Xiegu DE-19 with the Xiegu G90 Review and Tutorial

--By E.T. Bryant

The DE-19 is a more advanced version of the Xiegu CE-19. It is easier to install and operate. You do not need to do any soldering or connect the wires to the two 3.5mm plugs for the CE-19. The DE-19 comes with all the cables you need to connect to the sound card device to your radio and your computer.

You connect the 8-pin DIN cable to the ACC on the DE-19 and connect the other end to the ACC port on the back of the G90. The 3.5mm cable is connected to the CIV on the DE-19 and the other end to the COM port on the left side of the radio ( found just below the speaker). The PA port on the DE-19 is generally not needed unless you are using an XPA125B power amplifier. Finally, the USB connects to the USB port on the DE-19 and the USB port of your computer.

First, you will need to set your Xiegu G90 for line instead of Mic. Tap the Func button on the radio and then the Pow button twice then turn the tuning knob to select line. Exit by tapping the Func button. You may need to download and install the CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver if Windows does not install it automatically.

To do FT8, FT4, or other modes, you will need to download and install WSTJ-x (This review is for Windows users; however, you can use the DE-19 with Linux computers). You can also download and install Fldigi and Flrig. But I have found that with Windows 11, I can just use WSJT-x and it will do CAT control fine. But I will show my settings for Flrig below.

Click on Config–> Setup–> Tranceiver.

As you can see, you can select the Xiequ G90 for your rig. The COM port will be the port you will find in Device Manager when you plug in the USB connector from the DE-19. It will be something other than COM1. Set the Baud rate to 19200 and check 2 stopbits. If a checkbox for Echo is available check it but be sure to uncheck RTS+12v and DTR+12v. The Poll intv can be left at 200. Click the Init button when you are ready to have Flrig connect to the radio.

The green light will come on, and you will get a Flrig extra controls window. I am not going to get into all the settings for Flrig beyond this, as this should be enough to get you up and running. For additional information, see the user guide with Flrig.

When you open WSJT-x, you will get an error if you have not configured it.

When you click on the OK button, it will take you to the settings. You can also reach the settings by clicking on File –> Settings.

If you are not using Flrig, set your rig to Xiegu G90, but if you are using Flrig, you will want to select that as your rig. You can set your COM port and use all the other selections you see here. Click the OK button when you are finished.

Not seeing anything on the waterfall or Band Activity, then you will need to sync your time. Open Control Panel, click on Clock and Region, and then click on Date and Time. The The Date and Time dialog box will open, and then select the Internet Time tab.

Click on the Change settings button. I use the time.windows.com time settings, or you can use the time.nist.gov selection. Click the Update now button and you will see the message that the clock was successfully synchronized.

Click on the OK button to close the dialog box.

If you are still not seeing anything, make sure your G90 mode is set to U-D instead of Upper Side Band (USB). Also, make sure you are on the correct frequency. In this case, for 20 meters, it is 14.074 MHz

Still not seeing anything? Open Settings again and select the Audio tab.

Make sure your Input is Microphone (USB Audio Device) and your Output is Speakers (USB Audio Device). Sometimes, you may have to select them again. Now, close the Settings by clicking on the OK button. Back in the main screen, you may also have to re-select the band and click on the Monitor button. Then you should see some activity on the waterfall and in the Band Activity area.

Double-click on the station you want to contact and enjoy FT8. If you want, you can change to FT4 or another mode. I will be doing a review and tutorial on using the DE-19 with the Xiegu G106 in the future.