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. But what does the PL-880 actually deliver? Let’s take a look… Drumroll, please….and now, the PL-880 I have owned a host of small portable radios and this beats all. It is sensitive and selective, plus offers great audio for FM. I am seriously considering building a small TR switch and mating it with a QRP transmitter it is that good. 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! Every radio has its pros and cons, of course. When I begin a review of a radio, I take notes from the very beginning so that I don’t forget my initial impressions. Following is the list I formed over the time I’ve been evaluating the Tecsun PL-880:

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. Receive FM mono/stereo, medium wave, long wave, short wave, short wave single side-band signals with this portable world band radio. 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. The PL-880 is very well presented with a nice quality protective case, lithium battery, USB charge lead, miniature stereo earphones, carry strap, and extending wire antenna for short wave use.

No obscenities, discriminatory, abusive, or other content not suitable in public or for younger readers. A great portable radio for worldwide reception as well as local broadcast coverage on AM and FM. The short wave section offers superb performance on SSB and CW as well as AM. Even with the short telescopic antenna performance is great. and you get a great kit of parts and a smart travel case. 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:

The first test was in AM, and I chose Radio Exterior de España on 9,605 kHz, which was moderately weak compared to other broadcasters on the 31 meter band. I recorded one minute clips. Halfway through the PL-660 and ICF-SW7600GR clips, I turned on the sync detector. On the PL-880, I simply turned on SSB, as I did not feel that its sync detector added to intelligibility. I then tuned all of the radios to 18,135 kHz, where ZD8UW (The Cambridge University Wireless Society) Ascension Island DXpedition was handling a pile-up. You won’t hear stations calling ZD8UW, because they were working split and listening on 18,141 kHz. There is an adjacent SSB station, though, that you’ll hear on the side. First of all, what truly sets the PL-880 apart from any other shortwave portable currently on the market is its selection of bandwidth filters. On AM, for example, the listener can choose between the following bandwidth settings:hidden features (see list at review’s end), some of which have major relevance in operation, such as changing the muting threshold; Tecsun, why hide these? 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. A valid product review is one where you have experience or knowledge of the product that you would like to share with others.

Tecsun's 2013 release of their latest worldband radio with FM/SW/MW/LW. Freq range: FM: 870108/76-108/64-108 (user selectable) Tuning Step: 0.01MHz/0.1MHz

Appendix

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. But comparing these two radios in terms of sensitivity is problematic, as it’s not an “apples-to-apples” comparison. In the examples above, I tried to keep the playing field level by leaving the PL-880 on one bandwidth setting and not using the hidden DNR feature (which seems to alter the bandwidth and lower the noise floor). It’s certainly possible some users may be able to tweak the PL-880 to give it an edge on the PL-660 in similar conditions. 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.