Earlier this week, I mentioned that I purchased a Xiegu G106 in September. Its delivery was delayed because I had it shipped to my local post office, which, as you likely know, was flooded during Hurricane Helene.
With all the post-Helene chaos, I haven’t been able to do as much POTA as I’d like, so the G106 sat unopened in its box—until Wednesday, November 20, 2024, when I finally had a chance to take it out for its maiden activation at Lake James State Park (US-2739)!
Why the Xiegu G106?
Last year, Radioddity sent me a G106 on loan, and I wrote an in-depth review after taking it on several activations. That review was lengthy because radios like the G106—designed as price leaders—often have compromises that may not suit everyone. It’s essential to judge such radios based on their goals, not by comparing them to premium models like the Icom IC-705.
For the G106, the question I aimed to answer was: “Does this radio accomplish what it sets out to do?”
I believe its mission is to offer affordable field radio fun—capable of completing park or summit activations without excessive struggle, providing performance commensurate with its price point.
I decided to purchase the G106 because I had returned my loaner unit over a year ago, but questions about it kept coming from readers. Instead of requesting another loaner, I opted to buy one.
To my surprise, the pricing had dropped significantly. Here’s my order confirmation:
Interestingly, as I mentioned earlier this week, Amazon (at time of posting) has a Black Friday deal for the G106 (without accessories) $199 shipped for Prime members [QRPer affiliate link].
I’d have chosen that over the bundle I ordered had it been available at the time.
Unboxing to Activation
A common question from readers has been, “Would the Xiegu G106 work as a dedicated field radio for POTA activations?”
Most of these inquiries came from newcomers to ham radio, so I decided to test the radio in the field by setting it up from scratch—straight out of the box. This included attaching connectors to the power cord, configuring the radio, setting up the antenna, and hopping on the air.
I started the activation using SSB (voice) and later switched to CW (Morse Code) to give a full “out-of-the-box” experience.
The resulting activation video (below) is lengthy but was incredibly fun to film!
Gear:
Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.
Radio
- Xiegu G106 via Radioddity (Save 5% off purchase amount when you shop with our affiliate link) and via Amazon.com
Antenna & Cable Assembly
- MW0SAW homebrew end-fed half-wave
- ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
Throw Line
Pack
Logging Supplies
Key and Cable
- Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet
- K6ARK designed “Pico” paddle (thanks for building, Jonathan)
Battery and Power Distribution
Camera/Audio Gear
- DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod
- DJI Wireless Microphones
Misc
On The Air
This activation was nothing short of amazing.
I began in SSB mode, using only the default mic settings. Despite operating at just 5 watts, I logged 21 hunters in 17 minutes—woo-hoo! While most signal reports were low, no one mentioned issues with my audio. I suspect results will improve once I fine-tune the mic gain settings.
Switching to CW, I was met with a deep, relentless pileup. While operating, I noticed some sluggish AGC action on strong signals, which occasionally clipped the first call letter. Additionally, CW keyer timing felt slightly off at times. These quirks aren’t deal-breakers but could likely be addressed with a firmware update.
In total, I logged 21 CW contacts in 20 minutes, bringing my activation total to 42 contacts!
QSO Map
Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. Green lines represent CW contacts, and red lines indicate SSB contacts. Click to enlarge:
Activation Video
Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation. As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.
Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Post-Activation Thoughts
I summarize my thoughts in the video, but here’s the gist:
At $200, the G106 offers impressive value.
While it does have quirks—such as sluggish AGC and occasional keyer timing issues—these are understandable at this price point. I’ll reach out to Xiegu to suggest addressing these issues in a firmware update. Whether they act on it remains uncertain, but it’s always worth asking.
Would it work as a dedicated, budget-friendly POTA or SOTA radio? Absolutely.
Before buying, I recommend reading my full review. But for $200, there’s not much to complain about. It offers more bands, modes, and out-of-the-box fun than anything else in its price range—though keep an eye on the QRP Labs QMX, which promises SSB support in the future.
If you own a G106, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Thank you
Thank you for joining me during this unboxing-to-activation experience!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.
As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo makes it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me! Have an amazing weekend!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
First time catching you on TWO modes! Very fun!
Yes indeed! That was great fun! Thanks for chasing me on two modes!
Further to my commentary on your initial report a few days ago, I’ve added one useful addition to my sterling little G-106 and that’s a RJ-9 to twin 3.5mm adapter. This allows you to plug and play earphones into the ‘106!
The item is listed on Amazon as: RJ9 to 3.5mm Headsets Adapter Telephone Phones MIC Audio Splitter Adapter Cable RJ9 4P4C Male to 3.5mm Jack Headphone Microphone Audio Cable – 27CM/10inch. UK cost was just under £8 ($10, €9.5).
The radio is certainly one I don’t regret buying!
72/73 Richard MM0RGM
Thank you for the tip! Is this the adapter? https://amzn.to/4gdX9y7 (note: affiliate link)
Richard, if you ever wanted to submit a field report with the G106, you would be most welcome!
Hi Thomas, yes that looks like the one.
I am using nearly an identical setup for sota/pota. With one exception. I am using a 10’ rg-316 coax as the feed line. What do you gain by using your feed line with the ferrites? Have you compare with, and without ferrites? Thanks for the review, and keep up the activations!
Thank you!
Ten feet of RG-316 is a great length and less lossy than a longer cable. That said, it doesn’t make a massive difference at QRP power levels and on the lower bands.
An RF choke is a relatively minor addition when operating at 5 watts of output power. They should be essential when pushing 20 watts plus and running an end-fed antenna. That said, I still like having an RF choke inline if I believe the radio is particularly sensitive to RF. I’m not sure that the G106 is, though; I’ve never tested with/without. Typically RF sensitivity manifests itself as keyer issues which I had with the G106, but I think that has more to do with a bit of firmware tweaking.
I could just make out your voice on SSB (which is pretty impressive really), but not well enough to attempt a contact. Once you switched to CW, no sweat. A testament to the mode! Worked you at 5W from my 705 at my desk 🙂
Hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving!
Thanks for working me, Mike. It’s always great to get you in the logs!
We’ve been having an amazing Thanksgiving, thank you! Hope you and your family have been too!
Thomas thank you for picking up my call. It is much appreciated and I was excited to put you in my log for the first time. I have been doing CW for not quite a year now and QRPer has been the driving force for me to get into Morse. I was using an SW3B and the G106 sounds just fine to me.
All the best from the UP of Michigan, KE8CUG.
Rob
Thank you so much, Rob! I’m honored, sir. 🙂 It was great working you, OM! I look forward to many more contacts as I get back into the swing of POTA (post-Helene). 🙂
Great video Thomas, and great to get you on CW again!
I remember when I was just considering starting POTA, and I really wanted to avoid buying a radio that I regretted, and was very much helped by your enthusiasm and critique of the KX2. And I just love it too!
Fast-forward 18 months, and recently I saw your video in which you talked about your re-acquisition of a K2, and how you sold it, regretted selling it, and just how much you were glad to have it back again! Well a good friend and CW mentor Bill, VE3MRX, had his up for sale for CAD$1000 with every possible filter already installed, and all the books etc.
And history repeats itself, and I just adore the K2 as my replacement for the 7300 for at home! The filtering in comparison, there’s just worlds of difference. Of course I am only pushing 10W max now, but I still prefer it!
So glad that you are able to get out and activate again, and things have gotten a little better in the mountains!
73
Scott
Thank you so much, Scott.
Yes indeed! The K2 (and all Elecraft radios I’ve sold) have been boomerangs. I sold them, then they came right back. 🙂
Never, ever sell that K2. It’s a gem!
It would be nice to think you might be successful in reaching out to Xiegu to get a firmware upgrade. If they respond, perhaps you might find out why the x5105 firmware was left dead in the water to the lasting chagrin of the early adopters.
I’m not holding out a lot of hope, but the message has been sent. I did dangle the carrot of saying, “Hey, if you can make these small changes, you’re going to sell a lot more G106s.” We’ll see if they listen (perhaps they’ll even read this comment as I linked to the post). As with the X5105, they seem to abandon firmware updates when they’ve new radios in the pipeline. My hope is that since the G106 is still being produced, it might get some attention. One can hope, at least!
Hi Thomas, thanks for the video and your comments.
I bought the G106 a few months ago and I really appreciate it very much, and it has nothing to do with its low price.
With good headphones, and I did careful comparisons, the audio is way better than the audio from the G90. With the G90 you need to switch off the AGC and ride permanently the RF gain if you want correct audio ; its AGC is very poor.
I informed Radioddity of 3 bugs, which could be easily corrected with a firmware update. The first, as you noticed it, is that after a transmission, a somewhat long setting of the AGC occurs. The second is that the rotary encoder miss some steps if you reverse the tuning ; it appears also in the menu settings. And the last one is that the RF preamplifier, even if you switched it off previously, is switched on when you power on the G106. In this case, the preamplifier is on, even if its pictogram is not lighted is the
display.
Radioddity said Xiegu would be informed, but nothing is on the horizon.
Best regards, Georges F6DFZ
Thank you for sharing this, Georges.
Perhaps they’ll take the time to make the updates/fixes if they get enough customer requests. Let’s hope so!
Thanks for posting this. That’s an amazing price point for an HF radio. However, the ARRL Lab Notes for the G106 about a year ago raised some concerns about spurious emissions, key clicks, and other issues that might weigh against using the radio on the air. I wonder if those issues have been resolved in the current hardware/firmware? Anyway, thanks again. 73 Skip K4EAK