Tag Archives: Xiegu X6200

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

Xiegu X6200 SSB Field Test: A Morning POTA Activation at Lake James

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On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, I needed to make a morning trip to Hickory, NC, to take care of some family business and visit my father.

I started my day early because I also wanted to be back in the Asheville area by noon. Some quick calculations over morning coffee and I decided I had just enough time to fit in one POTA activation en route to Hickory.

I left the QTH around 7:15 AM and made my way to the Paddy’s Creek Access of Lake James State Park, arriving around 8:15 AM.

Lake James State Park (US-2739)

Two other reasons I fit in my activation en route to Hickory instead of on my way back:

  • Paddy’s Creek has a lakeside beach area that gets very busy in the summer, especially on clear, sunny days (like Tuesday).
  • Temperatures that day were forecast to push near 95F/35C.

When I arrived at the parking area, I was pleased to see I was one of the only cars there. This made it much easier to find a spot to set up!

I started my activation video (see below) then walked to a picnic table under some trees that would not only provide shade but also antenna support!

I deployed my KM4CFT end-fed half-wave kit that I cut as a 30M EFHW with a linked 40M extension. When I launched the arborist line into the dense canopy, I thought I snagged a high branch, but it turned out I hadn’t.

In the end, my 40M EFHW had more of a low inverted vee, almost NVIS-height, configuration. I was fine with that, though, knowing on the 40M band that early in the morning, I’d snag contacts in NC and the surrounding states.

My goal was to finally make some SSB contacts with the Xiegu X6200. My previous mid-day activation with the X6200 provided no results, so I was hoping I’d be more successful in the morning.

One other thing I did that I haven’t done in over four years: I started out my activation with more than 5 watts of power. I added an external battery to the X6200, turned off its internal charger, and ran the transceiver at its full output power of eight watts.

My goal was to see how warm/hot the chassis would become during the activation. This is one of the questions I’ve been asked the most about the X6200 so far.

Setting up the radio was simple. I was careful to make sure that the internal ATU was bypassed on the 40M (and later 20M) band.

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

On The Air

One of the other reasons I chose the Paddy’s Creek access of Lake James is that I knew for sure that I had mobile phone reception there, which I would need to self-spot in SSB mode. Continue reading Xiegu X6200 SSB Field Test: A Morning POTA Activation at Lake James →

Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, SSB, Videos

Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day!

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On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, I took my production run Xiegu X6200 (on loan from Radioddity) to the Blue Ridge Parkway for its first POTA activation. The activation was a success, with good band conditions on 40 and 30 meters. You can read that field report by clicking here.

Later that day, I had a second opportunity to use the X6200. My daughters were kayaking near Lake Powhatan in Pisgah National Forest, so Hazel (my activational support animal–!) and I went for a quick POTA activation.

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

I usually set up near the lake at Lake Powhatan, where there are picnic tables and shade. However, mobile phone reception is poor there. Since I planned to operate in single-sideband mode, I needed a way to self-spot or have a friend spot me, thus a little mobile phone reception (else, use my Garmin In-Reach).

I decided to set up at a picnic area at the top of the hill near the main parking area for the lake/beach. I’ve never seen anyone use this site before, likely because it’s not close to the lake.

The site is surrounded by trees, making it a great spot to deploy a wire antenna.

Setting up

I used my PackTenna 9:1 UNUN random wire antenna, which was already in my pack from the morning activation. It’s a good choice for the higher bands (20 and 17M) I planned to use.

I set up the PackTenna so it wouldn’t interfere with anyone walking through the site. Hazel found a sunny spot to relax.

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

On The Air

I began by attaching the X6200 microphone and spotting myself on the SSB portion of the 20M band. I called CQ POTA for quite a while with no response.

Once again, propagation conditions were poor. Continue reading Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day! →

Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Videos

The New Xiegu X6200: First POTA activation in CW with a production unit!

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If you’re following the new Xiegu X6200 closely, you might recall that I took a prototype version of the radio out two weeks ago for a POTA activation. Propagation was so challenging–as in, a complete radio blackout in North America due to an X-Class flare–it took about 90 minutes of calling CQ POTA to snag the ten needed for a valid park activation.

I had planned to post the activation video on YouTube, but learned shortly after the activation that this particular unit was a proper prototype instead of an early production run radio. This is a detail I misunderstood prior to the unit shipping.

I only shared the 2+ hour video to Patreon supporters, but not on my YouTube channel for this reason.

Production

This past weekend, I received a second Xiegu X6200: this time, a production run unit!

Again, this unit was supplied to me on loan by Xiegu via their distributor, Radioddity who (in the spirit of full disclosure) is also a QRPer.com sponsor and affiliate.

[Note: Also check out Steve’s channel if interested in the X6200. He’s been testing power output, OS accessibility, and other aspects on the bench.]

POTA Time!

Two days ago–Tuesday, June 11, 2024–I took the new X6200 out for a POTA activation on the Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378).

I had a couple of hours that morning to fit in the activation, including a round trip from the QTH. The best site for a quick activation was the Folk Art Center picnic area.

Thanks to the early hour, there was no competition for picnic tables.

I decided to pair my PackTenna 9:1 End-Fed Random Wire with the X6200. This provided a chance to test the ATU with a readily matchable antenna (in the future, I’ll make it sweat a bit more by using a transformerless random wire antenna).

This production run X6200 has the same firmware (version 1.0) as the prototype, but the hardware has received noticeable updates. I spotted two changes–one cosmetic and one that had a positive impact on performance–almost immediately.

In the activation video below, you’ll see that I spent a few minutes doing an overview of the X6200.

One of the first things I did was set up the X6200 for CW Message memory operation. I demonstrated (after a bit of head-scratching) how to input the CW message using the X6200’s built-in on-screen keyboard. (If the CW Message Memories confuse you, check out the short primer in my previous post).

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

On The Air

The last time I hopped on the air with the X6200, it was proper work making any contacts. It was a struggle and it wasn’t the X6200’s fault. It was our local star!

I decided to start on 40 meters since it was still mid-morning. After calling “QRL?” and hearing no reply, I pressed the second CW message memory button where I loaded “CQ POTA DE K4SWL” and the radio started transmitting. Continue reading The New Xiegu X6200: First POTA activation in CW with a production unit! →

Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Reviews

Xiegu X6200 Trial by Flare: Answering your questions and sharing my field notes

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Update as of May 31, 2024: I’ve just learned that the prototype unit I used for this activation has been superseded by a production model Xiegu X6200. While many of my initial impressions remain valid, some of the bugs and quirks I noted have likely been addressed in the production model.

When I published this post, I was under the impression that this loaner unit was representative of the final production run. In light of this new information, I’ve removed the mention of some specific bugs until I have the opportunity to evaluate the production run unit.

I’ll be receiving a production model loaner in the coming weeks, and I’ll update this post and share a video demonstrating the updated radio. Stay tuned!

After publishing my post yesterday morning, I ran a few errands in town, then headed to Lake Powhatan in Pisgah National Forest to perform a POTA activation with the new Xiegu X6200.

In short, my buddy Vince summed it all up in a text he sent, stating that I sure picked an interesting time to get on the air. I received this image from Vince–while calling CQ POTA for the 100th time–showing the results of our X-Class Flare:

It was a radio blackout.

In the end, I did log eleven stations: 1 on 30 meters, and 10 on 20 meters, all with CW.

 

Eventually, I did plug in an external battery and run the X6200 at its full 8 watts of power in SSB mode, but there were no takers on 20 meters. The bands were so dead, I even received reports from some of you that the FT8 portions of the band had little to no activity.

That dead!

I did manage to hunt some other park activators successfully–we activators had to work together to get through this one!

Video: Change of plans

I had originally planned to create a video of the activation, write a detailed field report, and answer some of the questions you left in the comments section of my previous post. I was actually able to make a video, but it’s incredibly long. Because of that, I’m only going to upload it to Vimeo for QRPer.com Patreon supporters to view. I simply don’t want to deal with the inevitable drive-by comments on YouTube from people expecting quick-hit thoughts about the X6200 in a nearly two-hour video.

No worries, though, I will make another video witht he X6200 in the next few days and publish that one on YouTube.

In the meantime, I’ve also taken some thorough notes that I’ll be sharing here.

X6200: Initial Impressions and Notes

Disclaimer: It’s important to keep in mind that this is a prototype loaner unit, and the firmware is still in its early stages (Version 1.0). Because of this, the following observations and notes should be taken with a grain of salt.

Many issues will likely be addressed in firmware updates that Xiegu will be releasing in the coming days and weeks.

The date of publication for this article is May 30, 2024. Considering

I will eventually be posting a comprehensive review of the X6200, but only after I’ve spent a significant amount of time (weeks, not just hours) with the radio. This initial write-up is just to share my first impressions.

Moving on…

Since there simply wasn’t enough band activity and the X-class flare created more band noise than normal, I wasn’t able to properly evaluate the X6200’s filtering (thus how it might handle a pileup, crowded band conditions, etc.). I also couldn’t get a good read on the radio’s noise floor and overall audio characteristics.

I did, however, spend nearly two full hours with the X6200 going full bore sending CQs, so I had quite a bit of hands-on time, and I feel the X6200 got a proper burn-in period.

First, I’ll share the observations I made (both pros and cons), then I’ll try to answer your questions. Continue reading Xiegu X6200 Trial by Flare: Answering your questions and sharing my field notes →

New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP Radios

Xiegu X6200 First Activation: What do you want to know?

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Yesterday, I popped by the post office and picked up a parcel containing a prototype of the Xiegu X6200 (thank you for the loaner, Radioddity).

In truth, it arrived on Friday via DHL, but the post office was closed over Memorial Day weekend, and frankly, I would have been too busy to take a deep dive with it.

I’ve got the battery charged and plan to hit the field with the X6200 today—perhaps a local POTA activation.

As I explore the X6200, I’m curious if you have any questions you’d like me to answer in the process. I don’t know anything about delivery times or any of the retail-side stuff, but I could possibly answer your questions about the radio itself.

Labeled “Prototype”

Keep in mind that the unit I received is labeled as a prototype. I assume this is a pre-production model, thus with early firmware and likely a bit rough around the edges. We’ll find out in due time. Likely by the time the X6200 starts shipping to those who pre-ordered it, some issues will have been sorted out in firmware updates (assuming there are issues).

Today, I plan to test the X6200 in CW and possibly SSB. I’ll probably run CW from the internal battery, which will yield four watts output. For SSB, I’ll try hooking it up to an external battery for eight watts of total output power.

Solar conditions will likely be rough, but I look forward to hearing what the audio is like and how the receiver performs. Also curious if the keyer will have good timing/spacing.

X6200 Questions?

Leave me a comment if you’d like me to check out something on the X6200. If I fit in a POTA activation, it will likely be near noon today (EDT). I may not be able to address all questions, but I’ll do the best I can.

New Products, News, QRP Radios

Xiegu X6100 v X6200 Feature/Specs Comparison Chart

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Many thanks to Don (W7SSB) who shares the following spreadsheet that highlights the key similarities and differences between the Xiegu X6100 and the new Xiegu X6200.

Click here to view the comparison spreadsheet.

New Products, News, QRP, QRP Radios

Xiegu X6200: New Product Photos and Videos

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Many thanks to Don (W7SSB) who shares the following photos (via Xiegu) of the new X6200 transceiver. Click images to enlarge:

Update: A number of readers also note that Radioddity has posted the following videos on their website:

Freddy (F5IRO) also notes that Passion Radio will be shipping the X6200 in June 2024 for 899 €. Click here to read on Freddy’s blog.

New Products, News, QRP Radios

More photos of the Xiegu X6200

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Many thanks to my buddy, Don (W7SSB), who shares the following photos and product brochure of the yet-to-be-released Xiegu X6200.

The X6200 is not yet in the hands of reviewers, nor is it in production. This hasn’t stopped some people from “reviewing” this unit, so take anything you read up to this point with a grain of salt. A lot of folks have asked me what I think about the X6200, but I won’t comment until I’ve actually gotten a unit and tested it in the field.

I do have a few notes:

  1. I hope Xiegu takes time to have the X6200 thoroughly field-tested prior to production. In the past, early adopters have really taken on the role of Beta testing; it all makes for a very confusing evaluation period. In the same vein, I hope that more of the advertised functionality works from day one.
  2. Xiegu mentions that this unit has improved receiver sensitivity and a lower noise floor–both of these are most welcome. I hope this equates to more refined audio as well.
  3. I hope the receiver front end is more robust and has built-in BCI filtering. Previous models have suffered from overloading.

Of course, I will plan to review the X6200 and give it a thorough shake-down.

Photos:

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Product brochure

Click here to download the preliminary product brochure (as of Dec 28, 2023). [PDF]