What's inside a Malachite SDR clone portable Radio

My Malachite clone SDR radio will not longer hold a charge so its time for a new lithium battery. Things did not go as planned. Dry contacts on the board, too much flux.
Malachite Radio review here. • Malachite V4 DSP SDR ...
Battery Used here. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09DPR4V6...

[@SolitaryBro]

FRED... Well done on a satisfactory (job satisfaction) repair. Really enjoyed watching this one. Thanks fella..

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks 👍

[@peterfrederickgray9656]

Fred, thanks for another great video. And a handy repair lesson. Cheer 73 from Tasmania.

[@stationplaza4631]

Glad to see you finally got it sorted.

[@M7RTV]

FRED. Nice One Fred! I watch all your videos all the way through till the end. Appreciate you making these videos. BTW Lipo Batteries usually ship with 3/4 maximum Voltage. Fully charged your battery will be around 4.2v & minimum Voltage would be around 3v, SO the latest battery was in a good 'Transport Voltage.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@JoanEA-SWL]

Fred. Thank you for this interesting video.

[@shobonet]

Thank you, Fred!

[@SilversKr]

Fred- well done. Thx

[@Kerop-KK6SEI]

Fred, thank you for your videos!!

[@Nitrrous19]

Hi Fred, great video ... Lithium batteries have a nominal voltage 3.7V (Generally the voltage they are happiest at) and the best voltage to be stored and shipped at. Charged voltage should be around 4.2V and fully depleated around 3V - 3.2V. If a bettery isnt going to ve used for a good while, aim for as close to 3.7V as possible. I do this with my EBike battery through the winter Great video Graham

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks Graham

[@Ratchet_effect]

Fred! Always here until I come to an end 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Cheers and beers.

[@junky2114]

Fred. I'd never miss the opportunity to get directions in case my malachites battery 🔋 will fail in the future. Ty

[@KC1CPA]

and i always stay till the end. keep up the good work.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Cheers :-)

[@tarantulajourney]

Fred, never miss them mate 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thank you.

[@nickupton5671]

Keep going I enjoy your content

[@danedewaard8215]

"Fred" I'm surprised that you killed the original battery, as when the battery reaches the charging voltage, it won't charge any more. I guess the charging voltage is quit a bit higher than the actual 3.7v cell voltage. Good video and glad you got it fixed!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. Yes normally the charge circuit will restrict the amount of voltage at 4.2v and then shut down when fully charged. For some reason it seemed to have failed.

[@robmay3570]

Fred , I have recently bought a President Randy 3 I consider this one of the best current hand held cb I Also recently bought a President Grant2 premium another fantastic radio 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

The Randy has always had good reviews. Never owned one myself.

[@bill53uk]

Well done Fred Nice video. Not heard you on the cb radio lately. (CT3036) but iIm in Hemel Hempstead

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi Bill. I was off for a while but been back on most days last week about 4.30pm chatting to Dan (hatfield) and Steff (hemel).

[@Greg-et2dp]

Frid in the shed your malachite sdr clone portable receiver is awesome my friend 😅😅😅

[@48pluto]

derF. Nice video mate! Glad you could fix it and even upgraded the battery (y)

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Yeah me too

[@sgt.franko7537]

Fred - Cheers mate

[@Andy-G7RCU]

Fred....Well done matey great vid to watch

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks buddy :-)

[@columbo7927]

FRED Cheers fella Thank you very much

[@g1fsh]

Well i think u did well there Fred. Some would have just given up if the new battery didnt work. So well done for sticking with it. Oh and FRED LOL

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks Gary. I still like the radio so did not want to give up. Cheers mate.

[@WIMAG-GO]

Super film serdeczne dzięki ! Taki akumulator można kupić za ok. 10$ 5000mAh Dane: Technologia wykonania: Litowo-polimerowy Wymiary: 55x65x10mm Napięcie naładowania: 4.2V Napięcie znamionowe: 3.7V Pojemność: 5000mAh Prąd ładowania: 0.5C Czas ładowania: 3.0h Maksymalny prąd ładowania/rozładowania: 2500mA Napięcie cut-off: 2.75V Temperatura pracy: 0 do 45°C Temperatura przechowywania: -20 do +60°C Zakończenie: 2 przewody, wtyk JST 1.25mm Waga 1szt: 80g Opis: 955565, 955465. Posiada wbudowany układ zabezpieczający PCM (ochrona przed przeładowaniem, nadmiernym rozładowaniem oraz zwarciem).

[@fatherd.6016]

Fred. You are right, if you let a lithium batt go dead, it's finished...!!! 😊

[@D.Eldon_]

"Fred" -- I've been trying to decide whether or not to buy a similar radio and their custom Li-po battery is the #1 negative issue for me because they have a limited lifespan, yet are not designed for the user to easily replace. It is designed obsolescence like cell phones. What I'd like to have is a Malahit (Malachite) radio that uses standard batteries that are easy to replace. My preference would be 18650 Li-ion. But AA NiMH would also be fine. And I agree with you the current models of these SDR radios are way over-priced.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I ve never seen one on standard battery. Best i can think of is to simply connect a 5 volt power pack via the USB C which give a much longer run time.

[@Trex600ProEFBL]

Fred just a point the storage for a single cell lipo is 3.6 vdc. if the cell drops below 3.0 volts the battery will be impared.

[@shaneweightman]

Fred. Watched till the end , plan to get one of those in the nr future , cheers shane

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks Shane. Ive found a cheaper better Malachite version with a bigger battery. Its on test at the moment and a video will follow in a couple of weeks.

[@notreallydaedalus]

@@CB-RADIO-UK I've been interested in these for a while now, as well. But now I'm interested in the ATS-120! So many cheap Chinese radios, what's one to do?!

[@andreasg7834]

@@notreallydaedalus These ATS-Radios don't have the incredible noise-reduction as the malahit-radios

[@matthewtopping2560]

Fred love the content I have a ss6900n now

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

A fine radio. Use mine every week in the shed. Still get good reports.

[@FaithsFallen]

I hope that is an old deactivated card because I did not even need to pause the video to work out that card number!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Its an old card

[@fyjkuiper]

Fred , thanks 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@doogsm6013]

Fred! You can usually recover a drined battery by hooking up a current limited power supply and putting a minimal charge into it. Not worth it this case as it was a new battery and under warranty. Anyways cheers and I do have to pick up one of these radios.

[@prerunning6086]

Ive recharged the nonrechargable lithium battery in my smoke detector 3x now.

[@AdamDeal-KF0PRI]

that was a pain in the butt! nothing worse then getting sent garbage in the mail! glad it turned out good for you!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks. Yes it was a pain and i chose a branded battery as well avoiding the cheapos.

[@AdamDeal-KF0PRI]

@@CB-RADIO-UK with all thats made anymore is cheepo cause it all comes from china!

[@notreallydaedalus]

@@AdamDeal-KF0PRI Almost everything comes from China these days... the big difference between good and bad is not where it's made, it's how much time and effort they put into quality control. No one thinks iPhones are cheap crap, and they've been made in China since the beginning. Thanks to the return policies from places like Amazon, I'm usually willing to roll the dice and go for the cheap option, myself. But for those who don't enjoy tinkering, not to mention those who like to support local businesses, I certainly understand those who disagree with me!

[@Greg-et2dp]

Frid in the shed I learn lot from you about cbs radios my friend 😅😅😅

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks Greg

[@lawrencebrown3582]

FRED - good work!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@joaodgm]

Fred... very good!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thank you.

[@uzaiyaro]

If the battery is protected you can short it no worries. It’ll just shut down. Edit: also at 0v that battery was DOA and may have had an internal drain. 3.3v or so is about empty for a lithium cell, 4.2v is full. Fred.

[@brianpiddock6074]

FRED ..............As always a great video thanks mate.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks 👍

[@edgarbrown5292]

Fred great vid

[@barrymayson2492]

If you get a Li battery that will not charge via its charging cct , check the battery directly. If its reading very low try connecting to a bench PS and give a small charge and if the battery takes a charge try and reconnect the charger CCT it works for a lot of batteries. I now i have redone many batteries that way . The capacity may be down but it might get you a temporary fix for a while. The batteries should be shipped with about 75% charge. Your BMS controller should not allow over charging or discharging and if it is not, i would replace it as it might fry another batteries. Fred..

[@alecsimages1]

Fred I stayed! What you can do in future is bin the battery and install a 1/8" jack socket, the jack plug soldered to a AAA external battery holder and use 3x rechargable AAAs at 1.2dcv = 3.6v. This is just my thoughts??

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Yes could do. Also can use a USB power pack to extend life.

[@jms019]

Can’t I simply say I watched it to the bitter end ? May have been wiser to test batteries with a bench supply and monitor USB charging current with either an appropriate USB gadget or a clamp meter. Hindsight is great. Jon in the Fens who’s recently started trying unsuccessfully to pick up something on 27.305MHz USB @4pm on a D-808 and stock aerial.

[@prerunning6086]

I like the little IO board yours has for encoders and power switch. I dropped my malachite about 3 feet, in a case, and managed to rip the power switch and a 1/2 inch the trace off the board.. Wasnt too bad to fix but idk about next time, might have to remove the screen to find more trace lol Does yours have encoder skip issues? Im guessing yes but the IO is a bit different. I posted a video showing how to upgrade the clones with the newest patched skip fix firmware. Not sure if youre interested but its on my channel.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. No funny enough this SDR has no skip issues with the encoder. However 2 of my others do just that.

[@desbelfastireland9982]

THANK YOU

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Cheers Des.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

Fred, I usually stay till the end.

[@nobodyimportant6141]

Fred h good job

[@Greg-et2dp]

Frid in the shed iam going to san Diego CALIFORNIA in October 2023 19-23 for five days with my cousin and his wife we are flying there 😅😅😅

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Enjoy your trip Greg. Great to fly. If you have a small airband radio you can listen to airport com whilst waiting for you flight.

[@el84xx87]

turn the on and off switch and only then press the off button, the SDR will remain off and charge the bat 😁

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. Thanks for the info. Yes did try all that with the "dot dot dash dash dash" morse etc but the battery still would not charge. I did manage to get some charge in it but it was toast.

[@notreallydaedalus]

That narrow little PCB under the Kapton (yellow plastic) tape is a protection circuit. A 0-volt LiPo battery would be VERY bad, but when you measure that cell you have, you're measuring AFTER the protection circuit. It's not (necessarily) a bad thing to see 0VDC out of that. It just means the circuit has tripped. Maybe it was accidentally shorted while being assembled, or it has been in storage long enough for the voltage to drop below the cutoff. Usually you just need to give it a charge to reset the circuit. I personally would give it a manual charge on a bench power supply, and measure a full discharge cycle. If it still holds a charge within spec, I would carry on as normal without concern. One would hope that QC would keep you from seeing those issues, but I tend to go for the cheapest option!

[@notreallydaedalus]

If you like, you can actually poke the leads of your meter through the tape, onto the pads where the cell itself connects, to measure the cell directly. Then just a little squidge of electrical tap to cover it back up, and it's like it never happened.

[@notreallydaedalus]

Oh... and FRED!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

LOL thanks :-)

[@johnrhodes3350]

As in sure you know, if they drop too far bellow the cut off, they won't charge through the regular circuit and need to be 'Jump-Started' by bypassing the protection circuit. Jump start with another battery that's fully charged. Connect like a car battery positive to positive and -ve to -ve for roughly 10 , 20 or 30 seconds. Or as you suggest a bench power supply.

[@johnrhodes3350]

forgot about Fred 😅

[@Greg-et2dp]

Frid in the shed my hobbies are painting pictures 🖼 and listening to shortwave and ssb and I have 5 shortwave receivers iam thinking about getting my ham license

[@TerryLawrence001]

Fred! I always do!

[@jaapd.8994]

Fred 👍 as alway's

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks buddy :-)

[@WIMAG-GO]

FRED ! 👍👍

[@marceloclerico3157]

my Malachite HFDY V3 SDR does not turn on, nor when I connect the charger the indicator light (pilot) does not turn on

[@Boatlife1964]

fred to the end..

[@charlesthistlethwaite]

Fred 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Cheers

[@dickie446]

Fred Richard in Barnsley, i love your videos thanks😅❤

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hello Richard and thanks.

[@lonmorgan5260]

Hi fred!

[@Baz79H]

Fred 😎👌👌👌👌👍

[@adz62]

Fred. I am trying to figure out the difference between Malachite and Malachite radios.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Is not Malachite a kinda rock.

[@avispa2000]

Fred!

[@microchip700]

Fred from (portugal)

[@Dynamit008]

Fred 😊😊

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@alivitaly]

FRED (from Russia)

[@craigyb8885]

Fred 😊

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@el84xx87]

Fred👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks buddy :-)

[@fretlessfender]

Fred

[@malcolmstevenage4473]

Fred.

[@davidt7023]

Fred !!!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks buddy :-)

[@samgraham4168]

Fred :)

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

You do know what FRED stands for in the Electronics World ? . ;)

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Go on. :-)

[@ThePaulharwood]

fred !

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@sjaakpaauwe6808]

Hi FRED

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@KC1CPA]

fred.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thank you.

[@jimlash5288]

FRED

[@NorthparkCentral]

fred

[@el84xx87]

(turn the on and off switch to off) 🙃

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Tried it always with the old battery including the morse shut down but the battery was cooked.

[@JohnHi6]

Fred 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@markdavidsonuk]

Fred 😊

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@johnmiller2577]

Fred👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@alanbourn4039]

Fred.

[@101jumpit]

Fred :)

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks

[@thomasosullivan4818]

Fred

[@PIGGYm3opt]

FRED

[@ripping]

fred

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks bud.

[@ripping]

@@CB-RADIO-UK My pleasure. Just having another look at radio - buying a few from China - trying to have a listen on SW in New Zealand- there's not much going on down here, lots of chinese stations. Really must get the license. Your channel is an inspiration! 👍

[@CiaranMartin]

Fred 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@Alex-Tulner]

Fred👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@michsmi8297]

Fred👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks buddy :-)

[@PebbleWeb]

Fred :)

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks :-)

[@hectorltorresramirez8199]

Fred

[@Joon8471]

Fred

[@adriananderson2018]

Fred

[@JBrierley02]

Fred

[@MrTarekZeidan]

Fred

[@Mr4Brown]

Fred

[@DrizzDevelopments]

Fred

[@user-ch7dz5pq1x]

Fred

[@quickplay66]

Fred

[@landykwaterski3278]

Fred

[@frankywatte5646]

Fred