Tecsun New Tecsun PL-600 On the Way!

[simpilo]

LAst Friday I have ordered a new Tecsun PL-600. Why? It's all I could afford to keep having Singe Side Band capabilities with full shortwave spectrum for my needs as a shortwave listener. Yes I have witnessed videos showing it will ditort on a strong SSB signal but perhaps it mayhave been revised with a fix. If not I know the fix is a 1K ohm resistor on pin 18 of a chip to ground. It has a hotter front end than my RadioShack 20-629 which has been used for 5 years straight. I may have the RadoShack re-capped and re-aligned in the future.

I bought from this listing Tecsun PL600 AM FM LW SSB Shortwave Radio PLL Synthesized with Dual Conversion 6921644307086 | eBay

the seller gave me a tracking Nnumber beginning with TBA which shows as a Amazon shipping number. I didn't know this happens on Ebay. I think this is what is called 'drop shipping. Same seller exists on Amazon. Mainly named Electronnix. Amazon couldnt find the tracking number when I called them. There are updated to it but stopped updating.


I don't know if it is moving. I hope it arrives on time or sooner. Then when I get it in my hands will be a happy day!

 

[Boombox]

A suggestion: if your RS 200-629 is only 5 years old, it doesn't need recapping, and probably doesn't need alignment. Most radios really don't.

Good luck with the 660. I've read a lot of good things about those radios.

 

[majoco]

I have had a PL-600 for a couple of years and it works very well. SSB is a little distorted compared to my Degen/Kaito 1103 but not enough to go delving into the innards. Switching the "Ant gain" to "Normal" helps.

 

[simpilo]

A suggestion: if your RS 200-629 is only 5 years old, it doesn't need recapping, and probably doesn't need alignment. Most radios really don't.

Good luck with the 660. I've read a lot of good things about those radios.

I am also considering how long it spent in the warehouse before going out to the stores. I think it is actually 7 years old. I bought in 2014. They don't have the best quality caps inside and they do drift. The two variable inductors left and right of a crystal underneath the control board has a thermal drift issue. It also has a "motorboating" issue on strong signals. I suspect failing capacitors. Maybe even weak transistors. This radio is actually a revised RS DX 402 (Sangean ATS 505 clone)

 

[Boombox]

^^^^^ My 200-629 only gurgles on strong SSB signals. It's done that since new, and I bought mine two years before you bought yours. I reviewed it on a thread in this section of RR. The gurgling on SSB disappears when the attenuator is engaged. I've never experienced 'motorboating' on AM signals (or FM, for that matter), so perhaps you got a dud.

Generally, electrolytics do not go bad in 7 years, especially low voltage ones like one finds in a transistor radio. Sangean had a good rep for build quality, especially with their SW models. But if you like think you can improve the radio, go for it.

 

[cmgam]

Hi
How to scan airband frequencies that are stored on memory?
The only way I found is .... turning the knob!
Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance
Regards

Enviado do meu SM-G903F através do Tapatalk

 

[majoco]

There's a scanner in there, but not as we expect to be. Page 13 "Memory Auto-scan" spells it out. You can only scan one memory page at a time, fortunately it only listens to the filled slots - but it listens for 5 seconds and then moves on to the next one. Note that it doesn't stop on signal and then resume on signal fall. So if you have put 20 frequencies into your page and each one takes 5 seconds to 'listen' then it's goind to take 1minute 40seconds to do the loop - hardly speedy. Also you seem to refer to "Airband Frequencies" - sorry this radio doesn't cover the 118-136MHz VHF AM airband. Anyway, load up one memory page (bank in scanner speak) with your desired frequencies, then select the page, then press UP or DOWN for a second or so and then it will start to go through the frequencies in that page. Press UP or DOWN to stop it.

 

[simpilo]

I should have my new Tecsun PL-600 by 1700z today. I am excited!

 

[robertwbob]

Congraadulaations,i optedd for a pl 880.ive owned mine 4 years.
It sounds great,reccieves weak signals great.
Tecsun products are sure getting good reviews

 

[simpilo]

It has arrived!

 

[simpilo]

 

[cmgam]

There's a scanner in there, but not as we expect to be. Page 13 "Memory Auto-scan" spells it out. You can only scan one memory page at a time, fortunately it only listens to the filled slots - but it listens for 5 seconds and then moves on to the next one. Note that it doesn't stop on signal and then resume on signal fall. So if you have put 20 frequencies into your page and each one takes 5 seconds to 'listen' then it's goind to take 1minute 40seconds to do the loop - hardly speedy. Also you seem to refer to "Airband Frequencies" - sorry this radio doesn't cover the 118-136MHz VHF AM airband. Anyway, load up one memory page (bank in scanner speak) with your desired frequencies, then select the page, then press UP or DOWN for a second or so and then it will start to go through the frequencies in that page. Press UP or DOWN to stop it.

Hi
Well, what can I say?
I have not noticed that the topic is about the, 600 and not the 660 which is the model I have.
Anyway, thanks.
Regards

Enviado do meu SM-G903F através do Tapatalk

 

[GB46]

Simplio, coincidentally I've been hearing that "Worldwide Machete" character this morning up here in BC on my Sangean ATS-909X. This is just with the whip antenna. I believe he's in California, so I don't think it's just the skip alone that gets him down your way, but he must be running an awful lot of power, too, and of course a beam on a tower. He hits S9+ here every time their's skip on 11 meters, and always on 27025 (CB channel 6).

 

[robertwbob]

Told ya you will love it,i would be lost without my pl 880 both are great recievers

 

[KM4OBL]

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.

 

[GB46]

load up one memory page (bank in scanner speak) with your desired frequencies, then select the page, then press UP or DOWN for a second or so and then it will start to go through the frequencies in that page. Press UP or DOWN to stop it.

My Sangean ATS-909X is a bit different. Holding UP or DOWN starts the scanning at the frequency selected, but that continues beyond the memory page up to the top of the respective meter band, and then starts over again at the bottom of that band. I can't initiate a scan of just the preset frequencies on one memory page. On the other hand, whenever I navigate to a different memory page, the radio automatically looks for the strongest signal on the page without me having to initiate the scan, then it stops on that frequency. If there's no signal in any of a memory page's presets, it stops on the one with the highest noise level.

Of course, I can restart the scan of just that page by selecting the same page again (Press Page, then Enter without making a selection).

By the way, how many frequencies can be stored in one of the Tecsun's memory pages? In the Sangean, it's nine.

 

[simpilo]

My Sangean ATS-909X is a bit different. Holding UP or DOWN starts the scanning at the frequency selected, but that continues beyond the memory page up to the top of the respective meter band, and then starts over again at the bottom of that band. I can't initiate a scan of just the preset frequencies on one memory page. On the other hand, whenever I navigate to a different memory page, the radio automatically looks for the strongest signal on the page without me having to initiate the scan, then it stops on that frequency. If there's no signal in any of a memory page's presets, it stops on the one with the highest noise level.

Of course, I can restart the scan of just that page by selecting the same page again (Press Page, then Enter without making a selection).

By the way, how many frequencies can be stored in one of the Tecsun's memory pages? In the Sangean, it's nine.

I can only quote for the Tecsun Pl-600. It has max 600. first 100 are presets. By Default its 50 frequencies per page at 10 memory pages (or banks). Of course limited customization on how that is setup even. You can set it for 50 pages with 10 memories each page. It scans and holds for 5 seconds per stored frequency.

 

[GB46]

The ATS-909X came with quite a few presets, but the SW stations were outdated, so I cleared them. Memory pages are fixed at 9 frequencies each. Shortwave has 39 pages available, or 351 frequencies. FM another 3 pages or 27 frequencies, LW 1 page or 9 freqs., and MW 2 pages or 18 freqs. So there's a grand total of 406 memory slots available. I'd be lucky if I could fill half of them.

Right now I have 144 HF freqs. stored, but many of them are either inactive at the time of day I listen, or unavailable altogether due to propagation conditions and my unfavorable location. I have 2 FM stations in memory, as well as 9 MW stations, which I can only hear late at night, except for our local AM station, which I never listen to anyway. As for longwave, I can only hear three relatively close NDBs, because the LW range is inundated by RFI. I only bought the radio for shortwave, anyway.

 

[simpilo]

The ATS-909X came with quite a few presets, but the SW stations were outdated, so I cleared them. Memory pages are fixed at 9 frequencies each. Shortwave has 39 pages available, or 351 frequencies. FM another 3 pages or 27 frequencies, LW 1 page or 9 freqs., and MW 2 pages or 18 freqs. So there's a grand total of 406 memory slots available. I'd be lucky if I could fill half of them.

Right now I have 144 HF freqs. stored, but many of them are either inactive at the time of day I listen, or unavailable altogether due to propagation conditions and my unfavorable location. I have 2 FM stations in memory, as well as 9 MW stations, which I can only hear late at night, except for our local AM station, which I never listen to anyway. As for longwave, I can only hear three relatively close NDBs, because the LW range is inundated by RFI. I only bought the radio for shortwave, anyway.

I think Tecsun had a different method for 'Preset Memories" because schedules change through the seasons. It seems to me, based on what is going on with how the PL-600 handles "presets", Tecsun could be aiming at letting the user scan for the first 100 and then the radio will set those during it's frequency scan and call them first 100 'presets'. These 100 memory allocations are in a 'Page' of it's own.

I don't know about the other Tecsun models but all the 'Pages" accepts any band. I guess possibily the 660 and 680 do the same as they are nearly the same radio but Air band added and DSP.

Much more convenient for the manufacturer because the only way to set new presets is to reprogram it at the user level. I let ATS do its thing on MW and FM Broadcast. It found and set 63 unique frequencies in Preset memory. Which isn't really a preset at all. Seems convoluted. Works nevertheless.

 

[GB46]

I let ATS do its thing on MW and FM Broadcast. It found and set 63 unique frequencies in Preset memory. Which isn't really a preset at all. Seems convoluted. Works nevertheless.

The Sangean has that feature too, but if I let it do its own thing I'll wind up with just one MW and four FM stations. Those are local stations, and the only ones strong enough for ATS to detect. Out of those five, there's only one I care to listen to, CBC's FM repeater. I could let ATS scan the MW band at night, but fading and RFI would make that a lost cause. That's why the feature isn't available on the HF bands.