The Xiegu G90 is known to run hot. I bolted on the Radioddity G90-H1 cooling bracket, ran FT8 heat tests with an infrared thermometer, measured the fan noise in decibels, and here are the real numbers.
Unboxing the Xiegu G90 20W HF transceiver at Field Day and putting it straight on the air. Portable antenna setup, first power on, menu walkthrough, real contacts, and one honest complaint.
Loading coils let short HF antennas tune on bands where they are physically too short, but the trade-off is real signal loss. Here is what that loss looks like, why it happens, and why coil materials matter.
The Hermes Lite 2 is a capable SDR, but it tops out at around one watt. Here is how I added the Xiegu GPA100 linear amplifier to the chain and what that actually looks like in practice.
For around $400, I was able to put together an open-source SDR setup using the Hermes Lite 2, the optional filter board, and Thetis SDR software
Coil placement may seem minor, but this 40 meter WSPR test shows why a center loaded vertical can have the edge for weak signal DX
