| N2UNL |
Rating:  |
2023-04-26 | |
| Down the road |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I owned the sdrdx2 and this. The MB1 is worst than the DX2. just don't know why they supported the DX2 more than the MB1 as it is suppose to be a higher end radio. Just about begged someone to buy it. Not going into detail but stay away from it. The other 2 SDR radios are better. |
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| SM4IVE |
Rating:  |
2020-04-24 | |
| The best there is MB-1 Prime |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
What a radio super could only get better and better and the uppgrades are free. Vasily just made an ssb profile that works super.
And the implemented cw skimmer wow so easy to find dx on the screen
BUY ONE you want regreet it
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| WX2CX |
Rating: |
2019-09-22 | |
| The Top SDR Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
No other comes close to the MB1. Looks like a radio, works like a radio and is also a computer at the same time. It can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. The radio itself is beautiful, puts some of the Big Brands out there to shame.
The customer and technical support is world class.
Roman and his engineers are always willing to help right away, either via email or Team Viewer.
Looking forward to new software releases.
73
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| W2NER |
Rating: |
2019-08-04 | |
| Buy one! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have had many radios including Every Flex ever made and most of the Apache labs. Also, with regards to analog radios, just about every manufacture out there, I have had more than one of their radios. Check out my QRZ page. As far as the MB1, I have the premium I7 version and I love it! I think more then 90% of the operators out there would love this radio. There's no such thing as the best radio because everyone has different requirements for their needs. So, every radio brings something to the table that makes someone decide to purchase a particular rig. But I will say the MB1 comes close to having everything that ANYONE would want. The only negative I would say it has is, it only has one ADC but not a deal breaker for most HAM's in my opinion. It does have 4 receivers of which I utilize two all the time. The price tag is a bit high however, it brings a lot to the table! If you sat down in front of one and used it for a week or so, you would not want to give it up for any radio out there. Now I don't post this review lightly, look at my QRZ page and you will see I have had more radios in the past 20 years then MANY hams. So, if you have a chance to get your hands on one, get it and don't let go....... |
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| G0CGL |
Rating: |
2019-05-21 | |
| Update |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I was gratified to see that the MB1 gained considerable interest at Hamvention 2019. Having owned my MB1 for approaching 3 years, this is an update on my earlier review.
What drew me initially to this SDR, and which is still one of the major plus points in my opinion, is the monoblock design with SDR and computer in one unit. The simplification, efficiency and ultimate performance, without losses, that this affords should not be underestimated. Unlike competitors such as the Flex 6600M or the Anan 7000dle MKII, the MB1 has both a normal front panel and the computer. The others have one or the other. The computer is my main PC with all my software, both radio and everything else, installed on it. The supplied configuration of Windows 10 can easily be changed to Linux or MAC. The computer hardware of i5 CPU and 8GB RAM is just as easily upgraded to i7, up to 32GB RAM and the SSD can be changed to a faster and larger variety.
The receiver performance, using Expert Electronics’ ESDR2 version 1.2.0 software is very good. I suspect that if the MB1 were reviewed by Sherwood, it would not be rated in the top 6 receivers. But for all practical purposes, it is excellent. I use mine for contests and weak signal low band DXing. It won me over when I did a 3-month comparison with an Icom 7800 MKII which was the radio that preceded the MB1 here.
Expert Electronics are fronted by Vasily and Roman. They are the most friendly and helpful guys you could ever wish to deal with. In many respects they stand behind their products and do a lot to support their customers. However, EE are enigmatic to say the least. In other ways they drag behind the competition and this is all too obvious in the terribly slow, and even backwards, software development. In the 3 years of owning the MB1, though the hardware will support it, neither ALC nor Tuneable Notch Filter have been implemented. These, and other features, appear on the ‘road-map’, slated for a late 2019 appearance but they were in this same promised state during 2017 and 2018. Notwithstanding this issue, ESDR2 1.2.0 is in other respects excellent software. The two GUI, a computer GUI and an MB1 GUI, a pseudo-radio representation ultimately for the MB1s superb touch screen front panel display, but which can be duplicated on an external monitor, are both well ahead of the others like Flex, Anan, etc.
Above I note that software development is slow and even backwards. ESDR2 1.2.0 is good. It is in the process of being replaced by 1.3, the release at time of writing being 1.3.0 Beta 1. It is Beta and things can change. Well, they need to and for the better. Without reference to their user/customer base, product owners have this year had to endure a hiatus caused by a re-design of the GUI that took the software back to the dark-ages and below the standards of the competition. This has now been reversed out, thankfully. But features and performance have been inexplicably downgraded. The MB1 has a myriad of ease-of-use front panel buttons that, in 1.2.0, had companion indicators in the software. Some of these indicators have been removed in the latest release. Similarly, some functions, separate before, have been merged into an ‘either-or’ format. Some essential performance related parameters, such as AGC-Threshold, have been removed. Bizarre is the only adjective I can give to the situation now.
So, following on from Hamvention 2019, there will be a period of raised research into this radio by potential new users. They should know that, for what it is worth, I love the MB1 for its SDR/computer incorporated design, for the hardware’s well-appointed features (take a look at the back panel for example), for the software’s visual and practical design, for its good performance and superb flexibility and usability. But this is with the caveat that the software version used is 1.2.0 and not 1.3. They should also take note of the software development issues and the general lack of a grip by Expert Electronics on what the SDR user demands from their high-end, expensive radios.
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| W1FQ |
Rating: |
2019-05-18 | |
| Getting use to the MB-1 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is a very, very nice radio. The radio construction is on a par with Yaesu and Icom. Some aspects of the operation and user interaction are a little quirky, but once you get use to them all is fine.
On the air performance is first rate.
I would echo some of the other comments, the noise blankers need a great deal of improvement!
There are probably more features with this SDR than I will ever use, Hi!
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| LA9AKA |
Rating: |
2018-10-03 | |
| Best there is! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had this radio for some time now, almost two years. I was a little skeptical at first, so I kept my IC-7800mk2 side by side with the MB1 for 3 months. The decision was easy, the 7800 had to go. I have never looked back since, the MB1 keeps getting better for every software update. The possibilities with this radio are endless. If you never had an SDR before, it will be a learning curve. The MB1 is a complicated radio, and if your previous radio was a Drake, you're in for a shock. But the online forum and EI4KF's User Manual Addendum is really helpful. Support by Expert Electronics in Russia is excellent, and if you buy from NSI in the US, the same goes for them.
I use the radio mostly for digital modes, and having the SDR and PC in the same box using virtual cables is really neat! The ESDR2 software is stable and intuitive to use, way much better than the competitors alternatives as far as I am concerned. The receiver is really sweet, and better than my old 7800 both on HF and 6m. And in addition you have a great 2m transceiver with a two port antenna switch built in. The PA is really solid, and takes care of itself.
I thought in the beginning that I would have to use another PC in my shack apart from the MB1, but I quickly changed my mind. The MB1 is more than capable of handling all my needs. Using it for all HAM activities; logbook, rotator control, AMP control, skimmers, clusters, digital software and so on.
I have a bunch of stuff connected to the MB1: 3 external monitors, keyboard, mouse, E-Coder, Amplifier, Rotator, USB hub, label printer, GPS reference etc. I have upgraded the RAM to 16Gb, this is a necessity, also very cheap. I have also upgraded the processor to I7, this is not by any means necessary for the average user.
Bottom line, I LOVE this radio. And I love the fact that it is always evolving. Any questions? Drop me an email, address is on the qrz.com web page.
73
Hans Christian LA9AKA |
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| KA2ZSD |
Rating: |
2018-05-31 | |
| Wow Factor |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I sat behind MB1-RADIO for few minutes it gave me a good warm feeling. Received ssb stations sounded very natural better than my Ten Tec Orion .I never got chance call a station so my question here is--
How does Stock mic sound and how can I use different microphones like my Heil PR781?
I have MB1 coming in end of June 2018
Joe
KL4QG
Feel free email me
conover1956@gmail.com |
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| PY4BZ |
Rating: |
2018-04-08 | |
| The Masterpiece |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| this radio is no doubt the best radio I used in my life and I had all considerations top Radios like icom 7800, yaesu ft 9000, kenwood ts 990 to compare and MB1 in my modest opinion is the best! |
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| KB6DYA |
Rating: |
2018-01-17 | |
| Great Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This radio if for the person with some SDR and computer experience. It has 4 hf ant. ports and 2 n type vhf ports with up to 4 separate key lines.
If you are new to SDR as I was, watch u- tube videos on flex 6300 and the Maestro by AB5N ( Bob Nagy ) The u-tube videos by Expert Electronics are in Russia with English sub titles, Very hard to follow along as a new comer to SDR. The radio I give 5 stars - The translation from Russian to English I give 4 stars. The radio has every thing that you could want in a SDR. In my option it has the flex radio beat. Oren KB6DYA |
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