TECSUN PL-660 Portable Shortwave FM/AM World Radio Compact Receiver Black(UK-PL660-Black))

Product Information

In most circumstances, you’ll find that the PL-680 has better sensitivity than the PL-660. It’s a marginal improvement, but one I certainly notice on the shortwave bands–and so did the majority of readers who participated in the shortwave AM reception survey. I have never attempted to receive weather fax; however, based on this information I found, the PL-330 should be suitable: Since I spend 95% of my listening time on shortwave, I’ll begin with shortwave performance. Again, we’ll compare the PL-680’s performance with that of the PL-660. It seems that later versions of the PL-660 are equipped with the automatic memory preset sorting function. My radio (with the 6622 firmware) has it and it’s activated by holding down the AM BW button while the unit is switched off. W1AW is barely audible in Sample #1. In Sample #2, audio is well-balanced, with good audio, low noise, and a stable AGC. Sample #3 sounds more narrow (even though its filter, like all, was set to the widest setting), but the audio “pops out” of the static and is very intelligible. Sample #4 sounds much like Sample #2, perhaps slightly more sensitive but with slightly less stable AGC.

I’m well aware, however, that there are a number of readers here who do couple their portable radio to an amplified loop. I have connected a number of portables to large wire antennas and found they could easily handle the extra gain, so I imagine an amplified loop would perform as well; the Sony ICF-SW7600GR, Tecsun S-8800, and Sangean ATS-909X come to mind. Paging through Passport to Worldband Radio from 1990 (wow, that’s 30 years ago!) you see others such as the SONY SW-1, Panasonic RF-B65, and of course, the SONY ICF-2001D/2010 which introduced killer synchronous tuning technology in the 1980s and remains popular today decades after it first appeared. When I traveled around the world both before and after college, and professionally for Voice of America in the 1980s and 1990s, wow what a good time I could have had with today’s portables!

Performance, Audio Fidelity and Simplicity

TECSUN PL-660 is a PLL AM Dual Conversion radio receiver for listening to FM, Longwave (LW), AM / Medium Wave (MW), Shortwave (SW) and VHF Air Band, and it is Single Sideband (SSB) capable. The survey result swung very hard in favor of the PL-660, which has long been one of the more notable medium-wave performers among shortwave portables.

Great internal speaker–an improvement over the PL-660 (but not as good as the PL-880 or Sangean ATS-909X) This introductory pamphlet covers the various modes of shortwave propagation and provides a brief explanation of the radio spectrum, a frequency to wavelength conversion chart and plans for a simple longwire antenna. VIEWThe 330 is basically a PL-990x in miniature: smaller speaker obviously, shorter antenna, no bluetooth capability or card slot. But as many people who frequent the Facebook groups have observed, pretty much anything the 990x can do, so can the 330. Survey results from the WWV and Radio France International recordings showed a strong preference for the Tecsun PL-680. Again, here are the original recordings: Being a compact receiver a compromise on performance is naturally intrinsic to the design of the apparatus. Among the shortcomings there is a propensity to intermodulations when using an external antenna and the sensitivity is set to the maximum in the "DX" position. This position is therefore useful with only the supplied stylus antenna. Even the image frequencies, origin of spurious signals, are not particularly attenuated.

I was skeptical of the BL-5C battery life so found and bought a 2450mAH version and a charger. I found the one supplied with the radio (Tecsun, 1000mAH) still provides many hours of listening at volume 06 or so. If I really want to power it from AA batteries I have an external box taking 4 batteries that has the required USB lead and is quiet enough. Some additional thoughts. My particular PL-330 was supplied by Anon-co but is a pre-production version and so does not have the latest firmware. Thankfully, I have not experienced the issue of SSB tuning running in reverse as others have. In fact, in my testing it’s impossible to thumb tune the radio more than 10 kHz at a time. The same applies to using the lower knob which controls volume. When in FM mode, this issue make tuning just as frustrating almost forcing one to use rapid scan mode. Apologies in advance: somehow the cord from my monitoring headphones is in the shot on some of these videos! I’m still getting used to the new Zoom Q2n video camera: WRMI 9,455 kHz Conditions & Time: Clear local weather. hamqsl.com’s nowcast of band conditions were fair from 3.5-14.35 MHz, and poor for higher frequencies, with SFI = 72, SN = 26, A = 5, K = 1. Time was 21:00-21:30 UTC, or 4-4:30 pm local CDT.

Weak single-sideband (SSB)

For travel purposes, size and weight are concerns. There’s a big difference. (Specifications from the manuals, weight with battery and case measured.) The main and fine tuning knobs on the right side of the PL-330 are embedded into the cabinet just far enough as to make easy rapid finger tuning of the radio nearly impossible. I like comparing radios while listening to weak signals and/or when conditions are less favorable. Since I often listen to weak signals (after all, so few broadcasts are actually directed to North America), it’s an important test. On Friday, I managed to set aside an hour to finally do a video comparison of the Digitech AR-1780 and the new XHDATA D-808. When I flew cross-country to visit a friend on the coast of British Columbia earlier this year, I had very limited space in my carry-on bag. I required a radio companion of a modest size, one that performs well on all bands–not just the shortwaves–for I intended to listen to local and distant AM (medium wave) stations, too. My choice was simple: the Tecsun PL-380. This little radio is affordable, compact, and has (especially with the aid of headphones) excellent audio. It’s powered by a pretty innovative DSP chip that helps pull stations out of the static, as well.

I have not pursued trying to fix this radio any further than I described in my original post. However, I did do some research on the net and found some additional resources I thought might aid anyone else trying to repair their radio. Air Band (VHF):For intercepting radio communication in aviation – e.g. commercial and general aviation, radio navigational aids, air traffic control.By using your PL-660s air band function, you may intercept communication between pilots and the air traffic control, but also other communication from commercial and general aviation, radio navigational aids and air traffic control. Revised Conclusions: Adding to yesterday’s conclusions, the whip antenna functioned but was vastly inferior to the wire antenna in either configuration, even with the gain set to DX. Today’s results with the wire antenna were, unsurprisingly, very similar to yesterday’s, given that the ionospheric and weather conditions were nearly identical. Noise was not a factor in receiving for any of these antennas or configurations, but did noticeably increase for the vertical wire antenna.

High-tech stocking-stuffer

Changing settings often results in the radio “thinking” for a second or two, during which time it mutes the receiver. This phenomenon is most pronounced when changing modes (from AM to LSB, for example). I find it rather distracting. Though I’m often an early adopter of new shortwave portables, I wasn’t for the Tecsun PL-660. When it came out, I figured it would be redundant, considering the many other portables I own with synchronous detection. The other radios were able to hear RRI. Sample #3 sounded fine when there was no fading present, but in the fading troughs, there was a pronounced high-pitched noise–most likely a DSP-based noise. Sample #1 had pretty solid copy with stable AGC (automatic gain control). Sample #2 was the most sensitive of this bunch. It’s hot here in Louisiana, so I’d really like to tune the capacitor from inside my apartment, also using coax to connect the cap to the large loop. Will that work? Or does the cap have to connect directly to the large loop?