Tecsun New Tecsun PL-600 On the Way!

[robertwbob]

Yep - I love my PL-880, and the PL-600 has been popular for a long time for a reason. I especially like Tecsun's memory channel setting and tuning system, after using my Degen 1102 for many years.

whats really nice is that automatic built in charger,shows how long and shuts off when charged fully.
I always was a grundig person,then i bought 1 of their 450's they went down like the titanic,was leary of tecsun but universal radio people where i usually buy radios said try an 880 they are nice.i did and im happy

 

[simpilo]

Batteries for the Tecsun PL-600 from local merchants.

I found the batteries shipped with the radio gets way to hot, won't complete a charge, seemingly croaks in a very short time frame. Not worth a RMA. Instead, I went to Walgreens and bought a Duracell charger with a 4 pack of 1300mah Ni-MH batteries. Wise choice. These Duracells dont get near as hot, charges in 4.5 hours using the radio's built in charging circuit set for 1300 mah, and lasts a lot longer on a charge. Even better than my Energizer Ni-MH at 1300mah. The Duracell's took 6 hours to drain 1/3rd of their capacity at a moderate volume. 300mah increase in batteries proved to be the better option. I recommend the Duracell brand for the Tecsun PL-600. I don't see the need for any higher amperage as it will take a significant increase in charging time albeit the batteries will last longer on a charge.

The radio still seems to be off frequency in the wide AM mode but it zero beats fine in SSB BFO mode. I don't know if I am being over sensitive to this matter. I did notice some citizens band frequencies like CB'ers on Ch6 which is 27.025 MHZ (27025khz) they do not always show to be on frequency using websdr's as reference some are not dead on frequency because of the way their linear amplifiers work. Which isn't a bad thing. Linear sdo tend to have a slight 1khz or less offset. Broadcasters where hard to compare as their transmitters seems to be more accurate then others which was a very tight offset. So I don't know.

A while back in this year I developed a tehcnique tuning my previous shortwave. I set its bfo to zero beat on 15000khz WWV time frequency. I then adjusted it's frequency inside the radio using a audio spectrum analyzer to match WWV's 440hz, 500hz, and 600hz tones. This brought the RadiopShack 20-629 dead on with WWV and other stations sounded better and zero beating them stayed on top zero notch. This method can't be done with the Tecsun PL-600 as it uses a different circuit I have yet to figure out.

 

[GB46]

I did notice some citizens band frequencies like CB'ers on Ch6 which is 27.025 MHZ (27025khz) they do not always show to be on frequency using websdr's as reference some are not dead on frequency because of the way their linear amplifiers work.

My Sangean does somethng a bit different with Ch. 6: I have to tune it to 27.026, because if I use the correct frequency of 27.025 a very strong adjacent and unmodulated carrier blocks the frequency, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a few seconds. It's apparently generated by the radio itself, as it doesn't show up on my other radio.

As for CB'ers transmitting off frequency, I notice that quite often, and it shows up more on sideband stations at 27.385 mHz (Ch. 38). When the skip is in, I'll hear several stateside stations on that channel, some of which are dead on frequency, some several kHz off, judging by the pitch of their voices. This is with both radios. Could be caused by linears, but I think some of those guys have modified their rigs to use VFOs, too. This is to say nothing of the extremely overmodulated AM signals on Ch. 6 that splatter over adjacent channels.

 

[simpilo]

My Sangean does somethng a bit different with Ch. 6: I have to tune it to 27.026, because if I use the correct frequency of 27.025 a very strong adjacent and unmodulated carrier blocks the frequency, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a few seconds. It's apparently generated by the radio itself, as it doesn't show up on my other radio.

As for CB'ers transmitting off frequency, I notice that quite often, and it shows up more on sideband stations at 27.385 mHz (Ch. 38). When the skip is in, I'll hear several stateside stations on that channel, some of which are dead on frequency, some several kHz off, judging by the pitch of their voices. This is with both radios. Could be caused by linears, but I think some of those guys have modified their rigs to use VFOs, too. This is to say nothing of the extremely overmodulated AM signals on Ch. 6 that splatter over adjacent channels.

Off topic-I appreciate your guitar solo's. I just noticed your signature and listened to a few of them. Very nice talent you have!

 

[GB46]

Off topic-I appreciate your guitar solo's. I just noticed your signature and listened to a few of them. Very nice talent you have!

Thanks, simplio. Even though my site is indexed on Google and Bing, there's not much traffic on it, so your comment was appreciated. That's my other hobby, but I haven't actually written anything further for over two years now (I eventually burned out after writing so many scores).