so i finally finished putting together the Xiegu G90... wait no that's not a kit. ok let me back up. i built a QCX Mini kit from QRP Labs a few weeks ago and ive been using it on 40m mostly and just wanted to share some impressions for anyone thinking about going that route.

the build itself took me about 4 hours spread over two evenings, soldering is pretty straightforward if youve done any kit building before. the instructions are genuinely good, like better than most kits ive dealt with. i did mess up one cap orientation and had to desolder it which was a little nerve wracking on such a small board but it came out fine.

the real surprise was just how well it performs for 5 watts. i made a contact into central europe from the midwest on my first real outing with it, the other station gave me a 559 which honestly blew my mind. been doing mostly CW which is kind of what pushed me to finally learn the code properly - nothing motivates you like having a radio that basically only does CW.

battery life with a 3ah lipo is way better than i expected too. for anyone on the fence about QRP i dont know, it just changes how you think about operating. everything feels more intentional i guess. anyway just figured id share, happy to answer questions if anyone is curious about the build.

the QCX mini is a great first kit honestly. i built the original QCX a couple years back before the mini existed and it was the same experience - just works right out of the box if you take your time with the build. your europe contact on the first outing is pretty typical for 40m when conditions are decent, QRP is kind of magic like that until you hit a wall and then its humbling real fast haha.

one thing i'd suggest is experimenting with your antenna situation if you havent already. i run a simple end fed half wave and the difference compared to my old dipole was pretty noticeable at low power. every db counts when you're at 5 watts. also if you ever want to try portable ops, that radio and a lipo in a small case is such a satisfying little package. ive taken mine on camping trips and it fits in a jacket pocket basically.

wait so you actually learned CW just because of this radio? thats kind of inspiring, im a tech right now studying for general and ive been thinking about whether to bother with code since its not required anymore. does it feel worth it for just the QRP stuff or is it more broadly useful