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Reviews For: BELKA DX

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : BELKA DX
Reviews: 22MSRP: 150 euro
Description:
BELKA-DX is a new upgraded model of a popular model BELKA-DSP. New features are extended frequency range from 1.5 - 31MHz, I/Q outputs for panorama (PC) software, optional internal speaker (DIY kit assembly); new and improved bigger capacity battery; Receiver front-end is designed to work with supplied telescopic whip (80cm) antenna. Built in rechargeable battery ensures trouble free operation for up to 18 hours with headphones. Specifications: Frequency range 1.5MHz - 31MHz; Modulation modes CW, USB/LSB,NFM,AM1 and AM2 pseudo-synchronous; Frequency step 10, 20, 50, 100 Hz; 1, 5, 10, 50 kHz; Adjustable bandwidth, low and high skirts 2,4 - 4,7kHz; 50 - 300Hz; Receiver front-end is optimized for using telescopic antenna (800mm) in the range 1.5 - 31MHz; Signal strength indicator (S-meter); Built in battery LiPo 2200mA; Current consumption - around 80mA; Power consumption - 0.25mW with headphones; Battery life - up to 24 hours when on headphones; Cabinet measures 84x50x20mm; Weight: ~95gr.
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.belrig.by
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
45225
KC6RWI Rating: 2021-08-07
It can hear Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Only had a few days but I can hear everything my ic7300 can hear on a 63ft end fed antenna on my Belka with its telescopic antenna.
Its a very big radio in a small package. I an hear qso's and I receive both stations, which, of course can be conditions but I think this tiny radio is sensitive.
The audio would seem to be about half a watt, enough for a low noise location, if you are in the park after dark it has good volume.
If you think, oh, telescopic antenna, ha, you'll never hear anything, its just a toy you are wrong,
Think instead , this is a sensitive device, in the smallest package and it can hear just as good as base stations,
I haven't even tried other antenna setups but from what I've experienced I don't think I'd be disappointed.
K5MO Rating: 2021-06-29
The best value and performance in small SW radios. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been a ham for 50 yrs, and have owned a lot of radios, but the Belka DX is one of the most impressive rigs I've operated. There's some very good, detailed reviews below, and believe them...this radio is really *that* good.

Customer service from Alex is superb. I ordered mine about a month ago and shipment was delayed due to the ongoing component shortages. I was proactively kept up to date via personal email, and once shipped, the box arrived here in about 8 days.

The radio is small, and housed in a sturdy metal enclosure. It's larger than a matchbox but smaller than a deck of playing cards.

I normally hate menu driven radios, but this one is fine. The 4 buttons plus the encoder work pretty intuitively. The filtering is amazing and easily configured and changed. The one place I've stumbled , is that it's easy (for me!) to overwrite memory locations rather than loading them, but that's due to my not paying attention to the on-screen prompts.

Like all small portables, the Belka needs to see ground in order for the whip antenna to work effectively. If you're holding the box, this works quite well, as you're capacitively coupled to the chassis. If you sit the radio on an insulated surface (a wooden desk for example) and remove your hand, you'll note the decrease in performance. This can be overcome by either using headphones or attaching a small ground "stinger" wire.
A BNC to binding post connector would work well here.

I'm primarily a CW op, and have always seen 40M CW at night during a big contest as a great test of receiver real-world performance. I listened at length to the ARRL Field Day operations and found that the dynamic range performance was outstanding. I could easily have used the Belka as a ham receiver during this contest. It's stable, and the filtering excellent (and configurable) . No way could my Degen or Tecsun rigs do this.

Order direct from Alex. You'll save money and make a new DX friend.
K0INN Rating: 2021-06-27
Pretty amazing Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After reading the reviews and watching some YouTube videos, I ordered a Belka DX directly from the manufacturers web site for about $144 dollars. I don't recall how long it took to receive it but I believe it was about 3 weeks coming through the post office. A tracking number was provided so I did monitor the progress. Some reviews mention receiving the radio in a few days, but, if you buy directly from the manufacturers web site, it is sent by parcel post and it takes some weeks.

My main listening interest is ham cw. This little receiver is wonderful working with the included small whip antenna. I like to walk in the evening for exercise. Using this little rig with a pair of earbuds, I'm able to monitor CW conversations as easily as listening to my ham rig. The rig is much smaller and very superior to the Chinese portables of which I have a few. Tuning is precise, filtering is wonderful, and it is very sensitive.
The rig seems to resist noise when operated on the small whip in my home. I've connected the audio output (via the headphone jack) to a decent external speaker. The Belka has very good audio frequency response. It sounds like a communications receiver.

This radio is a big two thumbs up from me.
KK4NWW Rating: 2021-04-28
My Best Receiver! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was in a dilemma, do I buy the Chinese malachite SDR receiver (another copycat from original) or the BELKA DX... Well reading this forum and watching ALL YouTube videos about it I pulled the trigger, contacted Alex, the designer and inventor in Belorussia and I ordered one with built in speaker.

I couldn't be happier with this tinny thing! Wow the sound coming from such small speaker it's just enough if you're not in a noisy environment. But using a good pair of in ear headphones this receiver ROCKS! Wow a very good quality sound, I do use the RF gain (sensitivity) to lower the noise to signal ratio. The bandwidth filter is pretty darn good.

Selectivity is A1, I use it every day to go walking, the reception with the original whip is amazing, I've connected a EFHW antenna, a magLoop even a dipole, and nope, this short piece of whip receives better.

I'm quite happy with my Bella, oh buy it directly from the fabricant. Don't spend more money buying it from eBay (almost 300$) I paid 143$.
HB9DLF Rating: 2021-04-15
VERY GOOD Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great Receiver !! awesome
ASHUBER Rating: 2021-04-04
Amazing Little Radio - So Much Fun! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like many others have stated before in this forum - the Belka DX is a great radio. I mostly use this radio to monitor CW portions of the ham bands when I go out and walk the dog. The audio quality is exceptional and it is very easy and intuitive to use. I choose to purchase this radio because it has a true CW mode filter which is nearly impossible to find on other handheld radios. The whip antenna seems to work very well, but I have also had great success hooking it up to an end-fed wire antenna off the balcony for even stronger reception. I have purchased the one with the built in speaker but almost never use it as the audio quality with headphones is much better. However even with the smaller batter to accommodate the speaker I find that the radio lasts a very long time before needing recharging. I am very happy with this radio and look forward to following the Belka line of radios for further developments.
OE1MWW Rating: 2021-03-29
very impressive little Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Immediately after it arrived early afternoon in march 2021 by the postman (delivery to Austria: 16 days) My BELKA.DX version is without speake. This option gives a slightly bigger battery inside. I grabbed my 'travel radio stuff', consisting of a 1:1 connector, a 1:9 and 1:49 UnUn (those two wound on a little T50-2 core, sealed in a shrink tube) plus 4m of wire. To my surprise, located on the balconey on the first floor, using the 1:1 and the 1:49 I heard barely some signals on 20m. But the 1:9 + 4m wire raised those signals several S-meter steps up. So, antenna matching is also important for a RX and for the BELKA-DX too! A short glimpse into the manual (online for download) to understand the functions of the buttons is recommended. The designer, OM Alex, EU1ME did a clever design. Most of the buttons are 'multi functional' but easy to understand once you tried them. The background noise of the RX is very quiet, the filter shape of the RX seems to be very sharp. Stations drop in, if you tune over the signal. The high and low frequency of the filter can be selected via menu entries.
32 memories allow to store frequencies including settings of USB/LSB and other parameters. Attention: check them all before you start to store band data, maybe they are already in the upper range, up to number 32. For 113 Euro (that includes shipping), to be ordered on the web page of Alex the "BELKA-DX" has a great fun to cost ratio.
G0AZH Rating: 2020-12-07
A fun HF Receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Belka-DX is a very small high performance SDR RX, with in-built battery providing headphones and IQ outputs. Audio quality is exceptional with either listening on the headphones or amplifying up the signal. Ive used the Belka-DX with a Tecsun ICR-100 and my Timewave DSP-599zx. I’ve been listening to AM broadcast stations, SSB on the ham bands and on utility bands; Air and Marine frequencies, the little receiver has received good type from Deutscher Wetterdienst RTTY on 4583 KHZ 7646 KHZ 10100.8 KHZ. I've compared it with a Kenwood TS590S and various SDR receivers, and the Belka-DX has worked impeccably. I’VE use it on full-size HF antennas, and an active antenna NTi Mega Loop ML 200, experience no overloading. The biggest surprise was listening with the small whip antenna to 160 meters CW stations on the CQWW CW contest, the performance was so good I couldn't believe my ears.
Thoroughly recommend this delightful radio.
OZ1ES Rating: 2020-11-05
Must have Shortwave receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I second VK3OD's review.
A must have shortwave receiver. At the price it is unbeatable and when you add the features this receiver has - It is just short of amazing. Works equally good portable with the supplied BNC telescopic whip antenna or at home with a external longwire antenna.
Buy it at Alex's website
VK3OD Rating: 2020-10-31
Excellent Receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a fantastic receiver in terms of performance.

1. The audio quality is superb
2. The Tuning is very similar to a full size HF radio in terms of the VFO response to tuning a signal
3. The AGC action and characteristics is superb and like a good ham transceiver. There is no pumping like crap Chinese portable receivers. It also does not have the peak AGC distortion and wobbly SSB audio on peaks like the cheap Chinese portables. If you did a blindfold test you would need very good ears to pick the difference if comparing it to an expensive ham transceiver.
4. Audio output is superb especially if fed into a decent speaker. I use a Cellphone plug in battery powered speaker.
5. The S-meter is a DbUv level meter and has a superb response. Its DbUv scale is highly usable. Unlike the useless s-meter on the icom R30. I have used it to track down QRM and its easy to see or spot nulls or peaks.

The Chinese DSP receivers have S-meters that are erratic at best on SSB and CW signals or on any signal for that matter. Very hard to peak a signal unless its a steady carrier. The Belka because of its excellent AGC can show these peaks on CW and SSB signals very nicely. The S-meter indicator has almost analog S- meter characteristics it responds so well showing peaks and dips.
6. If you compare this radio to the many VHF/UHF handheld transceiverss with HF SSB/AM receiver this receiver blows them out of the water. No evidence of IMD, 2nd order IMD and broadcast band overload. I also own a Icom R30 which I specifically bought for hunting down RFI. In comparison the Icom has a useless S-meter and is prone to broadcast overload, overload in general. I also own an earlier AOR8200 and this receiver is superior on HF. The reality is that there is no wideband scanner or portable receiver with acceptable ham level HF performance except maybe for the Elecraft KX2 and KX3. I also own a K3 and the Belka has superior audio characteristics with much less IMD. I do own a KX2 and the Belka is just as good on RX. I leave my Belka strapped to by RX loop and because the price is so good I can sleep well or not worry about loosing an expensive transceiver. I also have a K2 and this Belka is vastly superior for general purpose SW listening and better suited to RFI hunting. One nice feature of the Belka is its variable RF gain. I never had to use it because the front end is so good. But for RFI hunting you can adjust the front end gain to track down QRM. You dont need to carry around step attenuators or use massive attenuation that reduces workable sensitivity too much like the scanner HF radios.
7. The Belka DX will have an external speaker option very soon. I have been using portable battery powered and external speakers. The sound on big 8 ohm speaker is superb.
8. The size advantage of the Belka is great for the performance delivered. There is no portable receiver that will match its performance. Forget about the old vintage Sony's and other reputed legendary old portable shortwave receivers by whoever. They are all old antique and are garbage in performance terms when compared to the Belka.
9. The Belka has superb low Audio IMD level resulting in a very clean sound that beats many much more expensive ham transceivers many which have poor AGC induced IMD. The Belka's AGC is optimised to weak signal reception and its AGC slope is excellent for measuring signal level variation which you can never do on on scanner HF radios because they either have excessive RF gain or the AGC is so lousy.
10. If you trying to compare this Belka and wonder how good its compared to the Icom R20, R30, AOR8200, Tecsuns, Degens and County Comm portables the Belka leaves them all in the dust. The Belka was designed by hams who understand how a HF receiver should performer, and especially how an AGC on a professional receiver should work.
11. The Belka has a very special front end circuitry that is matched to its short whip antenna. There is no portable antenna that you can use that will outperform the supplied Belka whip in terms of signal to noise ratio. The designers have paid very special attention to properly matching the supplied antenna to the front end. I have not found another antenna, miniwhips(many), Loops, and many other radio mounted antennas to outperform the supplied whip. I used tuned whips, UNUN matched short vertical and active antennas and the Belkas standard whip always has the best signal to noise ratio. The signal to noise ratio is much better than any receiver that has a similar sized whip. It blows me away sometimes how well this short whip performs. I used the best miniwhip design to hunt QRM but these are plagued by feedline noise pickup and IMD issues especially if you live near strong AM stations.
12. The front end is very robust and if this receiver was built anywhere else it would cost double the price. I also own a CR1A and the Belka is just as good for much less money. I have spent and bought just about every decent portable HF receiver to try and find a radio that best matches a Ham transceiver in terms of user interface, VFO tuning, band hopping and user interface and one that is not designed by a memory channel engineer that has no clue on how a shortwave radio should be tuned. The Belkas user interface is simple enough that you can figure it out without even using the simple manual. Want a mode, change the mode. Want high audio, adjust it. Want to change bands no problem. Want to change tuning steps its simple. No cryptic manuals and user interfaces that was designed to trap and confuse you. Incredible how much "clear thinking" and KISS was used in the design. Even programming the memories takes 2 seconds. Try that on the cryptic county comm radio!
13. The Belka is James Bond like in design. You could sneak it into Church, Wedding, Funeral or take it to work to keep an eye on the ham bands its so good. It would have made a great numbers station receiver for James Bond or some other spies.
14. It would make a superb HF airband or utility SSB receiver that has no equal at the moment.
15. Its performance on shortwave AM listening is superb and it also has syncronous detection AM. Shame that the Shortwave is largely only filled with Chinese propaganda stations these days. But there are good targets still to be had.
16. If you go away camping or boating this receiver would make a superb Holiday HF receiver. I own both the Belka and Belka DX and I just leave the Belka in my car when I want to kill time listening to the HF bands.

So the executive summary is that it is a well designed receiver that was designed by hams who know how a HF radio should work especially on SSB and CW. They also understand how a AGC should perform and have paid some attention to giving a meaningful S-meter. The Belka team should be congratulated for producing such a wonderful product that no other manufacturer can match. I can only imagine what a good full table top or portable receiver they could produce because they are experts at understanding what makes a good HF receiver. The best part is that they did not turn the Belka into a useless scanner with useless HF performance.

My recomendation is that every ham should buy one, because our first hobby is ham radio and today unfortunately the second hobby is hunting down RFI from all the garbage electronics. It also makes a superb portable shortwave receiver that has no match for size and performance. Dont even consider the useless County Comm design with its flawed AGC. It makes a great pocket radio for keeping your ears on the HF bands and it will have no problem copying even weak long path HF signals on any HF band with its supplied whip. Amazing really.

Great stuff and WOW what a product 10 stars. And no I dont own shares in Belka. I am just impressed by companies and hams who design proper equipment rather than jumping onto bandwagons with poorly designed junk with no technical merit. The Belka designer obviously is a person who is obviously has an engineering or professional design background because the products professional out come is a reflection of the designers skillset, Well done Alex.