{"id":44581,"date":"2020-08-02T08:16:28","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T12:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=44581"},"modified":"2020-08-02T08:31:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T12:31:28","slug":"which-would-you-choose-as-a-first-radio-the-icom-ic-7300-or-xiegu-g90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/which-would-you-choose-as-a-first-radio-the-icom-ic-7300-or-xiegu-g90\/","title":{"rendered":"Which would you choose as a first radio–the Icom IC-7300 or Xiegu G90?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Paul, who writes:<\/p>\n

This came to me from a friend; he is curious about choosing between the Xiegu G90 and the Icom IC-7300 for his first rig. He has money to buy the Icom which is $999 right now after rebates, but wants to know if he is really getting twice the radio for the Icom, vs the Xiegu, or are there other good reasons to get the 2016-introduced Icom, vs the newly introduced Xiegu.<\/p>\n

Maybe this can be a posting to ask your readers? Greatly appreciate it.<\/p>\n

Thanks very much
\nPaul<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for passing along the question, Paul.<\/p>\n

While I almost consider this to be an “apples to oranges” question, let’s approach this from a couple of different operator perspectives and truly explore the decision.<\/p>\n

I like both radios for different reasons, but first, I’ll tell you what my decision would be if I were in in his shoes…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Icom IC-7300 SDR transceiver<\/p><\/div>\n

I would choose the Icom IC-7300<\/h1>\n

While the Icom IC-7300 does cost twice the amount of a Xiegu G90, it’s a much<\/em> more versatile transceiver. There are almost too many IC-7300 features to list here, so I’ll mention a few that immediately come to mind, focusing on features the G90 lacks.<\/p>\n

For one thing, the IC-7300 is a 100 watt radio, thus the max rated power output is five times that of the Xiegu G90.<\/p>\n

The IC-7300 doesn’t require an external sound card for digital modes. Simply plug the radio into you PC with a USB cable, and with your favorite application (like WSJT), you can operate any number of digital modes. (I found configuring the G90 for digital modes to be a bit frustrating.)<\/p>\n

The IC-7300 also covers the 6 meter band–the G90 tops out at 10 meters.<\/p>\n

The IC-7300 has useful features for contests and field operation like:<\/p>\n