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An in-depth review of the Xiegu G106 QRP HF transceiver

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Note that the following review first appeared in the May 2023 issue of TheSpectrum Monitor magazine.

Update: Also, please note that the G106 is on sale at Radioddity at time of posting. With our affiliate link pricing is only $264 US (see note at end of review). Please read this review prior to making a purchase decision!

An in-depth review of the Xiegu G106 QRP HF transceiver

by Thomas (K4SWL)

Last year––in May of 2022, that is––Xiegu announced a new compact field radio that would be added to their line of transceivers: the Xiegu G106.

Xiegu has really made a name for themselves over the past few years with several transceiver offerings, many of which have become very popular. Among these:

  • The Xiegu G90 is a 20-watt transceiver with an excellent built-in ATU. The G90 has become a very popular field radio over the past few years.
  • The Xiegu X5101 is a five-watt shack-in-a-box HF transceiver covering 160-6 meters. The X5105 has become a go-to QRP portable due to its fine built-in ATU and built-in rechargeable battery pack.
  • The Xiegu X6100 is much like the X5105, in that it’s also a shack-in-a-box QRP transceiver, but it leverages SDR technology to provide a beautiful color spectrum display and a host of features not found on its predecessors. Many have adopted the X6100 because its operating system is Linux-based and many enthusiasts have created their own X6100 interface that promised direct digital mode operation.

Because we’re seeing more products like these from Xiegu, the up-and-coming Xiegu G106 stirred interest.

Moreover, Xiegu has become a low-cost leader among HF transceiver manufacturers. In each of the reviews I’ve published about Xiegu radios, my summary statement is that each unit offers a lot of performance for the price. Xiegu transceivers don’t have the most robust receiver front-ends, and the audio is unrefined, but their rigs get the job done and have some serious “fun factor.”

So when I first learned about the new Xiegu G106, I was curious where it would fit into their product line.

Introducing the Xiegu G106

As I was capping off my summer in Canada back in August of 2022, Xiegu retailer Radioddity started shipping the G106. Radioddity had me on the list to send a loaner G106 for review, but  upon my return I found myself so busy that I didn’t immediately request it.

I did watch, however, K8MRD’s initial and updated review of the G106 on YouTube. While it was less than stellar––understatement alert––more relevant to me was that Mike shipped his second evaluation unit to me on behalf of Radioddity.

I connected that G106 to a dummy load, checked the transmitted signal on my SDRplay RSPdx spectrum display, and it simply didn’t look very clean. In fact, it looked worse than it did when Mike checked it only a couple of weeks prior.

I shared my results with Radioddity and told them I didn’t feel comfortable putting the G106 on the air; they asked that the unit be returned and checked out.

Fast-forward to January 2023, when I was once again contacted by Radioddity to see if I would like to field test an updated G106? I answered that I was happy to do so, because I was curious whether the G106 experience had improved.

In the spirit of full disclosure, keep in mind that Radioddity is a Xiegu retailer/distributor––the company is not the manufacturer, nor is it owned by Xiegu. They sent this G106 to me on an extended loan for an honest evaluation.

So where does the G106 fit into the Xiegu product line?  It’s being marketed as a low-cost, entry level, multi-mode QRP HF transceiver that leverages 16-bit CODEC sampling to provide the user with a lot of radio for the price. It’s basic, and meant to be so, in that  it’s only a transceiver; there is no built-in ATU or battery. The G106 is marketed as a bare-bones portable HF transceiver.

I feel like it hits this mark.

The G106 doesn’t have a lot of features or controls one might expect in other Xiegu radios, but it has more features than any other modern HF radio I know of in its price class (see features list below). Indeed, I can’t think of any other 80-10 meter general coverage QRP transceiver that retails for $320 or less. The G106 has this market niche to itself for the moment.

Overview

When I first received the G106, I was a little surprised:  it was even more compact than I had imagined.

The sides of the G106 are rounded and the chassis extends beyond the encoder and front controls of the radio, thus the interior is quite well protected in the event the radio is dropped. This is one of the few QRP field radios on the market that doesn’t need an aftermarket cage. I’ve been transporting the G106 in an old hard shell headphone case a friend gave me. The case isn’t large, but it easily holds the G106 and a power cord with a bit of room to spare.

 

The G106 sports a small monochrome backlit display that’s very easy to read in the shack or in the field with full sunlight.

Besides the weighted encoder (which has soft detents), the volume control, and microphone port, there are also four multi-function buttons located under the small display on the front panel. On top of the radio, there is a power/backlight button, mode/pre-amp button, and two band buttons that also can be pressed and held to change the frequency cursor position. The internal speaker is also mounted on the bottom of the top cover, just behind the top panel buttons.

On the back of the G106, you’ll find a BNC antenna port, ground/earth lug, key port, COM port, 8 pin ACC port, and a DC input port.

The most conspicuous omission is a headphone or external speaker port. I would have expected this in a QRP field radio because operators often prefer using headphones in the field rather than a speaker. I know that some G106 owners have built their own RJ9 audio plug to port out the audio to headphones. There is a headphone port on the supplied speaker mic, but CW-only operators might prefer a more direct way to connect earphones in order to keep the bulk of their field kit to a minimum.

What is surprising is that the G106 has a very basic spectrum display that is actually quite useful!

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of the G106 are overall pretty good…but a bit quirky. To be honest, giving the user access to numerous functions and features on a radio this small is always going to affect ergonomics; there’s only so much control-surface real estate. Continue reading An in-depth review of the Xiegu G106 QRP HF transceiver →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, SSB, Videos

Taking the Xiegu G106 on its maiden POTA activation!

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Last year (May, 2022), Xiegu announced a new compact field radio that would be added to their line of transceivers: the Xiegu G106.

As I was capping off my summer in Canada (August, 2022), Radioddity started shipping the G106. Radioddity had me on their list of folks to send a loaner G106 to, but I didn’t have time to even look at the radio I was so busy upon my return, so didn’t immediately request it.

I did watch, however, K8MRD’s initial review and updated review of the G106. It was less than stellar [understatement alert!] but more than relevant to me because Mike shipped his second unit to me on behalf of Radioddity.

I connected that G106 to a dummy load, checked the transmitted signal, and it simply didn’t look very clean. It looked worse than it did when Mike checked it only a couple weeks prior.

I shared my results with Radioddity, told them I didn’t feel comfortable putting it on the air for testing in the field, and they asked to have that unit returned and checked out.

Updated G106

Fast-forward to January 2023 when I was once again contacted by Radioddity to see if I would like to field test an updated G106. I was happy to do so, in fact, because I was curious if the whole G106 experience had improved.

In the spirit of full disclosure: keep in mind that Radioddity is a Xiegu retailer/distributor–they are not the manufacturer nor are they owned by Xiegu. They are a sponsor of QRPer.com, but have no say in what I post nor any sort of editorial input. Indeed, this is always a condition of sponsorship from day one.

To Radioddity’s credit, some of my most critical reviews have been of products they’ve sent me on loan (especially the GSOC).  They take criticism on the chin and keep on moving forward. This is why they are still a sponsor and I like working with them. They understand that I call it like it is and stand by what I publish.

This G106 has been sent to me on loan for a few weeks to review. I plan to take this unit on a number of activations and pair it with a variety of antennas and accessories.

Very early impressions

I will eventually publish a full review of the G106 (likely in The Spectrum Monitor magazine first) once I’ve put in a lot more field and shack hours with the G106. In the activation video, below, I do make a lot of comments about the radio–thinking out-loud–so if you’re considering purchasing the G106, you might at least listen to a few of my initial impressions.

I will say this: for a modern SDR-based transceiver, it’s pretty bare-bones. It lacks a number of features I assumed it might have despite the incredibly affordable $320 US price point:

  • No SWR meter
  • No Power meter
  • No CW or Voice message memories
  • No RF gain control
  • No AGC control
  • No dedicated headphone audio output

But, again, it has more features than many of the bare-bones CW-only QRP transceivers out there, so for the price perhaps expectations should simply be in check–?

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, I took the G106 on its maiden POTA activation to K-6856.

The G106 doesn’t have a built-in ATU (which I would never expect at this price point) so I decided to pair it with a resonant antenna. Since it was a very rainy day and the area/ground where I tend to deploy my wire antennas at Vance was squishy and soft, I opted to deploy my Chelegance MC-750 next to the picnic shelter. Continue reading Taking the Xiegu G106 on its maiden POTA activation! →

News, QRP Radios

I sold the Xiegu X6100 (G106 Incoming)

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A couple weeks ago, I was browsing the classifieds at QTH.com and saw a WTB (Want To Buy) ad for the Xiegu X6100. Without giving it a lot of through, I contacted the ham who posted the note and gave him a fair deal on my X6100.

As I mentioned in my last field report with the X6100, this unit was actually very new. The first X6100 I used was a loaner from Radiodity, the second I purchased and discovered it had a little mechanical issue with the encoder–it was returned–and the third was this unit which I received in April 2022.  It had only been on one activation.

Why did I sell the X6100?

I had some fun with the X6100 on a few very successful activations in the field and made numerous contacts with the X6100 at home. Why would I sell it?

The biggest reason is since I already own the Xiegu X5105–and personally preferred it over the X6100–I simply wasn’t using the X6100 a lot.

Specifically:

  • The X5105 will run about 2 to 3 times longer than the X6100 on a fully-charged internal battery.
  • The X5105 isn’t as prone to front-end overload
  • The X5105’s audio is marginally better than that of the X6100 in CW mode. (To be clear, though, neither radio has great audio.)

I’d planned to build a little BCI filter for my X6100, to mitigate the overloading, but at the end of the day, I found I just wasn’t reaching for the rig when heading out the door.

If I were primarily a digital mode operator, I think I would have kept the X6100. It’s a pretty easy radio to use and set up for digital modes.

Final X6100 thoughts

As I pointed out in my X6100 review, the radio is a bit of a “mixed bag.” It also seems to be a polarizing radio out there in ham radio community: some love it, some hate it.

Me personally? It just wasn’t my cup of tea.

That said, it is a very interesting radio platform and I am very curious if others will develop a Linux-based operating system that might allow for things like native digital mode operation.

G106 Incoming

Mike (K8MRD) has sent me the latest Xiegu G106 unit he reviewed over on his YouTube channel. I should receive it in a few days.

Josh, over at the Ham Radio Crash Course channel, also recently reviewed the G106.

Check out both of these reviews.

The take-away is that it’s really not a great radio, but it is very cheap. In fact, Mike was very vocal about how much he disliked the first G106 unit he received.

After seeing Mike and Josh’s reviews, I contacted Radioddity and told them to skip me in the review process. Frankly, reviews and field tests take time, and I don’t have a lot of that particular resource to waste.

Radioddity encouraged me to reconsider because new firmware promised to fix many of the issues noted in previous reviews. Indeed, they told me that the first thing I’ll need to do to the unit I receive is update the firmware.

I decided that what I’ll do is take the G106 to the field and do a couple of real-time, real-life activations with it. We’ll explore its performance together and see if it’s worth the $320 price.

Being completely transparent here, I’m biased towards paying more to get a better quality radio. I’m not so sure how well the G106 and I will get along, but I’ll give it a good ole college try.

Of course, I’ll give the G106 a heavy workout in CW mode. Maybe I’ll eat my words, but I’ve no intention of adding the G106 to my radio collection; I do want to give it a fair shake-out in the field though. Very curious if it’ll have any issues with front-end overloading.

Stay tuned!

New Products, News, QRP, QRP Radios

Xiegu G106 and D90: A few pre-production unit photos

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I’ve a friend who works with a number of radio manufacturers including Xiegu. He recently took delivery of the new Xiegu G106 QRP transceiver and a Xiegu D90 USB-Radio Interface.

Based on the photo above, the G106 is even more compact than I originally assumed.

These are the accessories included in his G106 box:

Looks like the same cables and mic included in other Xiegu radio packages.

He also took delivery of the new Xiegu D90 expansion card:

Note that these units are very much early prototypes and don’t even have serial numbers. Nonetheless, he plans to take the G106 to Field Day today–I’m looking forward to hearing his report.

New Products, News, QRP, QRP Radios

Xiegu G106 preliminary specifications and features

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Xiegu distributor, Radioddity, has now publicly announced a product page for the new Xiegu G106.

No pricing/availability mentioned, but we do learn a few more details from their page.

Features:

  • The Xiegu G106 is a 5W SDR transceiver using 16bit-CODEC sampling
  • SSB, CW, AM modes are supported along with wide FM reception (for the FM broadcast band)
  • General coverage receiver
  • Three selectable CW bandwidths
  • Digital modes when connected to a computer with the Xiegu DE-19 interface

Specifications

  • Receiver frequency range: 0.55~30MHz and 88~108MHz (WFM)
  • Transmitting frequency:
    • 3.5~3.9MHz
    • 7.0~7.2MHz [I assume this is incorrect]
    • 10.1~10.15MHz
    • 14.0~14.35MHz
    • 18.068~18.168MHz
    • 21.0~21.45MHz
    • 24.89~24.99MHz
    • 28.0~29.7MHz
  • Receiver sensitivity:
    • CW: 0.25uV @10dB S/N
    • SSB: 0.5uV @10dB S/N
    • AM: 10uV @10dB S/N
  • Frequency stability: ±1.5ppm within 30min after power on @25°C: 1ppm/hour
  • Transmitting power: ≥5W @13.8V DC
  • Transmitting spurious suppression: ≥50dB
  • Audio output power: 0.3W
  • Operating voltage: 9~15V DC
  • Standby current: 0.37A @Max
  • Transmitting current: 2.8A @Max
  • Dimensions: 120*40*135 (mm)
  • Weight: about 720g (only host)

Radioddity notes: “The shoulder strap [above] is for display only. Final equipped accessories not decided yet.”

My G106 takeaways?

Based on Xiegu’s previous offerings, I would have to assume the G106 could be in production within a few months (supply chains/C-19 pending). It’ll likely be released with basic firmware and updated with time. It’ll be price competitive for sure.

I would hope that perhaps they’ve worked on the audio characteristics and noise floor of the G106. Previous Xiegu products have mediocre audio characteristics and a higher noise floor than my other transceivers. Let’s also hope the front end is more robust than the X6100.

At 0.37 Amps, current drain in standby/receive is a tad on the high side for late model QRP portable radios. Still, quite respectable for a field radio.

It doesn’t appear the G106 has an internal tuner, nor an internal battery unless they’ve simply omitted this from the features list.

It also doesn’t mention CW and/or voice message memory keying which I consider to be so valuable for park and summit activators. If history is an indicator, I suppose they could add this later in firmware updates.

Also, the Radioddity announcement mentions that the G106 covers “[t]ransmission and reception of all amateur frequency bands within 3.8~29.7MHz.” Yet in the specifications, they fail to list the 60M band and the 40M band is noted as 7-7.2 MHz. I assume the 40M band range is simply a typo–I can’t imagine it would actually stop at 7.2 MHz. I also imagine they may have simply omitted the 60M band channels. RX seems to dip as low as 0.5 MHz, thus covering most of the mediumwave broadcast band.

Truth is, these are early days for the G106 and we may learn that it has more features than listed here on Radioddity’s page.

If it does indeed lack an internal ATU and/or internal battery, I assume the price point would be well below that of the X5105 and X6100; my (complete and total) guess would be somewhere between $300-400 US.

I’ll post more info about the G106 as we learn more. I’ll also try to update and correct this post if I learned some of these details are incorrect.

Click here to check out the G106 at Radioddity.

New Products, News, QRP, QRP Radios

Update: A few more details about the new Xiegu G106 QRP transceiver

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Yesterday, I posted some photos of the new Xiegu G106 transceiver.

Since then, I’ve been getting a few updates from my friend as, I assume, Xiegu releases preliminary info.

This is the latest illustration (click to enlarge):

You can see Xiegu is certainly eyeing the park and summit activators out there.

They’re also touting digital mode operation and I’ll have to assume this means the radio has an internal sound card which would certainly simplify a field-portable digi mode kit.

I was originally told that the G106 had six bands, but this image implies 80-10 meters including the WARC bands. We’ll have to verify this once the production marketing information is released. Since this is the 2022 Hamvention weekend, we could be learning more int he next couple of days.

I’ll continue to post updates here on QRPer.com. Bookmark the tag G106 if interested.

Oh yeah, I do hope there are some fold-out feet or a bail hiding under that G106 chassis!

New Products, News, QRP Radios

Photos of a new Xiegu G106 HF transceiver [updated]

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A friend who works in the amateur radio industry has shared the following photos and given me permission to post them.

These are images of the Xiegu G106 HF transceiver (click to enlarge):

As a field operator, one thing I noticed immediately are the protrusions around the faceplate that protect the encoder and what I assume in a multi-function knob. The form-factor seems to be roughly that of the Xiegu G90 (even smaller) with a backlit LCD display that resembles the Xiegu X5105 (only, again, much smaller).

I’m assured this isn’t vaporware, and I have to assume we’ll learn a lot more about the G106 soon.

The front panel is incredibly simple, so I must assume it’ll reply on menus for filter control, etc.

I have no other details at this point. When I learn more about the Xiegu G106, I’ll post updates here on QRPer.com.

Xiegu G1M replacement

Update (17 May 2022): I’ve just learned that the Xiegu G106 is the replacement for the Xiegu G1M . It’s sports 6 bands [actually, it might be more according to this update] has 5 watts of output power, and, of course, is SDR based like other Xiegu products. I’ve also learned it can receive wide band FM (hence the FM broadcast band image above).

An additional photo:

I’ll continue to post updates here on QRPer.com. Bookmark the tag G106 if interested.