I bought one of these just before the invasion of Ukraine thought I wasn't going to receive it. It's a fantastic little receiver the body is metal not plastic and feels quality and solid I have a collection of radios Icom tecsun and xdata this is my favourite one out of then all.
I've not been into the hobby long, just months but I got the BELKA and it made me realize what I'd been missing! Absolutely fantastic little thing and not badly priced.
Once the Belka is in your hands, I think those that speak negatively, would quickly change their minds ! After a small learning curve, discovering which buttons do what, you are off to the races ! As this video likely shows, this thing is jam packed, but still easy to manipulate ! Are there some things Id like to change ? Yes, but thats just me ! I purchased mine with the built in speaker, and was quite surprised at the ample audio it produced thru it's small speaker ! Using headphones, one has to be careful to reduce the volume, before putting on the headphones, as it is quite loud at full volume, thru a headset ! Too, I also purchased a little longer telescoping whip, and seen a pretty significant increase in received signals ! Even though the accompanying antenna does quite well, and I have read where the radio was tuned to the supplied antenna. ( Just something I wanted to experiment with !) Since I have had mine only a few days, I obviously can't comment on longevity, but judging only by functionality, I see nothing that would make me expect anything but a long life ! This small radio may not appeal to everyone, but it is phenomenal, IMHO ! A little qerky perhaps, but you'll be up to speed in no time ! Try it..... you'll like it ! 👍😉
Sixty years a "Ham" and have tried and tested many "portable" receivers. This blows them all out of the water! Side by side with a Hustler 6BTV attached to an ICOM 7400, CW reception including real DX is similarly sensitive with good copy. Probably the very best performer I have used outdoors using the supplied fairly short telescopic whip. The original Russian made Malachite ( not the clone version) comes a close second. The size of a box of matches here in the UK and the facility to charge using a standard phone charger makes it especially attractive for holiday listening and /P operation. Just a shame that it has to be sourced overseas during troubled times! 73 de Roger G3SNT
@@grjoe4412 LOL... 1.5mm aluminum top+bottom shells / 1mm side panels, at that small size this means it could be one the most mechanical robust receivers ever. The all-metal construction also gives it excellent shielding properties, nothing gets in w/o an antenna connected. My oldest Belka is now 4 years old and still fine. Look again. ;)
This is amazing! I'm a new ham and have just set up a very simple base station. Still not licansed so listening is my best friend currently. I've been looking for a nice reciever for a while. Glad to see a quality portable option!
Agree totally, mine arrived about a month back after waiting weeks. Amazing results using my loop antenna . The thing I like best is with no waterfall you listen more, this radio is serious and fun to use
With the speaker option installed this has to be one of the best self-contained little radios to date! I use it a lot, sometimes I wish it had a waterfall and band display like the AFEDRI LAN-IQ which is so nice to see all the signals at once in a band, but this radio is just so well-made with controls well thought out and has such great performance it's a real jewel to use.
I use mine to listen to a 40 meter NVIS net, sitting on my lanai, with the stock whip. I hear them all. It took a month to arrive, but it's worth the wait.
I have the original Belka-DSP and it is by far the best portable HF receiver out of the many I've purchased. I've been debating whether or not to get the latest Belka as I do occasionally miss MW.
I concur! An amazing, compact receiver. I have the previous version, which covers from 1.5MHz up. I bought mine second-hand to a) to satisfy my budgetary constraints and b) not add to the Belarus tax take. Things may have changed but, in my case, the instructions - simple though they are - didn't really read particularly well. So I typed up a little cheat-sheet, if anyone's interested 🙂
Don't trust american propaganda about "dictatorship" in Belarus, it's a great country with a lot of amazing high-quality products for created for it's Belarus and it's friends.
Excellent service and communication! I ordered a Belka in April 2024. Finally received my package Aug 2024. Turns out, package was shipped in a timely manner but was confiscated by German Postal because radio contained a lithium ion battery. They destroyed the radio and sent me the antenna. I emailed Belrig to advise them of the confiscation. I did not ask for a refund but Belrig immediately credited my account. Many thanks to Belrig. Hope to acquire another as soon as possible.
Wait a minute... the Post destroyed the Belka? Not the Zoll? I've had other problems with the Frankfurt Airport Hauptzollamt ignoring the CN22 sheet and value declaration on the package and pulling a value of 260€ for the radio out of their noses....3 times in a row, 2 times for the same radio because I had to send it in for repairs. Apparently yet another German authority out of control.
An update on its receive. Yesterday 13 April between 1pm and 2pm on 10m I received the following 100% copies. Japan x2 Pakistan, a first in 40yrs America several South America x2 South Africa x2 When I first turned on I thought the band was dead, all this on 2ft telescopic. This radio is the bees knees!
The first thing I usually do when I take the Belka on a walk is checking the condx on the IBP frequencies. Unless the space weather is bad I can usually hear the 100W VK6RBP beacon from the (almost) antipodal point of the globe on that little whip, and of course the beacons along the way. Makes me smile every time. 2 days ago I took a walk along the shoreline (North Sea) and heard a Spanish station attracting DX on 20m, first a loud JH station, then VK4SX booming in, then a weaker but fully readable ZL station - surely the nicest kind of pile-up, but also perfectly normal to hear these countries on the Belka. What strikes one most is that the Belka sounds and behaves like a $$$$ tabletop when receiving these stations, and absolutely not like the even more expensive Tecsuns. 🙂
I have older BELKA DX, but sadly managed to break the BNC connector (I had BELKA with the antenna connected in my pocket). This new version looks great (+ I have heard that it has more solid BNC connector), LW/MW coverage is great to have and IQ output is also very useful. I will probably buy it and give my old BELKA DX (after I repair the connector) to a friend. 🙂
Amazing litle RX with excellent performance, I have this version and also an older one, where the coverage starts with 3,5 MHz. It was possible to order the new one with shipment to Germany, 73 de Dimitri DK1ELD
I have this and the Belka -DX models the battery is better on the DX model. The coverage of the DX only goes down to 1.5 MHZ . Both are true DX Machines on the telescopic whip, plus handle long wires and magnetic loop’s really well. Well worth the money! Great video! Great information. 73!
Noise reduction is the mark of a superior receiver, as is sensitivity and selectivity! Too noisy receivers do not last long in anyone's collection except as curiousities.
Can't wait to try this with my Geshibo GA-800. Currently my portable setup is using the Malahit DSP2. It'll be nice to leave this on receiving SSTV while I'm listening to Hams on the main band
My Techsun 660 is redundant. Without direct comparison it appears to perform as good as my Icom 756 pro. This radio is off the scale for everything a radio should be including price. Ordered another the 3rd version for other location.
Mineis excellent and I often pair it wth a homebrew CW transmitter - th eCW filtering is excellent, but note there is no CW offset built in - so you receive on the Belka on a frequency 700Hz below the TX frequency. G4USI
Nice receiver ... though its front end and processing might be more solid than the common but well designed Malahit SDR. But compared to the Malahit, there is no IF DSP for noise reduction, no auto notch, no synchronous AM, no squelch, no VHF/UHF and lots of internal settings, making it ideal for whichever antenna you are using. Also having a 40/80/160kHz spectrum display shows you what is happening on the band, which the Belka doesn't seem to have. Here a lot seems to be preset and probably ideal for beginners. Connecting it to such a noisy electrical antenna makes the demonstration less appealing. If it is just a receiver, why don't you show it with a magnetic loop, that is usually so much better and clearer with little to no noise, even in an electrically noisy environment in the near field. I am still a huge fan of the Malahit, which is the same price range if it is a Chinese clone, though here you need to change the rotary encodes with better ones, and you need preselectors / bandpass / band blocking filters if connected to a huge antenna. I have an expensive dual core audio DSP from the mid 90`s and the Malahit's noise reduction algorithm beats it all the time ... I am so impressed with this very versatile tiny box, that it is almost hard to believe that this little functionally minimalistic Belka device could be so much better.
There is a Russian channel with Alexej Igonin where he puts both through their paces in several videos. The Belka is consistently better in a lot of aspects - dynamic range, noise floor, sensitivity, display noise and whatnot. I have made several tests how it deals with big signals out of gainy antennas and found it surprisingly resilient to overloading (after all it's an SDR too) and was amazed how benign it reacts on overloading. The Malahit is based on the Mirics tuner chips and while it has a lot of bells and whistles and its own merit, it has also inherited the convoluted RF gain vs. LNA input stage management and the need to use that. The Belka does not need these settings, you just attach whatever antenna and it works. The Malahit is quite compact but it couldn't compete with the Belka as a "wearable" shack in the shirt pocket. The Belka's noise reduction is that you take it outside to places where there's not much noise to reduce. :) Also, the Belka does have sync, for panadapter view you need to connect it to your soundcard, without VHF/UHF it doesn't need a squelch but yes, the noise reduction of the Malahit is actually crazy good. Alas the video here does not at all explain why exactly the Belka is so great. It lets the radio speak for itself but that isn't well understood by most, particularly when so many people didn't even bother to actually watch and listen, like so many comments indicate.
@@gerdpfeilI agree that the Malahit is more noisy, has a bunch of birdies, is less sensitive in the LF-VLF range and has some serious intermod problems when connected to a wideband antenna while operating with active preamp and/or high gain settings, a situation in which the Belka might not have any problems. I use it with reduced sensitivity or home made HF and VHF/UHF band filters and then this is actually a very nice receiver with a state of the art spectral display, showing you what is going on at nearby frequencies. The ironic thing is that most people who are also transmitting, have mainly noisy electric antennas and they suck at reception unless they are far away from the house on a tower, but most wire antennas are so noisy that the most noisy receiver will not make any difference in real life. I am not used to so much noise anymore though I only have a cheap active magnetic wide band loop in the attic of a multi family home, with TVs, PLC and DSL, but I am not used to noise like that in this video anymore. That mainly exists in the electric near field and can be avoided by receiving purely magnetic in that short range. I would definitely recommend the Belka to any newcomer, or pure HF ham voice listener, because with the wrong settings the Malahit turns into a total nightmare that is so bad, on the first day I thought it was broken!!! I was about to return it! No kidding! It is so overly sensitive that you can use a small telescopic antenna and still don't have to crank up the amp stages, which is totally counterproductive to the signal to noise ratio. Now I run it mostly with DSP and auto notch turned on at night on HF aircraft frequencies listening to planes and ATCs all over the world often in clear audio quality out of almost total silence, which would be impossible with the Belka and even a lot of other transceivers and receivers from a much higher price range. I have another set of spare Alps encoders, I might just order another China clone for 130 bucks and modify it on the hardware and software side, because I enjoy it so much in real life. It can also be used via USB as an IQ soundcard, so no analog sound card tinkering necessary, and you can listen to DRM, HFDL, FT8 ... or on VHF to ACARS, VDL2, APRS, POCSAG, DSTAR, DMR ... whatever you like with a notebook attached. For good Air Band reception you definitely need at least an FM blocking filter, ideally an Air-Band band pass, else you will miss the weaker signals from far away ATC on the ground. So I totally recommend the Malahit for someone who is a real geek, loves tinkering, knows how to solder, flash chips and wants to try almost everything possible within the radio domain. It is tiny, you can take it everywhere, may have a rechargeable battery built in and a USB-C connector to be charged everywhere, ideal for on the go. A built in Bluetooth interface would be fantastic, then you can just use your smartphone headphones, but you can put it into a bigger case and implement a BT module yourself. Gerd, thanks for your feedback and best regards Joerg
@@ON8EI Sadly, this is mostly true for even rural areas nowadays. If it's just for convenience when listening to local (-ish) rag chewing on 80, reducing gain is pretty much doing the same w/o any artifacts.
Lot of qrm you have there on 40m. Hearing BBC radio 4 on 187 khz (RUV Iceland is on 189 !) shows the AM bandwidth is way too wide for any DX use unless it has variable bandwidth options from say 6 to 1khz but I guess not. No FM mode ?
This is awesome. A Couple questions: 1) will it receive the regular FM Stations, but down to say 70, as some events are broadcast in the FM range below 87? 2)what program for the PC are you using? Thank you for a great video
No. This receiver is not designed to tune above 31 MHz. WFM is not normally used below the VHF broadcast bands. He tells us which software he is using when he connects it to his PC. There are a variety of SDR apps which can be used.
@@MattSF23 Alas the channel OP doesn't approve comments with links - if you want to hear the "pseudo"-sync detector in action google 'SWLing Post sync detector crash course'. In the article you'll find a number of audio clips demonstrating what a sync detector is meant to do, with the Belka being the radio to demonstrate it.
@@gerdpfeil Ah thanks Gerd. Yeah I had heard of sync detection before. I own a Sony ICF-2010! 💪😄I just hadn't heard the 'pseudo' nomenclature before. But it makes sense I suppose, since it is synthesized by the radio. But thanks for the info I'll check it out!
it goes for $130 USD plus $10 shipping. I still like the CountyComm GP-7 SSB ( GEN 4 ) General Purpose Radio $99 USD Modes: AM, FM, SW, USB, LSB FM: 64 - 108 or 76 - 108 MHz FM broadcast band includes worldwide FM broadcast allocations MW/ AM: 522 - 1620 (9K tuning step) or 520 - 1710 kHz (10K tuning step ) SW: Extended Frequency Range to 1711-29999 ( higher and lower coverage ) LW frequency: 153 - 513 kHz (available for 9K tuning step variable )
Thanks for the review. Definitely leaning toward a purchase. Just curious, you have done a review on the Malachite DSP SDR v4. They have recently come out with V5. How do these 2 radios compare in sensitivity? If you had to pick one, which one would you go with? Appreciate your opinion and look forward to more of your videos.
I have the original dsp, amazing little receiver for picking up stations, like to use it with my ccradio 2e as that provides a perfect speaker for listening on the back porch.
That's a brutally rich sounding combination. 🙂 I always cringe a little when people use the tiny speaker of the Belka, the true signal quality it is capable of can only be enjoyed on a good pair of cans or a fat speaker like the CCRadio.
I see the RX has a high-Z input (presumably optimised for the whip) that in the manual suggests 100R & 10pF to match for 50 ohm antennas... but thinking backwards does this mean that a high Z EFHW can be just fed straight in as a simple wire WITHOUT the 49:1 un:un?.... this "feature" could actually be very advantageous. It would be interesting to know what its i/p impedance actually is (ie ability to use CAT5 cable as a cheap feeder rather than co-ax).
The input impedance is >10kOhm. However, I found impedance matching considerations are really only necessary when using "lossy" antennas so a mismatch could actually drop signals below the sensitivity threshold. The Belka is not exactly fond of small shielded loops etc.
where is that if you would please I am keeping my eyes and ears open to see how close i am to the same situation how long have you been under this kind of rule
Is there a better, more powerful antenna that you sell that screws into this unit, just like this stock one we see in this pic? If so, please link it to me. Thanks!
@@maverick5117 No the whole world does not ignore the wests sanctions. If you believe that it just means you have no idea what the sanctions being imposed are. Right now most are sanctions on exporting to Belarus, freezing government assets, freezing financial transactions with state (regime) controlled banks and businesses and other sanctions that don't impact the import of most products from Belarus, although shipping via UPS, DHL OR FED EX, I don't think are possible at this time, so shipping times may be long.
I notice your hand is always touching the receiver when using the telescoping ant. I'm thinking the reception is dramatically reduced without doing this.
That's because everyone jumps on the speaker version, which Alex was a bit reluctant to offer I think, and nobody honors the brief instructions about that. The Belka needs the headphone cable (or the cable to the external speaker) as a counterpoise to get full sensitivity, or in case of the speaker version some wire attached to the (device) ground. Putting it on a car roof or other metal surface is fine too, otherwise you have to hold it in your hand indeed. This is not an issue with either version if you use it for what it was made for - the headphone cable and the residue coupling to your body mass when you wear it in a breast pocket is sufficient for full sensitivity.
@@timbookedtwo2375 fair i guess but you can get a decent uSDX for 120euro that will also tx... tomato/tomahto? Id rather play than just tune in for the cost. My opinion. I do understand there is a SWL crowd so cudos to them for an awesome, inexpensive (relative to the person?) Receiver.
How does it perform on Mediumwave with external antennas? Specifically MWDX stations.. And does it overload in the presence of high power local stations?
Everyone Have A Old Cellphone, Just Try To Buy SDR RTL And You Got Yourself Similar Device, But Better, Infinite Bandwith And You Can Do Whatever.... Antenna Is The result Braker Or Maker, I Would Love Thios Device Tho :) Cant Afford It
'ppll this is an important correction of an unfortunate mistake in labeling in electronics... The letters USB can refer to the connection point on a computer whereby a low voltage is available for charging the socket the USB socket allows a USB plug to bring in other functions on that wire the socket sometimes labeled USB on a computer or a hand phone can indicate these computer and telephone related functions. However very importantly in radio communication the letter USB stand for upper side band and our half of the acronym USB/SSB which means upper side band and /LSB (lower side band).. It is very important to note that neither USB/single side band transmissions (SSB) nor USB plugs and sockets on computers refer to the same. Almost all of the upper half of each of the ham bands will be occupied by English voice transmissions using either LSB(on the lower bands 40m. and down) or USB/upper side band. Inside these particular ham radio bands you can tune for a difficult to understand station, tune more carefully and hear the voice clear..... You're tuning should go with selecting on the band switch LSB for the lower ham band and USB (20m and up) for the upper ones. If you have a USB wire with a USB plug on the end of it or if you are dealing with a USB socket on a computer or a recharger device, you have left the world of single side band and ham radio and have entered the world of computers.
I’m not really into this style of radio listening (I don’t understand it) but I like the form factor of the unit. This may not be the proper forum to inquire but does anyone know of an am/fm stereo unit of this quality I can look into?
No it's not your opinion it's the truth. I am aged 64 and have many radios over the years, Icoms and the rest, until this little bugger my favourite was the Lowe HF225. This Belka is like having a desk top ham receiver in your shirt pocket, it's a flippin miracle using the telescopic DONT think using a telescopic is no good, it's set up for it unlike others, I have the Techsun 660 and it now is retired, not a patch on this magnificent machine, the joy of using a receiver that receives like this can not be overstated. A lot of interference at your location here. My video is here on the last model. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--SBSQ_M2uz0.html
I ordered one direct from them (Belka, not the DX version) and it took about 3-4 weeks after I placed the order. It made it through all customs just fine and should be delivered to me in the USA by 04/12/2024. I am so excited to get it...its been a long few weeks, lol.
Wow, this is shockingly good! How does something like this compare to a Tecsun PL-680, which is my go-to LW/MW/SW receiver? Off hand this seems like it could give it a run for its money, but I'm really curious to see a comparison of them!
Subscribe to my channel, I have both radios and plan to do a video soon, hopefully over this weekend. The pl-680 is very hard to beat for the money and it sounds so good on ssb making ECSS a joy to listen to. I also prefer using the pl-680.
@@TR6Telos The Tecsun PL-680 is a great radio and it sounds a lot better via it's built in speaker and ECSS sounds fantastic also. Much better than these newer DSP radios which I would avoid if in any way interested in SSB or ECSS. The Belks is good but it's tiny and while it's great for putting in your pocket, ergonomics suffer due to it's size and for SWL the filter sadly only goes to 4 Khz and Audio quality suffers as a result. I suspect the Belka was designed more with Hams in mind and for SSB it's really great.
@@o00scorpion00o Again, this is 4kHz audio bandwidth (actually it's 4.5kHz, perfectly fitting a 9kHz medium wave channel), not IF bandwidth. The equivalent analog IF filter bandwidth would be 9kHz where most classic mulitband/general coverage radios have only a 6kHz "wide" IF filter (3kHz audio bandwidth on AM) made to fit the 5kHz channel spacing on shortwave. Accordingly, the audio is absolutely fine and even better than on said classic portables and tabletops.
Is anyone else having problems reaching the Belka web site? All I get is a repeated demand to confirm I'm human, regardless of which browser or computer I use. They've put some dire CloudFlare checking software in front of the site for some unfathomable reason.
There is one video on my channel, where I feature an Anker power bank, that was a paid promotion, and that video has the “Paid Promotion” box ticked. I guess viewers just automatically assume that we are paid to say nice things about products that we review. If only that was the case, I’d be rich! lol
Basically it’s a receiver that allows you to listen to shortwave (music, news, etc) as well as Ham radio stations from around the world. Not limited to hobbyist types though - some travelers use these and other similar radio receivers to stay tuned in when away- catching news, sports, etc. but there is also a hobby aspect of trying to catch far away stations
@@benedicto.050 Try, thanks Lukashenko and/or Putin instead, that way people won't think you're an ignorant mouth-breather. Ordering from Belarus in most cases is not sanctioned but verify shipping times and shipper before ordering products from Belarus.
How to use the voices of ham radio operators speaking English in clear frequencies. To add to shortwave listening enjoyment. First read the material written below then TuneIn and listen to a pair of hams speaking to each other. Note that they only transmit voice one at a time/ taking turns speaking and listening. Listen to what the operators say about where they are and how clear is there reception. This is a quick way to find out that your able to hear a country in Europe when the operator announces he is from Barcelona Spain, for example. One operator may tell the other operator that the reception is very clear right now but it may get worse in an hour later. This tells you that you can hang around these frequency bands and the operators will be able to be heard different hours of different days. The slang for good reception is the numerals 5 and 9. The operators may also announce their output power as something like 100 watts, 200 watts or 1000, one KW. If the operator is using 1000 watts he may be better heard then and even better time of day because of the additional power he is pushing your direction. You can continue listening to these two fellows talk to each other and learn some things about where they are and there local culture. Note a time in your radio notes that you heard Barcelona add this number of hours on day X, that means Barcelona may come in on that man again some of these ham radio operators are regularly on the air at their home the same hour of each day which makes finding them easier. Where are the bands between 1.8 MHz and 30 MHz... You will hear best on a piece of horizontally arranged wire that is hooked to the receiving socket on the back of your radio or clipped to the pull up vertical antenna on your little set. Regular hardware store wire does not need to be big but you can route it along the eve of your house 20. or 40 or more feet
Use plastic insulated wire and keep your wire from contacting other pieces of metal on your house a little wire can be brought under a sash window and into your receive socket... You can ball up the bear end of the wire and force it into a receive socket if you need to. Metal alligator clips can be used also but do not hook your antenna to the ground side or chassis part of your metal radio. also it plays safe to disconnect or pull your wire out of the socket and let it hang near the window free from connections to anything else
Between uses. There are disappointing moments in shortwave listening where it come few and far between if you're listening to ham because the hams are notorious talkers.
@@reecehoffmann3722 I have two v3 Belkas and none of them flashes, the LED just goes dark. :). There could be some that flash, or maybe that's just one guy with a funky charger, who knows.
@@TR6Telos no they are not lol. I have one with the newest software. Way better than this. If you can't work a malahite, you definitely won't be able to work this Also it's THEY'RE.. So you're obviously a thick fucker too.
