by Dan Robinson

So, a lot of news to cover — thanks to MLite users on two existing Facebook groups for comments about firmware 1.3 available for the MLite-880 on the Elecevolve website and this appears to complete without problems using the Windows app there.

In attempting to upgrade with the STMCube program, I ran into problems so I think the Windows app is the way to go — my issue with STMCube involved inability to connect with the receiver already placed in DFU mode via the 1 key so I am not sure what the deal is with that.

Thanks to Georgiy at Malahiteam for making the original 1.3 bin file available on the Telegram channel where discussions continue in addition to those on the two Facebook groups for the receiver. In previous comments, he noted in response to a comment requesting coverage to include 55 mhz…that a “hardware limitation [involving] band pass filters and mixer circuit” prevents extension to that point.”

For those asking about a possible contrast adjustment being added, Georgiy states: “Contrast can’t be adjusted; I’ve chosen the optimal mode that produces the least radio interference.” As for future addition via FW of selectable sideband SAM, the news is better as he states: “Will add but later”

We see some very welcome changes including addition of a NIGHT display brightness mode and a “separation of frequency correction for frequencies below 27 mHz and above 108 mHz.” microSD card format has changed to exFAT. S-Meter now has a dBm display option with a note that levels above 73 dBm are not displayed due to “a hardware limitation.” Another interesting addition is SPECTRUM GAIN added under MENU 5. There is still no option for button-implemented selectable sideband in SAM mode, but as someone pointed out, it is possible to tune LSB/USB while in SAM by reducing STEP size.

Meanwhile, via a Japanese teardown video comes the identity of the Microcontroller chip in the current version of the MLite-880 which as stated in the datasheet is “based on the high-performance Arm® Cortex®-M7 32-bit RISC core operating at up to 480 MHz. The Cortex® -M7 core features a floating point unit (FPU) which supports Arm® double-precision (IEEE 754 compliant) and single-precision dataprocessing instructions and data types. STM32H750xB devices support a full set of DSP instructions and a memory protection unit (MPU) to enhance application security.”

STM33H750VBT 6 AA205 VQ V TWN AA 347

Thanks to Bryan Liesner for these observations:

“My reaction to one night of use of 1.3:

The frequency adjustment works perfectly as in 1.1, I was able to test this listening to 20m USB, 40m LSB, and 80m LSB, where it is immediately noticeable.

The new night mode setting for the LCD is nice and dim, perfect for me, a very subjective topic.

Adding 75uS – 50uS for the US and Europe respectively was a nice touch.

I was unable to test the FM multipath, you’d have to drive around with the radio and I never did. I’m not in a position to judge that.

The S-meter display in dBm is also a nice touch, but it’s easier to just look at the signal strength bar. Subjective again, but an effort was made to do this. Less negative for stronger signal is more precise, but I’d personally like to see bars. Would most users agree with me on that?

The encoder fix, also nice and a good job. I had observed that the encoder would have a miss when changing directions, a bit annoying, but now it’s now flawless. With the firmware fix would think that was very similar issue to key bounce with keypads.

The addition of the adding a spectrum gain control setting is also welcome, it’s easier to see smaller peaks in the spectrum display.

The upgrade process wiped out my saved frequencies, bummer.

It’s an erase and write operation.

It’s recommended in the regular Malahit DSP flash instructions to leave the skip erase option unchecked in the UI and it’s also the default behavior with the command line utility.

I do not know what the one click updater does behind your back.

As a technical person, I’d prefer to understand everything that’s done.”

Along with FW 1.3 for the MLite-880 comes perhaps bigger news from Malahiteam — they have announced initial stages of the DSP-4 receiver with the following information (NOTE: initial units are going to be limited to Russia).

Malahiteam Announcement: Due to the unavailability of the msi001 chip and its analogs, unfortunately, production of the Malakhit-DSP3 model has been discontinued. However, I am very glad that my team and I were able to save the project. We have developed a new model, the Malakhit-DSP4. This model has the following features, differences, and similarities with the Malakhit-DSP3:

1. The DSP4 has a wider bandwidth – 650 kHz instead of 192 kHz for the DSP3;
2. The case dimensions and control layout are completely identical;
3. The power supply circuit is completely identical – the DSP4 is also powered by one or two 18650 batteries connected in parallel;
4. The dynamic blocking range is significantly higher than the DSP3 – at least 100 dB for the DSP4 compared to 85 dB for the DSP3;
5. The DSP4’s IQ signal transmission bandwidth is slightly lower than that of the DSP3 – 162 kHz for the DSP4 versus 192 kHz for the DSP3;
6. The DSP4’s power consumption is 1.5-2 times higher than that of the DSP3, depending on the operating mode. It’s worth noting that the DSP3 (yes, DSP3) is a low-power receiver, and few compare favorably to it;
7. The DSP4 significantly improves RDS reception for FM radio stations;
8. The DSP4’s frequency response bandwidth is somewhat narrower – from 100 kHz to 1.7 GHz, but it is continuous and does not contain “holes” like the DSP3;
9. The DSP4 has better sensitivity than the DSP3 – no worse than -140 dBm on the HF band, and noticeably better sensitivity on the VHF band than the DSP3, reaching around -140 dBm in some VHF bands.
10. The DSP4 has a built-in clock chip and Bluetooth module.
11. The remaining functionality is the same as the DSP1-3, and the DSP processing quality remains just as high.
12. The DSP4’s radio receiver solution is more sophisticated and advanced.

At the same time, we tried to keep the price low (by the standards of high-quality equipment). However, we still had to increase the price due to higher taxes. The Malachite-DSP4 is manufactured in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

by Dan Robinson

[UPDATE: FW 1.3 is now available at Elecevolve under downloads and upgrade works using Windows app]

For users of the MLite-880 portable, Elecevole now offers a Windows app that makes upgrading the firmware of this receiver quite easy.

A look at the Elecevolve website shows the updater available as an .exe download (see: https://www.elecevolve.com/download/mlite-880)

In my initial review of the MLite-880 I noted that undertaking upgrades using the STMCube Programmer software was likely to cause a lot of people headaches, something confirmed in comments by some users.

After seeing this Windows app, I decided to go ahead and upgrade my unit to FW 1.2 — the process went smoothly, though I had to recheck various settings, and eliminate the key beep which is returned as a default after the upgrade.

We still don’t know when an upgrade beyond 1.2 will be available.

by Dan Robinson

Since my first look at the MLite-880 some new information has become available, so passing on what I know to SWLing.com readers:

FIRMWARE UPDATES

Drawing from comments in various places, including those left on my original article, the Telegram Malahit chat, RigReference, and first adopter comments on YouTube, the following have been discussed:

• Size of microSD cards compatible with the receiver
• Ease of connecting BT to various speakers/PCs etc
• Clock time not holding after certain periods powered down
• Continuing requests for selectable sideband in SAM mode
• Some reports of frequency correction/calibration not working
• One user asserting that when in HiZ LW and MW reception is not good, while external antenna brings “great” results.
• Some users reporting poor FM reception using whip and issues with RDS
• Some users reporting encoder occasional “misses” out of the box

I have been helping relay user issues to Malahiteam in Russia as well as to Elecevolve in China, but I’ll address each of these based on my use of a unit purchased from Banggood.

• microSD: I am now using a 16GB card with no problems when in RECORD mode. We have had one user report that up to a 256GB card was usable. So, there are varying reports still coming in.
• BT Connectivity: Again, varying reports as to ease of connection to various speakers but my Edifier speaker connects with no problem
• SAM: Malahiteam reports that providing selectable sideband synchronous is in fact planned for the future
• Frequency correction: one user reported that frequency correction/recalibration was not working in FW 1.2 But I have experienced no problems with my unit but did notice out-of-box error from displayed frequency but not huge and correctable.
• HiZ LW/MW reception: I have not experienced this. In fact I am impressed with the radio’s performance on MW using the whip (note there is no ferrite internally).
• FM/RDS: I have experienced no major problems with FM reception or with RDS on my unit though I do notice that RDS character clarity can be variable — this may be due to antenna sensitivity depending on whip length and location of radio in my house.
• Encoder misses: my unit purchased from Banggood does not exhibit this issue.

Thanks to Guy Atkins who provided the Amazon URL to the carrying case pictured above. This case is an excellent fit for the MLite-880 with some space to spare in the lid top and the bottom for USB cable and other items.

Malahiteam informs me that they are monitoring various reports, but are in “no rush. . . as there are no critical bugs requiring immediate fixes.” They say the “bug collection process is ongoing” and users should contact Elecevolve with any serious issues being seen at the moment.

Indeed, I have noticed as one user reported that recordings have the wrong month. This is an obvious bug that we hope will be addressed in upcoming firmware updates.

Malahiteam states on clock issues: ” . . .power is turned on mechanically [something that was] actually done at the insistence of DSP1-3 users — not everyone liked the button-based activation, as it caused false alarms despite the built-in protection.” And they add on the microSD: “the SD card reading speed is low, about 1.5 MB per second, and there is no way to increase it.”

Another issue I have noticed is the need to take care with VOLUME when making recordings. I almost blew out my speaker when playing a recording. NOTE that the manual states for RECORDING: “Rotate [knob] to adjust the audio gain level when recording/the recording indicator should be approximately at the level of half to 3/4 of the scale.”

From my SWLing.com article, Richard Langley notes: “It seems there is no way to transfer files from the receiver to a computer except by moving the memory card between the receiver and the computer. It would be nice if the receiver could be connected to a computer so it sees the files so that they could be downloaded over USB. The radio couldn’t see my MacBook Pro to broadcast audio to it when Bluetooth was set up. No problem connecting to an Anker Bluetooth speaker, however. As received, it appears that the frequency calibration of my radio is good to about 10 Hz. I used the Fldigi spectrum scope while tuned to CHU. I tuned the radio to 7849.00 kHz in USB mode and narrowed the bandwidth. The offset in the spectrum scope from 1000 Hz was about -10 Hz or so. One of the reasons I acquired the MLite-880 to add to my stable of receivers was a promise of scheduled audio recordings. When I asked on the Banggood website if that was possible with the receiver, I was told it was. Oh well. So, it would be nice if the receiver had an alarm function so that the receiver would tune to the desired frequency/mode and then start recording audio for a set period of time.”

Guy Atkins: “Those who think the frequency calibration may be broken in firmware 1.2 have likely not turned the knob far enough. The MLite 880’s adjustment is in very tiny 0.1 PPM (parts per million). This is an impressive level of adjustment accuracy for a portable receiver. I upgraded my set to firmware 1.2, and wanted to replicate a 1 kHz offset tuning on WWV at 15 MHz. When you put a radio in SSB and tune up or down by 1 kHz, you definitely hear the audio quality change. A 1 kHz change from 15 MHz equals 66.67 PPM. Since the frequency calibration in the radio adjusts in 0.1 increments, this means you need to turn the knob (a lot!) to read “667 x 0.1ppm”. I did this on mine and the tonal change in the voice announcements was clearly audible. I then returned the setting to “0 x 0.1ppm” and the audio sounded fine. Note that parts per million calculations is frequency dependent, so I recommend using upper HF signals for testing, such as WWV 15 MHz, or you’ll be tuning the radio’s knob for a lonnnng time! A more scientific way to check the frequency calibration of the MLite 880 would be with a software tool called Spectran. I’ve used Spectran in the past to check the exact carrier frequency of medium wave stations. (A big thanks to Victoria, BC Canada DXer Nick Hall-Patch for alerting me to this useful program.)”

But BGFourQL noted: “It may be, but I only need to adjust to 60 x 0.1ppm in the firmware of 1.0 and 1.1, but even if it is adjusted to 600 in 1.2, of course, the developer has admitted that it is a BUG, and he will fix this problem in the next firmware.”

Finally, direct from Elecevolve we get clarification that Banggood sources MLite-880 directly from them. Regarding firmware, they confirm that 1.2 is as of this writing still the curent version but updates are “planned to be released in the near future” along with “more new products”.

by Dan Robinson

Zero Day, Robert DeNiro’s first appearance in a TV series, is streaming on Netflilx, and in addition to De Niro who plays a former president brought back to head a commission investigating a devastating cyberattack, a radio that will be familiar to many also makes what seems to be its first appearance in a series.  This is an easy one so we’ll leave it up to readers to ID this receiver which was released in 2024 and is seen being taken out of a shopping bag from B&H in New York City and tuned by none other than Jesse Plemons playing Roger Carlson, a skilled but troubled political operative working as a body man for George Mullen (De Niro).