Tecsun PL-380

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SCPD

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I was looking around for a Christmas present for a friend's 10-year old daughter. I know that's a bit young but I figured I'd try to get her started in radio early. She's very smart and very good with anything techie.

I was looking around for beginner's shortwave radio and found something just perfect. I highly recommend this radio. It's pretty neat that even I may have to pick one up for myself.

The Tecsun PL-380 is super small and perfect for a young child. There are not many buttons to get confused over. I love the ETM feature -- which scans all of the SW bands for strong stations and stores them into temporary memory. This will be great for someone getting started.

I was a little nervous that the CB band would be included. A 10-yr old doesn't need to listen to smut on the radio. The great thing is the PL-380 doesn't even include that band -- so I'm very relieved.

Too bad they couldn't spare a few pennies for (3) AA batteries or some rechargeables but not a big deal.

It's a great price for such a cute little radio. BTW, the audio quality is really very good considering it has a small speaker!

Amazon.com: TECSUN PL-380 DSP FM stereo. MW. SW. LW. World Band PLL Radio Receiver, LCD Display, ETM Function Added: Electronics
 

pinballwiz86

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I was looking around for a Christmas present for a friend's 10-year old daughter. I know that's a bit young but I figured I'd try to get her started in radio early. She's very smart and very good with anything techie.

I was looking around for beginner's shortwave radio and found something just perfect. I highly recommend this radio. It's pretty neat that even I may have to pick one up for myself.

The Tecsun PL-380 is super small and perfect for a young child. There are not many buttons to get confused over. I love the ETM feature -- which scans all of the SW bands for strong stations and stores them into temporary memory. This will be great for someone getting started.

I was a little nervous that the CB band would be included. A 10-yr old doesn't need to listen to smut on the radio. The great thing is the PL-380 doesn't even include that band -- so I'm very relieved.

Too bad they couldn't spare a few pennies for (3) AA batteries or some rechargeables but not a big deal.

It's a great price for such a cute little radio. BTW, the audio quality is really very good considering it has a small speaker!

Amazon.com: TECSUN PL-380 DSP FM stereo. MW. SW. LW. World Band PLL Radio Receiver, LCD Display, ETM Function Added: Electronics


I have this radio. It's a great pocket shortwave radio. It does not do SSB (as you probably already know) so she won't be able to hear amateur radio or utility stations. But, what it can do it does very well thanks to the DSP.

Great Christmas present!

Oh, and the radio should come with rechargeable batteries. Alkaline batteries last forever on the 380 if you use headphones.
 

SCPD

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It does not do SSB (as you probably already know) so she won't be able to hear amateur radio or utility stations.

Yep that's perfect. It makes the radio less complicated. She's only 10 1/2 so she's not there yet when it comes to SSB. :)

I didn't realize the size of it until I watched a youtube review. That aspect is what really sold me... it had to be something fun and not this big, ugly plastic box with dials, buttons and a massive speaker. I don't see her that often so I may not be around to help her initially. She is the curious type though and will definitely explore the radio features on her own.

I may have to fashion up a better antenna (the extra pigtail clip-on may be OK for the time being) so it can pick up more signals but I'm just hoping to spark that curiosity (and magic) of radio -- more than anything else.

I remember having a Realistic Patrolman SW-60 when I was 11 or 12 given to me by my grandparents. Initially I thought it was just a boring AM/FM radio until I actually gave it a chance and realized it was much more. It took me a few tries at playing with it before I caught the radio bug.
 

Haley

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I have several SW portables, a few costing several times as much, and have had the 380 for a little over a year. As far as SW BCB, I would put it up against any portable (and several tabletops for that matter). If you don't need SSB, this is the best radio for around $50-60 (probably under $150, again if you don't need SSB) you will find. AWESOME ultra light DX radio for AM also. Mike
 
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