What Should be your FIRST Ham Radio?

My first HF rig was (new) and still is IC-765,, for the first few years as a Technician only using 10M till I upgraded to General. My first HT rig was a new Yaesu FT-470 VHF/UHF , I still have it and have augmented with other HTs like Baufeng UV-82s. For portable QRP ops a Xiegu 108G. I'm thinking about a shack in the box radio ,, but i can't fully commit just yet. Perhaps when my IC-765 kicks the bucket i'll get something new and hopefully better.

 

My G90 is my third HF radio, so allow to offer a different perspective.

Far from being disappointed by mine, as I expected to be (the plan was to return it, not keep it, just use it for Hoosier QSO party while my 450D was being repaired and my ICOM hadn't been delivered yet) but... I was completely floored. The receiver is superb, the sound quality is competitive with (though not surpassing) my 7300--and it makes my 450D sound like a pile of crap. As I look through my logs of contacts I've taken on the G90 I'm copying stations 44, 43... a couple 42's that, if I got more familiar with the radio I probably could have had more detailed QSOs with.

So you're right, about one thing: I'm furious about the money I spent on my G90! It's obsoleted my absolutely favorite radio. I'm probably going to sell the 450D now, and before all of this odyssey started it was my absolute favorite radio I planned to keep until I died and probably have them put it in the casket with me. I mean I'm not saying the G90 is coming with instead, but I'm just saying it... had an impact. Before this my only experience with Chinese radios was the Baofeng which isn't very good. This is not that, and if you're equating the two you might want to take a second look because they're nothing alike.

 

Well in the video, he did ask what your first radio was.

 

Owned one for a few days. It’s Junk. It was a mistake. Need reading glasses to see the screen. Terrible cw radio. The tuning knob feels like it will fall off in your hand as it clicks along. The buttons are hard to depress. The fit and finish is poor. Perhaps it’s a good digital mode radio. Dunno as I do cw and ssb.

I have owned tens if not a hundred different rigs in my time as a ham. By comparison the xiegu is poorly made. And they’re QRP. Terrible choice for a new ham esp with poor band Condx.

 

1.摩托罗拉GP88S
2.宝峰UV5R
3.TYT MD380
4.HYTERA PD500
6.HYTERA TD360
7.建伍TK8185C
8.建伍TK271A

 

I was a CBer in high School.

There were a whole bunch of people in my age group, in the area that also had CB's and we had a great deal of fun.

This was back in the 70's. Before the explosion of CB interest.

At the time, I did not even know what Ham radio was. A couple buddies in high school were Hams, they explained everything and how to get licensed and got me interested. I took my Novice test from my High School Electronics teacher, who was also a Ham radio op.

I had this radio as my CB rig. Bought it used from someone in the neighborhood:

(Picture from the internet. Not my actual radio, that is long gone.)

 

This explains a lot.

I've never used phone mode and I haven't learned CW yet. Maybe someday but I started with digital modes and haven't gotten bored yet.

To my mind that means any consideration of "the right first radio" should carry specific questions about intended uses. "Ham" is far too vague.

 

Let's face it - everyone will have there own opinion but it's only newbies like me who have to make a choice for better or worse. The audio on my 450D using the internal speaker is awful but can be improved with an external one (not much) but other than that is fine. Was it worth the £500 I paid (six months old ) ? To me yes as it does everything I need to start along the learning curve even at QRP power - 10 watts. Would an Icom or Kenwood have been better ? - possibly so but I will never know . You pays your money and takes your chances and if it works for you life goes on happily and if not you have to spend again. My only regret is that the 450D weighs too much for portable use with batteries antennas etc - I have heart disease :-( so I still need something like a G90 for the field- covid permitting. 73

 

Nope!
the one radio that did fairly well what you wanted to experiment -as you had and still have strong beliefs- that you can either resell at a good price, being that with your experience you are aiming at a greater radio, or, that you will always keep at a back-up because it is so reliable and repairable it will hardly get obsolete.

Oliver

 

When you owned it for a few days, did you turn it on and use it? I was skeptical too...

I don't work CW, so I will have to take your word for it. But I'm not sure that matters much to new hams anyway. Now that it's not required, unless new hams have a specific interest in CW, many new people are not learning it out of the gate or at all. I didn't, and when I took my technician maybe 3 of the people surveyed of 25 there knew or had plans to work CW. I think that might not be as big of a factor for new hams as it is for you.

I suppose that the screen thing is certainly subjective and everyone has different eyesight, but mine doesn't have a wobbly VFO dial... maybe an exchange would have led to a non wobbly one. Mine is just normal and just works.

But the button thing... my hands are bigger than Thor's, that hasn't been my experience. They're spaced far enough out for my goon sized paws that once I knew which buttons to press, I have no problems.

Maybe the dial thing is a defective VFO for your unit... I'm not saying a g90 is the same as dropping thousands for a new high end rig, but it's a functional solution that will work for new hams whose hands are Thor sized or smaller who doesn't mind wearing their glasses or just doesn't need them.

Also, we're at the upswing in the solar cycle. My first two contacts from Indianapolis with the G90 were Brazil and the South of France on a wire... 20W isn't a joke with the bands coming up.

 

I recall, I had the below CB set (Lafayette 520 HE20c) (And this was before it was popular), this high end CB radio (I am joking) had 8 channels TX (Crystals), and VFO receive. I always wanted more power, it was at 3Watts, and I took my CB set to K2JFJ (Late) Jack, and he would tweek it to 4 watts...!

Also, there was a relay that would click in, if I was transmitting. I had a (QSO if you will) with a young lady (Around 12 (I was 12 as well)) and I was about to get her location (QTH), and we were to meet...I swear to you, the dam relay went out, I smashed the relay in a million bits...Well, that was that, and I went towards Ham radio! (And I know this will be very hard to believe, but my wife today, I found indirectly via Ham radio, she is from Royal Family in Morocco, you can see her on my QRZ page (The heck with eharmony!) My calls are NN2X..

 

Yes, made a few dozen contacts. It's junk. Compare the knob on that Xiegu to even the cheapest of HF radios made in Japan and you'll see the quality issues immediately. Most QRP radios (and QRP'ers) run cw. It's very efficient. So there's that.
Lots of hams spend money and then like to justify their purchase. same hams who say a baofeng is a good radio.

But I can tell you for $400 bucks there are a dozen better radios than this that will give longer life, better performance and 100W output. Plus they can be serviced (good luck getting any service for that Xiegu). The 'rails" on the sides of that thing get in the way of the buttons, and one push sends the radio in motion...the buttons are so hard to depress that the radio moves. If you're inexperienced, you have no reference to what might be better. It's junk. Waste of money. That's why you see them for sale all over the net now days in the $300-$350 price range. That's 40% off the 'new' price for a current made item... they don't hold their value at all. Bad choice.

The purpose of this thread is what radio to recommend (and not). I can recommend a dozen radios for the same or less money that will work BETTER than this xiegu toy.

 

Though this is "only" the third hf rig I've owned, it's not remotely the first button I've pushed on small electronics. The case movement is a function of the weight of the unit--it's why they offer a desk stand for shack use: so your angle of attack at the button makes it easier to apply pressure without moving the featherlight box.

To be honest, your quibbles seem to boil down to defective VFO on your unit and everything else relates to either the size of the unit or problems unique to your usage scenario.

That said, I'm genuinely sorry you were disappointed by yours. I'm going to set mine up for digital modes once I finish a project I'm currently working on and we'll see how it goes. Who knows, maybe I'll be so inexperienced I'll have a great time with my cheapo radio!

I'm not planning on climbing a mountain with it.... It's not a true field radio anyway, but digital? If that works and as a shack backup to excite a small amp? It's a home run from where I sit

Your mileage, obviously, did vary.

 

You made your choice, and if you are happy with it, that's about all that matters.

Many have purchased the FT450. It's a decent radio.

 

I operate QRP at home. Just because. There’s really no point to anything we do in this stupid hobby other than to amuse ourselves.