Xiegu G90 VS Yaesu FT-891 | Mailbag Monday #37

Do Antenna Mounts Damage Your Car? Should You Get A Xiegu G90 Or Yaesu FT-891? To Crimp, Or To Solder

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[peterdekeles.]

I own a FT891 and G90. If I had to keep one it would be the 891. More power and a better radio. Love them both though

[acm-glennthompson]

I watched this 2 years ago and thought good information to know. Now that I sold my QRP radio, I am going to get the FT-891. 10 watts wasn't enough when I was out. Still great information as usual from K8MRD!! Thanks Mike!!

[bpsengineer_ACPB]

My main POTA setup is FT-891, 20-Ah LiFePO4, WRC with 17-ft whip, and no tuner. Works great just as you said!

[AudiophileTubes]

Back in the day, I had a Lafayette SSB-50, that was converted to 10 meters. I used a Hustler center loaded trunk lip mount antenna on my mom's '77 Olds Cutlass, and worked the world in the early 80's (cycle 21 peaked very high)! I can remember getting 10 over 9 reports in Moscow with 12 watts out! I sat in our driveway for hours, in awe at what I was working! Anywho, there was some damage under the trunk lip where the 2 screws dug in to make the ground connection, but none on top of the hood, since I put a piece of rubber latex there to protect the paint. My mom was such a good sport at the time, allowing the use of her car for my DXing mobile hobby, before I could afford my Subaru 'partymobile'! Great times!

[maxxgabi]

Let me tell you my opinion.
1. Between 20W and 100W is a gain of 1 point per S-meter, so it is not worth consuming electricity for nothing for the portable. The antenna will make the difference between the two.
2. G-90 can also grant a fork and this is a big gain.
3. I would go portable on a transceiver with low energy consumption and the G90 offers this even in FT8.
4. And last but not least is the price, so that we don't forget both transceivers are built with parts made in China.
5. It's up to everyone what transceiver they like, I had Kenwood, now I have Icom, Yaesu but also Xiegu G90 :)
The rest are stories..

[KKTM]

I have both the 891 and the G90. I love them both but the 891 is a better radio overall. However my 891 just crapped itself and needs to fly out to Yeasu for repairs, whereas my G90 (older) is still kicking along just fine.
I have found with my G90 that it punches well above its weight and is a great little radio. The trick with the G90 is to run an antenna that you don’t need the tuner for. My G90 pulls seven watts off of the output using the tuner and with a radio that only puts out 20w that’s a lot of power drained. With that being said I have hit cape town South Africa using an EFHW and the tuner and received a 59 signal report with it.
I think you are spot on with the economics of the G90 with amp. I run my 891 with a MAT-30 tuner (when using non resonant antennas) and the 891 with the tuner would be way cheaper than the G90 with the amp.

[WHJBill]

Now the real question will be ... G90 + XPA125B or FT-891 at 100 watts. I have the FT-891 in my truck and a G90 (and IC-705) and XPA125B and while the 891 is nice because it's up to 100 watts in one self contained unit, having the XPA125B amp allows me to use it with either radio. Also, going the external amp route, it allows new hams to get into the hobby less expensively and expand as they need. Further, you can do POTA either light (ie just the G90 or 705) or take a radio and amp if you want to go Tim Allen ... MORE POWER! My 2 cents

[skatethebluesaway]

I'm not sure that there's a great deal of point adding the power amplifier to a G90. Going from 20W to 100W isn't going to add more than 1 S-point to the signal, so it's a lot of money for very little advantage.

I use my G90 with nothing more than two bits of wire taped to my bedrooms walls (as a very basic sort of bent dipole, using a 1:1 balun and a line isolator). From my UK location, I've worked plenty of stations in the USA, Canada and Brazil, along with contacts in Bermuda, Curacao, Martinique, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Uzbebekistan, Kuwait, Oman, etc. (68 countries so far, after just a few months of being on the air). So, to me, a G90 WITHOUT the power amp would seem to be a perfectly acceptable POTA solution, which would keep down weight, cost and battery power consumption all at the same time.

Chris, M0JZD

[messupfreq]

Great MBM~ As an old, old, two-way radio tech... learned something very interesting when AMP Industries brought in some tapes about soldering vs crimping. Being old school, I thought no way solderr could be beat - sheesh was I ever wrong. As you pointed out the crimp does cold weld, but it also makes a gas tight connection, so over years it actually has lower connector to wire resistance. Mechanically, they showed destructive testing and proper crimps won every time. Now key to all of this is proper sized connectors for the wire and a proper crimp tool (put your vice-grips away please). Another advantage is one can crimp anywhere without the need for power. Also, you actually don't want solder backing up under the insulation because in vibration environments the wire will break at the solder wicking point and will be hard to find with the insulation covering it.
Regarding the FT-891, saw in another YT vid that the 891 does not use less DC power below 30 RF watts even when you can crank RF output lower.
Thanks Mike akways enjoy and learn stuff from your vids!

[josephgomes]

I agree with Peter (below) get em both if you can. The 891 is probably one of the best deals in Ham radio, plenty of power and GREAT receiver! The G90 is portable and versatile, also a good radio for backpacking.

[johnclark]

You can buff that out. And some touch up paint can hide the grinding marks.

[KXUL]

Good show Mike! As far as Anderson Power Poles go, I would definitely say to crimp! I have both soldered and crimped with success. However, my dad was a HAM and a lifelong radio, TV and electronics tech from the day I was born. He taught me how to solder when I was 5 years old so, I have 60 years soldering experience. Way too many problems can result from an inexperienced soldering job and the connection is not really any better than crimping. About the only mistake one can make crimping is to not use the proper tool and/or not apply the proper pressure. Of course, too little pressure and the wires will slip out of the connectors. Too much pressure will disfigure the connector and it won't fit in the plastic hood.

[jaynesjunction]

I have a G90 and have confirmed contacts with 17 countries from and have worked 42 states so far... no amplifier just 20W, and a dipole in my ATTIC. Mostly on FT8, but several voice contacts with 5-9 or 5-7 reception. Start small, and see what you truly need.

[Gagnon]

Spit and a T-shirt are my go to tools for so many things. I have two Dakota Lithium 7ah batteries which I charge with their 110v charger. In the field I use the PowerFilm 60w foldable solar panel (60 to 90 minutes depending on the sun) and a Buddipole Power Mini controller. Thanks for the video.

[routeradioWWMT]

As a relatively new "tinkerer" I appreciate this video! I just recently started switching over all my connections to Anderson's and used only solder. Looks like I am going to do some more tinkering and go back through and crimp them instead. I feel in my situation, not using any kind of MFJ bus bar, they will fail even faster. I just swap them when I want to change which radio I am using. Thanks for the video!!

[jefft]

I have a Toyota Tacoma. I too was worried about damage. I use the "Victory 4x4" Hood hinge mount. Very simple to install. Just take off the 2 nuts that hole the hood to the hinge and slide the mount over the 2 bolts, put the nuts back on. I've had it for about a year and it's been very sturdy. I've had a quad band antenna on it, big heavy antenna. I don't know if they make this mount for every car.

[jetjumper]

I too have a G90, FT-891(x2) and an WRC antenna. The G90 has been awesome on FT-8 and I've worked a plethora of DX with it (stock, 20w)... I'm sure I'd have a lot more, if I had a bit more Po to be better heard by all those countries I've seen in the decode screen. Overall, there is no comparison between the two radios. As already alluded to, the G90 is definitely good for what you get, at stock power, but to factor in the cost of an amp, for that money, an FT-891 wins, no question.

A properly crimped wire lug (correct match of wire gauge, lug size AND proper crimper (ie: Aviation grade AMP/Amphenol or die type(~), not the cheap, thin, flat, stamped metal 'crimpers' ) should be sufficient. Issues such as broken strand(s) or total failure will probably arise depending on how much lateral stress (flexing) is placed on the wire where it attaches to the lug. A soldered connection might break more easily where the soldered and unsoldered strands converge, while the non-soldered are a bit more forgiving.
That said, the more proper crimpers are pretty expensive to the casual user/hobbyist, so conservatively soldering connectors will probably aid in conductivity and pull strength. Soldering would also help in more corrosive (high humidity) environments, but there are alternatives like self vulcanizing tape, environmental heat shrink sleeves, or sealants that can be applied to handle that.

[kevin_wbpoh]

Another vote for the FT891. Just can't beat the price - and the performance. It's an FT450 crammed into an FT857. I use a "overkill" 40-Ah LiFePO4 and a "poor man's" buddipole (two hamsticks fed as a dipole) on my POTA activations, and it works great.

[bobconlin]

Crimp vs solder, for right gauge wire & connector crimp only. If you feel solder is needed then crimp, then solder. Reason being: crimping forms the wire to the shape of the crimper, the crimper makes the connector fit in the plastic. Another Down side of solder is the heat may cause the insulation to pull back exposing wire behind the plastic part, also soldering may make the connector not fit well into the plastic part.

[bradl]

Is crimp AND solder allowed...? YES..! Thanks for taking one for Team Newbie..!