Tecsun Just Bought a Tecsun PL-330

[sunwave]

Tecsun PL-330 is a fun and easy to listen to radio that tunes like a ham radio. It arrived last Friday, May 12,2023. I made it my go-to daily radio so I bought a package that has 2x 1600mah BL5-C batteries and charger. I wanted to keep the radio off mains power completely. I hope everyone who has one likes it as much as I do.

 

[Grunddiigg]

Bravo ! I haven't tried the PL-330 but I've heard a lot of good things. I love Tecsun radios. Enjoy!

 

[marlin39a]

I’ve had one for about a year. I keep it by the bed for times when I can’t sleep. I take it camping for evenings by the fire. It’s a great little receiver.

 

[PACNWDude]

Tecsun has worked well for me as well as a general receiver. I ended up getting a Tecsun PL-360, then PL-365, and last a CountyComm GP-7 (Tecsun PL-368). The PL-368 also uses the BL-5C batteries, but this series of radio is vertical and fits into many pistol magazine pouches. I use them while hiking and out on mountaintops. The Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) makes it easy to store whatever the radio receives in a quick scan. Tecsun makes some awesome radios. Op thank you for sharing.

 

[WaveFront]

I bought one because of the hype, but I prefer the PL-368 for most situations, and the PL-880 I have performs much better. I think this radio is over-rated. I seem to remember people saying at the time that it was comparable to the PL-880 in reception, but it's not even close to mine.

 

[K0WWX]

I like the PL-330 a lot. In my experience, for SSB reception there is very little difference between it and the PL-990X. The main performance difference might just be the length of the built-in telescopic antenna, it's 100 cm extended on the 990X and just 49 cm on the 330. In any event, the PL-330 is a pretty amazing performer on SSB for what it costs, with 10 Hz resolution and good frequency stability. What portable shortwave radio had SSB with 10 Hz resolution in the old days? The answer is none, I think.

The only smaller radio that might outperform it is the Belka, but early versions of the the Belka didn't have the AM broadcast band and current versions still don't FM. For a travel radio, I think you really need both AM and FM.

The only thing I don't like about the PL-330 is the build quality. I've had mine for less than a year and the knobs are already a little wobbly. I would love to see Tecsun put this same radio in a solid metal case of the same size, with high quality tuning and volume knobs that were a little easier to turn. It would be a little heavier and more expensive, but the improved durability would be well worth it.