R1CBU X6100 Firmware in 2026: What Has Changed?

R1CBU X6100 Firmware in 2026: What Has Changed?

The community firmware is still evolving – and the X6100 still has plenty of life left in it.

When I originally wrote about the R1CBU alternative firmware for the Xiegu X6100, it was an interesting experiment that gave X6100 owners a completely different way to operate the radio.

A lot has happened since then.

The original R1CBU firmware was developed by Oleg Belousov, R1CBU. Although Oleg eventually stepped away from active X6100 development, the project did not disappear. Other developers picked up the open-source code and continued improving it.

That distinction matters. The original R1CBU project and today’s community-developed versions share the same roots, but development has moved considerably beyond the early firmware I first wrote about.

Community Development Continues

One of the major contributors continuing the R1CBU project has been Georgy Dyuldin, R2RFE.

A major step forward came with version 0.26.0. It added Wi-Fi support, incremental FT8/FT4 decoding, and CQ modifiers used for activities such as POTA and SOTA.

Operators interested in that stage of development can read the Xiegu X6100 Groups.io discussion of R1CBU firmware 0.26.0.

Later releases continued refining the interface, waterfall, rig control, and digital-mode capabilities. By early 2026, operators were using versions in the 0.32 series. Development then moved into the 0.34.x series.

At the time of this update, the R1CBU community release page on GitHub identifies 0.34.0 as the latest release. It adds CESSB, VOX, CW peak filtering, FT8 improvements, a CW tuning aid, and decoder refinements.

Important release warning: GitHub labels version 0.34.1 as a pre-release with known issues and explicitly says it should not be used. Check the release page before choosing a download.

In other words, R1CBU has grown from an interesting alternative interface into an ongoing community-development platform for the X6100.

The SD-Card Approach Is Still a Major Advantage

One of the things that originally attracted me to R1CBU was the ability to experiment without permanently abandoning the Xiegu operating environment.

R1CBU can run from a microSD card. Remove the card and the radio can return to its normal Xiegu environment. That is particularly attractive if you enjoy experimenting but do not want to dedicate the radio permanently to alternative software.

Documentation for the software and its controls is available in the R1CBU X6100 user manual.

Meanwhile, Xiegu Hasn’t Abandoned the X6100

There is another important part of this story: Xiegu has continued refining its own firmware.

The factory path remains the straightforward choice for operators who want the conventional Xiegu interface and manufacturer-supported operating environment. Because Xiegu uses separate APP and BASE version numbers, check both numbers in the package notes before updating.

X6100 owners who prefer factory software can check the Xiegu X6100 firmware download page for the current package and installation information.

That gives X6100 owners two practical paths:

• Stay with Xiegu firmware: Choose the conventional factory experience and official update path.
• Experiment with R1CBU: Explore an alternative interface, integrated digital capabilities, and features developed by the open-source community.

Is R1CBU Still Worth Trying in 2026?

I think the answer depends on what you want from your X6100.

If you are happy with the factory firmware, there is no requirement to change it. The factory software has improved considerably since the X6100 was introduced.

R1CBU becomes more interesting for operators who enjoy experimenting.

Its combination of FT8/FT4 capability, POTA and SOTA features, an alternative interface, SD-card operation, and continuing community development gives the X6100 capabilities and possibilities that were not available when the radio first appeared.

There is also something very much in the spirit of amateur radio about taking an existing piece of hardware and seeing what else we can make it do.

Several years after its introduction, the X6100 is no longer Xiegu’s newest portable SDR.

But between Xiegu’s factory-firmware path and the work being done by the R1CBU community, the X6100 still has plenty of life left in it.

A Word of Caution

R1CBU is third-party, community-developed software and is not official Xiegu firmware.

Before installing any version, read the notes for that particular release, back up anything important, and make sure you understand the installation and recovery procedure. Community releases may be labeled stable, latest, or pre-release, and those labels matter.

Alternative firmware is part of the fun of experimenting with radios like the X6100 – but it is still experimentation.

73 KE2YK