Tag Archives: Black Friday

2024 Black Friday Deals: Roundup from Leading Ham Radio Retailers

All of the large ham radio retailers are offering Black Friday specials in 2024. Click the following links to go directly to their Black Friday pages:

US

Canada

UK

Most Black Friday sale prices are within a few dollars of each other between the retailers. If you have a specific product in mind, check all of the retailers for pricing, shipping, and availability.

If you’ve been waiting to purchase a higher-priced item, this is a good time to shop. Here’s a small sampling of products I’ve found from US retailers while browsing:

Of course, there are many, many more.

If you do discover a great deal, please comment and link to it!

Elecraft 2024 Early Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale

I just received an email announcement from Elecraft noting that their holiday sale has already started. 

They’ve discounts across their entire product line with some special pricing for bundles (like their KX2 shack-in-a-box and KH1 Edgewood package).

Click here to read through the full list of items on sale.

HamGadgets 2024 Black Friday Sale

Dan (W7RF) just informed me that he’s having a Black Friday through Cyber Monday 15% discount on everything in his inventory at Hamgadgets.com.

This includes two items I own and love:

Of course, he has many more items in inventory including KM4CFT’s new paddle kit.

Go check it out!

Readers: Please let me know if you know of other mom-and-pop ham radio retailers offering holiday savings. I’d love to feature them here on QRPer.com as well!

$199 Shipped: Not Perfect, but Perfectly Priced (Xiegu G106 Black Friday Deal)

A few of you have sent me a tip about an exceptional Black Friday Week price for the Xiegu G106:

$199 shipped via Amazon.com (yes, that’s a QRPer affiliate link).

The timing is ironic for me since just three days ago, I performed a POTA activation with the G106 at Lake James State Park. I’ll hopefully have that field report posted within a week—possibly by Friday, if I can carve out the time.

Long story short: I purchased this G106 via Radioddity in late September, before Hurricane Helene hit WNC. I bought it because I’ve received so many questions about this radio over the past few months—no doubt because it’s the most affordable 80-10 meter multimode (CW, SSB, AM, and FM) radio on the market.

I posted a thorough review of the Xiegu G106 last summer, and I stand by that review. This radio isn’t for everyone—it’s super basic—but its performance is decent.

While using it Wednesday, I noticed a bit of AGC surge when a strong signal was present; the AGC takes a second to handle the incoming CW signal, making it feel slightly sluggish. I don’t recall this being an issue with the loaner unit I reviewed last year, but it’s there now. I’ll reach out to Xiegu to see if a firmware update might address this.

If you’re looking for a super-affordable HF radio that does SSB right out of the box (the QMX should as well, once Hans implements that in firmware), the G106 is a solid option. It’s a capable SSB QRP radio and decent at CW as well—again, especially for the price.

When I purchased my G106 in September, I bought directly through Radioddity’s site, taking advantage of a flash bundle deal that included the G106 and the DE17 digital interface for $239 or $249.

Had this Amazon deal been available, I would’ve jumped on it instead since I hadn’t planned on buying the DE17.

Before purchasing, I recommend reading my full review. This isn’t a “slam dunk” radio, but it’s a capable little machine and a great option to keep tucked away in a vehicle for impromptu activations.

Click here to check it out on Amazon.com.

As a reminder, the link above is an affiliate link. QRPer.com earns a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. If you’d prefer not to use the affiliate link, you can use this one instead.

 

A Few 2023 Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals

Each year, I attempt to post a few of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals readers send me and that I also discover online.

It seems, each year, the sales come earlier and earlier. This year, many of the promotions started nearly a full week before “Black Friday.”

The following are a few of the deals out there I felt worth noting and that readers have shared with me. If more tips roll in, I might post updates over the coming days (if time allows during the Thanksgiving holiday).

Here’s what I have so far…

Note: All Amazon and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Anker Soundcore Mini Speaker, Renewed ($17.99)

I love this Soundcore Mini speaker and use it with my radios that either lack an internal speaker or have a small internal speakers. Mike was the first person to review it here on QRPer. Amazon has this “renewed” (in other words, refurbished) Soundcore Mini on sale for $17.99. Not a bad price and I’ve very tempted to buy a second.

Xiegu G106 QRP Transceiver ($239.79)

Check out my review of the G106 before considering this purchase. If you’re looking for a very basic field radio that covers 80-10 meters in multiple modes (CW, SSB, AM, FM), the G106 might fit the bill. Again, read my in-depth review before making a decision. The Black Friday price on Amazon is $239.79 and, at time of posting, there were five left in inventory at this price.

Xiegu X6100 ($549)

Check out my X6100 review here. At time of posting, Amazon has one Xiegu X6100 for $549. This isn’t technically a Black Friday sale price, but it’s the lowest I’ve seen the X6100. Again, it appears they only have one left in inventory, however. Click here to check it out.

Elecraft Black Friday

Elecraft is offering $200 off of the K4D and up to $200 off of their amplifiers. I doubt these appeal to QRPers, but I thought it worth mentioning. As QRP as I am, I’d love for Santa to bring me a K4D! He can leave the amplifiers at the North Pole, though.   🙂

Radioddity Black Friday Deals

Each year, Radioddity puts a lot of their product offerings in their Black Friday sale. This year is no exception.  Click here to check them out. 

OSMO Action 3 Camera Combos ($279-$369)

Yesterday, I purchased this OSMO Action 3 “Adventure” combo. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using my original OSMO Action camera over the past three years, so I decided it was time to upgrade to one of the later models. OSMO has several package deals in the Black Friday sale. I look forward to using the new camera to film my activation videos!

Gear Aid HEROCLIP Carabiner Gear Clip and Hook, Large ($20.91)

A friend recommended the Heroclip a long time ago and, while I don’t use it a lot for radio work, it travels in all of my backpacks. I use it while camping to hang backpacks and lanterns. It’s just a handy, compact carabiner and hook. Amazon’s price is $20.92 for the large back clip. 

The Big US Ham Radio Retailers

Some of these retailers appear to have their Black Friday specials running already while others are doing pre-BF specials. If you’re in the market for a large ticket item, you might check in with these retailers over the next week:

Canadian Retailers

Update: Many thanks to Thomas Cort who writes:

For your Canadian shoppers…

Radio World has some Black Friday deals:
https://www.radioworld.ca/black-friday-amateur-radio

GPS Central Black Friday deals come out tomorrow:
https://www.gpscentral.ca/

Chameleon Antennas

Update: Chameleon Antennas is offering 25% off with coupon code BLACKFRIDAY25! Many thanks to John for the tip!

Any other good deals out there?

If you’ve spotted a good ham radio deal out there, please comment with specifics. I plan to do more of these posts over the next few days if more specials and deals pop up.

Some random Black Friday 2022 deals

I’ve been trying to avoid looking at sales this week because I don’t really need anything. That said, I’ve had a few pieces of gear on my mind that I’ve been wanting to review/evaluate and Black Friday has made a few of them more accessible.

Nanuk Waterproof Cases

If you’re not familiar with Nanuk, they produce a wide variety of waterproof cases in Canada. They’re essentially Canada’s version of the Pelican case.

I’ve been eyeing their Nanuk 903 which is actually a very compact case–something similar in size to the Pelican 1060 and the Evergreen 56.

Nanuk, DX Engineering, and Amazon all have their Nanuk cases on sale today. I picked up a Nanuk 903 that I hope to use with one of my ultra-compact field radios (perhaps the Penntek TR-35).

Prices vary, but Amazon seems to have the lowest. I just purchased a blue Nanuk 903 with pick foam for $28.00 shipped (affiliate link). Other colors may cost a few dollars more, but they’re all exceptional deals (I picked the least expensive color).

CP Gear Tactical

I believe it was Rod (VA3ON) who first introduced me to this Canada-based pack manufacturer.

I’ve had their their Aircrew/Pubs Bag with Padded Tablet Pocket on my wish list since the Ham Radio Workbench podcast episode where we talked about backpacks and pouches. CP Gear Tactical manufactures a wide variety of gear primarily for the Canadian military market. Everything is made either in Canada (NB) or the US (or both), thus prices are much higher than mass produced gear.

I’m hoping their Aircrew bag might fit my 2nd Yaesu FT-817ND which is now outfitted with the TPA-817 pack frame I purchased from a reader.  If it doesn’t, I still have many other uses in mind.

Everything in their store is 20% off today if you use the coupon code BKFRIDAY20.

The pack, shipped to my address in the US was $92.60 CAD.

Chameleon Antennas

Update: Many thanks to NJ0Q who notes:

Chameleon has a 25% off Black Friday sale. I grabbed another MPAS lite and saved $90.

Click here to check out the Chameleon Sale!

Yaesu FT-891

I noticed that Gigaparts and Ham Radio Outlet has the venerable Yaesu FT-891 on sale for $599.95 US. That’s a brilliant deal.

Last year, I came so close to buying the FT-891 for $629 during a Black Friday sale. I decided against it at the last moment because I know I tend to reach for my lightweight QRP field radios that can provide me a few hours of radio fun on a 3Ah battery. Even at QRP output levels, the FT-891 needs a larger capacity battery.

That said, if you’re looking for a new 100W radio for the shack or field? The FT-891 is a solid choice.

Radioddity

Radioddity always has deep discounts on Black Friday. This year, they have a store-wide 15% off sale with a coupon code.

Radioddity is a great place to purchase Xiegu Products. They are a sponsor of QRPer.com.

SDRplay RSPdx

SDRplay manufactures affordable, high-performance SDR receivers in the UK. They are currently offering their RSPdx for £130/€156/$169.95. Click here for details and click here for my review of the RSPdx. The RSPdx is a choice radio for mediumwave and low band work. That said, the frequency range is exceptionally wide. This and the RSPduo are my favorites from SDRplay. Note that SDRplay is a sponsor of the SWLing Post.

Airspy

Another SDR and radio accessory manufacturer, Airspy, is offering 20% off of all of their products. I consider their HF+ Discovery SDR to be one of the best sub-$200 SDRs for the HF bands–check out these posts and reviews on the SWLing Post.

Ham radio retailers with Black Friday deals

Here’s a list of ham radio retailers who have Black Friday sales today. If you’ve been looking for an item in particular, you might compare prices between these stores:

Spot any other great deals? Share them in the comments section!

Black Friday at Hendricks QRP Kits: Free domestic and international shipping

Wow–a Black Friday event I can certainly get my head around!

From Doug Hendricks via QRP-L:

Friday is known as “Black Friday” because most of the stores have big sales to attract the shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving. I thought about this and decided to do a QRP version. Here is the announcement.

Hendricks QRP Kits will have a Black Friday Sale from 12:01 AM Thursday to Midnight Friday (0801 GMT to 0800 GMT). During this sale, if your order shipped to a US address is $50 or more, you will get free shipping. And, if your order shipped to a DX address is $150 or more, your shipping will be free. All kits are included, nothing is held back. I have all kits in stock and ready to ship. Kits will ship starting Monday, Nov. 28th. When you place your order via paypal, I will refund your postage. If you order via US mail, the order needs to be postmarked Friday, Nov. 25th. Please do not include shipping and handling if you are ordering via mail. I have never had a Black Friday sale, but thought it might be fun to do. This is your opportunity to “Save the Shipping” on your Christmas orders. 72,
Doug

Check out what’s available at Hendricks QRP Kits!