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Reviews For: Elecraft XG2 Receiver Test Oscillator

Category: Ham Radio Kits

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Review Summary For : Elecraft XG2 Receiver Test Oscillator
Reviews: 8MSRP: 69.95
Description:
An updated version of the XG1 oscillator, now with outputs on 3.5, 7 & 14 MHz bands.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.elecraft.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.4
YS1RS Rating: 2017-03-12
Expensive but good! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built this kit with no problems at all but had to read everything twice, specially the addendums.
Used it to check and correct the S meters on my Drake 2B, Heathkit HR-10 and Collins KWM-2 and now they accurately show when a signal is standard S9.
Excellent tool and a must one to have if you work on restoring boat anchors.
Price is high for what it is though.

73, Rob
YS1RS
KG4NVV Rating: 2016-01-11
Nice Test Oscillator But a Bit Pricey Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought this to calibrate receivers and also to test rigs' S-meters. I always suspected my IC-7200's S-meter was a bit on the stingy side, but I confirmed it using the XG2. Using the 50 microvolt setting of the XG2, my rig's S-meter read S8 when it should have read S9.

The kit is easy enough to put together in less than 2 hours. Be careful to put all the resistors in the right place on the board and follow the directions carefully. It is quite easy, even for a beginner.

It works on 3.579 MHz, 7.040 MHz and 14.060 MHz.

My only beef with this kit is its $89.95 price tag, which is very pricey for what you get. I understand that there are low tolerance (1%) components in it, but still the price is too high. Get the price down about $20 to $30 and this kit would be a good value for the money!
K6SDW Rating: 2011-11-24
Excellent test gear! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well done Elecraft......just be careful not to transmit back into it

Cheers All
K3MD Rating: 2011-11-24
Fun Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Easy kit, good value. Fascinating to test your rigs to see how accurate (or not) the S meters are. Very interesting to run at 1 microvolt output to hear what your receiver sounds like near the noise floor. Very nice toy!
KE1EV Rating: 2009-12-16
Love it Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought an XG-2 to help restore an old Heatkit HW-101. Thought I'd have little use for it after, but find that I use it frequently. Easy to assemble. Works like a champ. My only complaint is that there is no case for the thing, even as an option. The band switch is tiny and awkward. Since the controls are mounted on the card there is no convenient way to relocate them to a box front-panel.
Read the errata before assembly! I missed it and had to rework the board.
Wish it had a 10meter crystal too, high up in the band somewhere. This would allow you to check the other end of the VFO and mixer.
SOLARDX Rating: 2008-02-15
Limited capabilities Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Useful yes, however the flexibility could have been greater if the XG2 had greater output allowing for receiver dynamic range measurements.

It also would have been nice say to have an 60 db attenuator on the board to accurately check each S unit down to S1, you need to buy the Elecraft attenuator which is expensive for what it is. I can buy HP355 attenuators on Ebay for almost the same price.

I even use it for checking my coax losses on my coax switch, it would be nice if there was VHF or UHF unit as well then you could determine coax losses, or coax and switching failures. I have one mounted remotely on a garden solar light that can be switched through my switch onto all my feedlines. If i get water or a connector failure i can see the loss. Unfortunately the S meter on my K2 is lousy since it does not have enough resolution. Maybe Elecraft will consider bringing out a big external S meter like LDG some day.

WB0MZT Rating: 2008-02-14
Nice, useful Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Fun kit, took about an hour to build. A nice warmup before I begin the K2 I got for Christmas...
Took about an hour, no problems (the previous review mentioned a silkscreen error, they must have fixed that, as I did not notice any error).
Hooked it up to my K1, and it worked great...the Xtals for 40 and 20 were dead on...
I went through a period of mourning when Heathkit died, but Elecraft, OHR, and others are filling the void. Actually, my affection for Heathkit was based on nice building memories, but the equipment really wasn't that great...Elecraft's products are...
It is just nice to see an American radio company be so successful by being so good...thanks
HA6SST Rating: 2007-04-15
Error on PCB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This kit provides a calibrated signal on 3.5795MHz, 7.040 MHz or 14.060 MHz and can be used to test for MDS or set S9 on the meter. The kit went together reasonably easy but I had two problems:

1) You need to be VERY careful about which resistor goes where, especially the 1% resistors. Get this wrong and your output levels will be incorrect.

2) There is a small error in the silk screening on the PCB, the diode across the output is shown the wrong way round although it is correct in the schematic. Before this error was noticed I had a dead unit.

Because of the silk-screening error I am scoring this kit a 4.

HA6SST