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

I was debating over getting this model or the Tecsun PL-680. There are many reviews and pros/cons for each model. I eventually chose the PL-880 and I've no regrets. This model has many features, and a number of them are "hidden". Doing a search you can find how to access these new features, some useful (battery run time), others not so much. The included case is nice and will keep the radio from damage while traveling. It's not leather, but sturdy and holds up well to packing into my carry-on backpack. The provided 18650 battery holds a charge for a long time! I like that it's rechargeable, and I'm sure it will last a long time too. The radio has wonderful room filling sound from the speaker. On a recent trip to Tennessee I was a little disappointed by the reception, but that may have been due to my location in the hotel building. I just had to adjust the antenna, and sometimes use the provided external antenna, and got good enough reception on local FM. The shortwave works well, but that's hit or miss due to the airwave band conditions. There's also not as many shortwave broadcasters as there were 20 years ago. But there are still many foreign broadcast to be heard and enjoyed. I really like the SSB capability to listen to ham radio operators. When you hear voices like Donal Duck, you just turn on the SSB, and then tune until the voices are understood. Very easy. I'm think about getting an extra external antenna, there's many on the market. This is a great radio.

I received my Tecsun PL-880 just a week ago, and I have to say that from my perspective, it's the *almost* perfect portable shortwave radio! I came close to purchasing a Grundig SAT 750, but when that order was delayed, I opted for this radio instead. I'm certainly glad I did! I can't imagine how the Grundig could be much better, and this radio provides a more portable option. PRO's: * Amazing sensitivity on the SW bands. No matter the time of the day, the auto-scanning function seems to always pick up 40-50 (or more!) shortwave stations. And these are stations that are easily copied. (The only antennae I'm using is the $10 Sangean 'reel'. And it just runs up a corner of my room to the ceiling.) In the limited time I've operated the radio I've already copied Radio China (came "booming" in on the 22 meter band), Radio Australia, and several far eastern stations. (I'm located in the southern United States.) BTW, if you own an iPad, you can always check the frequency with the "SWBC Sked" app to ascertain the station you're currently listening to. * Very good SSB reception on the Ham Bands ... all the way through 10 Meters! I've seen some YouTube videos of this radio providing a "muffled" SSB experience, but I've had no such issues (Firmware 8820). The only thing I can think of that could cause that is having the selectable Bandwidth set to 1.2 kHz or lower. I keep it at 3 kHz for SSB. (BW Options for SSB are 4, 3, 2.3, 1.2, and 0.5 kHz. That alone is astonishing for a portable SW radio!) When switching to SSB mode, the regular tuning knob automatically switches to "slow" tuning mode (1 kHz steps) while the "Fine" tuning knob switches to "Ultra-fine". You can literally tune in 1/100 kHz steps! Needless to say, this makes it super easy to get good quality speech from SSB signals. The only problem I've seen with SSB is a bit of "splatter" for very strong signals. In those instances, I would like to have a RF gain control. The three-position antennae-attenuator switch will do the job here, but is not as convenient. In any event, that's a very minor quibble. This is still the best SSB I've ever experienced from a portable. * Very good scanning options. You can scan just one International shortwave band, or *all* the bands. Use "Page 0" for scanning, and just the most recent scan results are stored. You can then easily step through all the stations it found by simply turning the tuning knob. Only the International SW bands are scanned; it automatically skips over all the Ham Bands. Since shortwave conditions change hourly, this makes it real easy to find the current "hot" bands. * Great sound! The speaker sounds great and can easily fill a small room without straining. It almost makes me wish a Bluetooth option were available so I could run Pandora through it via my iPhone. (Maybe the next generation, perhaps?) * AM/FM --- The "AM" band is adequate. If I were serious about AM I would opt for an external antennae optimized for AM. FM is *great*! * As mentioned earlier, this radio has incredible bandwidth options for a portable. In AM/SW mode you have 9, 5, 3.5 and 2.3 kHz options available. A strong music AM station with the 9 kHz BW option engaged sounds absolutely amazing. For most AM listening I keep it on "5". I use "3" as the default for most SW listening. The SSB bandwidth options were mentioned above. It's just *great* having all these options! * Rechargeable battery with "intelligent" charging. You don't have to tell it how long to charge like some portables require. Charging is through a mini-USB port. The cable for charging was supplied, but not the charger itself. I just use my iPhone's charger, which works great. CONS: * As mentioned above, the only real feature I miss is a variable RF gain control. I think it could really help out with the SSB "splatter" mentioned above on strong signals. Again, the three-position "Ant Gain" control can help out here; it's just not as convenient to use. As far as CONS go, that's pretty much it as far as I'm concerned! Summation: I *Love* this Radio!!!

Immediate note: My 880 purchased in July 2024 has a USB-C charging port. Not sure if that's in the description, but many old models were miniUSB. Pleasantly surprised. It's not high speed charging, but at least it can charge with any cable I have laying around. So far I'm really loving it! I haven't had a radio around the house for maybe ten years. Decided I wanted one that was a good radio first and foremost. Second, one that's shortwave capable just to try out shortwave listening. I'm in the suburban San Francisco Bay area living in a third floor, north facing apartment. Straight away, the speaker is excellent. I can easily pick up every FM radio station I know of in the bay area. And the sound is crystal clear. I've enjoyed just plopping it down in my home office to listen while I work and the speaker is very enjoyable and clear if you don't fully blast it. AM reception is also excellent, with adjustable bandwidth. For shortwave, wow! This is my first SW radio, but I've really enjoyed sitting on my balcony tuning around. In the evening I can easily pick up Radio New Zealand International on 17675 kHz! I've also caught broadcasts from China, Japan, Miami, Maine, and others. On my second night I also picked out and tuned in a ham transmission and dialed it in on upper sideband mode. Loud and clear, coming from West Calgary! The included wire antenna I find helps me detect faint signals but also all noise. Not unexpected. Usually I have the best luck finding a broadcast with the wire then switching to the whip/telescoping antenna and moving to get the best signal with minimum noise. The rechargeable 18650 Li-ion is also awesome. Can easily replace with standard cells if needed, but also a long life rechargeable. Buttons and knobs are all very well thought out and intuitive. Even has a line out jack if you wanna use a stereo or record. The hidden features (do a Google search) only add extra value. Overall, I love it! Money well spent! Very impressive handheld radio, great quality, excellent results.

国産ラジオ総倒れの現在、BCLラジオとしてほぼ孤高の存在です。FM, MWのみならずSW帯の感度も良く、操作性もなかなかよく考えられています。筐体にある程度大きさがあるせいか、音がいいのもこの製品の美点。電源は日本ではあまりポピュラーではない18650というリチウムイオン電池を用いますが、本セットに付属するACアダプターで、ラジオに装着したまま充電ができます。電池の持ちもよく、二次電池を電源としたことで、より気軽にラジオを楽しむことができます。ノブ類も金属製がおごられ、キャリングケースまで付属した、決定版とも言うべきラジオです。

Like that it came with high capacity Li-ion rechargeable battery and 20 ft wire antenna. Radio reception noise is reduced when used away from switching type power supplies. Signal reception is greatly improved using an outdoor wire antenna. FM stereo audio is very good using earphones or connected to an external amplifier through the line out jack. Amateur radio shortwave sideband signal reception is very good, using fine tuning and adjustable bandwidth filter settings.

Excelente desempeño en onda corta y banda lateral, único con sintonía fina de dos dígitos. Cumple lo que promete. Lo mejor de todo es poder cambiar la frecuencia sin que se vaya el audio o los molestos “chuff” o sonidos de cambio de frecuencia. Podrían mejorar el rendimiento de la batería que aunque es recargable el consumo es alto. En general muy buen equipo para dxers.

I think I have bought this radio by mistake - I'm not sure if it is configured for UK - it does not pick up any AM stations - FM is fine - SW is not good.

Good as expected.