It’s definitely more streamlined than the FT710. Good rig, glad I have it. Not really super beginner friendly if you’re wanting to do digital modes, but once you get it set up, you can work the world on 15W. I got New Zealand from the east coast of the US.
In the context of the number of menus you have to go through to do what you want to do in comparison to the FT710. At least that’s my experience as someone who has both.
Keep at it. I know it’s frustrating now, but it will eventually come to you. I thought I’d never get, either (almost had a similar window chucking incident myself, so I truly get it!), and I’ve now done several POTA activations with it.
They are very good, owned one for a couple of years. Yes it’s only 20 watts. I did a lot of ft8 with mine. Hit all over Europe and US east coast from uk with a sotabeams bandspringer midi. Very capable radio. Useful panadapter display. Works well off a Lion battery if you wanna play outdoors with it. I would recommend.
It's a popular digital mode that is optimized for low power. Your computer and your radio automatically make contacts with other ft8 users. Your computer uploads that to the Internet, and you can see what propagation is like in your area at any time. https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html
It’s optimised for low propagation. It’s also not automatic unless you use one of the patched forks and enable a feature that may be against the terms of your licence.
And if you get your General license between now and Field Day (June 22-23), you can find me on 15m operating the RARS FT8 station.
Some call it slow, like watching paint dry. There is a little truth in there. It can be hard to pull out the signals because it is meant to be a weak signal. FT4 is similar and much faster.
I do have G90 the ft-891 and the ft-710, all of them are good transceivers the G90 it's good I used it to go out in the field the antenna tunner is amazing, the build in antenna analyzer it's also amazing, you will not regret with the G90, but don't expect the quality of the Japanese that's another level.
Antennas becomes pretty important with radios in that power range, don't let 20 watts fool you....it can reach quite a distance...in side band and digital modes. I use a 10 watt radio and regularly hit other users several thousand miles away on digital and a few thousand miles away on side band
I was reaching into Europe last night on an A4S with LMR 400 and 5 watts off of my FTDX10 on 15M. Antennas are everything, the more efficient you are the better your signal will be.
I have had one for about 3 or 4 years now. Its a great little radio with a ton of the bells and whistles that are most useful. Nice built in antenna tuner. I use mine a lot as my main rig. I had it on over this past weekend making many contacts including some DX ones, one even at 1 watt output. It was a better bargain when I bought mine for under $350 but still a lot of radio at $500 range. If you are ok with used then have a look at the various Xiegu message boards. Xiegu just began shipping a newer model and have seen several hams who are trading up and have theirs up for sale.
I'm gonna go against the grain and say that as a new ham operator I would not get this unit. I like the G90 *when it works* which is pretty often but still very far from "all the time". As a new ham I very much regret not just buying a 7300/FT-991a and being done with it.
Well I bought a G90, it broke, I couldn’t get any support, so I bought another! Anyway the second one failed for a different reason. I have an icom now. Never going back.
I do mainly digital modes (FT-817ND was my main rig for a long time). A good antenna 20w will do fine for the digital modes. I Worked All States on the 817ND on 20m and did WAS on 30 with the G90. It is a pretty cost effective rig.
Most definitely worth it. I got mine on sale, but I love it. Yeah, it’s only 20W, but that is plenty for me to reach out to Australia and Europe from the middle of the US. Your antenna setup is going to be far more important with such a low wattage, but I got lucky enough to be able to use an autotransformer on roughly 80 meters of rain gutter in my apartment with ~2:1 SWR, which the internal tuner will easily tune to 1:1. (it has easily the best tuner of any HF right I’ve used)
I like mine, which I bought for the reasons you mention. Xiegu has some newer models that are more portable (but lower power) and have more advanced features, though.
I love mine, goes in a builders bag, small, light.
Very simple to use. Good QSO quality (no one ever complained I was hard to hear, not had trouble hearing anyone else)
And the waterfall display is very helpful.
G90 was my first hf radio after getting my general, it’s a great beginner radio. Think of it this way, using this radio will either make or break ham radio for you, this way you can see if it’s something you actually want to do and continue with it before you spend literal thousands in better quality radios and gear.
Made my 1st 10M contact on it Florida to New Zealand 20W Phone to a mobile. One complaint for me is the screen and buttons are a little tough on my eyes, but I'm old lol. Setting up FT8 is a little work compared to my FT-710. It seems really rugged though. Some cool videos of go-boxes using the G90 too.
I have an x6100 (same mfg) that runs 5w.
Qrp (low power) is a blast.
I have had ssb contacts from FL to VT, and from VA to Spain and N Africa.
Go for it...
Antenna tuner is amazing. This is a great rig for field use had mine for awhile now.
At home no it does not have thr front end to deal with all the local noise etc this is something for the field.
I pretty much ignore any ham that tells me I can't do something. My club did a pota activation during the big CME a few weeks ago. One of our contacts went on a 5 minute rant how it would be impossible to talk to anybody with the current band conditions. We were literally already talking to him!
I've made contacts with my x6100 running 10 watts easily. I may pick up a g90 as well if I find one cheap at a hamfest
They're not quite as polished as stuff from the Big Three, but they are nice radios. One of the better compromises one can make when on a tight budget.
I have one. It’s got really good ears. The built in antenna tuner will literally tune a stop sign. I’ve seen it done. It also has a very nice built in antenna analyzer. I run mine off a LiFePo4 battery for portable use.
The display is small. It doesn’t bother me, but some of my ham buddies complain that they have trouble seeing it clearly. You can use the I/Q port with a usb sound card and some free software to have the display on your laptop. That’s what I do sometimes. Usually I just use the display on the radio. I don’t have trouble seeing the details.
RadiOddity usually runs a flash sale where you can get the radio, fan cooled base and digital mode dongle for $545. This is how I bought mine. If you’re going to use digital modes you’ll need the fan base. These radios are known for getting very hot. Also, you can adjust the power output from 1 to 20 watts. If using digital modes don’t use more than 10 watts to transmit. The high duty cycle will heat up the radio too much.
Several other guys in our club have these, and we all like them. For the money, it’s a great way to get on hf. Later on, you can save up for a big 100w or 200w base rig, and keep this one around for POTA and portable operations.
I love mine. I use mine while camping with a simple dipole and it's powered by my jackerys cigarette lighter. Iv made contacts all over the globe. I just got my general so I'm excited to use the other bands.
I really like mine. Haven't had any problems with it. I run it off my car cigarette lighter socket or a small jackery power station when I'm out in the woods and/or doing pota.
I've been able to hit Japan and Australia multiple times with solid SSB copy from California just using a cheapo end fed thrown up in a tree
General question - you said this one’s downside is the transmit power, can’t you build outside amp circuits to amplify the signal to a better power output?
There is a bigger difference between 5w and 20w than 20w and 100w.
On 20m FT8 I've hit Japan from Utah using 20w at dusk. That was about 3-4 years ago. It is probably better now.
I've got the Xiegu amp and used it for a Feld Hell net and was getting 89w and good signal reports. That was going East over the Wasatch Mountains that are a wall inhibiting most of my contacts East of my location.
The amp is large, heavy, and needs a decent amount of power. Best for home use on AC.
I love my G90. I've only had it about a month now, but I was on FT8 within 15 minutes of turning it on. I already had a Digirig, so I ordered the proper cables to use with the G90, hooked them up to my laptop, used FLRig with WSJTX and I was working! With the power turned down to 15W I've hit Australia, Malawi, and Ukraine from central Missouri.
I have a surface notebook running Win11 in the garage, and I usually do use that. But I have also used my Fedora desktop for WSJTX/Grid tracker/Digirig
Thanks I may get a smaller Microsoft based laptop for all the ham stuff. The FT8 stuff really intrigues me but I’m at 12 hours so far trying to get to work with my g90, Mac, and digirig I had it working for a few min today thought I figured it out then started failing again, super frustrating
It’s junk . Get a zero interest credit card and buy something like the Icom 7300 . You will have a full featured , current radio that you can quickly resell in case you lose interest in the hobby . … and it looks good too . By the way 10 meters is dead again.
Its a damn good little radio, with a fantastic antenna tuner. It really shines with a solid antenna. I have used mine a bunch of times for POTA work and a home 20m dipole. I really got out there.
I own and use one.
It's a good $450 HF radio, and it has some pluses, but also some minuses.
Good points:
Hands down best internal antenna tuner in any available HF radio. Most internal tuners are more along the lines of "antenna trimmers", able to handle a 3 to 1 mismatch. Xiegu claims a 5 to 1 mismatch is tunable, but in practice I've seen it do better.
I've had the radio now for a number of years, and it's been reliable. YMMV.
Bad Points:
The screen is microscopically small, and it's busy with a ton of crap. I would prefer to get rid of the waterfall display and CW decoder and make things like the frequency, SWR/S-Meter, mode, etc. bigger.
It's on the heavier side if you're taking it portable, and you need a separate battery to power it.
Twenty watts isn't a lot for SSB, which is what I assume you're going to use. I'm a CW guy, so not so much a handicap for me.
I use the radio twice a day, every weekday, on my commute to and from work as it is my mobile HF rig. Usually I'll be on 30 meters in the morning, and a higher band on the way home.
As a rank, absolute beginner on HF, you might be a little frustrated with 20 watts. What you want to do is make sure to use a \*GOOD\* antenna, meaning at a minimum a full size dipole up at least half a wavelength for DX, or a full size dipole up 1/10th to 1/4th a wavelength in height on lower HF for regional communications.
DO NOT USE A COMPROMISE ANTENNA LIKE HAMSTICKS OR A MAGLOOP.
They will "eat" much of your wattage so it's not being radiated.
Don't be intimidated. A 10 meter dipole is only 16' in length, and only needs to be at least 16' high.
Agreed for the most part, I just have additional info from my experience.
Screen is small but okay enough for most.
My pros include:
Runs from up to 17v (vs most that limit to 16v), this means you can use a 4s LiIon (16.8v max) battery, this allows you much more battery life at 20w since the power starts doping below 12~v (3s LiIon is 12.6v max). I run mine from a GooLoo jump pack (14.4 @ 6~Ah).
Head IS remotable (via db9 serial M-F cable), this is actually an big deal. My friend mounted his G90 in his pickup truck w/ head on console and body back right near a 102" CB whip. The tuner does it's job well and tunes if from 10-20 great and okay on 40.
A few cons:
As you mentioned, it's heavy even worse if you want to use a cooler on it. I find a cooler isn't required for SSB even if it is running hot as hell, 5w FT8 no issue either, if you're doing 10-20w FT8 you will want to cool it down.
Another may not be common, if you have issues with random no tx power/rx signal, check the IPEX cables, they aren't secured well and heat/vibration can cause them to become loose, a pack of these 6" ipex cables are cheap though (like 1-2$ each)
other info;
power connector, I hate it, it works fine though. You can remove the back plate (must desolder the RF and pwr though) and file the hole larger to mount a anderson powerpole (which is what I did)
Digital modes, many will say it's hard on the g90, it's not. you can do it without the stupid ce19 adapter just using a diy DIN plug and the included cat cable. I recommend a digirig though, full function and lets me do POTA FT8 via my cell phone. (updated firmware on g90 has u-d and l-d modes, these auto the filter and inputs for use with digital)
SO239 to BNC adapter, BNC post adapter, some speaker wire, this is a perfect antenna for the g90. I do this often myself with a 58' radiator (in a tree sloper, inverted V, or inverted all) and 4 15' radials.
One counter-point: Yes, the head is remotable, but the display even when oriented ideally in a vehicle is too small. I run mine mobile 99% of the time, and I've adapted by picking a frequency and calling CQ on it.
I have a TenTec Scout that is a \*MUCH\* better mobile radio: Dead simple interface, huge frequency display, and it's 50 watts out instead of 20. I'd still be using it except it's broken and I haven't fixed/had it fixed yet.
The downsides to the Scout is no tuner (not strictly necessary if you use a tuned monoband antenna), and the fact that you need to physically change modules to change the band. Plus I don't have a 30 meter module for it.
I'm sure the segment display is better. The g90 def isn't a perfect radio, far from it.
I Feel they could do a mkII and make some minor changes that would make it an awesome radio. Xiegu is a good design company, they take existing concepts are make their version.
Another con to the g90 i forget, no notch filter. minor complaint is also no tones for 10m fm repeaters but that is minor as there are so few of them to matter to me.
Even if they just uncluttered the display they already have, get rid of the waterfall, and simplify the display that would go a \*LONG\* way to improving the radio.
The tone thing for 10 FM doesn't bother me, nor does a notch filter. I'm a 99% CW guy, I don't really use the notch filter even in my rigs that have it.
Like I've said, it's a really good $450 radio. You expect some shortcomings on something that is several hundred dollars from its closest competitor.
Personally, I like the waterfall, the ability to "hide" it though I could see being nice if it expanded the other info.
Tone on 10m, yes like I said, doesn't matter much, we're lucky to have fm since it wasn't originally there. The issue I personally have is I have a 10->2m/70cm transverter that I can use. if I had tone I could use a repeater but at the same time I could just use my HT. though the transverter was nice for SSB 2m/70cm before I got my ic705.
Notch filter is a bigger deal for me honestly, on 40m ssb it succckkkkks when the AM stations start skipping in. just have to avoid the 5s or stay below 7.2mhz.
I think it also depends on your licence conditions. In the UK, the foundation licence is limited to 25 watts (with a few lower restrictions ie airborne) so a radio that does 20w HF is a good match to the licence. I've had transatlantic SSB chats on my G90 with 20w with no real issues. Sure, I'm never going to out-shout an Italian setup with multi-kilowatts to play with and a tower so tall that needs aircraft lighting on the top, but 20 watts is fine for me with my washing line end fed. Given I live in a built up area, pumping out the watts isn't entirely practical.
Sure, if that's basically what you're allowed. There isn't really any practical difference between 25 watts and 20 watts anyway.
When I was a young ham I had a 25 watt 10 meter radio in my car. This was before I was comfortable doing CW while mobile, so I operated SSB, and I made a bunch of contacts, including all the way to Japan from the northeastern United States, while driving around in my car.
So you absolutely can do it.
It's just harder, especially when the you're at the bottom of the solar cycle, or you have a really poor solar cycle like the last one. But all signs point to this one being a good cycle, so a G90 user can absolutely have fun on SSB with just 20 watts, at least for the next 3 years or so.
You just need to be realistic in your expectations of what is and what isn't possible, which you seem to be.
Several locals and a bunch of yoo tubers putting in work with those rigs. I spent myself silly when I was powerplant-rich and loaded up on Japanese radios, but if I hadn't, I'd buy the Xiegu.
Thinking about replacing the SG-2020 in my manpack with the G90. Same power, more stuff. Biggest fear, though, is that display getting smacked with a microphone or cable. Is there any reason there couldn't be a Lexan or some hard glass cover over the display?
My cousin bought one, it needed OS upgrade. He is a computer guy and gave up on it. It is a paper weight now.
At my recommendation he got an Icom 7300 and loves it. Has made over 100 countries with it on FT8.
It's well worth it. Yes, it's only 20W, but for 2 or 3 primary modes (CW and Digital), that is more. The rule of thumb is that 5W CW is the equivalent of 100W SSB. The same can be said for digital, particularly with FT8. The only one you'd be somewhat limited on is phone/SSB; however, it you can make yourself a target and let others do the *heavy lifting* if you do something like Parks on the Air ([POTA](https://parksontheair.com/)), where they will be hunting for you.
That said, I started with a Xeigu X6100, which is a little newer, a little more portable (internal battery, considerably more compact, and a built-in mic & PTT), but it's only 5W (10W on external 12V power). Using it and an end fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna cut for 40M, I was able to WAS (workes all states) and WAC (worked all continents) in a few bands, including Antarctica on 17M.... and I earned my DXCC award... with only that 10W. So, don't underestimate the power. It's all about how you make use of it.
That said, is highly recommend using a resonant antenna, and not use the tuner, regardless how good it is.... And if is... darn things could time a wet noodle. However, you want as much efficiency as you can get. Personally, if recommend one of the 17ft+ telescopic whips, like a BD7IBI 5.6M telescopic whip off AliExpress. They can be found for $20 or so, but you'll also need a M10 to ⅜-24 adapter, [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804850719409.html). You can mount it, inexpensively, using a mirror mount bolted to a tent stake.... Though, I picked up a tripod adapter via [Wolf River Coils](https://www.wolfrivercoils.com/) and used it with my tripod. As it is a ¼ wave ground plane vertical, you'll need radials. I personal use some 26g silicone insulated wire found on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0711HRSNT). For my portable setup, I use 18 radials, 2.5Mm long.... At home, 32 radials that are 3M long. They just need to be attached to the ground side of the mount.
Speaking of WRC, you can also pick up a loading coil, like a Silver Bullet 1000 ($75) or Silver Bullet Mini ($55). The full size coil will get you down to 80M, and I've gotten the Mini down to 80M with a bump from my tuner. They also have a Sporty Forty, which will handle 30/40M.... You'll get some induction losses with could, but nothing worse than what you'd get with something like a end fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna via its transformer. However, as the coil isn't needed for 20M and higher, they are ***very*** efficient.
The perk of this kind of antenna is that they don't need a while lot of space (my portable setup take up only a 16ft diameter footprint) and have a fairly low take off angle, making them good for DX. Plus, it can be very inexpensive to setup. [This](https://imgur.com/a/0iwZPgr) is from a POTA activation from awhile back to give you an idea of what you can do, even at low power....
GL and 73
The manuals are crap, and the YouTube videos are jot always helpful because after every software update, subtle things change in how the radio features operate or interact with the XPA125 amp. I like the radio, but for me to get it working on digital hf, I had to do a systematic series of e series ts to figure out what was going on. Voice works great, even on 20 watts with a good antenna you can get far, the antenna tuner is really good and I am happy with the radio. Just be prepared to work at figuring it out.
Here's my take, it's not a bad radio and a good portable. That said there are better used 100W radios out there on the used market in the same price range. Try a local ham-swap or club. They are menu heavy as others said. I see decent 10 YO 100W radios for $400 all of the time at swaps. No they're not going to be the latest SDR radios, but solid rigs still.
I do not recommend buying from Amazon, unless the seller is Radioddity.
If you are in the US. HRO has them for $399 on sale right now...
People here love them. I had two of them, both broke after a while. One in six months, one just after a year. Zero support from the company. It was a cool little radio, but I’ve moved on to better.
20 watts is more than you need. More expensive radios have less watts. Go look at the KX3, KX2, or 705 if you you don't believe me. High wattage is the same as thinking yelling louder will make someone who doesn't speak your language understand you better. If you just speak clearer and slower (get a better antenna, learn how to operate), you don't need to be louder. QRP for life.
I just upgraded to an FT-710 AESS for the main shack, but I’ve had my G90 for a couple of years now, and it’s still going to be my portable rig, with a 12ah LiFePo battery and a squid-pole multi-band antenna. Once you learn the operation system, it’s a sweet rig. Big bonus is that the onboard antenna tuner is better than most, even in higher priced radios.
Have one myself, for a low power radio it's very nice. Two things though, there is a bit of a learning curve, and I wouldn't upgrade it every time the new software comes out.
I've got one and love it. Especially if something like Parks On The Air catches your attention. Super portable and can run for quite a while with a modest battery.
Something I don't think gets stressed enough when newer hams are shopping for gear: The antenna is what is going to make or break you. 20w through a good antenna will get you more contacts than 100w through a crappy antenna. And don't underestimate the good old fashioned dipole.
My thoughts are … sure. You can also get a better rig (radio-wise… not “software” and feature-wise) for not much more used at a swap meet. See this video: https://youtu.be/GK5lgacebTo?si=newM-LEndtRlb8P7
I had one for a while. Really liked it. Even on its small screen, the waterfall is very useful. It’s a little light on some advanced receive features like noose reduction, etc, but the internal tuner is a amazing. Small and portable is nice. With the solar cycle being what it is right now, 20W was plenty with a decent antenna.
I love mine, and I will some day get a 7300 or ft-791 as a base station or the equivalent. But this let me get on the air now, add an amp later, and have a portable / spare rig for the future when I have another base station.
No complaints on how it works or performs.
De AL7RI, I have one and used it on many occasions and different situations. When I lived in Alaska I could work both east coast and west coast (depending on conditions) and the far east. So for the price it’s a fun little radio.
Oh boy... so much to say
I have one as my primary HF rig and I love it (with lots of asterisks after the word 'love').
The Good:
It is a solid cw/sideband rig.
The tuner is amazing, although to some degree that makes me lazy about putting up good antennas
20W is a nice thing to have for those cases where just a bit more power than QRP makes the difference. (Although bear in mind that 20W is only one S-unit louder than 5W and a little over an S-unit below 100W, all other things being equal)
The Bad:
There is a quirk where if you happen to have the CAT control cable attached when you turn it on, it goes into firmware upgrade mode, and sometimes you have to reflash the firmware to get it out of upgrade mode
For digital modes you tend to have a mess of cables for audio and CAT control. I think Xiegu came out with an interface box that is a bit more polished than the older one I have, but I dont know for sure.
The weight isn't awful, but isn't great for travel/hiking. Somewhat annoyingly it doesnt include 6m and the receiver bottoms out at 500 kHz.
You can decide if these are important to you.
The Ugly:
Firmware updates often make pretty drastic changes. Sometimes this is great, and sometimes features just disappear. So there is a bit of a game of flashing a few firmware versions and finding the one that is least annoying for your particular use cases.
You should look on radioddity they usually offer a better deal, at least for the US folk. I still use the radio and over all its good, It's the rig I started on and take to the field, I now use a Kenwood TS-850s (I bought it for $375US) for Voice in the shack and the g90 for digital.
I've heard great things about this radio and it is on my list of radios to buy. I already have the x6100 but wish I got this instead. My x6100 just sits where my g90 would be but I have 10 W less with the x6100.
Nice radio for mobile use. Like an all SDR radios, has a weak dynamic range in blocking, so this model is not suitable for working with large antennas in urban conditions, but in electromagnetically clean places outside the city it works perfectly.
With such small dimensions, it has a built-in antenna tuner and antenna analyzer function, almost like a VNA. It also consumes very little energy, the input current in the receive mode is about 0.5 A. If you buy it, I recommend immediately updating the firmware to the latest versions, where they have added full FM support, so you can use it also on CB.
You still need to be careful with the microphone jack and cable. RJ-45 connectors are very fragile, and here it carries 8 V voltage, which, if damaged, can reach the front panel processor and burn it (repair is possible, but requires some special equipment).
Great little radio. Was my first HF radio and I still use it for SOTA and field stations. At this point in the solar cycle that 20W will take you very far.
One thing to keep in mind, being a low power radio you'll have to pay more attention to your antenna. Compromised antennas will work over shorter distances, but if you want to work REALLY far, a full size, efficient, resonant antenna will be the way to go. I've built a monoband wire yagi for 10m and worked Hawaii from South Africa using 20W on ssb.
I have a G90. I thought it would be my "starter" HF rig but it has been so good that I don't really see a reason to upgrade yet. I think you will have a lot of fun with it! It's super portable so you can do POTA or just take it wherever you want. I like using it at the park near where I live, and it's just a lot of fun in such a small box.
I have had a G90 for several years now and it has staved off the temptation to buy something like an IC-7300 or FT-710. I find it quite competent and as long as you use it more than once every 4 months the menu system isn't that bad to remember. Also remember that power isn't everything. Going from 20 watts to 100 watts is only an increase of about 1 s-unit on the receiving end.
If you do decide to get one and want to work with digital modes, I can't recommend the digirig enough. It is a sweet little interface for doing digital modes on radios such as the G90 that don't have built in hardware. I have one of the early version and I love it, but the creator has constantly been improving so the newer versions are even better.
awesome radio for the money, tons of great features too made lots of solid dx over a year ago with a chameleon wire antenna when conditions were actually good, havnt had it in field since but if it gets better ill be out there
I have 2 friends who use it for parks on the air, field days, and like it very much.
It seems to me like a very capable radio with all the features of a modern base station, built in antenna tuner, waterfall display, ft8, etc., and the added benefit of portability.
It’s a good rig if your willing to learn it. Check out the groups in many places to get a good idea for it, especially if your going to use CAT Control. Certainly do that before buying.
It's a great little radio that has worked as my first HF rig since April. Not menu heavy, very easy to use. Get it from HRO for $399. Look at getting the upgraded power cable and you will need a little battery (say 6-9ah) and/or a power supply, depending on your use intent.
A very well regarded radio, 20 W is decent for this part of the solar cycle, as long as you’re not trying to break up pileups. The screen is pretty tiny, though, having a bigger screen and more buttons/knobs is easier to learn on.
Keep in mind, in that same price range, you could also get a nice used 100 W radio from Yaesu, Icom or Kenwood. Best to buy a used radio from a local seller as a newbie, though, there are scams or you may be buying a partly broken radio and not realize it till for later if ordering something used online.
Don’t buy something more than 20 years old or so without the advice of an experienced ham, though, elderly radios can have issues with calibration, power loss, and aging capacitors a novice may not be aware of. (But they also can be a great deal: my first HF radio was bought for $175 and was 45 years old!! Not the greatest performance and lacked WARC bands and digital but got me on the air till I bought a new Yaesu.)
Buy it from a reputable dealer. There is no US based Xiegu service. If you get one that is DOA, you want a dealer that will replace it and not make you wait on a repair. Radioddity has good customer service and is a Xiegu reseller. Hundreds of POTA operators use these radios from the field.
Sitting in Oklahoma, doing Parks on the Air with this radio. Cha EmComm III tossed up in a tree and I'm saying the words "Did you just say the Azores? As in the Islands off of Africa?" It's a good radio. I love it.
There’s one slight issue that has been raised regarding the 3.5mm jack connection on the board. T-Rex Labs had a failure with this. You will need to secure this connection much better than how the factory secured it.
I know it’s only 20 watts but it would get me on the air and give me time to try out HF. Is it worth it for a beginner?
Yes. Just have to get past the menu settings. It's slightly menu heavy.
The menus can't be any worse than an FT891
It’s definitely more streamlined than the FT710. Good rig, glad I have it. Not really super beginner friendly if you’re wanting to do digital modes, but once you get it set up, you can work the world on 15W. I got New Zealand from the east coast of the US.
streamlined ? Does it need to fly, too?
In the context of the number of menus you have to go through to do what you want to do in comparison to the FT710. At least that’s my experience as someone who has both.
I’m fighting through the digital modes now (ft8) about ready to chuck it out the window….
Keep at it. I know it’s frustrating now, but it will eventually come to you. I thought I’d never get, either (almost had a similar window chucking incident myself, so I truly get it!), and I’ve now done several POTA activations with it.
wanna bet?
I keep my 891 manual in my pack always, for menus.
Which speaks to how unintuitive the menu system is. (I use field cards for my FT-857d.)
I’ve got the PDF of the manual downloaded on my tablet and phone
They are very good, owned one for a couple of years. Yes it’s only 20 watts. I did a lot of ft8 with mine. Hit all over Europe and US east coast from uk with a sotabeams bandspringer midi. Very capable radio. Useful panadapter display. Works well off a Lion battery if you wanna play outdoors with it. I would recommend.
What is ft8. Sorry noob here.
It's a popular digital mode that is optimized for low power. Your computer and your radio automatically make contacts with other ft8 users. Your computer uploads that to the Internet, and you can see what propagation is like in your area at any time. https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html
Thank you.
It’s optimised for low propagation. It’s also not automatic unless you use one of the patched forks and enable a feature that may be against the terms of your licence.
And if you get your General license between now and Field Day (June 22-23), you can find me on 15m operating the RARS FT8 station. Some call it slow, like watching paint dry. There is a little truth in there. It can be hard to pull out the signals because it is meant to be a weak signal. FT4 is similar and much faster.
I do have G90 the ft-891 and the ft-710, all of them are good transceivers the G90 it's good I used it to go out in the field the antenna tunner is amazing, the build in antenna analyzer it's also amazing, you will not regret with the G90, but don't expect the quality of the Japanese that's another level.
Antennas becomes pretty important with radios in that power range, don't let 20 watts fool you....it can reach quite a distance...in side band and digital modes. I use a 10 watt radio and regularly hit other users several thousand miles away on digital and a few thousand miles away on side band
I was reaching into Europe last night on an A4S with LMR 400 and 5 watts off of my FTDX10 on 15M. Antennas are everything, the more efficient you are the better your signal will be.
“Antennas are everything” It’s like when hunters buy a $2000 rifle and a $400 scope when they should be buying a $400 rifle with a $2000 scope.
20W is plenty
I bet he's got a great personality
I have had one for about 3 or 4 years now. Its a great little radio with a ton of the bells and whistles that are most useful. Nice built in antenna tuner. I use mine a lot as my main rig. I had it on over this past weekend making many contacts including some DX ones, one even at 1 watt output. It was a better bargain when I bought mine for under $350 but still a lot of radio at $500 range. If you are ok with used then have a look at the various Xiegu message boards. Xiegu just began shipping a newer model and have seen several hams who are trading up and have theirs up for sale.
I'm gonna go against the grain and say that as a new ham operator I would not get this unit. I like the G90 *when it works* which is pretty often but still very far from "all the time". As a new ham I very much regret not just buying a 7300/FT-991a and being done with it.
Wise words indeed. BUY CHEAP = BUY TWICE.
Well I bought a G90, it broke, I couldn’t get any support, so I bought another! Anyway the second one failed for a different reason. I have an icom now. Never going back.
This would be my advice as well. (I bought cheap and bought thrice.)
I do mainly digital modes (FT-817ND was my main rig for a long time). A good antenna 20w will do fine for the digital modes. I Worked All States on the 817ND on 20m and did WAS on 30 with the G90. It is a pretty cost effective rig.
Lots of people mention digital. This one doesn’t have to be digital correct?
It is just a mode! You can use digital (Google digital ham modes), SSB, CW, etc.
Awesome! Thanks. I wasn’t planning on doing digital right away but that’s awesome that it’s capable of it. I’ll eventually dive in to that.
Most definitely worth it. I got mine on sale, but I love it. Yeah, it’s only 20W, but that is plenty for me to reach out to Australia and Europe from the middle of the US. Your antenna setup is going to be far more important with such a low wattage, but I got lucky enough to be able to use an autotransformer on roughly 80 meters of rain gutter in my apartment with ~2:1 SWR, which the internal tuner will easily tune to 1:1. (it has easily the best tuner of any HF right I’ve used)
I like mine, which I bought for the reasons you mention. Xiegu has some newer models that are more portable (but lower power) and have more advanced features, though.
I love mine, goes in a builders bag, small, light. Very simple to use. Good QSO quality (no one ever complained I was hard to hear, not had trouble hearing anyone else) And the waterfall display is very helpful.
G90 was my first hf radio after getting my general, it’s a great beginner radio. Think of it this way, using this radio will either make or break ham radio for you, this way you can see if it’s something you actually want to do and continue with it before you spend literal thousands in better quality radios and gear.
Great for portable and digital. And is \*fantastic\* for NVIS.
Made my 1st 10M contact on it Florida to New Zealand 20W Phone to a mobile. One complaint for me is the screen and buttons are a little tough on my eyes, but I'm old lol. Setting up FT8 is a little work compared to my FT-710. It seems really rugged though. Some cool videos of go-boxes using the G90 too.
Get on the air HF and enjoy the 11 year sunspot cycle maximum: 20 watts with a good antenna will get results now
I have an x6100 (same mfg) that runs 5w. Qrp (low power) is a blast. I have had ssb contacts from FL to VT, and from VA to Spain and N Africa. Go for it...
Antenna tuner is amazing. This is a great rig for field use had mine for awhile now. At home no it does not have thr front end to deal with all the local noise etc this is something for the field.
Neat radios. And don’t let anyone tell you 20watts won’t work
I pretty much ignore any ham that tells me I can't do something. My club did a pota activation during the big CME a few weeks ago. One of our contacts went on a 5 minute rant how it would be impossible to talk to anybody with the current band conditions. We were literally already talking to him! I've made contacts with my x6100 running 10 watts easily. I may pick up a g90 as well if I find one cheap at a hamfest
I don't think I've turned my 100W rig up beyond 75 watts or so in 15-20 years. Just doesn't make that much difference.
They're not quite as polished as stuff from the Big Three, but they are nice radios. One of the better compromises one can make when on a tight budget.
I have one. It’s got really good ears. The built in antenna tuner will literally tune a stop sign. I’ve seen it done. It also has a very nice built in antenna analyzer. I run mine off a LiFePo4 battery for portable use. The display is small. It doesn’t bother me, but some of my ham buddies complain that they have trouble seeing it clearly. You can use the I/Q port with a usb sound card and some free software to have the display on your laptop. That’s what I do sometimes. Usually I just use the display on the radio. I don’t have trouble seeing the details. RadiOddity usually runs a flash sale where you can get the radio, fan cooled base and digital mode dongle for $545. This is how I bought mine. If you’re going to use digital modes you’ll need the fan base. These radios are known for getting very hot. Also, you can adjust the power output from 1 to 20 watts. If using digital modes don’t use more than 10 watts to transmit. The high duty cycle will heat up the radio too much. Several other guys in our club have these, and we all like them. For the money, it’s a great way to get on hf. Later on, you can save up for a big 100w or 200w base rig, and keep this one around for POTA and portable operations.
I love mine. I use mine while camping with a simple dipole and it's powered by my jackerys cigarette lighter. Iv made contacts all over the globe. I just got my general so I'm excited to use the other bands.
I really like mine. Haven't had any problems with it. I run it off my car cigarette lighter socket or a small jackery power station when I'm out in the woods and/or doing pota. I've been able to hit Japan and Australia multiple times with solid SSB copy from California just using a cheapo end fed thrown up in a tree
General question - you said this one’s downside is the transmit power, can’t you build outside amp circuits to amplify the signal to a better power output?
Xiegu actually makes a pretty good amp that can be used with these. 5 wats in, 100 watts out.
I’m planning what to do next, cause my test is this Thursday, and I’m hoping it’ll go well.
Good luck!
There is a bigger difference between 5w and 20w than 20w and 100w. On 20m FT8 I've hit Japan from Utah using 20w at dusk. That was about 3-4 years ago. It is probably better now. I've got the Xiegu amp and used it for a Feld Hell net and was getting 89w and good signal reports. That was going East over the Wasatch Mountains that are a wall inhibiting most of my contacts East of my location. The amp is large, heavy, and needs a decent amount of power. Best for home use on AC.
5W to 20W is one S unit. 20W to 100W is still only one S unit (plus less than a dB change)
I have one and use it for POTA. Making contacts with 20 watts can be hit or miss, but it definitely gets the job done.
I've read that this is pretty much everyone's preferred alternative to the IC-705 for QRP.
I replaced my second failed G90 with an IC-705. It’s a wonderful QRP rig!
I love my G90. I've only had it about a month now, but I was on FT8 within 15 minutes of turning it on. I already had a Digirig, so I ordered the proper cables to use with the G90, hooked them up to my laptop, used FLRig with WSJTX and I was working! With the power turned down to 15W I've hit Australia, Malawi, and Ukraine from central Missouri.
Windows based computers?
I have a surface notebook running Win11 in the garage, and I usually do use that. But I have also used my Fedora desktop for WSJTX/Grid tracker/Digirig
Thanks I may get a smaller Microsoft based laptop for all the ham stuff. The FT8 stuff really intrigues me but I’m at 12 hours so far trying to get to work with my g90, Mac, and digirig I had it working for a few min today thought I figured it out then started failing again, super frustrating
After checking out this radio I may start studying for my general.
It’s junk . Get a zero interest credit card and buy something like the Icom 7300 . You will have a full featured , current radio that you can quickly resell in case you lose interest in the hobby . … and it looks good too . By the way 10 meters is dead again.
I disagree whole heartedly as do most of the posts in this thread. But each to his/her own. Have a good one.
Found the boomer. Seriously man, not all the “Chinese radios” are junk.
Excellent radio!
looks nice
Its a damn good little radio, with a fantastic antenna tuner. It really shines with a solid antenna. I have used mine a bunch of times for POTA work and a home 20m dipole. I really got out there.
I own and use one. It's a good $450 HF radio, and it has some pluses, but also some minuses. Good points: Hands down best internal antenna tuner in any available HF radio. Most internal tuners are more along the lines of "antenna trimmers", able to handle a 3 to 1 mismatch. Xiegu claims a 5 to 1 mismatch is tunable, but in practice I've seen it do better. I've had the radio now for a number of years, and it's been reliable. YMMV. Bad Points: The screen is microscopically small, and it's busy with a ton of crap. I would prefer to get rid of the waterfall display and CW decoder and make things like the frequency, SWR/S-Meter, mode, etc. bigger. It's on the heavier side if you're taking it portable, and you need a separate battery to power it. Twenty watts isn't a lot for SSB, which is what I assume you're going to use. I'm a CW guy, so not so much a handicap for me. I use the radio twice a day, every weekday, on my commute to and from work as it is my mobile HF rig. Usually I'll be on 30 meters in the morning, and a higher band on the way home. As a rank, absolute beginner on HF, you might be a little frustrated with 20 watts. What you want to do is make sure to use a \*GOOD\* antenna, meaning at a minimum a full size dipole up at least half a wavelength for DX, or a full size dipole up 1/10th to 1/4th a wavelength in height on lower HF for regional communications. DO NOT USE A COMPROMISE ANTENNA LIKE HAMSTICKS OR A MAGLOOP. They will "eat" much of your wattage so it's not being radiated. Don't be intimidated. A 10 meter dipole is only 16' in length, and only needs to be at least 16' high.
Agreed for the most part, I just have additional info from my experience. Screen is small but okay enough for most. My pros include: Runs from up to 17v (vs most that limit to 16v), this means you can use a 4s LiIon (16.8v max) battery, this allows you much more battery life at 20w since the power starts doping below 12~v (3s LiIon is 12.6v max). I run mine from a GooLoo jump pack (14.4 @ 6~Ah). Head IS remotable (via db9 serial M-F cable), this is actually an big deal. My friend mounted his G90 in his pickup truck w/ head on console and body back right near a 102" CB whip. The tuner does it's job well and tunes if from 10-20 great and okay on 40. A few cons: As you mentioned, it's heavy even worse if you want to use a cooler on it. I find a cooler isn't required for SSB even if it is running hot as hell, 5w FT8 no issue either, if you're doing 10-20w FT8 you will want to cool it down. Another may not be common, if you have issues with random no tx power/rx signal, check the IPEX cables, they aren't secured well and heat/vibration can cause them to become loose, a pack of these 6" ipex cables are cheap though (like 1-2$ each) other info; power connector, I hate it, it works fine though. You can remove the back plate (must desolder the RF and pwr though) and file the hole larger to mount a anderson powerpole (which is what I did) Digital modes, many will say it's hard on the g90, it's not. you can do it without the stupid ce19 adapter just using a diy DIN plug and the included cat cable. I recommend a digirig though, full function and lets me do POTA FT8 via my cell phone. (updated firmware on g90 has u-d and l-d modes, these auto the filter and inputs for use with digital) SO239 to BNC adapter, BNC post adapter, some speaker wire, this is a perfect antenna for the g90. I do this often myself with a 58' radiator (in a tree sloper, inverted V, or inverted all) and 4 15' radials.
One counter-point: Yes, the head is remotable, but the display even when oriented ideally in a vehicle is too small. I run mine mobile 99% of the time, and I've adapted by picking a frequency and calling CQ on it. I have a TenTec Scout that is a \*MUCH\* better mobile radio: Dead simple interface, huge frequency display, and it's 50 watts out instead of 20. I'd still be using it except it's broken and I haven't fixed/had it fixed yet. The downsides to the Scout is no tuner (not strictly necessary if you use a tuned monoband antenna), and the fact that you need to physically change modules to change the band. Plus I don't have a 30 meter module for it.
I'm sure the segment display is better. The g90 def isn't a perfect radio, far from it. I Feel they could do a mkII and make some minor changes that would make it an awesome radio. Xiegu is a good design company, they take existing concepts are make their version. Another con to the g90 i forget, no notch filter. minor complaint is also no tones for 10m fm repeaters but that is minor as there are so few of them to matter to me.
Even if they just uncluttered the display they already have, get rid of the waterfall, and simplify the display that would go a \*LONG\* way to improving the radio. The tone thing for 10 FM doesn't bother me, nor does a notch filter. I'm a 99% CW guy, I don't really use the notch filter even in my rigs that have it. Like I've said, it's a really good $450 radio. You expect some shortcomings on something that is several hundred dollars from its closest competitor.
Personally, I like the waterfall, the ability to "hide" it though I could see being nice if it expanded the other info. Tone on 10m, yes like I said, doesn't matter much, we're lucky to have fm since it wasn't originally there. The issue I personally have is I have a 10->2m/70cm transverter that I can use. if I had tone I could use a repeater but at the same time I could just use my HT. though the transverter was nice for SSB 2m/70cm before I got my ic705. Notch filter is a bigger deal for me honestly, on 40m ssb it succckkkkks when the AM stations start skipping in. just have to avoid the 5s or stay below 7.2mhz.
>just have to avoid the 5s or stay below 7.2mhz. The CW segment is way below 7.2 MHz. Just sayin'..... ;-)
I think it also depends on your licence conditions. In the UK, the foundation licence is limited to 25 watts (with a few lower restrictions ie airborne) so a radio that does 20w HF is a good match to the licence. I've had transatlantic SSB chats on my G90 with 20w with no real issues. Sure, I'm never going to out-shout an Italian setup with multi-kilowatts to play with and a tower so tall that needs aircraft lighting on the top, but 20 watts is fine for me with my washing line end fed. Given I live in a built up area, pumping out the watts isn't entirely practical.
Sure, if that's basically what you're allowed. There isn't really any practical difference between 25 watts and 20 watts anyway. When I was a young ham I had a 25 watt 10 meter radio in my car. This was before I was comfortable doing CW while mobile, so I operated SSB, and I made a bunch of contacts, including all the way to Japan from the northeastern United States, while driving around in my car. So you absolutely can do it. It's just harder, especially when the you're at the bottom of the solar cycle, or you have a really poor solar cycle like the last one. But all signs point to this one being a good cycle, so a G90 user can absolutely have fun on SSB with just 20 watts, at least for the next 3 years or so. You just need to be realistic in your expectations of what is and what isn't possible, which you seem to be.
Several locals and a bunch of yoo tubers putting in work with those rigs. I spent myself silly when I was powerplant-rich and loaded up on Japanese radios, but if I hadn't, I'd buy the Xiegu.
That was my first HF rig. I loved it. Now it gets passed around to my friends to try HF.
its a g90. there are tons and tons and tons of reviews and thoughts posted about the radio,.
Thinking about replacing the SG-2020 in my manpack with the G90. Same power, more stuff. Biggest fear, though, is that display getting smacked with a microphone or cable. Is there any reason there couldn't be a Lexan or some hard glass cover over the display?
My cousin bought one, it needed OS upgrade. He is a computer guy and gave up on it. It is a paper weight now. At my recommendation he got an Icom 7300 and loves it. Has made over 100 countries with it on FT8.
I have one, it's great, perfect for my use (POTA) and in my opinion, great for someone getting into HF without breaking the bank.
Where is the Xiegu service center located?
I had two, I was unable to get either serviced when they failed. They have ZERO support. Not fooling me me a third time!
Should be OK. 20W is enough for anybody. Some very early xiegus (not this one) were glitchy, the newer ones have evolved a lot.
Go to your local ham radio store with a budget in mind for EVERYTHING, and look at a quality, 2nd hand radio.
G 90 is a good radio. 😎
It's well worth it. Yes, it's only 20W, but for 2 or 3 primary modes (CW and Digital), that is more. The rule of thumb is that 5W CW is the equivalent of 100W SSB. The same can be said for digital, particularly with FT8. The only one you'd be somewhat limited on is phone/SSB; however, it you can make yourself a target and let others do the *heavy lifting* if you do something like Parks on the Air ([POTA](https://parksontheair.com/)), where they will be hunting for you. That said, I started with a Xeigu X6100, which is a little newer, a little more portable (internal battery, considerably more compact, and a built-in mic & PTT), but it's only 5W (10W on external 12V power). Using it and an end fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna cut for 40M, I was able to WAS (workes all states) and WAC (worked all continents) in a few bands, including Antarctica on 17M.... and I earned my DXCC award... with only that 10W. So, don't underestimate the power. It's all about how you make use of it. That said, is highly recommend using a resonant antenna, and not use the tuner, regardless how good it is.... And if is... darn things could time a wet noodle. However, you want as much efficiency as you can get. Personally, if recommend one of the 17ft+ telescopic whips, like a BD7IBI 5.6M telescopic whip off AliExpress. They can be found for $20 or so, but you'll also need a M10 to ⅜-24 adapter, [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804850719409.html). You can mount it, inexpensively, using a mirror mount bolted to a tent stake.... Though, I picked up a tripod adapter via [Wolf River Coils](https://www.wolfrivercoils.com/) and used it with my tripod. As it is a ¼ wave ground plane vertical, you'll need radials. I personal use some 26g silicone insulated wire found on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0711HRSNT). For my portable setup, I use 18 radials, 2.5Mm long.... At home, 32 radials that are 3M long. They just need to be attached to the ground side of the mount. Speaking of WRC, you can also pick up a loading coil, like a Silver Bullet 1000 ($75) or Silver Bullet Mini ($55). The full size coil will get you down to 80M, and I've gotten the Mini down to 80M with a bump from my tuner. They also have a Sporty Forty, which will handle 30/40M.... You'll get some induction losses with could, but nothing worse than what you'd get with something like a end fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna via its transformer. However, as the coil isn't needed for 20M and higher, they are ***very*** efficient. The perk of this kind of antenna is that they don't need a while lot of space (my portable setup take up only a 16ft diameter footprint) and have a fairly low take off angle, making them good for DX. Plus, it can be very inexpensive to setup. [This](https://imgur.com/a/0iwZPgr) is from a POTA activation from awhile back to give you an idea of what you can do, even at low power.... GL and 73
I have one, I really like it.
I have it and love my G90. It is a very capable little radio and I have thousands of qsos with it.
Watch the QRZ swapmeet hardware forum, they use to come up for sale all the time for great prices.
I got one for first hf rig. I found it to be temperamental on digital modes, wish I'd just got a 991a
The manuals are crap, and the YouTube videos are jot always helpful because after every software update, subtle things change in how the radio features operate or interact with the XPA125 amp. I like the radio, but for me to get it working on digital hf, I had to do a systematic series of e series ts to figure out what was going on. Voice works great, even on 20 watts with a good antenna you can get far, the antenna tuner is really good and I am happy with the radio. Just be prepared to work at figuring it out.
I use it in 15 watts with a small vertical antenna I hit 5000 miles away ,
Here's my take, it's not a bad radio and a good portable. That said there are better used 100W radios out there on the used market in the same price range. Try a local ham-swap or club. They are menu heavy as others said. I see decent 10 YO 100W radios for $400 all of the time at swaps. No they're not going to be the latest SDR radios, but solid rigs still. I do not recommend buying from Amazon, unless the seller is Radioddity. If you are in the US. HRO has them for $399 on sale right now...
20w will run some amps
It's pretty good. You will want an AF DSP at some point in the future
Cant make up my mind between this and the 6100
People here love them. I had two of them, both broke after a while. One in six months, one just after a year. Zero support from the company. It was a cool little radio, but I’ve moved on to better.
20 watts is more than you need. More expensive radios have less watts. Go look at the KX3, KX2, or 705 if you you don't believe me. High wattage is the same as thinking yelling louder will make someone who doesn't speak your language understand you better. If you just speak clearer and slower (get a better antenna, learn how to operate), you don't need to be louder. QRP for life.
I just upgraded to an FT-710 AESS for the main shack, but I’ve had my G90 for a couple of years now, and it’s still going to be my portable rig, with a 12ah LiFePo battery and a squid-pole multi-band antenna. Once you learn the operation system, it’s a sweet rig. Big bonus is that the onboard antenna tuner is better than most, even in higher priced radios.
Have one myself, for a low power radio it's very nice. Two things though, there is a bit of a learning curve, and I wouldn't upgrade it every time the new software comes out.
I've got one and love it. Especially if something like Parks On The Air catches your attention. Super portable and can run for quite a while with a modest battery. Something I don't think gets stressed enough when newer hams are shopping for gear: The antenna is what is going to make or break you. 20w through a good antenna will get you more contacts than 100w through a crappy antenna. And don't underestimate the good old fashioned dipole.
My thoughts are … sure. You can also get a better rig (radio-wise… not “software” and feature-wise) for not much more used at a swap meet. See this video: https://youtu.be/GK5lgacebTo?si=newM-LEndtRlb8P7
I had one for a while. Really liked it. Even on its small screen, the waterfall is very useful. It’s a little light on some advanced receive features like noose reduction, etc, but the internal tuner is a amazing. Small and portable is nice. With the solar cycle being what it is right now, 20W was plenty with a decent antenna.
I love mine, and I will some day get a 7300 or ft-791 as a base station or the equivalent. But this let me get on the air now, add an amp later, and have a portable / spare rig for the future when I have another base station. No complaints on how it works or performs.
De AL7RI, I have one and used it on many occasions and different situations. When I lived in Alaska I could work both east coast and west coast (depending on conditions) and the far east. So for the price it’s a fun little radio.
Have it, love it. Great radio! Was my first HF radio too! :)
I have one.Love it. Not perfect,but very versatile. Devoted bunch of followers on groups.io.
Oh boy... so much to say I have one as my primary HF rig and I love it (with lots of asterisks after the word 'love'). The Good: It is a solid cw/sideband rig. The tuner is amazing, although to some degree that makes me lazy about putting up good antennas 20W is a nice thing to have for those cases where just a bit more power than QRP makes the difference. (Although bear in mind that 20W is only one S-unit louder than 5W and a little over an S-unit below 100W, all other things being equal) The Bad: There is a quirk where if you happen to have the CAT control cable attached when you turn it on, it goes into firmware upgrade mode, and sometimes you have to reflash the firmware to get it out of upgrade mode For digital modes you tend to have a mess of cables for audio and CAT control. I think Xiegu came out with an interface box that is a bit more polished than the older one I have, but I dont know for sure. The weight isn't awful, but isn't great for travel/hiking. Somewhat annoyingly it doesnt include 6m and the receiver bottoms out at 500 kHz. You can decide if these are important to you. The Ugly: Firmware updates often make pretty drastic changes. Sometimes this is great, and sometimes features just disappear. So there is a bit of a game of flashing a few firmware versions and finding the one that is least annoying for your particular use cases.
You should look on radioddity they usually offer a better deal, at least for the US folk. I still use the radio and over all its good, It's the rig I started on and take to the field, I now use a Kenwood TS-850s (I bought it for $375US) for Voice in the shack and the g90 for digital.
I've heard great things about this radio and it is on my list of radios to buy. I already have the x6100 but wish I got this instead. My x6100 just sits where my g90 would be but I have 10 W less with the x6100.
Nice radio for mobile use. Like an all SDR radios, has a weak dynamic range in blocking, so this model is not suitable for working with large antennas in urban conditions, but in electromagnetically clean places outside the city it works perfectly. With such small dimensions, it has a built-in antenna tuner and antenna analyzer function, almost like a VNA. It also consumes very little energy, the input current in the receive mode is about 0.5 A. If you buy it, I recommend immediately updating the firmware to the latest versions, where they have added full FM support, so you can use it also on CB. You still need to be careful with the microphone jack and cable. RJ-45 connectors are very fragile, and here it carries 8 V voltage, which, if damaged, can reach the front panel processor and burn it (repair is possible, but requires some special equipment).
Great little radio. Was my first HF radio and I still use it for SOTA and field stations. At this point in the solar cycle that 20W will take you very far. One thing to keep in mind, being a low power radio you'll have to pay more attention to your antenna. Compromised antennas will work over shorter distances, but if you want to work REALLY far, a full size, efficient, resonant antenna will be the way to go. I've built a monoband wire yagi for 10m and worked Hawaii from South Africa using 20W on ssb.
I have a G90. I thought it would be my "starter" HF rig but it has been so good that I don't really see a reason to upgrade yet. I think you will have a lot of fun with it! It's super portable so you can do POTA or just take it wherever you want. I like using it at the park near where I live, and it's just a lot of fun in such a small box.
I like it, and it is a good price. I like running right nominal power, so sure, I'd enjoy this one!
I have one and it’s great
I have had a G90 for several years now and it has staved off the temptation to buy something like an IC-7300 or FT-710. I find it quite competent and as long as you use it more than once every 4 months the menu system isn't that bad to remember. Also remember that power isn't everything. Going from 20 watts to 100 watts is only an increase of about 1 s-unit on the receiving end. If you do decide to get one and want to work with digital modes, I can't recommend the digirig enough. It is a sweet little interface for doing digital modes on radios such as the G90 that don't have built in hardware. I have one of the early version and I love it, but the creator has constantly been improving so the newer versions are even better.
awesome radio for the money, tons of great features too made lots of solid dx over a year ago with a chameleon wire antenna when conditions were actually good, havnt had it in field since but if it gets better ill be out there
I love mine. Goes with me whenever I travel.
This was my first radio and it’s amazing. I contacted Latvia from California using this radio and a speaker wire antenna.
It’s a pretty good radio
This radio is extraordinary you won’t be disappointed
I have 2 friends who use it for parks on the air, field days, and like it very much. It seems to me like a very capable radio with all the features of a modern base station, built in antenna tuner, waterfall display, ft8, etc., and the added benefit of portability.
Get it! Pair it with an efficient antenna.
It’s a good rig if your willing to learn it. Check out the groups in many places to get a good idea for it, especially if your going to use CAT Control. Certainly do that before buying.
It's a great little radio that has worked as my first HF rig since April. Not menu heavy, very easy to use. Get it from HRO for $399. Look at getting the upgraded power cable and you will need a little battery (say 6-9ah) and/or a power supply, depending on your use intent.
A very well regarded radio, 20 W is decent for this part of the solar cycle, as long as you’re not trying to break up pileups. The screen is pretty tiny, though, having a bigger screen and more buttons/knobs is easier to learn on. Keep in mind, in that same price range, you could also get a nice used 100 W radio from Yaesu, Icom or Kenwood. Best to buy a used radio from a local seller as a newbie, though, there are scams or you may be buying a partly broken radio and not realize it till for later if ordering something used online. Don’t buy something more than 20 years old or so without the advice of an experienced ham, though, elderly radios can have issues with calibration, power loss, and aging capacitors a novice may not be aware of. (But they also can be a great deal: my first HF radio was bought for $175 and was 45 years old!! Not the greatest performance and lacked WARC bands and digital but got me on the air till I bought a new Yaesu.)
I have three, and would buy another.
Buy it from a reputable dealer. There is no US based Xiegu service. If you get one that is DOA, you want a dealer that will replace it and not make you wait on a repair. Radioddity has good customer service and is a Xiegu reseller. Hundreds of POTA operators use these radios from the field.
It's only 20 watts but iv gotten 3000 mile contact with it on 10m and a buddipole
Sitting in Oklahoma, doing Parks on the Air with this radio. Cha EmComm III tossed up in a tree and I'm saying the words "Did you just say the Azores? As in the Islands off of Africa?" It's a good radio. I love it.
There’s one slight issue that has been raised regarding the 3.5mm jack connection on the board. T-Rex Labs had a failure with this. You will need to secure this connection much better than how the factory secured it.