WRYZ926

I have found that most of the cheap switching power supplies on Amazon are noisy on the HF bands. I run Astron power supplies since they have built in filters. As Steve mentioned, a good power supply will shut itself off if too much power is drawn from the radio(s). I know even my old 30 amp Astron will shut down if I try running my Icom 7300 and LDG AT-1000 Pro II auto tuner. The power supply shuts down as soon as I push the tune button on the LDG. I don't know about the Radioddity QT80, but it is common for radios to reduce output power when running on less than 13.8 volts. I know my Xiegu radios do that. The manufacturers stated power output is when running at 13.8 volts.

Icom, Wouxun, and Xiegu radios use 4 ohm speakers. I have no idea what the impedance is on my Heil headsets are but they work with all three brands of radios. I received a counterfeit Icom SP-35 speaker that is 8 ohms. I only get half the volume out of it when I try to use wit with any of my Icom, Wouxun, and Xiegu radios. Which is normal if you use an 8 ohm speaker which requires a 4 ohm speaker.

Most dual speaker headsets, to include one specifically made for amateur radio, come with a stereo jack on them to get sound in both speakers. Radios with a dedicated headphone jack will also be stereo. I know for a fact that if I connect my Heil BM17 to any of my radios where I have to use an external speaker port, then I must use a stereo to mono adapter in order to get sound in both speakers. I have only used the Heil BM-17 and Heil Handi-Talkie (K1) headsets with different radios.

What type of mic the radio uses will determine what headset we can recommend. Some brands like Yaesu and copies of Yaesu radios use a dynamic mic while Icom, Kenwood and Xiegu an electret condenser mic. The two types are generally not compatible without modification. I'm not sure which type of mic the Radioddity radios use. I use a Heil BM-17 headset (discontinued) with my Xiegu radios and my Icom radios. I did have to buy adapters to connect to the different radios. The Xiegu radios and my Icom IC-2730 use the same RJ45 adapter while my IC-7300 uses a round mic connecter. You will need to use a female stereo to male mono 3.5mm adapter if you want sound in both headset speakers if the radio does not have a dedicated headphone jack. This works fine with the IC-2730 using one of the external speaker jacks. My Xiegu radios and IC-7300 have a dedicated headphone jack that I use and do not need the stereo/mono adapter. Some like to use Koss headsets. You will have to figure out if your radio uses a dynamic or electret mic and buy the correct headset.

Here is a simple way to test a 49:1 unun. You will need some resistors of different values, soldering iron, and a multimeter. For a 49:1 unun you will need 2450 ohms worth of resistance. you get 2450 ohms by multiplying 50 ohms by 49. Test different combinations of resistors with your multimeter until you get 2450 ohm. Once you have 2450 ohms by connecting different resistors in series, you will want to solder them together. The next step requires a NanoVNA or antenna analyzer. An analyzer will be easier to use. Connect the 2450 ohm resistors to the positive and ground wires of the unun and then connect the feed point to your analyzer. When checking the SWR for the lowest band you should see 1.5:1 or less. And you should also see 50 ohms impedance or very close to it.

I mostly use my REZ vertical telescoping whip. But I also have a QRP 40m EFHW that I made along with a QRP 40m off center fed dipole. The X6200 is only 5 watts when using the built in battery. It will do 8 watts on an external battery. I bought a kit for the 49:1 unun that I had to assemble and also wrap the toroids. It's rated for 40 watts SSB and 25 watts CW and digital. The off center fed dipole is rated for 40 watts SSB and 25 watts CW and digital. Here are a couple of photos of the 49:1 unun,

Most people run them as a sloper.

Most of us will agree that the screw on connectors are better. But they are larger and cost more. Another reason for using RJ12 or RJ45 is that they are smaller and less expensive. This is important as mobile radios get smaller. And this is especially true with removable head units as there is little extra space in them.

I have the Xiegu X6200 which is definitely out of TNFrank's price range. Though the X6200 is still quite a bit cheaper than the Icom IC-705, Yaesu FTX-1 or an Elecraft radios.

Most mobile/portable amateur radios use either a RJ12 or RJ45 connector for the microphone. Only the import 10m/11m radios and mobile radios that are IP rated for dust and water will use a screw on mic connector. Most of the radios like the QT60 and QT80 are actually export CB radios that have been modified to work on amateur bands. The only two mobile radios I own that use the screw on mic connectors are the Wouxun KG0XS20G and TYT TH-8600. Both are IP rated for water and dust. All of my other mobile radios use wither the RJ12 or RJ45 connectors and I haven't had any issues with any of them. I have mobile radios from Icom, TYT, Yaesu, and Wouxun with RJ connectors and none have failed on me. The G90 and Yaesu FTDX10 also use RJ connectors.

Just my personal opinion. I would skip the G106 and spend a bit more for the G90. The G106 does not have a tuner where the G90 has a tuner and a builtin SWR sweep meter. Plus you can work QRP with any radio by just turning the output power down. Now if you can get the G106 at a good sale price then go for it. You will have to have a way to either tune the antenna or use an external tuner.

That radio in the link is the original IC-7300 and you can definitely get it cheaper from DX Engineering. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ico-ic-7300 It s currently on sale for $999.95 plus there is a $100 rebate which brings the price down to $899.95 Here is the IC-7300 MkII which is $1499.95. The 7300 MkII is different than the 7300 and there won't be any sales or rebates in the near future since the 7300 MkII has just been released. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ico-ic-7300mk2 I definitely would not buy an Icom from Amazon or eBay. DX Engineering, Giga Parts, and Ham Radio Outlet are your best places to purchase from. The warning about buying HF radios from eBay is that most come directly from Japan and are meant for the Japanese market. The Japanese version will NOT work on the US bands.

I forgot to add. @TNFrank a QRP radio can be frustrating but it is also a good learning experience with antenna tuning and why quality coax is important. If you want a QRP radio then go for it, just be careful of the cheap knockoffs. And don't get discouraged when you don't make contacts at 5 watts either. I haven't made a whole lot of contacts at 5 watts using SSB but I make plenty of contacts at 20 watts. I have talked to Irish and British stations on 10m SSB using my 20 watt G90 and a dipole antenna. One time I had my 7300 turned down to 2 watts and still made contacts to north eastern Canada on FT8 before.

The Icom IC-7300 MkII is closer to $1400 to $1500. You can find the original 7300 for around $1000-$1100 right now. I've seen it as low as $900 with rebates. I have the 7300 and I don't have any plans to upgrade to the 7300 MkII any time soon. One advantage of the 7300 is that it gives you 6 meters along with the HF bands. You have to be careful when buying those Usdx radios on Amazon. There are a lot of junk counterfeits being sold there. I enjoy running QRP . But as others have mentioned it can be very frustrating, especially for someone new. A good resonant antenna and good quality coax is very important when running QRP. A good NanoVNA or antenna analyzer is a must for QRP as you want your antenna to be as efficient as possible. Coastal Waves and Wires on Youtube has some good videos on the different SDX radios.

Ahhh good ol Todd from Georgia. Yes he is a notorious ID10T. A lot of times he is drunk. One of my first contacts on 10m was him and he must have been having an off day as he was actually polite to me. He is so bad that the TEN-TEN 10m group has actually banned him. There are some funny YouTube videos of people having fun messing with ol Todd. I would not bother even trying to have a QSO with him.

Thank you for the additional information. I do know that unshielded network cables can cause noise on HF radios. I have not noticed any issues with VHF/UHF or GMRS but it's still possible. It could be anything causing the issue since you are running the radio and antenna indoors. Two of the most common sources of noise/interference are wall warts and cheap LED lights. Another common source is your home electrical wiring. I would get noise on my hand held radios on UHF and GMRS when I got them too close to my computer monitors. What cured the problem for me was switching the old UPS/battery backup to a new UPS with builtin EMI and RFI filters. And of course I have clamp on ferrite beads on all computer and radio related cables in my office.

Typo corrected, too much blood in the caffeine system this morning.

I don't have an answer to the questions. RF can get into the radio from a vehicle through the antenna, coax, or the power wires. One easy check to see if it is coming through the power wires is to disconnect the coax from the radio and see if it still messes up. You can try putting some clamp on ferrite beads on the coax. I would start at the radio end. It is always a good idea to put clamp on ferrite beads on the positive and ground wires going to the radio, I put them on both ends of each wire. That will help with any interference from the vehicle electrical system. @WSKY567 how do you have the radio connected to power? Are you using the included cigarette lighter plug or did you run the wires to the battery positive and chassis ground? The reason I ask is that using an accessory plug/cigarette lighter socket can definitely be a source of electrical noise and EMI issues, especially on newer vehicles.

I received my GMRS license in October 2023 and it has the Line A restriction on it. I downloaded a copy from the FCC website in late 2024or early 2025 and the Line A restriction was no longer on my license. If the Line A restrictions for GMRS were still in plane you would see it on your license under Waivers/Conditions. Here is the Line A restrictions on my license from October 2023 The copy I downloaded later looks like what @amaff posted above.

Gridtracker makes it easy as it will log your contacts for you to what ever online logbook you setup. I have it setup to log to QRZ and LOTW.

I'm not bashing those that have Flex radios. I would not buy one even if I had the money simply because they are more radio than I will ever use or need.

Both brands are very expensive. Yes they are definitely the Cadillacs of amateur radio but are out of most people's budget, especially Flex. Two club members have the Flex 8600 and you have to be a computer wiz just to operate them. The Flex 8600 starts out at $5000. Then there are the add-on accessories for the 8600 Maestro Control Console - $1600 Power Genius amp - $6000 Tuner Genius - $2500 Extended Transmit Module (for VHF) - $400 I know guys that have the Flex 8600 and all of the accessories. But hey if you can afford all of that then more power to you.

Beacons are used to test propagation.

I use the HAMRS app on my iPad or laptop to log all of my POTA contacts. I will export the log as an ADIF file and then upload it to the POTA website and to QRZ.

I've never delved into how beacons work or why they shoot across the waterfall.