The Tecsun PL660 Radio with VHF Air Band is a great radio for communications enthusiasts, providing excellent reception of all major frequency bands including AM/MW, FM, Shortwave AM and SSB), Longwave, and VHF Air Band.

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. Following, you’ll find a handful of select radios I recommend for this gift-giving season. I’ve arranged this selection by price, starting with the most affordable. Though I believe the PL-680 does a marginally better job than the PL-660 of handling the choppy conditions of nighttime MW DX, the PL-660 still pulled voices and music out of the static and made them noticeably more intelligible. Auto-sorting memory: sorting stored stations automatically according to meter band and frequency, removes duplicate stations. There is a hidden function of this radio: You can calibrate the FM frequency by yourself, is that cool ? Yes, here it is how to do it :Does anyone here regularly connect their PL-660 to an amplified loop antenna? If so, what model of antenna are you using? Are there other portables out there that you regularly connect to amplified loops? Please share your notes, thoughts and experience in the comments section.

I should mention that just like on the 990x, the re-calibration process doesn’t mean the receiver is then zeroed up and down the shortwave bands. You will likely have to repeat the process from, say 25 meters, to 19 meters, to 49 meters, etc.

Still, my Sony ’7600GR’s solidity makes it a friend I would never part with. The real test? If it was ever lost or broken, I would promptly repair or replace this radio. Tecsun PL-660 While I haven’t spent more than, let’s say, an hour with the PL-680 on the FM band, I have concluded that it is very sensitive–able to receive all of my benchmark local and regional FM stations. The survey had recordings from a total of three broadcasters: Radio Prague, WWV, and Radio France International.

If you're on the fence deciding whether you want the PL-880 then I would say, especially if you're a HAM and you listen to a lot of SSB then avoid the PL-880 and get the PL-660 or PL-680 and you'll get the added benefit of a great SYNC detector for amazing shortwave listening + much better audio. The PL-880 funny enough sounds good on FM and SW but the SYNC is what makes the 660/680 extra special for Shortwave. Based on comments from those who participated, the PL-680 came out ahead of the PL-660 in two respects: better sensitivity, and more stable AGC. In both sets of recordings, the signal was weaker than the Radio Prague recording, and QSB (fading) more pronounced. Herein lies a well-known weakness of the PL-660: soft muting and a sometimes over-active AGC equates to more listening fatigue. Fast forward to 2021 – credit due to Tecsun and more recently to Sangean with its 909X2, for some years now we have enjoyed Asia-originated portables with multiple selectivity and synchronous mode, though sync implementation on some has left much to be desired.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. To answer your first question, though, you should search for a wideband amplified loop antenna since you’re only concerned with receiving.