Xiegu G90 – The Toyota Hilux of Radios, by GuerrillaLogistician

The last thing you may hear is this screaming terror after you use your cell phone. Was it worth it?
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/03/russias-old-school-grad-rockets-can-carpet-bomb-ukraine/

Imagine yourself hidden in the woods cut off from the world.  If you want to call home on your cellphone you may be hit with a JDAM, or maybe a rocket attack from a BM-21 GRAD strike.  Even if you could risk civilization, getting back on the Internet would probably have all the good information you needed either suppressed or watched for your interaction. Minus your tactical communications the only way to really talk or even listen is via HF. You can always listen to shortwave transmissions but that doesn’t always mean that you’re going to get authentic information, and we know that China likes to jam specific frequencies of shortwave in their own country. Chances are at this point whatever meager funds and preparation you had have all been either expended or your paper money is now useless for various reasons. Add to that most shipments, even if they were running would neither be safe nor probably could get to your location. You have some guy who goes by the name liquored rabbit screaming at you to wash your dirty hands.  Do you want to listen to him all day or find out what is going on? What radio were you recommended to purchase? How much did it cost, or did you even buy it because of the cost? As you sit with your fellow insurgents do you just blindly operate or are you talking to other fellow patriots/Taliban/Resistors to Cuban Communism?

https://www.americanpartisan.org/2023/08/why-should-i-care-about-field-hygiene-and-sanitation-part-one-by-liquoredrabbit/

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2021/12/02/toyotas-of-war-is-the-photo-archive-we-never-knew-we-needed/

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-paratroopers-toyota-technical-kabul-airport/

https://medium.com/@pfitch45/on-the-toyota-hilux-7ad8d7306186

HILUX of Radios

Let’s talk about why I consider this the Hilux of Radios.  As you can see from the images above these versatile little trucks have been used in conflict for decades now.  These versatile vehicles have been modified to serve a purpose be it anti-air, anti-tank, troop transport, supply, or even partially up-armored they have served just about every roll adequately.  Not only are there different home-brewed modifications there are off-the-shelf upgrades that can be done as well. What does this have to do with the G90? This little radio has most of the same benefits as the Toyota Hilux, being an affordable efficient capable force multiplier. While neither are purpose-built or perfect for the task, they can be employed to do a lot on a budget.

Besides the initial cost of the radio, the basic setup isn’t expensive.  This isn’t my favorite radio, but it is a very good radio and I invested enough to basically duplicate my capabilities for less than a third of my go-to radio setup.

Xiegu G 90 450$ (cheaper than most budget AR-15s how many of those do you own?)
https://brushbeater.store/products/xiegu-g90-hf-radio

SPECS FOR YOU

I won’t go into major detail on the specifications of this radio because most of this won’t be important for the first-time buyer. If you have specific questions, please comment below, or come to the forums. I will be happy to assist anyone, and if you have knowledge to add please comment. I also know other guys who will do the same thing. Here is the various limited information that you should know before purchasing any radio. Note this is before any modifications.

RECEIVE: .5Mhz to 30Mhz
TRANSMIT: 1.8 to 30Mhz
MODES: SSB/CW/AM
Operating Voltage 12-15V DC
Operating Temp 0C – 55C / 32F – 131F
Size: 120*45*210 mm
Weight: 1kg

ANTENNA ANALYZER AND TUNER

This video is a how-to on both the Antenna Tuner (SWR Scanner) and Tuner

The first thing that most people don’t realize is that antennas are extremely important to all radios regardless of cost. NC Scout covers antenna theory to a decent extent in his book “Guerillas Guide to the Baofeng”. While not a detailed nerdy ham radio explanation it will get you through the door and get you operating with pretty success. One of the things that I have been recommended by a lot of people and still haven’t purchased is an antenna analyzer. These things generally come from a factory in Ukraine and are also fairly expensive normally. You can get some alternative devices that are a hell of a lot cheaper but are a little tougher to operate and learn. The G90, however, comes with one built-in.  It simply tells you if your antenna is good on the band you wish to use. Long explanation short the antenna analyzer makes sure that your antenna isn’t broken or wrong and prevents your radio from burning up.  This little feature can save you anywhere from 100-500$ although it has fewer features.

This brings me to the next thing that I like about the G90 it has a built-in tuner. Radios like the IC-705, which is a superb radio, didn’t come with one built-in. Also, the now unobtanium FT-817 had the same problem.  This means if any signal was wrong in your antenna, or you picked the wrong band and tried to transmit on a purpose-built antenna you could fry your radio. A built-in tuner allows you to not only know that you’re probably not on the right band, but it also will tell you if your antenna is messed up. You will hear a lot of chattering from your tuner if your antenna is not balanced to the frequency you’re trying to transmit. This builds a redundancy in the safety of your radio.

Also, I can’t tell you how often these radios are turned into pack radios and shown off in many groups. While they may be heavier than some other expensive radios these versatile little machines can be mounted in vehicles carried on your back with a moderately sized battery and fit in less space and lighter than the old Vietnam AN/PRC-77.

WATERFALL and DETACHABLE HEAD

A waterfall display has become a common device on almost every radio these days.  The TinySA Ultra is a great example of this and works well for SIGINT. This allows you to see everything that’s going on within a certain range. This will help you in signals intelligence to some extent, but it also is a very valuable item just to know if somebody is talking where you are planning to communicate. This little feature would cost you $600 in the form of a pan adapter on a KX2/KX3. This feature alone is well worth the price of this radio even if the screen isn’t as large as other radios.

Link to TinySA Ultra for reference.
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2023/07/tinysa-ultra-sigint-setup-by-guerrillalogistician/

The screen is also on the detachable portion of the radio called the head. This is where all your buttons are and this allows the cable to move the controls away from the main body of the radio. You can do this to help fix your radio in a vehicle or to make easy access to the controls of your radio while still keeping the main body inside of a protected container.  While this isn’t a feature that you have to have sometimes it is kind of nice.

Operating in a Hurricane 2022 from a car plug

CW READER

While this can be a little fidgety to operate the CW decoder will allow you to listen to Morse code and reasonably print out what is being said. This is great for training your ear to hear CW and watching it scroll on the screen. It also will allow you to possibly listen to CW without hearing it. Mind you this is not foolproof and has its issues with sloppy operators.

Video of CW Decoder

ANTENNA

I’m not going to go into the specifics of building an antenna for two reasons. First of all, you really need to buy the damn book it’s simple it explains it and NCScout has all of this information posted on www.brushbeater.org.  I will also list what I can get from his store as the prices are good, for all other items I will give you a link but do some shopping.  I can’t begin to explain to you how important it is for you to know how to build an antenna. Not only will it save you hundreds of dollars because ham radio operators are dumb enough to buy these things for $400 if something goes wrong you can fix the damn thing. The G90 is an excellent radio to learn how to make antennas. It also isn’t going to break the bank and will most likely never break as long as you check your antenna and use your tuner.  Remember the G90 can transmit from 1.8 to 30Mhz.

UHF male to BNC female this works on your G90 2x 11$
https://brushbeater.store/products/bnc-female-to-uhf-male-adapter-2-pack

Alternative – I differ from Scout on this I prefer a 90-degree adapter for packing the radio, and overall management.  If you are worth your salt, you will own a bunch of adapters.  I hate Amazon on principle, but hey it’s fast and easy.  As for adapters always have a backup.
https://www.amazon.com/degrees-Connector-female-adapter-Adapter/dp/B076GG6MJD/ref=sr_1_3_pp?crid=2RO69OW9H612A&keywords=UHF+to+BNC&qid=1692153691&sprefix=uhf+to+bnc%2Caps%2C814&sr=8-3

25 feet of COAX will cover most of your needs 14$
https://brushbeater.store/products/bnc-rg-58-coax-cable-25ft

Cobra head female 2 pack 7$
https://brushbeater.store/products/split-post-bnc-adapter-cobra-head-bnc-female-2-pack

Electric fence wire ¼ mile which is a lot of antennas 20$
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/red-brand-galvanized-electric-fence-wire-17-gauge-1320-ft

That is 52$ for an insane amount of antennas.  Add to that if you get some stiffer wire you can make YAGI’s loops etc.

UPGRADE 1A – A Balun will save your radio a lot of work.  This isn’t necessary with the G90 but they are nice to have around.  If you have time learn to build these, but if not or you want a good one. 50$https://brushbeater.store/products/4-1-balun

UPGRADE 1B – You need this to work with the Balun 2X adapters 11$
https://brushbeater.store/products/bnc-female-to-uhf-male-adapter-2-pack

UPGRADE 2 Polystealth wire isn’t cheap, but it can run over branches and not ground out which is nice if you are in thick vegetation.  This also will save your radio from burning up in case you are grounded.  Honestly, you can use any coated wire, so you don’t have to burn a ton of money this rolls up and slides well.  It also doesn’t like to knot up if you toss it in a bag fast.
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010629
https://www.davisrf.com/antenna-wire/polystealth.php

Almost any wire will do coated or uncoated.

MARS MOD

Another very important thing about radios that is shunned by most hams is a MARS mod. To be frank, a MARS mod allows you to transmit in different frequencies but is not legally allowed unless you are a MARS operator or in times of life-threatening danger.  (Rant) Now that the legal Beagle shit is out of the way I’ll tell you right now if you own a radio and haven’t done this, you’re a fucking idiot.  I won’t go into why I think that but probably if you’re reading this article, you feel the same way I do or will with a little bit of time. I recommend not talking to ham operators about it much unless they are cool, and there are cool HAM guys who just get hidden by FUDD Ops.  IE Biden and you just need a double-barrel shotgun crowd of the radio world.  Fuck them and their medical issues they never shut up about, I hope your flare-up of gout keeps you off the air. (Rant over)

If you can’t do this yourself find someone.  People don’t always solder this off, sometimes they just clip it off.  I recommend taking it off the right way but in a pinch just do it.

MARS MOD How to video

POWER

One of the last things I will talk about will be power. There are several ways to power your radio from attaching it to a car battery with Gator clips, running it off of your cigarette lighter, or using power from a wall outlet. However, I’m going to recommend getting a battery initially both for the price and because I want you to be mobile. With that said I will link to other cables that will help you. Lastly, you can modify this radio and make it a Deans power pole plug if you are savvy enough.  You can run a power pole connection with alligator clips to your battery.  Be very careful not to short anything and I don’t recommend this.

Bioenno is one of the top recommended batteries out there. For about $100 you can get one of these batteries plus the charger in a fairly decent size they come pre made with the deans powerpole. While I would recommend one of these right off the bat, I also understand that this is another $100 you don’t want to spend.

Amazon has a better deal but you will need the Battery to G90 cable along with this package.  Overall the price is way better then the BIOENNO but the batteries aren’t quite as long lasting even though they are rated the same.

Option #1 Amazon

TalentCell battery 45-50$
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R1FWW5P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Battery to G90 cable 18$
https://digirig.net/product/xiegu-g90-battery-cable/

Option #2 BIOENNO

BIOENNO BATTERY and CHARGER 125$
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014839
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014832

ANDERSON POWERPOLE to G90 cable 25$
https://digirig.net/product/xiegu-g90-anderson-powerpole-cable/

Option #3 – Vehicle

G90 car cable 20$
https://digirig.net/product/xiegu-g90-car-cable/

UPGRADE THE POWER

If you’ve bought this radio and want to get more power, there is a $600 fix to this. I will warn you that $600 can go to a 100-Watt radio these days just as easily as it can go to this amplifier. You could run this radio both at home and in a pack very easily. Not only that this amplifier works on a lot of other radios as well in the low power (QRP) world. You basically can have the best of both worlds with this radio and the amplifier. With that said I like the idea of having more radios and if I was going to put the money into an amplifier I would probably buy an older amplifier that has more power. That said this is a plug-and-play device for the G90 and is semi-portable as well.

https://www.radioddity.com/products/xiegu-xpa125b?variant=41624361730226&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwxOymBhAFEiwAnodBLGAjEuiW7K0x43v3xV3jQZkdRgj6itNr-Tug7GLj5lFO342cbAyjURoCRxcQAvD_BwE

H-250

This is something you don’t need to buy. The hand mic for the radio is great and if you do some modifications, it’s even better. I know some of you will love this even though the price is very steep for what it is.

https://www.w2eny.com/Handset/

LIKE GUNS IN SAFES

Just like guns in safes, unused radios in the hands of novices are absolutely useless. I know a lot of people have an issue with the government and especially paying the government or being on any register. That is doubly so for gun owners. With that said you do need to get your license to learn this skill.  I highly suggest you study for your technician and general at the same time. Learn the answers, don’t try to learn the reasoning behind the answers. That will come with training and time just like shooting. With that said if you’re still concerned any mailing address will do including mailboxes, offices etc. While your real name will be linked to your call sign that doesn’t mean the address has to be accurate, you just have to be able to receive mail from the FCC. With that said if you’ve bought firearms legally over the counter the government knows just as much as they would know if you got your license.

https://hamstudy.org/

CONCLUSION

If you are on the fence, you can shop around.  There are more expensive radios that are without a doubt better overall.  This is in my opinion the best bang for your buck as a beginner.  I like mine even though it is heavier than some of my rigs, it is set up to be my backup radio or loaner, but I still practice with it as well, and enjoy it greatly.  There is so much more to this radio and modifications you can do yourself or have someone do. Just like the high lux this radio can be built to fit your needs for the most part.  It is not the end all, be all, radio but frankly nothing is. With all that said if I can’t persuade you, here is another opinion.