XIEGU G90 CHEAT SHEET
This cheat sheet is intended to augment the current G90 user manual (and there are several versions) and reflects the G90's functionality with version ‘V1.75 Final' of its firmware. Use the first column to look up the various G90 controls or buttons. Use the second column to look up the G90 supported functions (i.e. RF Gain, VOX, etc.). Also, see the release notes at the very end to get an idea when various features first appeared in the G90 firmware. 9/15/20 KE8WO
Controls and Functions
CONTROLS AND BUTTONS | SUPPORTED FUNCTIONS | NOTES |
---|---|---|
Power Button | Power On or Off Display Off |
|
"Vol" | Audio Output Level |
|
Unmarked Lower Left Rotary Control ('MFC') | MultiFunction Control ('MFC') used for a variety of purposes. DSP Filter Center Frequency and Bandwidth |
|
Right Unmarked Rotary Control ('Tuning') | Set MFC Default Action Tuning Step Size RIT Function |
|
Top 'MODE' and 'BAND' Buttons. | Mode or Band |
|
FUNC Button | Initiate a Second Function for other Buttons or Controls. System Menu |
|
'MW.MC' Button | Factory Reset G90 Store VFO's Frequency To Memory Clear a Memory location |
|
'TUNE' Button | Antenna Tuner |
|
'POW' Button | Output Power Setting SWR Curve Scan |
|
'KEY' Button | CW Configuration |
|
'LOCK' Button | Display's Brightness Lock G90 buttons and controls. |
|
"PRE" Button | Preamplifier and Attenuator |
|
"CMP" Button | Speech Compressor |
|
"NB" Button | Noise Blanker |
|
"AGC" Button | AGC - Automated Gain Control RF Gain |
|
"V/M" Button | 'VFO' mode and "Memory" mode. Power On Call Sign |
|
FUNC Button and then "POW" | Input Source and Mic Gain |
|
FUNC Button and the "KEY" | CW Side Tone Volume and Frequency |
|
FUNC Button and then "LOCK" | FFT Scale and FFT Averaging |
|
ALC Meter | ALC Meter |
|
FUNC Button and then "PRE"/ "ATT" Button | Does nothing | |
FUNC Button and then "CMP"/ "F-L" | Set Lower Limit of the Filter Bandwidth |
|
FUNC Button and then "NB"/ "F-H" | Set Upper Limit of the Filter Bandwidth |
|
FUNC Button and then "AGC"/ "SPL" | Split Frequency Operation |
|
FUNC Button and then press the Volume Control | VOX Configuration |
|
Setup for Digital Modes
Digital modes require that the audio in and audio out signals to and from the G90 is by way of the rear 'ACC' connector.
- Once set up, you may need to adjust 'Aux In' and/or the 'Aux Out' G90 volumes for proper operation.
- You may also need to adjust the PC's audio in and/or audio out levels for proper operation.
- Some PC interfaces, like the SignaLink USB, has controls to ease this.
- In most cases, set up the CAT portion of the digital program being used to specify using the CAT 'PT'T' command to activate the G90's transmit action. Setting up CAT and the G90 for VOX mode is also possible .. But not detailed here.
The G90's side 'CAT' (computer control of the G90) connector and cable implements a subset of the common ICOM CIV communications protocol. The author has had success with these CAT settings far common digital mode programs .. other settings have been found to work by others:
- WSJT-X: Omnirig (Using IC756Pro)
- HDSDR: Omnirig (Using IC756Pro)
- Ham Radio Deluxe: IC7000
- Fldigi: Hamlib & X108G
- Flrig: IC7100 (very noisy on disconnect)
- JS8Call: Omnirig (Using IC756Pro)
- The G90 CAT interface requires a baud rate of 19200 for the computer's serial port.
- See the G90 manual for the ACC port Mini-Din 8 pins. Just three pins are used: Aux AF IN. Aux AF Out and Ground
- See this YouTube video for comprehensive digital mode set up ideas from OH8STN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcHVFRUL4U
Set Audio input as 'Line'
Steps: Press 'FUNC' then 'POW'
- Press 'POW' to display 'Input'. Rotate Main Tuning knob to select 'Line'.
- Press ‘POW' to display 'MIC Gain'. Rotate Main Tuning knob to select desired Mic Gain level 0 to 20. Higher is more gain.
- Press Rotate Main Tuning knob to complete the set up.
Note: Later use these steps to switch Mic back to the handheld Mic as the input to resume voice operations.
Set desired audio 'Aux In Volume'
Steps: Press and hold 'FUNC'
- Press 'V/M' button several times to display ‘5. Aux In Volume'
- Rotate Main Tuning knob to select desired Aux In level 0 to 15. Higher is more gain.
- Press 'CMP' to save the value set
- Press 'AGC' button to exit
Set desired audio 'Aux Out Volume'
Steps: Press and hold 'FUNC'
- Press 'V/M' button several times to display '6. Aux Out Volume'
- Rotate Main Tuning knob to select desired Aux Out level 0 to 15. Higher is more gain.
- Press 'CMP' to save the value set
- Press 'AGC' button to exit
Set 'USB' mode
Repeatedly press one of the top 'Mode' buttons until USB is selected
USB is typically the mode for data communications.
Using the G90 with Digital Modes
Turn off the AGC
Repeatedly press the 'AGC' button until you see a display of 'AGC--'
This is per the recommendations within the WSJT-X user manual: “It is usually best to turn AGC off or reduce the RF gain control to minimize AGC action.” This is likely also a good initial setting for other digital modes. You may need to adjust the RF gain if the audio level seems too loud. You may also need to reduce the AF Out gain setting to avoid over-driving the PC. The different firmware releases acted differently in this regard.
Insure the speech compressor is off
Press the 'CMP' to clear the small microphone icon from the top of the display.
Leaving the compressor on may cause unknown distortions in the data signals being transmitted by the G90.
ALC Meter
Adjust your audio drive signal to achieve an ALC reading in the 95% to 100% range. See the ALC meter item discussed above.
Set up for Using the I/Q Port
The I/Q port data stream may be used to reproduce the G90's spectrum and waterfall on an external PC's larger display...
Notes:
- The I/Q port on the back panel of the G90 provides a low level baseband output centered on the frequency that the G90 is currently tuned to.
- An I/Q output is frequently associated with an SDR based radio, such as the G90.
- The G90 I/Q is via the stereo 3.5 mm port and is a complex, low level AC signal on the order of 50 or so millivolts or 100 millivolts peak to peak
- Depending on the sound card used to sample the IQ signal's sample rate, the spectrum may be at least twice what is seen on the G90's display.
- See below for an example PC screen displaying the I/Q frequency spectrum from a G90.
- Googling "using G90 IQ data” may turn up related helpful information and videos.
Requirement: Stereo Sound Card Input On Computer
- The I/Q is a two channel signal and hence the computer sound input must be stereo or two channels as well. This may be marked as a stereo mic input or line input
- Note that most commonly found sound cards, whether it be internal to the computer or an external USB sound card, is a mono, single channel input. If you attempt to use a mono input, you may well get some semblance of it working but the spectrum will likely look like the two sides being a mirror image of each other.
- Examples of reported usable lower cost USB sounds that work and have stereo inputs are:
- StarTech USB Sound Card w/ Stereo Mic – ICUSBAUDIO2D (Amazon $26.99)
- StarTech USB Sound Card w/ Stereo Line Input - ICUSBAUDIO7D) (Amazon $33.96)
- Of the two, only the StarTech ICUSBAUDIO2D supports 96 KHZ sampling. The other model is limited to 48 KHZ. 96 KHZ is preferred for the displayed spectrum to be 96 KHZ wide.
Requirement: Stereo Jumper Cable
The cable used to connect the G90's back panel I/Q output port to the sound card's input port must be a good quality cable with a stereo 2 channel 3.5 mm male plug on each end.
Requirement: SDR I/Q Program on PC
- The computer must have a program capable of sampling the I/Q data from the sound card and then displaying it on the computer's display.
- Two known usable computer programs are: “HDSDR” and “SDR#”. Each may be found by searching the Internet and you will also find good details on using them. They have a learning curve ... beyond the scope of this document.
- A few key points on these programs usage:
- Assuming you are using a Windows computer, you will likely need to drill down in the PC's sound settings to see the micro phones advanced settings to select your USB port being used and the 2 channel sample rate desired.
- Select your sound card and the I/Q as the input signal source for HDSDR or SDR#
- Select the desired bandwidth / sample rate to be used
- There are options to set up CAT operation with the G90 to allow tuning syncing both ways
- Select 'Run' to begin the display
- A sample rate of 48,000 will yield a spectrum the same width as the G90's front panel display, +/- 24 KHZ
- A sample rate of 96,000 will yield a spectrum double the width of the G90's front panel display, +/- 48 KHZ or nearly 100 KHZ!
- Both the HDSDR and SRD# programs are CPU resources intensive .. Especially SDR#. An older, slower PC may get bogged down.
Sample HDSDR Screen With a Good Spectrum
Using ICUSBAUDIO2D sound card
Sampling at 48 KHZ
G90 tuned to 7250 KHZ and HDSDR also tuned to 7250 KHZ
Receiving a LSB voice signal
G90 CAT cable not connected
A good example of a clean spectrum display.
Sample HDSDR Screen With Noise
Same setup as above example
But G90 CAT cable also plugged in to a USB port
Narrow noise pulses spaced exactly every 1 KHZ
Other broad noise pulses are unknown.
Note: Below is an example of a computer spectrum display of the G90 IQ signal. Very noisy. Ferrites on the power supply and signal leads did not help this. However, an inexpensive Ground Loop Isolator in series with the IQ output and sound card input did remove 95% of this noise for the author to result in a display like the one above.
Firmware Release Notes
Firmware V1.71
New Features:
- RF GAIN: Long press "AGC" key to access. Rotate main knob to change its value. Note:"RF GAIN" won't affect the S-Meter and FFT Scale.
- Tuning Steps behavior is changed(from left to right)
- DSP filter Center/Bandwidth mode
Short press USER-Knob(the bottom-left one): Select filter center->Select filter bandwidth->Select USER-define->Loop back
When f-center is selected:Title will be "Cxxx"("xxx" is the center freq);a vertical green line showed up at the middle of the orange area
When f-bandwidth is selected:Title will be "Bxxx"("xxx" is the bandwidth);two vertical green lines showed up at the both sides of the orange area - Reset to factory settings - Press and hold "FUNC" key and turning the rig on to get access. Press "PRE" key to confirm; press "VM" key to cancel
- Main ref-clock fine tuning - Long press "FUNC" key and entering system menu,at item "7.RCLK Tune:" If this parameter is messed up, just set it to "0",it neither damage the rig nor degrade the performance
- Band stack mode - Long press "FUNC" key and entering system menu,at item "8.Band Stack Mode:" it can be set as: HAM Band;Full Band
- Power ON/OFF beeping: Long press "FUNC" key and entering system menu,at item "9.ON/OFF Beep:" it can be set as: Disable;Enable
- FFT averaging - 2nd function of "LOCK" key, range can be in 1~10
Fixing and Optimization:
- RX audio distortion caused by AGC; also AGC time constant is more longer(approximately,100ms@fast;1000ms@slow)
- Cant power off when FFT Scale is too small
- The DSP-filter icon sometimes don't draw correctly
- 2nd function menu behavior(menu or title at the multiple function display area): Main display(DSP-filter icon)->2nd function title1->2nd function title 2->...2nd function title n->Loop back
- Optimized NB algorithm(by the way, NB is not available any more in AM mode in this version)
- FFT SCALE can be saved at each band
- Optimized APC algorithm
- Optimized High SWR protection algorithm
- Optimized RF output power detect algorithm(more accurate)
- AM TX output power is down to 1/4 of the set power
- Optimized voice comp algorithm
Firmware V1.72
- CW timing is optimized, solved the issue of randomly losing DOT/DASH.
- T/R switch timing is optimized, faster switching time(t<=53ms).
- add ALC meter, display below the TX power string when TXing .. it's mainly for digi mode tx ,to get the good linearity, adjust driving level or Line IN volume to make the ALC meter value within 30~90. Max level of Line IN should not be more than 600mVp-p,or it will overload the input amplifier. Note: for digital modes, an ALC reading in the 95 to 100% range is desired.
- PO meter is optimized, more accuracy.
- Rotate encoder driver is optimized, less losing of steps.
- ACC LINE OUT is optimized, Main volume will not effect its output level anymore.
- ACC Band Volt is optimized, solved the issue of wrong voltage of 12m band.
- TS max digit change from 10k to 100k when pushing the main knob.
- RIT function: Press and hold main knob to toggle
Firmware V1.73
Official release stable version - Note: Keep both units the same version
Change log vs V1.72_build002(Release):
- Rotary encoder driver has been optimized to be smoother and more accurate (no lost steps).
- Total RF GAIN = 1/4 RF GAIN setting when AGC is off to prevent sudden volume increase.
- Rx volume stepping has been optimized
- MIC GAIN has been lowered to avoid picking up too much background noise.
Firmware V1.74 'Release'
This update is based on the function of version 1.74-beta, which mainly focuses on optimization with no functions added or deleted.
- Fixed the problem that MIC Gain is relatively high
- Added auto FFT scale
- Added background VFO frequency display function under channel mode
- Widened the maximum bandwidth of CW filter
- Optimized the filter bandwidth/center frequency point adjustment and CW Tone adjustment range under CW mode
- If CW Tone is adjusted under CW or CWR mode, the range of CW Tone is the upper and lower limits of filter under current mode
- If CW Tone is not adjusted under CW or CWR mode, the range of CW Tone shall be within the upper and lower limits of filter under CW and CWR mode
- Changed RF GAIN to directly act on receiving channel gain Adjustment range: 1~100% (default: 50%), corresponding gain (on the basis of receiving channel gain): -19.6~+20dB,step=0.4dB
- Note: RF GAIN will influence the value of Table S and FFT
- Added microphone filter of SSB mode to attenuate partial low frequency component of microphone signal and improve emission efficiency
- Changed the color of lines in frequency spectrum picture into green and fill color into semitransparent green
- Optimized the encoder to prevent it from interference or impulse as the first one
- Optimized stack and enhanced the stability
- Optimized the control characteristics of AGC and ALC
- Fixed the bug of channel storage function
- Fixed the spectrum display bug during emission
- Fixed the bug of standing wave detection threshold
- Fixed the problem of interrupted voice during low power emission
Firmware 'V1.75 Final' Release
- New System Menu Operation Logic (Select Items Also By pressing Band Up/Down Keys
- New Multi-Function Knob (MFK) Operation Logic (Long Press MFK to Activate Selection Process).
- Add RF GAIN to MFK Function List (So RF Gain May Be Always Easily Available).
- New Filter Center and Bandwidth Logic.
- NFM Mode Is Available But Just For Testing. Including squelch is enabled.
- Lower CW Tone Volume (-15dB lower ).