! Keep making the videos, i really like your style of presentation and the quality of the filming. 73 Ady F5VLY
To the detractors of the G-106 who consider this transceiver as a bad radio I will respond with factual elements: I have a G-106 and I made a CW contact in QRP from France with New Zealand this summer. ZL2IFB received me 459... My traffic conditions were not exceptional: G-106 + G5RV with 5W but neither were Gary's: Only 100W with a 2 x 2 element antenna
I heard the receive side of the audio sent from the radio in your review and it was awful. Sending a pre-production unit out for review is chancy - and a chance it seems they shouldn't have taken. And apparently didn't tell you about until after the bad review.
Totally agree, they took the risk by sending a pre-production model and they got called out for it. Personally, I wouldn’t of done the video before checking the product was in its release form, but it doesn’t really matter now, they fixed the issue and all is good. 👍
@@TechMindsOfficial I still don’t believe it was a pre production model. I think they’re just trying to save face. I really do want this radio to succeed. I like it. It just didn’t work for me. Plus Xiegu doesn’t really have the greatest track record after the GSOC and 6100.
I really want to try the GSOC with my G90, but I’ve heard it’s not worth the money, shame as the G90 is spot on in my opinion. Have you tried the GSOC? It SHOULD be good! lol.
@@TechMindsOfficial Yeah don't waste your money. It's a total piece of garbage. I love my G90 though. Yes I have tried the GSOC. Radioddity sent me one a few years ago to review on my channel. Let's just say it was similar to my G106 review, minus all the crap lol!
Agreed. I had assumed that Xiegu's "G-core" was all about having a common compute/controller platform to provide commonality and ease development between products. Maybe that was a bad-ass umption.
The GSOC controller was initially the way to "unlock" FM on the G90. Personally, I think it was an attempt to sell more GSOCs. Great that they added it later, but I've never needed or even used it. For the current price of the G106, I feel like it should have been an included feature, but honestly, unless you participate in FM simplex on 10 meters, it's kind of a wasted feature. I wouldn't pay extra for FM on the G106. But that's just me. I also have several other radios that do 10 meter FM that I can actually program to work with repeaters unlike the Xiegus.
If a company sends a popular CZcamsr something to review, I automatically assume they hand picked the very best radio they could send them. If they send someone a bad radio and ask for a review, they should get a bad review. I don't care if it's pre-production, they could have waited for them to be fixed before sending out the radio for review.
Just for grins if you have one can you test something like the Sotabeams mic compressor to see if the audio gets better? Not sure if it is the same mic as Yaesu or not.
I'm a tech, currently studying for my general, so forgive my ignorance. My question is, I'm assuming that a little QRP setup would be a great option for digital, would it not? It seems power is not as much of an issue in the interpretation of the signal sent, so long as it can faintly be read? It seems so long as the zero or one can be read by the computer is far more straight forward then the question "can I hear this, and can my brain process what I just thought I heard?". Any input about that issue would be appreciated.
Lack of features is not a feature. You don't have to configure filters, bandwidth, etc on other radios. You can use stock settings on just about any radio. As for pre-production reviews...well, they sent out faulty radios and asked for reviews. Any reviewer should treat the equipment they receive as if it was hand selected to ensure the best possible review. If they send a reviewer something that sucks, that's on them, not the reviewer.
Curious about the DE-19 sound card. Is that the standard Mini-DIN setup that Yaesu and all the others use? Cheap little thing. Might have a try at that.
It seems to be the same 8 pin mini-DIN physically, but don't go plugging Xiegu-anything to Yaesu-anything via those ports. At best nothing good will happen. At worst the magic smoke exits multiple devices to mingle and become deader than the sum of its glowing parts. That is to say the pinouts are not compatible. That said, I'd like to get my hands on a DE-19. I'm pretty sure with some external adaptation to those accessory port signals, it could make a pretty good "sound card" for general rig-to-PC interfacing. I spent around $100 just for a USB audio interface box to use with a HobbyPCB RS-HFIQ SDR transceiver. The DE-19 should work for that just as well for $69 plus it natively supports the Xiegu rigs.
There is a finger on the display, and the display is not aligned, there is a white stribe on right side... looks also cheep since the bottens also a waving in lineup... but surely a nice rig. I would like one for use in digimode, there it will be good. - and filters, can be hooked up with a eq and pc, then Im sure it will be good. vy73 de oz1fjb - ou2v
Just a finger print, which I should of wiped before recording but only the camera picked it up. The white line is because of camera angle, can’t see it in real life head on. Just to be clear :) a thanks 🙏
"I would like one for use in digimode" I cannot recommend the QRP-Labs QDX Digital transceiver enough. It is a kit, though, and requires winding toroids and soldering a few through-hole components. Regularly make FT8 contacts of 1200 km and more with its towering 5 Watts output at 9 VDC. Costs $90 plus shipping.
As a software guy, I find that assessment puzzling. Perhaps you mean the LCD display is ugly? I think the software does a good job of providing a UI within the hardware limitations. Oh, wait. Did you disassemble and analyze the firmware already and find ugly buggies in it?
I'm prepping for my General and like with my Tech I needed a reasonably priced starter radio. My choices were between a G106 and a G90 -- which I ultimately went with a G90. But what bothered me the most was the initial faulty reviews of a pre-production G106 which deemed the radio as a bad quality device. This is due to the aforementioned hampering my decision because I needed solid information on both radios -- not someone's opinion about a pre-production unit which is bound to have issues. It was because of content producers like this channel and others who reviewed production versions of the G106 that utimately gave me the info I needed to make my decision. To me both the G106 and the G90 are overall good radios but for my purposes the feature set of the G90 won out in the end. Which, again for what it is designed for -- the G106 is perfect for those HAMs who need/want a simple to use but good quality radio.
It's pronounced "Shee-eh-goo" or Shay-goo, my UK brother :)
Source: my Chinese wife ;)
And thank you for this balanced look at the radio and your use analysis. I agree that it should be pretty good for an HF beginner. I think it should be quite nice for no-nonsense portable operations too.
I would prefer the price be a little lower, but still a pretty clean package for what you pay.
I was gonna say “how does anyone know”? But you my friend have it from source! Cheers! I’ll try and remember that lol. 👍
True, that's how it should be pronounced.
(I'm Taiwanese)
73 de BU4AK
With the latest firmware v 1.B01 there is a mic gain setting in menu #5.
I'm glad someone has recognised what this radio is meant to be - BASIC, SIMPLE and STURDY.
73 Ed DD5LP.
It is for similar reasons that I chose the G90 as my first ever HF radio. Very forgiving, great feature set.
Regarding RF test gear:
I totally support your need for some! On whim a couple of weeks ago I checked what shipping would cost to send you my R&S CMU 300. USPS told me it's too large to ship while the cost by UPS told me the money is better spent buying something already in the UK :|
I think a Rigol like the ML&S guys used in their video would be great for you (or me, for that matter ;). They run $1000 here in the States which seems very reasonable to me. Edit: I assumed your PP link is a good place to send funds for gear. Pitched in a little and will do more next month... as long as you don't make me buy any more radios! ;)
Raymond, thank you so much for your gift! Totally gobsmacked to receive your PayPal gift!! Thank you. I will certainly use this to benefit the channel! Thank you sir! I will be looking at test gear soon, but as you say, it’s very expensive. There maybe other ways to do it cheaply, but I need to do some investigation. 🙏
So many biased comments based on another professional youtuber's unfortunate video about this radio. This transceiver is what it is, and is a good option at the price point and size.
Yes that “professional” is a twat.
Nice one, Matt i was there on the field day and saw this little radio working firs hand it was awesome :)
This does strike me as a perfect radio for me as I start my Ham Radio journey ...
I like the idea of G106 but it's a bit to basic, for around the same price if I was just starting out I'd still pick a second hand FT-817 ND just to have the extra options of a full multimode radio that covers topband to 70cms.
I have a Xeigu G90 and thoroughly loves the radio for it's value of money and specifications. Unnecessary creticisms are ill founded.
I suddenly want one, although I don't need it.
Mat, just found this video as i'm really tempted to buy a Qrp transceiver to take on holiday etc mainly for CW traffic, i assume (i may be wrong) headphones plug into the base of the mic !
Keep making the videos, i really like your style of presentation and the quality of the filming.
73 Ady F5VLY
To the detractors of the G-106 who consider this transceiver as a bad radio I will respond with factual elements: I have a G-106 and I made a CW contact in QRP from France with New Zealand this summer. ZL2IFB received me 459... My traffic conditions were not exceptional: G-106 + G5RV with 5W but neither were Gary's: Only 100W with a 2 x 2 element antenna
I provided a bad review on the radio because it had faults, and I was keenly aware of them.
I heard the receive side of the audio sent from the radio in your review and it was awful. Sending a pre-production unit out for review is chancy - and a chance it seems they shouldn't have taken. And apparently didn't tell you about until after the bad review.
Totally agree, they took the risk by sending a pre-production model and they got called out for it. Personally, I wouldn’t of done the video before checking the product was in its release form, but it doesn’t really matter now, they fixed the issue and all is good. 👍
@@TechMindsOfficial I still don’t believe it was a pre production model. I think they’re just trying to save face. I really do want this radio to succeed. I like it. It just didn’t work for me. Plus Xiegu doesn’t really have the greatest track record after the GSOC and 6100.
I really want to try the GSOC with my G90, but I’ve heard it’s not worth the money, shame as the G90 is spot on in my opinion. Have you tried the GSOC? It SHOULD be good! lol.
@@TechMindsOfficial Yeah don't waste your money. It's a total piece of garbage. I love my G90 though. Yes I have tried the GSOC. Radioddity sent me one a few years ago to review on my channel. Let's just say it was similar to my G106 review, minus all the crap lol!
Nice one Mat! 👍😉
Hey Matt thank you for sharing it I got to get one I just think it's cute only reason why I'm buying it because I think it's cute 😂😂😂
Bit weird that they added firmware support for FM on the G90 post-release but didn’t add it from scratch on the G106.
Agreed. I had assumed that Xiegu's "G-core" was all about having a common compute/controller platform to provide commonality and ease development between products. Maybe that was a bad-ass umption.
The GSOC controller was initially the way to "unlock" FM on the G90. Personally, I think it was an attempt to sell more GSOCs. Great that they added it later, but I've never needed or even used it.
For the current price of the G106, I feel like it should have been an included feature, but honestly, unless you participate in FM simplex on 10 meters, it's kind of a wasted feature. I wouldn't pay extra for FM on the G106.
But that's just me. I also have several other radios that do 10 meter FM that I can actually program to work with repeaters unlike the Xiegus.
0:44 You are on the money. Those who know, know exactly what you are talking about! ;) Keep up the great work! 73
Was just a generic comment, not aimed at anyone specifically. Cheers and thanks for watching :)
If a company sends a popular CZcamsr something to review, I automatically assume they hand picked the very best radio they could send them. If they send someone a bad radio and ask for a review, they should get a bad review. I don't care if it's pre-production, they could have waited for them to be fixed before sending out the radio for review.
Would like to hear the cw rx audio quality. Funny how so many radios have distorted fuzzy audio on rx.
Just for grins if you have one can you test something like the Sotabeams mic compressor to see if the audio gets better? Not sure if it is the same mic as Yaesu or not.
Cool radio
I'm a tech, currently studying for my general, so forgive my ignorance. My question is, I'm assuming that a little QRP setup would be a great option for digital, would it not? It seems power is not as much of an issue in the interpretation of the signal sent, so long as it can faintly be read? It seems so long as the zero or one can be read by the computer is far more straight forward then the question "can I hear this, and can my brain process what I just thought I heard?".
Any input about that issue would be appreciated.
Lack of features is not a feature. You don't have to configure filters, bandwidth, etc on other radios. You can use stock settings on just about any radio. As for pre-production reviews...well, they sent out faulty radios and asked for reviews. Any reviewer should treat the equipment they receive as if it was hand selected to ensure the best possible review. If they send a reviewer something that sucks, that's on them, not the reviewer.
Curious about the DE-19 sound card. Is that the standard Mini-DIN setup that Yaesu and all the others use? Cheap little thing. Might have a try at that.
It seems to be the same 8 pin mini-DIN physically, but don't go plugging Xiegu-anything to Yaesu-anything via those ports. At best nothing good will happen. At worst the magic smoke exits multiple devices to mingle and become deader than the sum of its glowing parts. That is to say the pinouts are not compatible.
That said, I'd like to get my hands on a DE-19. I'm pretty sure with some external adaptation to those accessory port signals, it could make a pretty good "sound card" for general rig-to-PC interfacing. I spent around $100 just for a USB audio interface box to use with a HobbyPCB RS-HFIQ SDR transceiver. The DE-19 should work for that just as well for $69 plus it natively supports the Xiegu rigs.
There is a finger on the display, and the display is not aligned, there is a white stribe on right side... looks also cheep since the bottens also a waving in lineup... but surely a nice rig. I would like one for use in digimode, there it will be good. - and filters, can be hooked up with a eq and pc, then Im sure it will be good. vy73 de oz1fjb - ou2v
Just a finger print, which I should of wiped before recording but only the camera picked it up. The white line is because of camera angle, can’t see it in real life head on. Just to be clear :) a thanks 🙏
"I would like one for use in digimode"
I cannot recommend the QRP-Labs QDX Digital transceiver enough. It is a kit, though, and requires winding toroids and soldering a few through-hole components. Regularly make FT8 contacts of 1200 km and more with its towering 5 Watts output at 9 VDC. Costs $90 plus shipping.
@@Randrew Do you mean “you can’t recommend it ENOUGH?”…. I have a QDX …. Yesssss i😅t is awesome!
I just ordered this radio. What's a good affordable outdoor antenna for this unit? Thank you.
EFHW if you can put up a wire, or a vertical. But if space and money is not a problem then a big yagi would work wondered with just 5 Watts.
00:46 Who did that? LOL
For Little more there Is g90.
Does anyone know how to unlock the transmission to 27mhz?
27 Mhz only RX
The BIG question is, can it do CB?
No its not a CB radio, it only does the 80-10m HAM bands for TX
@@flightstatic4662 What a fail product. However its only 5 Watts so yeah
"its not designed to do what I want it to do so its bad"
Hopefully they will never find a mod that will allow such Stupidity.👎🏻🤮💩
@@1OFGODSOWN Do you feel you are better?
Sad we are even considering Chicom anything these days.........
Pass... Hard pass
Software of this radio is really ugly! Every single GBP, USD, EUR , ... is one too much at this stage for that rig - vy 73 de DL8CY
As a software guy, I find that assessment puzzling. Perhaps you mean the LCD display is ugly? I think the software does a good job of providing a UI within the hardware limitations.
Oh, wait. Did you disassemble and analyze the firmware already and find ugly buggies in it?