POTA/SOTA RADIOS

I often see posts on social media asking which is the best radio for doing POTA and SOTA work. Of course the very best advice would come from people like Thomas Witherspoon (K4SWL) and Julian White (OH8STN) who are experts in this area or John Harper AE5X who spends a great deal of time outdoors, but while you're here, you might as well see what I think 😂.

The main difference between SOTA and POTA is the fact that you can almost always drive to a POTA location in your car and operate from the vehicle or close to it. Most SOTA ops involve an uphill struggle to a summit, so all your equipment needs to be carried in a rucksack.

SOTA OPERATORS tend to focus sharply on the size and weight of their radio along with the current draw. The current draw matters greatly because it determines the size of the (potentially heavy) battery required to operate it. In addition to the radio and batteries, SOTA guys also have to lug around their antenna, mast, laptop/tablet, phone, food and drinks!

POTA OPERATORS also focus on the size and weight of their equipment, but it's obviously nowhere near as important, since they're (usually) only loading it into their vehicle. 

Personally, I don't bother too much with either SOTA or POTA, but I do spend most of my radio-time in the great outdoors. That can involve me loading my rucksack and going on a hill walk or chucking some gear into the back of my car and driving to an elevated position not too far away. I also like to take my radio gear with me when I go on holiday in the UK.

So what's the best radio? Well as usual, I only talk about radios that I have owned and used - I don't feel that it's right to give opinions on equipment that you've not used personally.

By default, virtually all SOTA radios are QRP, providing 5-20W output and I've tried around half a dozen models...

• ICOM IC-705 £1200
• YAESU FTX-1F £1600
• ELECRAFT KX2/3 £1800
• YAESU FT-891 £600
• XIEGU G90/6100 £390/530
• FX-4CR £550
• QMX PLUS £200
• TR(u)SDR £100

For me, the Icom IC-705 is the reigning king! It provides a stunning array of features for just £1200 and has been leading the way for the last five years! Buy a 705 and you've pretty much got everything you need to enjoy radio at the top of a hillside or at home in the shack. 

You'll get a superb, modern SDR all-mode receiver with a fabulous colour touchscreen, built-in front-facing speaker, a speaker-mic, built-in soundcard, QSO-Recorder, GPS, BlueTooth, Wi-Fi, CW & Phone memories, PSK decoder and HF, VHF, UHF, DSTAR with 10W output. AirBand and general coverage is included. Current drain is reasonable and weight is fair. Probably a little too bulky to take to the top of Everest 😂 but fine for most outings.

If you want to use the 705 at home with an amplifier, the most cost-effective way is to connect a Xiegu XPA125B to it. Not only will it give you 100W for 5W input, but it also gets you a superb built-in ATU with an impedance range of 10:1.

As you will see from the review, the 705 is very well supported by third-party software and hardware, making it even more appealing.

The Yaesu FTX-1F is the new kid on the block and has been in the making for a long time. It came along five years after the 705, costs £400 more and offers fewer features as standard 😲! Although I bought one, I'm not afraid to say that I was quite disappointed with Yaesu's efforts, especially considering that their designers new how high Icom had set the bar. Don't get me wrong - it's a lovely radio, but I was hoping that it would knock the 705 off its lofty perch with a long list of new and exciting features.

Sadly, upon release, the FTX-1F had a long list of bugs instead of new features! And in addition to the bugs, it also lacked GPS, BlueTooth and WiFi. Although you can pay more and add GPS and BlueTooth modules, you cannot add WiFi 😲. Incredible!

On the plus side, the FTX-1 includes the 4M band in the UK and has Dual Receive capability. However, that doesn't mean independent dual-receivers like you'd find on an FTM300, so you can't cross-band. Dual receive only works on VHF/UHF - not HF/HF. Where Icom offer DSTAR, Yaesu offer C4FM.

The FTX-1F is bigger and heavier than the 705 and it draws more current too, so it's unlikely to become a SOTA favourite! For POTA though, it's fine and there's an optional clip-on 100W amplifier with a (rather poor 3:1) built-in ATU.

Needless to say, the Yaesu FanBoys are calling this radio the "705 Slayer" which is just laughable 😂😁😂. If it had matched the 705 feature-list plus the 4M and Dual Receive, I'd agree, but it hasn't and it isn't, so calm down boys 😏. I ended up selling mine and haven't regretted it!

ELECRAFT have offered the KX3 for over a decade and it was the radio to have for SOTA or POTA, but as good as it is, times have moved on and operators are increasingly wanting to benefit from the handy features of the more modern radios. The popularity of the Elecraft has also declined in recent years because they've become more and more difficult to get hold of in Europe. UK Dealers eventually gave up on them and it's little wonder considering the eye-watering prices.

Make no mistake - the KX3 has a stunning receiver and there are many proud and happy owners - especially in America where they are manufactured, but I guess they're getting a little long in the tooth now and are in need of modernisation.

A firm favourite with many POTA operators (and a few SOTA guys too) is the fabulous YAESU FT-891. In a fairly compact form factor, it offers a 100W, All Mode HF/6M radio with a superb receiver and 32-bit DSP for around £600.

This radio has no faults as far as I could find, save the awkward menu system. It's fairly light for a 100W radio at 1.9kg and its slim profile (8x6x2") means that it fits easily inside most 'day bags'. I honestly loved this radio and regret selling it. Of course there's no VHF/UHF or digital modes with it and that's the only downside to it. If you've climbed hundreds of feet to get to a fabulous take-off point, you usually want to maximise your opportunities to make contacts - including VHF/UHF. But if you're happy with HF only, this radio has got to be considered! You can always carry a VHF/UHF HT.

XIEGU offer the G90 for the budget conscious operators out there and it's a cracking bit of kit, offering tremendous value for money! It's a 20W HF transceiver with a superb built-in ATU which is famous for being able to 'tune a wet noodle'. A sharp colour screen with built-in scope and waterfall completes the package.

The G90 hasn't got the best receiver in the world, but it is perfectly adequate when operated outdoors at a good take-off (which is almost certainly where it will be operated). Just remember though - no VHF/UHF.

Additionally, Xiegu offer the 6100 and more recently the 6200, but for me, they don't provide the same value for money and in the case of the 6100, there are way too many birdies! Stick with the wonderful G90 and spend the rest on a great portable antenna.

FX-4CR from BG2FX is an extremely compact HF radio offering a crisp colour screen, scope, waterfall and 20W output! 

With an aluminium body, it is extremely light and can truly be called a pocket radio. The ergonomics are superb and it's just a joy to operate. It even has Bluetooth and can provide wireless digital operation! There's a built-in speaker and microphone and it weighs just 400g. 

 

QMX PLUS from QRP-LABS is a superb 5W transceiver which provides you with 12 bands to work with and although it was originally restricted to CW & DIGITAL modes, it has recently been upgraded (via firmware) to include SSB! It can be ordered as a self-assembly kit or pre-assembled. Personally I went for the kit version and really enjoyed the challenge. It gives you so much more of a connection to a radio when you've built it yourself. If you want a pre-assembled QMX+ you can expect to be on the waiting list for around a year 😮 

One of the very best features of the QMX is that it has POLAR MODULATION, something that (at the time of writing) is only implemented in one other transceiver - the £7000 Flex Aurora. This can effectively make your 5W transmitter perform like a 12Watter!

There's also an even smaller version called the QMX and that too is a very popular SOTA radio. This small, light 5W transceiver is one of the best value radios out there. It's worth noting that the QMX is much more difficult to build than the QMX+. If you ever see either one on the second-hand market, grab it!!

 

 

TR(u)SDR from DL2MAN is the one to go for if you have a very limited budget. It costs around £100 and is an amazing little radio for this money. It is feature-rich, super light and can even be ordered as a kit if you wish to save more money. It is a 5-Band radio and includes an informative OLED screen, intuitive operation, robust design, built-in diagnostic tools, CW Decoder, speaker and microphone! You can buy Hi and Lo Band versions. Just an amazing performer for its size and cost.

So there you have it! Sure, there others out there, but none that I have personally fancied buying. The only one that I was considering was the LAB-599 from Russia - that was until they decided to invade their neighbour, leading to the deaths of 100's of thousands of people. Sorry, I know you shouldn't bring this sort of stuff into a hobby, but it's just too big and too awful to ignore.

The other option of course is to go for a discontinued radio (secondhand) such as the Yaesu FT818 and that's not a bad option, but personally I'd rather save up for a few extra months and get the radio that I really desire instead of making do with some old tech which might have had a hard life already.

I hope this post has been of some use to people who are considering entering the world of outdoor radio ops. It's a starting point at least. If you have any comments, please leave them below.

Thanks for visiting!

73, Tom, M7MCQ.