Xiegu states in the manual for the 6100 (page 11) that you SHOULD NOT use the provided power supply that's intended to charge the battery to transmit, as it can cause damage to the radio. You can use external battery to plug so you can get the full 10W, but the charging option should be turned OFF (green light is OFF). Using the charging adapter plugged while transmitting might be causing the power to spike on transmit in your situation. Mine arives in a few days and Im lookign forward to play with it. Untill then.. more reviews to watch. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Na the radio is a poorly engineered typical Chinese pos. I do not use the little cube for anything now and get all the same results. You shall see. Buy a 705 and get a real radio hell even a 818 is better anyone want to trade? The 6100 makes a nice CB though.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio What a rubbish comment, I own 48 HF radios at the moment including a X6100 and it is a great little radio. I have seen none of the "problems" I describe, learn how to setup and use a SDR and read the manual. Unsubscribe, cheers....
I say chap thanks for deeming yourself an "expert" because you own 48 radios. I am sure we will all bow to your expertise. Let me know when you post your video.
When you check for birdies you should do it without the antenna, just a dummy load. As far as the "noise" after releasing the PTT, go check your AGC settings, I got rid of the "problem" that way, I have seen it on other radios as well.
Update: I emailed Radiodity XIEGU and was told this abou the 6100 and birdies. "The X6100 did exist for birdies now. And we would suggest that you reduce the RF gain and turn on ATT mode for the X6100 to attenuate." Of course this will work some but what if its right in the bandpass of the station you want to work? Sorry but thats not a fix its barely even a bandaid.
Tha k you very much for your honest review! I bought a G90 from radioddity and they sent a 6100 oh Lord, I was pissed off. But now 8hors later I'm thinking about keeping this one
Yes I would keep the 6100 over the G90. Thank you for supporting the channel. I would like to do more reviews for people that are honest to many channels with bs reviews.
Actually, the birdies on your X6100 don't look too bad. My x6100 has really annoying birdies on EVERY band. Usually I can QSY to dodge them when calling CQ, but they move around, and sometimes decide to camp out right on a net frequency I am trying to work, which can be a royal PITA. When this happens, all I can do is try to notch them out with the notch filter. The X6100 does have a decent user interface, and some really nice features like the Autotuner and SWR scanner, but after a year with this radio I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE.specifically because of the birdies . . .
I only am seeing them on 10 meters. There should not be any. I would send them a long email regarding issues, but I do t speak chinese, lol. Seriously, if I had them on every band as you say, I would return it and / or throw it in the trash. Maybe you need to try to update the firmware?
@@n9amiwavelengthradio The ARRL QST Magazine finally got around to doing a review of the X6100 in the July 2022 issue. Quoting - "The ARRL Lab test engineer reports that the radio was a bit of a challenge to test. There were numerous weak receiver birdies (stronger on 6 meters) that were not necessarily strong enough on most bands to present a problem in operation because most were lower than typical band noise, but they make it a challenge to make measurements at the noise floor of the receiver." Translation - "The damn thing only meets it's sensitivity specs in between the birdies, where it's not interfering with itself..." I can positively confirm that the birdies often ARE an issue when dealing with weak signals. The key is S/N+n Where "S" is signal "N" is the major noise source, and small "n" is the minor noise source contribution. With a good external antenna and strong signal propagation conditions, Big "N" will be Band Noise, and small "n" will be most (but not ALL) of the birdies, so they are almost unnoticeable. But when propagation conditions fade a bit, or with a lower efficiency antenna, the X6100's birdies and internal self interference become "Big N" - and then, believe me, become MUCH more noticeable. The latest firmware does indeed do a bit better job of HIDING them, but they seem to be related to poor internal shielding at the HARDWARE level, so they are never really gone - and can still become a problem when band conditions are demanding. Try disconnecting the antenna, and turning on the RX Pre-Amp, and very slowly panning through the bands to get a better inventory of your X6100's built in internal noise sources.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio I have found over 75 birdies on all ham bands between 3.5 MHz and 29 MHz. Some are stronger than S5, a few stronger than that. Other folks I’ve talked with have had similar complaints/findings. Shame is that it’s an otherwise reasonable radio. Well, except for the goofy transmit AF: the internal mic just flat out doesn’t work except in the rage of 30-35 settings. The external hand mic is also dodgy. I actually think the X6100’s predecessor, the X5105 was a better radio. Wish I’d kept mine & not bought the ‘6100.
Great review! Did you disconnect your antenna to confirm the birdies were still there on 10M? OT: Cool NCL-2000 in the background. I had one a long time ago. 8122 tubes! 73
I just bought one and, it has the exact problems. The same birdie at 28.425 and depending on the antenna I use, it may pick commercial AM radio stations on the CW portion of 28MHZ. The radio has been a little bit of a disappointment for me.
Sorry to hear that, Luis. For me and price / usage is okay. I just opened up the tx on it also. I doubt I will do the FT8 side loading and replace the op system, though I am pretty much done with FT8. To many lids running 1kw.
@@jessgypin-ko5ds No its not. Also, if the radio is that bad as it needs filters to attenuate that sort of signals its a terrible design and not worth 100 bucks. Appreciate your input though.
Thank you very much for your great video of this radio. I have one and I really really really like mine. I carry mine in a large plastic water proof ammo box with a 20 amp hour lithium battery. I wrap the wonderful little radio in a face towel to protect it. And there is room for my small antenna an external speaker. (I see you had one also) And I do Pota with it. I am just crazy about my little X6100 because of it's portability. Of course in my trunk I carry the 100 watt amplifier from Xiegu but never had to use it. The only problem to me is the poor quality of the speaker. But other than that i just love this little radio. It has an internal sound card so I can send winlink email and WSPR and FT8 and Slow scan TV photo's. The sound card inside this to me has worked out great. This radio gets 5 stars from me. But poor speaker so sad. PS. I also have a G90, which I dearly loved for quite some time and the only problem I found with it was it did not have an internal SOUND card which concerned me by the fact that I had to have all kind of wires hanging outside with another box to make Digital work well. The 20 Watts served me well. Don’t get me wrong except for having to have external sound card box on the G 90 is a dynamite radio. And besides that the G 90 and the X 6100 have an internal antenna tuner that is so good it could probably tune up a cabbage. But that wonderful sound card in the X6100 when I want to go ultra portable and do digital is really nice.
Thanks for watching and supporting the little channel here. And plan on taking mine with me this summer while I am out and about in very rural Nevada and doing some portable ops. And yes the thing is a good digital rig.
Mine has version 1.1.7 brand new.. birdies every where. Definitely 28.425. Its like the old sdrs where you can hear see the IF. Every band has spots that are s9 or 10 over with dummy load attached. Very disappointed. Im guessing this is hardware related. Some people have no birdies i guess?
Xiegu states in the manual for the 6100 (page 11) that you SHOULD NOT use the provided power supply that's intended to charge the battery to transmit, as it can cause damage to the radio. You can use external battery to plug so you can get the full 10W, but the charging option should be turned OFF (green light is OFF). Using the charging adapter plugged while transmitting might be causing the power to spike on transmit in your situation. Mine arives in a few days and Im lookign forward to play with it. Untill then.. more reviews to watch. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Na the radio is a poorly engineered typical Chinese pos. I do not use the little cube for anything now and get all the same results. You shall see. Buy a 705 and get a real radio hell even a 818 is better anyone want to trade? The 6100 makes a nice CB though.
No thanks on 705! No Tuner.
They sell a tuner for it. Also put up a resonate antenna, and then no tuner is needed.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio What a rubbish comment, I own 48 HF radios at the moment including a X6100 and it is a great little radio. I have seen none of the "problems" I describe, learn how to setup and use a SDR and read the manual.
Unsubscribe, cheers....
I say chap thanks for deeming yourself an "expert" because you own 48 radios. I am sure we will all bow to your expertise. Let me know when you post your video.
When you check for birdies you should do it without the antenna, just a dummy load. As far as the "noise" after releasing the PTT, go check your AGC settings, I got rid of the "problem" that way, I have seen it on other radios as well.
Update: I emailed Radiodity XIEGU and was told this abou the 6100 and birdies. "The X6100 did exist for birdies now. And we would suggest that you reduce the RF gain and turn on ATT mode for the X6100 to attenuate." Of course this will work some but what if its right in the bandpass of the station you want to work? Sorry but thats not a fix its barely even a bandaid.
I was really wanting the X6100, now im thinking about ordering the Hermes Lite 2. Not sure if i can wait for the X6200 or not.
Id go with a 705 however if it were a money thing the 818.
Tha k you very much for your honest review! I bought a G90 from radioddity and they sent a 6100 oh Lord, I was pissed off. But now 8hors later I'm thinking about keeping this one
Yes I would keep the 6100 over the G90. Thank you for supporting the channel. I would like to do more reviews for people that are honest to many channels with bs reviews.
Actually, the birdies on your X6100 don't look too bad. My x6100 has really annoying birdies on EVERY band. Usually I can QSY to dodge them when calling CQ, but they move around, and sometimes decide to camp out right on a net frequency I am trying to work, which can be a royal PITA. When this happens, all I can do is try to notch them out with the notch filter. The X6100 does have a decent user interface, and some really nice features like the Autotuner and SWR scanner, but after a year with this radio I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE.specifically because of the birdies . . .
I only am seeing them on 10 meters. There should not be any. I would send them a long email regarding issues, but I do t speak chinese, lol. Seriously, if I had them on every band as you say, I would return it and / or throw it in the trash. Maybe you need to try to update the firmware?
@@n9amiwavelengthradio The ARRL QST Magazine finally got around to doing a review of the X6100 in the July 2022 issue. Quoting - "The ARRL Lab test engineer reports that the radio was a bit of a challenge to test. There were numerous weak receiver birdies (stronger on 6 meters) that were not necessarily strong enough on most bands to present a problem in operation because most were lower than typical band noise, but they make it a challenge to make measurements at the noise floor of the receiver." Translation - "The damn thing only meets it's sensitivity specs in between the birdies, where it's not interfering with itself..." I can positively confirm that the birdies often ARE an issue when dealing with weak signals. The key is S/N+n Where "S" is signal "N" is the major noise source, and small "n" is the minor noise source contribution. With a good external antenna and strong signal propagation conditions, Big "N" will be Band Noise, and small "n" will be most (but not ALL) of the birdies, so they are almost unnoticeable. But when propagation conditions fade a bit, or with a lower efficiency antenna, the X6100's birdies and internal self interference become "Big N" - and then, believe me, become MUCH more noticeable. The latest firmware does indeed do a bit better job of HIDING them, but they seem to be related to poor internal shielding at the HARDWARE level, so they are never really gone - and can still become a problem when band conditions are demanding. Try disconnecting the antenna, and turning on the RX Pre-Amp, and very slowly panning through the bands to get a better inventory of your X6100's built in internal noise sources.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio I have found over 75 birdies on all ham bands between 3.5 MHz and 29 MHz. Some are stronger than S5, a few stronger than that. Other folks I’ve talked with have had similar complaints/findings. Shame is that it’s an otherwise reasonable radio. Well, except for the goofy transmit AF: the internal mic just flat out doesn’t work except in the rage of 30-35 settings. The external hand mic is also dodgy. I actually think the X6100’s predecessor, the X5105 was a better radio. Wish I’d kept mine & not bought the ‘6100.
@haramanggapuja Man, that's a lot. I bet if i sat down, I would probably find the same.
Any info on how well this matches up with the XPA125B? I have a G 90 already and the amp so was curious. Thanks 73 de N2VQD
Not sure. I have used it in my NCL 2000 which is setup for low drive. It worked great.
Great review! Did you disconnect your antenna to confirm the birdies were still there on 10M? OT: Cool NCL-2000 in the background. I had one a long time ago. 8122 tubes! 73
Thanks and yes i did pull the antenna.
Great! Thanks.@@n9amiwavelengthradio
I just bought one and, it has the exact problems. The same birdie at 28.425 and depending on the antenna I use, it may pick commercial AM radio stations on the CW portion of 28MHZ. The radio has been a little bit of a disappointment for me.
Sorry to hear that, Luis. For me and price / usage is okay. I just opened up the tx on it also. I doubt I will do the FT8 side loading and replace the op system, though I am pretty much done with FT8. To many lids running 1kw.
Get a BCI filter kit.what your seeing is broadcast overload
BCI kit doesn't fix birdies. But thanks. What that radio needs is a American or Japanese engineer to design it ..
@@n9amiwavelengthradio what I am saying is part of what you are calling a birdie is BCI
@@jessgypin-ko5ds No its not. Also, if the radio is that bad as it needs filters to attenuate that sort of signals its a terrible design and not worth 100 bucks. Appreciate your input though.
Like others have said, if it is not there with the antenna off it is not a birdie
Dude it's there with the antenna off.
Use a hf high pass low pass filter covering 3 to 30 mhz, the problem solved. I too had same issue.
So the issue is a guy has to spend what another 100 dollars to fix a rig you just spent 600 bucks on.
Thank you very much for your great video of this radio. I have one and I really really really like mine. I carry mine in a large plastic water proof ammo box with a 20 amp hour lithium battery. I wrap the wonderful little radio in a face towel to protect it. And there is room for my small antenna an external speaker. (I see you had one also) And I do Pota with it. I am just crazy about my little X6100 because of it's portability. Of course in my trunk I carry the 100 watt amplifier from Xiegu but never had to use it. The only problem to me is the poor quality of the speaker. But other than that i just love this little radio. It has an internal sound card so I can send winlink email and WSPR and FT8 and Slow scan TV photo's. The sound card inside this to me has worked out great. This radio gets 5 stars from me. But poor speaker so sad.
PS. I also have a G90, which I dearly loved for quite some time and the only problem I found with it was it did not have an internal SOUND card which concerned me by the fact that I had to have all kind of wires hanging outside with another box to make Digital work well. The 20 Watts served me well. Don’t get me wrong except for having to have external sound card box on the G 90 is a dynamite radio. And besides that the G 90 and the X 6100 have an internal antenna tuner that is so good it could probably tune up a cabbage. But that wonderful sound card in the X6100 when I want to go ultra portable and do digital is really nice.
Thanks for watching and supporting the little channel here. And plan on taking mine with me this summer while I am out and about in very rural Nevada and doing some portable ops. And yes the thing is a good digital rig.
There awesome little radio's when setup and powered properly!!
Mine has version 1.1.7 brand new.. birdies every where. Definitely 28.425. Its like the old sdrs where you can hear see the IF. Every band has spots that are s9 or 10 over with dummy load attached. Very disappointed. Im guessing this is hardware related. Some people have no birdies i guess?
Some people lie to save face.
I get 3 sec difference between 6100 time source and WWV
If that was the only problem I found shoot, I would go sell the darn things lol
Your camera is really grainy
I would be glad to accept your donation of a new 4K camera thanks.
💯🎸🎙🎧🤘
My biggest problem is that the AGC doesn't really work, it just attenuates EVERYTHING unless I turn AGC off 🤷..
I dont seem to have a problem with the agc at all. I have used fast and slow.
Xiegu is Chinese for Shoigu... 😂
It’s los on 10m by 14.300
Yup, and again, bad engineering. But cant expect anything better from chi com.
It does not come with a case.
Yes it does when you buy it as a package at huntsville hamfest.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio I haven’t had the opportunity to go to any Hamfest. Great video