[Premium-Rx] Experiences with Xiegu?

[Terry O']

Bob,
Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed response.  The G90 does 
have an attractive set of features, especially in such a small package.  
It's probably one of those products that comes down on the border of 
what people consider a premium receiver.  I am struck by how close the 
architecture is to the vaunted Collins 95S-1, a receiver that appears to 
have been produced in surprisingly short-lived and small run.

Terry O'


On 8/5/2019 10:39 AM, Robert Nickels wrote:
> On 8/4/2019 10:20 AM, Terry O' wrote:
>> Anyone have experience with Xiegu products?
>
> Hi Terry,
>
> I can give you a snapshot based on my experience.   The customer 
> relationship described in the email you posted seems obvious to most 
> of us, but seems to not come naturally to Xiegu.  I remain hopeful 
> they will learn and come to understand the expectations of US 
> customers at least, and provide the kind of technical information as 
> well as the US-based repair option and customer support we expect.
>
> I've bought two Xiegu radios from Connect Systems.  The first, 2 years 
> ago,  was the version of the X-108 they branded as CS-108G and the 
> XPA125  amplifer/autotuner.  They were sold at basically the dealer's 
> cost because he'd had enough and was terminating his relationship with 
> Xiegu over various support and technical issues.    All this history 
> can be found in the archives of the Yahoo group: 
> X108-Transceiver at yahoogroups.com
>
> The owner of CSI is Jerry Wanger and since he has posted his contact 
> info on the reflector I will pass it along here.   I'm sure he would 
> be happy to address any questions you may have: jwanger at pacbell.net
>
> So why did I pop for a G90 a few weeks ago?    Well, for one thing, my 
> experience with the X-108 has been positive, and several friends have 
> used them extensively with good results and no major failures, 
> although they unquestionably have "quirks" which the manufacturer will 
> not address or even acknowledge.  They're a cute radio that works 
> well, especially once you learn how to deal with the quirks.   The 
> X-108 is a conventional crystal-filter transceiver where functionality 
> is defined mainly by hardware, and thus having good technical docs 
> (including schematics, x-ray board layouts, etc) is essential  for 
> troubleshooting and the lack of same is a negative.
>
> However the G90 is an SDR which I determined was based on a QSD/QSE 
> architecture feeding a DSP processor and MCU which meant the RF up and 
> down conversion circuits would be pretty common (similar to Softrock, 
> KX2/3, etc) and the bulk of functionality would be implemented via 
> software.   The DSP/MCU circuitry is not likely to fail, and not 
> suitable for home repair in any case. The receiver bandpass and 
> transmitter lowpass filter arrays would be conventional in design and 
> easy to figure out.
>
> The bottom line for me was, the G90 looked like it provided a very 
> attractive set of features including SDR architecture with IQ output, 
> a very usable 20 watts of power and built-in autotuner in a compact 
> lightweight package and a very attractive price (especially with the 
> earlybird discount).    I determined that even if the manufacturer 
> took took the same tone-deaf position as before it was an acceptable 
> risk.    And since CSI was willing to give Xiegu another chance based 
> on having actual skin in the game ($) then I could do so as well, 
> especially since there was already a track record of updating the 
> firmware.   Obviously others may evaluate these factors differently, 
> but I'd suggest joining the reflector and Facebook Xiegu group (where 
> I'm waiting for membership approval) and keeping an open mind.
>
> Subjectively I will say that in limited use I like the G90 very 
> much.   Like all modern radios there's a learning curve, but I'm still 
> baffled by the absence of a mic or transmit audio level adjustment and 
> that's one reason I joined the Facebook group. Assuming there will be 
> software updates,  it should be a completely different experience than 
> "hardware-defined radio' even though users will be dependent on Xiegu 
> for updates.    I'm going to try to update to 1.6 soon, here is the 
> download page: https://xiegu.eu/downloads/
>
> And here is a video by Fred VE3FAL showing how to do the update (to v. 
> 1.4 back in Febr. which shows the updated functions in that release): 
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRX77r667pM
>
> My only disappointment so far is the high power consumption - around 
> 600mA on receive - but that's typical for all modern amateur SDR 
> transceivers (and the reason I designed my own).
>
> 73,  Bob W9RAN
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Premium-Rx mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/premium-rx
> Help Page: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Premium-Rx at mailman.qth.net
> Help Contact eMail:  radio at 8zo.com
> Home Page:  http://www.premium-rx.org/