Latest V2.4 Malachite DSP2 SDR Radio Receiver, GOOZEEZOO Shortwave Radio Receiver 10kHz-380MHz & 404MHz-2GHz AM SSB DSB CW NFM WFM Air FT8,RTTY Decoder Function Noise Reduction with 5000mAh Battery

If you've never had a Software Defined Radio (SDR) before, get ready for some fun. For the price point this thing is a riot to use, you won't be disappointed. Keep in mind it's not some flimsy little toy, this is a very sophisticated piece of equipment and may not be suitable for some due to all the advanced features and menu-driven interface.I wouldn't recommend this radio for anyone much under the age of 14 (unless they're another Elon Musk!). Any younger than that, they'll just get frustrated and break the thing. Ditto for some senior citizens who may get frustrated with modern technical stuff (except Ham operators, they can master anything regardless of age!). I'm 72, consider myself tech-savvy, but had to crack the manual on a number of features that were total mysteries to me.I'll tell you right now, after spending just one hour with this radio, you'll wanna throw out those old C. Crane & Tecsun models (both excellent choices in their day). If you're not sure, see if you can find a pdf file of the user manual on the mfgrs. web site; if available, go through it and see if this is really what you want. Some of you may not wanna mess with touch-screen menu systems and all the strange options totally unheard of in non-SDR radios, it can be confusing, maybe frustrating.I purchased an older model of this radio some time ago and liked it. It was kinda dinky with substandard audio due to the dinky speaker. Austere packaging but the receiver was out standing. Then I saw THIS thing and knew I really "needed" it! One can never have too many SDR's! The price is considerably higher now, but what you get is well worth the extra $$$.After picking up the package at the post office, I couldn't wait to get home so I unboxed it right there in the car. Plugged in the telescopic antenna, turned in on and tuned to the 17-meter Ham band. Just with that dinky antenna I immediately saw four signal spikes pop up on the waterfall display, picked one signal and heard this guy from Prince Edward Island, Canada running an ICOM-7300 at 100 wats like he was in the car with me - excellent audio quality.This radio is built solid with an aluminum case. Two knobs on top for volume & tuning, great for old-school dial-doodlers like me. Learning how to use the touch screen & menu selection takes some practice & patience, but you'll get the hang of it, Smartphone users will have no problem.What impressed me was all the stuff that comes with this model (as opposed to the older one): nice hardshell transport case, wrist strap, telescopic antenna, pointer device for touch screen, stick-on foot pads, decent manual, and USB cable. There's also a stick-on gizmo that goes on the back of the radio & folds out to form a prop.For first-time users: though the radio works well enough with the telescopic antenna, it works best when connected to an external antenna. The manual provides a fair amount of detail on what kinds of antennas are appropriate for various bands. But keep in mind there are TWO antenna connections: high-impedance (high-Z) and low impedance 50-ohm, you have to specify which to use. That is done by selecting the HARD menu option on the bottom tool bar display; this will take you to options for setting various features of the radio. Near the top, you'll see a box indicating which antenna port is active, push it to switch to the other port. When in doubt, there's indicator light next to the ports to tell which one is active. Once again, the manual explains all this stuff. I only mention this as it's something that might trip up first-time users.The audio quality is awesome. The Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) feature wipes out virtually all background static, there's also a noise blanker to take out pulse-like noises. These are pretty standard features on all high-end SDR radios these days, especially Ham receivers. The noise reduction on this radio is as good as my Yaesu FT-710 ham rig, actually a tad better.This radio is perfect for Ham operators who want to monitor but can't have their regular rigs with them, even using just a basic telescopic whip. For everyone else: you'll need to sit down with this radio and LEARN how to use it, not that difficult. READ THE MANUAL FIRST!!! Seriously, this will save you tons of frustration. Start out with basic operating features first, learn those before fiddling with advance functions. It will take some time but well worth it. Oh, for those with big fumble-fingers like me, that little pointer thingy they give you works great for pressing those tiny little boxes on the touch screen.This radio is going to seriously challenge C. Crane and Tecsun. You're going to go SDR, or you're going to go out of business.Hope this review was helpful. I didn't go into ALL of the esoteric (though interesting) details, just wanted to let you know I thought this is a well-designed well packaged awesome piece of radio technology for a very reasonable price. Great value for your bucks.

Purchased based on other reviews and the quality. I’m new to the hobby and this SDR Receiver so I’m still learning… so far so good. So far I’ve been able to pick up local chatter with just the included telescopic antenna… which I will be upgrading soon. The fit and finish, as well as the sound of this receiver is as advertised.. Awesome! The visual display screen, even though I feel is a bit cramped is nice and colorful with options for personalization. Can’t wait to learn more get the most out of my new receiver.

Great radio - manual needs work though

Having several original malachite/malahit (Mala) SDRs, there were a handful of fiddly issued that made the experience of the radio more of a gimmick than a true radio. The early versions were like prototypes compared to this unit. I think calling this a finished product is warranted. If there was never another firmware update made, I would predict you'd still be using this radio as is 20 years from now. Until mobile phones are built with an SDR in them...this is likely as good as it will ever get.THIS RADIO IS A TRULY *--COMPLETE SDR PACKAGE!!!First of all the fit and finish of this radio is one of the best implementations of CNC work ive ever had my hands on. Just holding the radio is a treat. Its dense, obviously metal, fine finished. On appearance alone I would not have cared about its performance based on other Mala radios.But, I quickly tested this radio with a simple 0.75m whip and it was as you'd expect 50Mhz and higher. Using one of the new micro SW donut antennas with the radios preamp...OMG...the performance was unreal! In fact...it didn't make sense. This radio out performed my entire fleet of grundig, tecsun and yaesu receivers...without an outside antenna. I'm almost convinced that hooking this radio up to a decent EFHW antenna may allow you to hear the beginning of time! But that's not the point of this radio...its portable and performs as well as a quality base station. full stop. period. (caveat...you should know how to configure a Mala radio from one of the earlier versions).It is true...this radio can decode FT8, CW and RTTY. It also provides much more demodulation options than previous Mala iterations. its capable...In broad daylight, in a brick building with just a donut loop through insulated glass...I could receive and decode FT8. AMAZING.Audio quality is THE BEST I've heard for a small radio. The top end volume is unnecessary unlike the v1.10 units out there. Id say the output power is likely 1 or 2 watts. Its crisp...very broad tone. I would say as good as some smaller JBL Bluetooth speakers. Further, this has Bluetooth audio out...which is amazing.I could go on and on...but I will not. This radio is impressive in every category.