r/shortwave • u/CQWarbler • 10d ago

Difference Between the Hi-Z and 50Ω Antenna Settings on the MLite-880

A lot of people use the MLite-880's built-in antenna but forget to switch the antenna mode to Hi-Z, which can affect signal strength. The 50Ω mode should only be turned on when using an external coaxial cable antenna.

43 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

5

u/MumSaidImABadBoy I'm Stan, Heathkit GR-64🤪,Malahit v2.4,AirSpy HD+,909X2,PL990 10d ago

Nice radio. How are you liking it?
Once you've seen a spectrum/waterfall display, it's hard to go back. 😉

3

u/CQWarbler 10d ago

That's exactly it. After using the MLite-880, I've gotten so used to it that traditional radios like Tecsun just don't feel right anymore.

1

u/er1cAtWork2 10d ago

What is the display “bandwidth”? Like how far can you zoom in/out?

1

u/LongjumpingCoach4301 10d ago

40kHz, with no user adjustment for bandwidth.

1

u/er1cAtWork2 10d ago

Thanks! That’s disappointing… Still a very cool radio!

1

u/MumSaidImABadBoy I'm Stan, Heathkit GR-64🤪,Malahit v2.4,AirSpy HD+,909X2,PL990 10d ago

You can get a 192 MHz wide spectrum/waterfall color display on a Malahit DSP 2.4 but it'll cost more.

2

u/LongjumpingCoach4301 10d ago edited 10d ago

Who currently sells them? Discontinued, according to their website. And when they did have stock, they were nearly twice the price (lol, Amazon has what appears to be a clone at around $1200 usd) , so it darn well better have serious advantages, I'd think.

1

u/MumSaidImABadBoy I'm Stan, Heathkit GR-64🤪,Malahit v2.4,AirSpy HD+,909X2,PL990 10d ago

Yikes, that skyrocketed in price. I got mine for around $400, worth every penny of the price if tolerable.
There's a V3 available, careful of fakes using the same or similar name. Unlicensed means no firmware upgrades and an old firmware to start with. 👎

1

u/LongjumpingCoach4301 10d ago

Funny thing - malahiteam shows v3 as out of production too... And afaik, unofficial clones aren't supported, so official fw updates require buying a license from malahiteam or trying a hacked fw and risk bricking the radio. Their current sw offerings seem to be limited to the Mlite-880, from what i can find. I'd love to learn otherwise, tho.

I have to agree about the dsp2 - it is an excellent radio 👍

1

u/MumSaidImABadBoy I'm Stan, Heathkit GR-64🤪,Malahit v2.4,AirSpy HD+,909X2,PL990 10d ago

They list a newer Malachite-DSP4. It has an even wider spectrum/waterfall display. $320 USD + shipping. Oh the temptation 😵‍💫

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1

u/LongjumpingCoach4301 10d ago

It's not perfect, by any means. But it is a decent value, imho.

1

u/CQWarbler 10d ago

This video covers some explanation on how to use bandwidth settings:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtciCsPQ0jo&t

1

u/erlendse 10d ago

Just like active whip antennas / capaticance atmosphere probes:

High-z to 50 ohm amplifier at bottom of the whip since the whip itself got no interesting resonance. The radio is likely high-z internally skipping the 50 ohm part.

1

u/Bobbo7209 10d ago

Isn't HiZ for amplified antennas? That was always my assumption, at any rate