Tecsun PL880 Portable Digital PLL Dual Conversion AM/FM, Longwave & Shortwave Radio with SSB (Single Side Band) Reception

Product Information

Though I haven’t tried FM DXing with the PL-880, like other recent Tecsuns, it seems outstanding in this regard. (Herein lies the extent of my FM test…More to come.) The new Flagship portable radio from prestigious radio manufacturer Tecsun fitted with analogue Hi-IF circuit, multi conversion , & DSP decoding technology, which greatly enhances the sensitivity, selectivity and reduces interference from close by stations. The PL-880 sports both broad tuning and fine tuning controls on the right side of the radio. They’re perfectly positioned to be operated with ease by the user’s thumb. They also protrude enough from the right side of the radio so that it can be tuned much like the tuning knob of the PL-660–from the top side of the control. Products to be reviewed typically should be tangible ham radio related items such as radios, antennas, towers, test equipment, feedlines, etc. I have two nits. First the leather case, while of excellent quality could be 1/2 inch larger to accommodate the portable antenna, charging line and earphones. Then the unit would make this a truly portable system.

The new PL-880 ships with a number of hidden features that are, curiously enough, not documented in the operation manual nor indicated on the radio labeling (at least in this first production run of radios). Many of these secret features require that you press and hold a button for about three seconds to enable it. With that disclaimer out of the way, I find that the PL-880 certainly holds its own on the AM broadcast band (570-1600 kHz). The PL-880 can hear every local and relatively distant AM station that my C.Crane CCRadio-SW could hear. For this type of armchair listening, the PL-880’s speaker delivers fidelity that is nearly unmatched amongst portables of similar size. It’s most impressive. The older radio (sent for repairs under warranty) seems to have developed a bug that the technicians have never seen before. They say that diagnosis and repair could be very difficult… therefore they are replacing THAT radio too! Update: Jan 1, 2013] PL-880 owners living in urban areas with strong AM (MW) stations are hearing multiple images from those stations across the MW band, making it difficult for medium wave DXing.

Shortwave performance

I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t claim to be an AM/medium wave DXer, although recently I have been spending much more time on the band. When I turned on the PL-880 for the first time and (ironically) tuned to a local AM station on 880 kHz, I was most impressed by the audio fidelity of the 880’s built-in speaker. I believe the PL-880 uses a speaker system similar to the Melson portables: a small mylar speaker cone with some sort of acoustic chamber that produces great bass tones and treble highlights. The sound is room-filling…and delightful. Performance: First impressions

Choosing a bandwidth couldn’t be easier: simply press the “AM BW” button to display the current bandwidth setting, then either use either tuning control to widen or narrow the filter, or press the “AM BW” button to cycle through the options. A valid product review is one where you have experience or knowledge of the product that you would like to share with others. I sold the PL-880 and S-8800 and got the PL-680 istead, boy what a difference, the audio is just so good, no harsh white noise in the audio and no distorted SSB and no warble souning audio listening to SSB on SW or MW, zerobeating on LW/MW/SW is just so good on the PL-680, if there's an interfearing source close by hitting USB/LSB can in most cases greatly reduce or completely eliminate this interference. most functions are either available at the press of button–or by pressing and holding a button for three seconds Rather than explaining each hidden feature here, I have added an appendix at the bottom of this review that lists undocumented features…at least those I’ve discovered so far. I plan to list others as I–and/or Post readers–discover them. Band performance

Finance Available

Zippered Leather(ette?) slip cover provided along with long-wire SW Antenna, USB charge cable, and stereo earphones. Also included was a dual USB wall adaptor plug for charging the radio. Supplied battery charger is a bit noisy on medium wave and shortwave if listening while charging. (Not a problem for me, as I’m a batteries-only listener.) With all of its features and functions, hidden or not, I’ve found the PL-880 to be a challenging, but thoroughly enjoyable, portable to evaluate. Indeed, I’m still not done yet: I plan to take my new PL-880 traveling in the future. So, stay tuned: there’s more to come! I have two of the three radios you mentioned; the CC Skywave SSB and the PL-880. I also have the CC Skywave (no SSB). I don’t know much about the Sangean 909X although I’ve heard it is a good radio. Now, as to the comparisons. I’ll list some key notes:

This is a very attractive radio, with a somewhat retro, classy look. There are separate knobs for volume, tuning and fine-tuning, all of which feel solid and have the right "feel" in turning - just the right amount of resistance. Tuning increments are in very fine 10 Hz increments with absolutely no muting between frequencies…Brilliant. If your new review has not been Approved after several days you can assume that it was found to not be within the product review T's&C's shown below during screening.I’m not sure why Tecsun decided to hide these features. I’ll admit that I’ve really enjoyed hunting for and discovering them–most are terrific additions. On the other hand, it has been frustrating as well: I came close to posting an article describing what seemed to be an unfortunate audio stability problem in the PL-880, as I found that when I tuned in a weak station, if the signal level either fell below or climbed above 5, the audio gain would increase or decrease dramatically, making listening very fatiguing. A reader then discovered the hidden “muting threshold” feature, and the story changed. I found that my radio had shipped with a default threshold of “5”– I was able to turn off muting, changing the threshold to zero, and this instantly fixed the problem. I’m reading this old post as I am a new user of the PL-880. I have it as my bedside and coffee table receiver in my house up in the Indonesian jungle. You can add to or update/edit your existing review's content including the Rating and Time Owned with the Edit button on the right side of the review text body. Edits will go thru the review Approval process.

To begin with, please note that my impressions of performance band-by-band, below, is based on a little over one week of listening. I typically spend longer with radios before publishing a review, but with the holiday season fast approaching, readers have asked for a more rapid response. [That being said, I will of course update and adapt this review over time; but be assured that any significant updates will be noted as such].But go ahead; listen for yourself: though this video was shot informally with an iPhone, you can still hear the difference in fidelity between the Tecsun PL-880 and the PL-660: Unlike the CC Skywave, the CC Skywave SSB covers all the way up to 30 megahertz. It also has Upper and Lower sideband to listen to ham operators and other stations that broadcast in SSB only. The radio also covers the Aircraft Band and the NOAA Weather channels plus AM and FM. This radio is very compact but don’t let the small size fool you. It’s a great little radio with great reception. The only problems I have encountered with this radio is that when you switch on or off on the upper or lower sidebands, there is about a three second delay. Also, there is a brief no audio when scanning frequencies. Other features I wish the radio had was an antenna input. It only receives via the small antenna and the built in ferrite AM antenna. The sound quality is pretty good for the size of the radio.