A Fourth Xiegu G 90 Hf Radio Coming...

Have coming soon a fourth Xiegu G 90 Hf radio and will perform the modification to it when it arrives.

This will complete my plans for this series of radios and after the mod I will need to go to the Surplus store and obtain two metal gasket sealed ammo boxes to put them in with foil generously wrapping them...silicon O ring grease applies to the gasket material...

This radio will have applied/attached to it the cooling fan as was the case with the previous three rigs...also wrapped in foil.

Am also planning to get another two ammo cans and put in each a dipole antenna with coaxial cable fed line or ladder line feed...as this radio has in it a built in tuner. I may just go ahead and fabricate this antenna myself....as dipoles are about as simple as one can get...then roll it up and store it in the can...silicon o ring grease applied to the gasket again.


Thanks,
Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Going to be working to restring and re run my HF wire loop antenna consisting of a 12 gauge roll of wire from Lowes...some 500 feet in length. I use a boat fishing pole with 25 lb test line to through high over the tree limbs with a 3 oz. lead sinker...then reel back some 1/8 diameter nylon rope in sections tied end to end....then when the rope is in position I tie the wire onto it..and hoist it up into the top of the tree limbs.

Then I do it again and join the ends...via soldering them....and pull the line tight...adding more and tossing the fishing line again as needed until I have used up most of the 500 foot roll of wire. Then I connect it to where I have the ladder line feed on a board....with muffler clamps as my connection point for both the wire and the ladder line.

Works out well and I have gotten better over the years at putting this set up high in the trees. At the highest trees it is some 85 feet up in the air. Feed point is some 65 feet up close to the house.

Some sections of this antenna were damaged by a tree falling from over two lots away ...it was a very tall tree.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Bought two .50 Caliber ammo cans and will be preparing them to store these two Xiegu G 90 HF radios.

Was astonished at how much these ammo cans cost today.


Will be getting four more over time..


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Today I put the two spare Xiegu G90 radios into tin foil of several layers and then put them into some heavy duty plastic bags. So too the microphones and power chords.

The bags with the radios in them and the microphones and power chords have been put into Ammo cans and they just fit...

Will be putting Silicon O ring grease on the gaskets over the weekend....


Then as time allows ..will be fabricating long wire antennas for these two rigs...and putting them into other ammo cans along with power supplies....

Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Have received another G5RV long wire dipole antenna for the HF radio frequencies.

Will be putting this antenna into an ammo can with another also in an ammo can and put away for emergencies.

Will be working on getting power supply arrangements for these two Xiegu G90 radios...and also putting them into foil and into an Ammo can...in like manner to the radios and antennas. These radios will transmit all across the HF radio band including the 11 meter/CB frequencies and are so modified.

Have two more dipole antennas out in my garage and considering what to do with those ...as well.


Have also received three special bubble levels to assist with mounting my optics onto this Ruger Precision rifle.

Been waiting the arrival of these bubble levels as I cannot seem to locate my original one.


Will be working on that project soon as well.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Have obtained a fifth Xiegu G90 HF radio and will soon be going the Transmit modification to it and putting it into storage with the other three like Radios.

This modification will allow transmit all across the available frequency spectrum...if needed. I do not normally so do but in an Emergency this is a nice feature to have....Survival.


This radio ..like the others will be wrapped in foil along with the microphone and put into an Ammo can for future use...but first the modification and testing...

Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

Have restrung my long wire HF antenna today much higher into the tops of my trees on one long length and added into it a length of 12 gauge wire...soldering it in. I have most of it complete but have not hooked up one section ...the end...into the feed line. Ran out of daylight and will work on it tomorrow. I am hoping that by having more of it higher up in the trees it will help reception and transmission both.
Have been thinking about doing this for some time now....

It will be hooked up to my Xiegu G90 HF radio at a maximum of 20 watts. Hope to complete the hook up tomorrow and try it out.

Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

I've been running a G90 (un-modded) for a while now and am impressed with its performance for how little it cost. I've left one in Spain and am running it through a full size G5RV, 20m Wyndham dipole and a DX Commander vertical, worked Japan, south America on CW (full CW convert now) and worked the Falkland Islands a couple of weeks back...great radios.

If your EMP proofing Chris I'd suggest also storing a laptop with the latest stable firmware and a copy of Terra Term for re-flashing firmware if needed plus your digital comm software; worth storing on a USB stick too and storing with the rigs also.

Not tried making an end fed yet, will give it a go when I have more time. I'll be between work contracts for three months in the new year so will be working on the house in Spain and chilling with ham radio

 

Agree Max....the G90 is a great radio for the monies and I have thoroughly enjoyed mine.


My antenna is not properly working and I will be replacing also the ladder line by which I feed it and again thoroughly cleaning the connection point for the ladder line and wire antenna again with a wire brush.

I am suspecting my ladder line is broken somewhere along the line...and will troubleshoot it this weekend..

Wow..,.the Falklands Islands...nice contact Max....


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite,.

 

The Port Stanely QSO was pure luck I think, I heard his first CQ and put out a shout, conditions were perfect for a few mins, very fast contact and there was a massive pile up waiting when the QSO ended, dozens of Euro stations calling him; his signal faded after about ten mins.

One thing I learned was don't buy cheap coax or ladder line it will fail, well worth paying a bit extra to start with.

 

Ok.....My antenna labors are complete and I had to disassemble the connections at the feed point wherein the 12 gauge wire is connected to the ladder line. Both sides of this wire were cleaned with steel wool and a conducting grease applied after the fasteners and washers were wire brushed clean.

Tightening everything back up I was able to make a contact some 175 miles distant on 75 meters....but to date have not managed to contact my friend out in Tennessee some 400 miles away. Hope to make this contact soon.

For now the antenna is back together and ready to make contacts.

Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

With the windy snowy weather of a few days ago ...one section of my long wire HF antenna came down. I had a spring on it but as it wore out I removed it and never replaced. In these high winds of the other day the rope frayed and broke depositing my pulley and wire onto the ground on that section.

I tried to find another spring at the orange place...home depot... but no joy. I made do for this repair with a couple of pieces of bungee cord. I will purchase two more later and put them back.

That section of the wire is now back up in the air and has those two pieces of bungee cord to ease some of the strain on the wire and rope.

Glad to have it back on line but have not tried it out as of yet. Will try to get ahold of my friend out in Tennessee again this weekend....but expect no real problems or issues.

I do not like to have this long wire loop down for repairs....but instead ..back up in the air and on line...ready to go. I can tune this long wire antenna from the Am Broadcasting band to some 50 MHZ if needed.

If not,I have spare G5RV dipoles and two rolls of wire 12 gauge 500 foot from Lowes. .Spare ladder line too..I can make do if needed.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.