Tecsun Review of the new Tecsun H501

[Direwolf131]

I forgot a thing, this radio is claimed to be triple conversion, nonetheless I am getting images on MW, that also caught my attention, there should not be any images on this radio if its triple conversion.

 

[VK3RX]

Have you advised Anon-Co re the issues with your unit?

I'm sure they would be interested and offer a solution. Who knows, inadvertantly out of China you may have got an early hand-assembled one or pilot build.

 

[Direwolf131]

Have you advised Anon-Co re the issues with your unit?

I'm sure they would be interested and offer a solution. Who knows, inadvertantly out of China you may have got an early hand-assembled one or pilot build.

Repeatedly, further, the boxes both packing,and shipping, were immaculate, no damage whatsoever, and anyway I am satisfied now that the issue is manifest throughout the series, it was very helpful to me laying hands upon two other samples. Its possible the three I have actually played with were early samples, I am open to that. You should know that to return a radio to anon-co you cover shipping, and by the time its all said and done its not worth it.... It would be great if they had US based satellite operation for such a contingency. I know one thing, anyone getting 18-20 hours per battery runtime is getting orders of magnitude better such runtime compared to the three I have seen. Consider, I have not even attempted to operate the MP3 option, what would be the runtime to the battery if lets say you actually cranked up the volume to 50-65% and played it that way, I'd be surprised if you got two hours total runtime doing so...

 

[ka3jjz]

Just because a radio is triple conversion doesn't mean it can't get overloaded, in this case, by MW stations. Perfectly understandable. You need strong resistance to overloading, you need a high quality desktop. Even they can get overloaded given the right conditions.

Most of us can't afford that, so a AM filter or a passive preselector will do the job here

Mike

 

[VK3RX]

Consider, I have not even attempted to operate the MP3 option, what would be the runtime to the battery if lets say you actually cranked up the volume to 50-65% and played it that way, I'd be surprised if you got two hours total runtime doing so...

I'd be surprised also. Its not a boombox, so that volume level from any source would be expected to drain a battery far quicker than a normal volume level of (say) 15-20%.

 

[Direwolf131]

I do not know what happened to the thread, but there was a thread revolving around the new Tecsun H501/501x radios, and in that thread I did alert all who wished to hear a genuine report on the new snazzy flagship of the Tecsun line-up, to some very deal killing issues within the radio observed over three separate units, including wildly variable stability in SSB, bizarre power shutdowns, and a few others, but most especially the radios incinerating hunger for 18650 cells, burning through them in as little as a hour's time depending upon what functions you were exploiting, and volume it was set to. A lot of folks seemed to take issue with the truth, which to me, is really unfortunate as I am not just some douchebag on the web, I've been doing this for 45-years. Here's a partial vindication of my accurate and honest reports to you my friends, I found it tucked into the very bottom of RadioJayAllens review, and I do not know if I just missed it(I don't believe so), or whether he just updated it after folks began realizing the radios were highly problematic, to say the least.

FYI on battery life per charge. The H-501’s stereo amplifiers can draw lots of current when the radio is played very loudly, especially with bass-heavy music. Because of this, battery life per charge is extremely dependent on how loudly you listen…perhaps more so than with some other radios. Played at normal (medium or lower volume), the H-501 battery life is good (and with the backup battery you have that extra backup of a second battery), but be aware that if you really crank the volume to high levels, playing time per charge will be dramatically shortened, even causing the radio to switch off due to low battery voltage, yet you can turn the radio back on at lower volume and get many hours of further play time.

I say partial vindication because in my opinion he is only telling the half of it, the truth is the radio sucks battery's down on more than just a maxed out volume or bass & trebel, it was my observation that it mostly depends on what functions you are running, and by functions I mean SSB, or Synch, I didn't even measure what likely would have been an epic draw down by listening to the mp3, or recording anything, further the volumes I ran at were not elevated in the least, they averaged right between 10-20% of volume, hardly playing the radio loudly enough to drain it down in a couple of hours time. I also noted epic battery drain overnight in powered off units, and I noted that a burst in volume, or signal strength up or down, such as when synch in struggling to lock a signal, would result in the radios shutting off altogether, and on top of that the radios would flag some fully charged cells as drained, and shut down even as they were fully charged, and also compartment A would routinely fail while compartment B would demonstrate a full charge!

Tecsun makes a great series of radios, this one is quite ambitious, but unless the address these flaws swiftly, I'd not buy it again. One other thing, there is no way the typical reviews on youtube and elsewhere did not see and experience exactly what I did, I quantified these flaws across three new, H501x receivers, all of which demonstrated the flaws, so there is that too....

 

[VK3RX]

I do not know what happened to the thread,
<snip>

This is the thread you posted in.

The high volume issue Jay reports is consistent with what I said above i.e. use the radio at normal listening levels, and the battery drain is fine. Crank it up loud, and it will of course chew up battery life as with any portable.

My H501x hasn't had much use since I last posted in July above. I've fired it up perhaps 5 or 6 times and listened for an hour or less each time.

In particular, the batteries have not been charged since before my last post in July i.e. they have not drained flat during the period of non-use, and are still going on that last charge.

The Spectrum Monitor this month has a review of the model November 2021

I still believe that the unit you have is faulty because as I've said before, I haven't experienced any of the issues you report.

 

[Direwolf131]

This is the thread you posted in.

The high volume issue Jay reports is consistent with what I said above i.e. use the radio at normal listening levels, and the battery drain is fine. Crank it up loud, and it will of course chew up battery life as with any portable.

My H501x hasn't had much use since I last posted in July above. I've fired it up perhaps 5 or 6 times and listened for an hour or less each time.

In particular, the batteries have not been charged since before my last post in July i.e. they have not drained flat during the period of non-use, and are still going on that last charge.

The Spectrum Monitor this month has a review of the model November 2021

I still believe that the unit you have is faulty because as I've said before, I haven't experienced any of the issues you report.

I quantified these flaws across three new, H501x receivers, all of which demonstrated the flaws, so there is that too....

 

[Falcon9h]

So now it's been a year, I found this because I've been thinking on one of these. Any more updates or should I pass?

 

[VK3RX]

I still have mine, great receiver, very happy with it and nothing has changed since my earlier posts. A single battery still lasts up to 18-20 hours.

I haven't bothered to look around much for further reviews since the one in TSM.

Another review here.

Drop me a PM if you wish.

 

[ka0eze]

Just got the 501 - not 501x. What is the difference?
Also don’t find a way to switch from whip antenna to external antenna like on the 909

 

[VK3RX]

From what I've read, the 501 was the initial production release within China, and in time (about a year I think) the 501x was the export release.

Differences are mentioned in this, which you've probably come across by now:

Tecsun H-501/H-501x

I guess to "switch" from whip to external is plugging in an antenna though the hidden features link further down the above page details how to switch but only for AM & FM bands.

 

[n6hcm]

This radio is marked down at mtcradio.com ... down to 240 and change (free ship) ... they have an additional $25 off coupon (LETITSNOW) but i don't know when it expires. the reviews i've seen have been mixed, but for $215 i couldn't resist.

 

[cherubim]

It's a major disappointment over the PL-880 and not worth the money. The noise floor is atrocious and SSB distortion/AGC pumping make it an awful performer for SSB dxing. Just a glorified AM/FM receiver with big battery guzzling speakers and a media player that nobody needs.

 

[Falcon9h]

It's a major disappointment over the PL-880 and not worth the money. The noise floor is atrocious and SSB distortion/AGC pumping make it an awful performer for SSB dxing. Just a glorified AM/FM receiver with big battery guzzling speakers and a media player that nobody needs.

Whew! Glad I never got one now.

 

[VK3RX]

Curious re the varying reports. A year or so back I did refer the local distributor to an earlier report here, and they speculated if bought overseas at that time whether there were early Chinese market (i.e. pre "X") and/or hand assembled units out there. One would think by now any of those would be in the used market, and current production units should be fine.

Mine is still per my post #50 above, and I can't say there are any issues with noise floor, SSB performance, or AGC, and I'm still getting around 18 hours out of a single battery. Synchronous AM could be improved, and it would be nice to have RDS with the FM, and be able to record received programs on the media unit.

 

[SA4MDN]

Would have also been nice to have had the airband in the flagship radio

 

[Grunddiigg]

I have one and quite enjoy it. The SW reception is outstanding. I can't comment on the SSB too much but the little I've used it to listen on the ham bands it's been great. I enjoy the whole radio including the bluetooth streaming. I can stream shows in to it from my phone and that's great. It does drain the battery faster if you have the volume cranked. I get around 10 hours a battery with use. I love the battery switching capability.

I do agree though that the PL-880 is hard to beat though. I owned one for a few years and it was stellar.

 

[Falcon9h]

I relented and ordered a 501 from Amazon, hoping that these problems have been addressed. I figure it's been out long enough now and I've got loads of 18650's for my flashlights.
Guess if I wanted to I could fashion a parallel battery arrangement and plug it into the chargdr port if I wanted to but we'll see.
My PL-880 goes for months on one charge.

 

[Falcon9h]

Got the 501. In a word, I'm impressed! No issues, sounds great, excellent sensitivity on SW. I have to use the AN100 loop (passive) for good MW. FM is eqjivalent to my other Tecsuns.
The pl-880 has mellower audio but this thing sounds damned good and is a pleasure to listen to.
SSB is rock solid. MWARA 6577 has been nonstop all evening. HF Radio - Major World Air Route Areas - MWARA