How to Program a G90 — Step by Step

Twenty watts, a spectrum display and a proper antenna tuner, in something you can carry. Almost every button does two jobs — the second one lives behind the FUNC key.

This page covers: Xiegu G90. They share the same firmware, so the steps below are identical on all of them whatever name is printed on the front.

Tell your software this is an Icom

The G90 uses the standard CI-V instruction set — Icom's protocol, on a Xiegu radio. So when your logging or digital software asks what rig you have, an Icom CI-V selection is what makes it work, not a Xiegu-specific one. This catches people out constantly, because nothing on the radio or the box says Icom anywhere.

Every button has a second name — FUNC is how you reach it

Press FUNC and the F indicator lights; press it again and the F goes out. While it is lit, each button does the job printed as its second label — so NB becomes the digital filter high cut, CMP becomes the low cut, and AGC becomes split. Once a function is selected, the main knob sets the value, and pressing the main knob backs out of any function and returns you to the normal screen. That one pattern is most of this radio.

What you can do on this radio

Rather do this on your phone, standing at the radio?

The app walks you through the same steps one at a time, on a screen sized for a phone.

Open Radio Rosetta

Set the radio up for FT8 and other digital modes on a G90

Two cables, not one. This is the main difference from the modern rigs: audio goes in and out of the round ACC socket, and computer control goes down the COMM port. Get those two jobs separated in your head and the rest is straightforward.

Have these to hand before you start

  • An audio cable to the ACC port on the back — a MINI-DIN8. The G90 has no built-in sound card, so audio and control travel separately.
  • The data cable for the COMM port, with its driver installed.
  1. Set the mode. FT8 and the rest of the WSJT-X modes run upper sideband.MODE›▲▼ USBThe screen should show: USB in the mode area.The G90 has SSB, CW, AM and FM. There is no separate DATA mode to select — you work digital in USB.
  2. Hold FUNC to open the system menu, find AUX LINE IN, and set the input volume.hold FUNC›▲▼ AUX LINE IN›dial → the input levelThe screen should show: AUX LINE IN and its level.Watch out. The manual is blunt about this: when you are feeding audio in through the ACC port, make sure the line input volume is high enough. Too low and the radio simply will not respond to the audio at all, which reads as a dead cable.
  3. In the same menu, AUX AFOUT VOLUM sets the audio the radio sends back out to the computer.▲▼ AUX AFOUT VOLUM›dial → the output levelThe screen should show: AUX AFOUT VOLUM and its level.That is the level your decoder sees. Blank waterfall or a solid wall of red — this is the control, not anything on the transmit side.
  4. Then the INPUT setting, behind the POW button, tells the transmitter which audio source to use.POW›▲▼ INPUT›dial → the ACC line inputThe screen should show: The selected voice input.Watch out. Leave this on the microphone and the radio will transmit the room instead of your computer. It is the equivalent of the Yaesu MOD SOURCE trap and it costs people the same evening.

The manual asks you to ground both the radio and the computer properly and to fit the supplied EMC ferrites close to the radio end of the data and audio cables. On a twenty watt radio sitting next to a laptop that is not fussy advice — RF getting back into the audio is a real and common problem here.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Connect the radio to a computer on a G90

One fact solves nearly every G90 control problem, and it is not printed anywhere on the radio.

  1. Put the data cable into the COMM port — not the ACC port — and check its driver is installed on the computer.The screen should show: A COM port appearing on the computer.ACC carries audio, COMM carries control. Two sockets, two jobs, and swapping them is the first thing to check.
  2. In your software, choose an Icom CI-V rig rather than looking for Xiegu in the list.The screen should show: The software connecting.Watch out. The manual states plainly that the G90 uses the standard CI-V instruction set. That is Icom's protocol. There is often no Xiegu entry in older software at all, and people conclude the radio is unsupported when it is simply an Icom as far as the computer is concerned.

If it still will not talk, it is the COM port number or the cable's driver rather than the radio. There is very little to configure on the G90 side — which is a mercy compared with the Yaesus, where the baud rate alone catches everybody.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the drive level for digital modes on a G90

Twenty watts leaves less room for error than a hundred does. Two controls set your digital output, and they pull against each other if you are careless.

  1. Hold FUNC for the system menu and set AUX LINE IN — the radio's input level for audio from the computer.hold FUNC›▲▼ AUX LINE IN›dial → the levelThe screen should show: AUX LINE IN and its level.Start here, then fine-tune with the computer's output slider rather than the other way around.
  2. Then POW, POWER, and turn the transmit power down.POW›▲▼ POWER›dial → downThe screen should show: The power setting.Digital modes run flat out for the whole transmission rather than peaking on syllables. Backing off is normal, and on a twenty watt radio the heat matters as much as the signal.
  3. SWR THR, on the same button, sets the standing wave protection threshold.POW›▲▼ SWR THRThe screen should show: The SWR threshold.Worth knowing it exists before you go hunting for why the radio folded its power back on a marginal antenna.

Watch the meter on a steady tone. If the power reading is bouncing while the tone is not, the audio is driving the transmitter too hard — turn the computer down before you touch anything else.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Narrow the filter to shut out the station next door on a G90

The G90 gives you the two edges of the passband separately rather than one width control. It takes a moment longer to understand and then gives you more than a single knob would.

  1. Press CMP/F-L and turn the main knob to set the low-frequency edge of the filter.CMP/F-L›dial → the low edgeThe screen should show: F-L and a frequency.This is the bottom of the passband. Bringing it up cuts rumble and the low end of a station sitting below you.
  2. Then FUNC, then NB/F-H, to set the high-frequency edge the same way.FUNC›NB/F-H›dial → the high edgeThe screen should show: F-H and a frequency.Watch out. The high cut is the SECOND function of the noise blanker button, so you must press FUNC first and see the F indicator light. Press NB on its own and you have switched the noise blanker instead — which is a reasonable thing to do, but not what you were trying to do.
  3. Press the main knob to come out of the filter setting.the main knobThe screen should show: The normal operating screen.Pressing the main knob exits any function on this radio, including a second function. It is the universal way back.
  4. AGC is worth a mention here too — pressing AGC/SPL cycles it off, slow, fast and auto.AGC/SPL›▲▼ AGC-S, AGC-F or AGC-AThe screen should show: The AGC setting.On a crowded band a fast AGC stops a strong neighbour from flattening the station you are trying to hear, which does a similar job to narrowing the filter and costs you no audio.

Set the two edges to taste rather than as narrow as they will go. The manual's own framing is that these are listening preferences, and on SSB most people end up somewhere well short of the extremes.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn on noise reduction on a G90

The G90 has no noise reduction. There is no DNR, no NR button and no menu item, and none appears anywhere in Xiegu's manual. That is a real difference from the Yaesu and Icom radios covered here, and worth knowing before you go looking for a setting that does not exist.

  1. What you have instead is the digital filter. Narrowing it is the most effective thing on this radio against steady noise.CMP/F-L›FUNC›NB/F-HThe screen should show: F-L and F-H, the two edges of the passband.Less bandwidth means less noise reaching your ears. It is a blunter instrument than a DSP noise reduction algorithm, but on a band full of hiss it does more than people expect.
  2. AGC is the other one worth trying.AGC/SPL›▲▼ AGC-S or AGC-FThe screen should show: The AGC setting.A slower AGC on a noisy band stops the receiver riding its gain up into the noise between signals, which often sounds like less noise even though nothing has been filtered.
  3. And the noise blanker, if the noise is a repeating tick rather than a steady hiss.NB/F-HThe screen should show: The NB indicator.Watch out. Different job. The blanker is for pulses — ignition, power line, an electric fence. Against steady hiss it does nothing at all, which is why people try it, hear no difference, and assume it is broken.

If you genuinely need DSP noise reduction, it is worth being honest that this radio does not have it and no setting will conjure it. Some operators run an external DSP speaker or do the noise reduction in software on the computer instead.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn on the noise blanker on a G90

One button, no settings. Xiegu calls it a pulse interference canceller, which describes what it is for better than most manuals manage.

  1. Press NB/F-H, without FUNC, to switch the noise blanker on.NB/F-HThe screen should show: The NB indicator.Watch out. Without FUNC. With FUNC pressed first, this same button sets the filter's high cut instead — check the F indicator is dark before you press it.

It is on or off; there is no level, width or depth to adjust the way there is on the Yaesus and the Icom. That makes it simple and it also means that when it does not help, there is nothing to tune — it is the wrong tool for that noise, and the digital filter or the AGC is a better bet.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Notch out a whistle or a carrier on a G90

There is no notch filter on the G90 — neither manual nor automatic. Xiegu's manual does not mention one anywhere, and there is no button or menu item for it. If you have been hunting for it, you can stop.

  1. Against a steady tone, the digital filter is what you have. If the whistle is low in the passband, bring the low edge up above it.CMP/F-L›dial → the low edge upThe screen should show: F-L and a higher frequency.You are cutting the tone off at the edge of the passband rather than drilling a hole through the middle. It costs you some of the wanted audio, which is exactly what a notch is designed to avoid — but it is what this radio offers.
  2. If the whistle is high, bring the high edge down instead.FUNC›NB/F-H›dial → the high edge downThe screen should show: F-H and a lower frequency.Watch out. If the tone is sitting in the middle of a voice you want, neither edge will help without taking the voice with it. That is the honest limit of the radio.
  3. The old-fashioned answer also still works: shift your operating frequency a little and re-tune the filter around the signal.dial → the main dial slightlyThe screen should show: Your frequency moving.On SSB, moving 200 or 300 Hz can put a heterodyne outside your passband while leaving the station perfectly readable.

This is a genuine gap in the radio rather than a gap in this page. It is one of the things you are trading away for the size and the price — and for most operating it matters less than the missing noise reduction does.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Work a DX station that is running split on a G90

Two VFOs, each holding its own frequency and mode, and one second function to tie them together. There is no quick-split shortcut on this radio, so you set both sides by hand.

Have these to hand before you start

  • The frequency the DX station is transmitting on.
  • Where it is listening.
  1. With VFO-A selected, set the frequency and mode you want to receive on.dial → the DX station's frequencyThe screen should show: The DX frequency.
  2. Press A/B to switch to VFO-B, and set your transmit frequency and mode there.A/B›dial → the listening frequencyThe screen should show: VFO-B on your transmit frequency.Each VFO holds its own mode as well as its own frequency, so you can genuinely have them different if you need to.
  3. Press FUNC, then AGC/SPL, to turn split on.FUNC›AGC/SPLThe screen should show: The split indicator.Watch out. This is the second function of the AGC button. Press AGC without FUNC and you have cycled the AGC setting instead — check the F indicator is lit first.
  4. Press A/B to get back to hearing VFO-A.A/BThe screen should show: VFO-A displayed.Watch out. Easy to leave yourself listening on VFO-B and wonder why the DX station has gone quiet. If you have lost them, this is the first thing to check.

FUNC + A/B copies the current VFO into the other one, which is the quick way to get both onto the same starting frequency before you set an offset. Not quite the one-press quick split the bigger radios have, but close.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Save a frequency to a memory channel on a G90

Simple, and it stores more than the frequency — the mode and the function settings go in with it.

  1. In VFO mode, set the frequency, the mode and any function settings you want kept.dial → the frequency you wantThe screen should show: Your frequency.The manual says the advanced function status is stored too, so a filter setting you like for a particular net comes back with the channel.
  2. Press MW/MC, turn the main knob to the channel number you want, then short press the main knob to save.MW/MC›dial → a channel number›the main knobThe screen should show: The channel number, then the stored channel.Watch out. Storing to a channel that already has something in it overwrites it without asking. There is no BLANK indicator to warn you the way there is on the Icom.
  3. Press V/M to move between VFO and channel mode.V/MThe screen should show: A channel number instead of a plain frequency.
  4. To clear a channel: in channel mode, FUNC then MW/MC, turn to the channel, and press the main knob.FUNC›MW/MC›dial → the channel›the main knobThe screen should show: The channel number flashing, then cleared.The flashing number is the confirmation that you are in clear mode rather than store mode.

Channel naming exists on this radio but the manual states it needs the GSOC external controller — you cannot type a channel name from the G90's own front panel.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Run the antenna tuner on a G90

A proper automatic tuner built in, which is a lot of why people buy this radio. One button, and one mistake that almost everybody makes once.

  1. Get on the frequency you want to work, and listen before you tune.dial → your operating frequencyThe screen should show: Your frequency.
  2. Short press TUNE. This connects the tuner into the circuit — the TUNE mark appears at the top of the screen.TUNEThe screen should show: TUNE at the top of the display.Watch out. THIS HAS NOT TUNED ANYTHING. The manual says so in as many words: just opened, the tuning has not been started. This is the single most common G90 mistake — the icon is showing, so people assume the job is done, and then wonder why the SWR is still terrible.
  3. Now press and hold TUNE for one second to actually run the tuner.hold TUNEThe screen should show: The radio transmits briefly and returns to receive when tuning is finished.Short press connects, long press tunes. Two different jobs on the same button.
  4. Transmit and look at the top of the screen.The screen should show: A flashing SWR mark means the standing wave is still high.That flashing mark is the radio telling you the tune did not take. Run it again, and if it still will not settle the problem is at the antenna, not in the tuner.
  5. When the antenna resonates naturally on the band you are using, switch the tuner back off.TUNEThe screen should show: The TUNE mark disappears.Watch out. The manual specifically asks you to do this. A tuner left in circuit on an antenna that does not need it is loss you are adding for nothing.

One warning from Xiegu worth passing on: tuning into a whip antenna at close quarters can put enough RF back into the radio and any nearby electronics to cause trouble. If odd things happen when you tune on a whip, that is what you are seeing.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the CW keyer speed and weight on a G90

All the CW settings hang off one button, and there are more of them than you would expect on a radio this size.

  1. Press KEY, choose SPEED, and turn the main knob to set the keyer speed.KEY›▲▼ SPEED›dial → your speedThe screen should show: The speed setting.
  2. MODE, on the same button, switches between iambic A and iambic B.KEY›▲▼ MODE›▲▼ iambic A or BThe screen should show: The keyer mode.If your paddle feels like it is inserting characters you did not send, or dropping ones you did, this is usually the setting — the two modes behave differently when you release both paddles.
  3. M/L/R covers manual keying and swapping the paddle left and right.KEY›▲▼ M/L/RThe screen should show: The keying mode.The left-right swap is what you want for a straight key or a reversed paddle, rather than rewiring anything.
  4. Behind FUNC, the same button gives you the sidetone volume and the sidetone pitch.FUNC›KEY›▲▼ CW Volume or CW TONEThe screen should show: CW Volume, or CW TONE.Pitch is worth setting to whatever your ear finds easiest — it changes what you hear, not where you are transmitting.
  5. QSK switches break-in on and off, and QSK Time sets how long it waits before dropping back to receive.KEY›▲▼ QSK›▲▼ QSK TimeThe screen should show: The QSK settings.Full break-in lets you hear between your own characters, which is how you notice somebody trying to break in on you.

The G90 also holds four preset CW messages for calling automatically, which is worth setting up before a contest or a long CQ session.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Reset the menu to factory settings on a G90

Xiegu's manual documents no factory reset for the G90. There is no reset item in the system menu and no power-on button combination described anywhere in it. So rather than invent one, here is what to do instead when the radio is behaving oddly.

  1. First, check split is not on. It is the second function of AGC/SPL and it is quiet about itself.FUNC›AGC/SPLThe screen should show: The split indicator, on or off.A radio transmitting somewhere other than where it is listening is the classic "my rig is broken" that is not.
  2. Check whether the tuner is switched in when it should not be.TUNEThe screen should show: The TUNE mark at the top of the screen.A tuner in circuit on an antenna that does not need it costs you signal in both directions.
  3. Then look at the two filter edges. A filter left narrow from a crowded band is the usual reason a radio sounds muffled the next day.CMP/F-L›FUNC›NB/F-HThe screen should show: F-L and F-H.Watch out. There is no one-press way to put these back to default, which is exactly why they are worth checking early and worth writing down once you find settings you like.
  4. And check you are not sitting on a stored channel rather than a VFO.V/MThe screen should show: A channel number, or a plain frequency.A channel carries its stored mode and function settings with it, so a channel saved months ago can make the radio behave in ways nothing on the front panel explains.

If none of that explains it, the honest answer is that a reset is not documented and you should ask Xiegu or your dealer rather than trying button combinations found on a forum. Nothing here is worth risking firmware over.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

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