Tecsun Why I “Need” A Tecsun PL-330

[ditto1958]

I watched a video today, and it turns out I need a new Tecsun PL-330. Why? Well, I love the slogan on the box: TECSUN …… for the listener.

I have a very nice Tecsun radio. But it’s been out for a few years, and doesn’t have that slogan on the box. Tecsun, if you’re listening, please update the boxes on older models and add your slogan.

Oh, and from what I can tell, the PL-330 is an excellent portable shortwave radio. Almost universally gets outstanding reviews.

 

[T680]

Stop that! This is one of the radios I keep thinking of buying but haven't yet. And if you do get them to listen to you could you ask them to include the weather band and use either an 18650 or AA batteries for power. Then I think I'd be unable to resist buying it.

Some days I think their PL-880 would be a good choice. And then I realized I could buy the PL-330 and a Qodoson for about the same price and I get even more bamboozled.

 

[ditto1958]

Stop that! This is one of the radios I keep thinking of buying but haven't yet. And if you do get them to listen to you could you ask them to include the weather band and use either an 18650 or AA batteries for power. Then I think I'd be unable to resist buying it.

Some days I think their PL-880 would be a good choice. And then I realized I could buy the PL-330 and a Qodoson for about the same price and I get even more bamboozled.

What radios do you currently own?

 

[T680]

A CCrane Radio solar that's often on for hours a day, Xhdata D-219 and a Xhdata D-109WB. Plus a GE Superadio that's in pristine condition that I rarely use.

I keep thinking that a better radio would be the Qodoson with weather band and SSB with better battery life or something similar while remembering the RFI is going to cause problems regardless of what I use and there isn't a radio that's going to bring back the choices available when I was a kid starting to listen to shortwave back in the early 70's that isn't connected to the Internet.

 

[ditto1958]

Those are some good ones. 🙂

 

[T680]

Those are some good ones. 🙂

Thanks. The RadioSolar came first and has been awesome from the beginning. The D-219 came next and reignited my interest in shortwave. The D-109WB followed but hasn't lived up to my expectations. The first one got sent back when it didn't work right and the replacement just doesn't have the build quality of the D-219. It's a great radio but I keep having the feeling that another radio is going to allow me to pull in some stations I can't with the others

 

[ditto1958]

Thanks. The RadioSolar came first and has been awesome from the beginning. The D-219 came next and reignited my interest in shortwave. The D-109WB followed but hasn't lived up to my expectations. The first one got sent back when it didn't work right and the replacement just doesn't have the build quality of the D-219. It's a great radio but I keep having the feeling that another radio is going to allow me to pull in some stations I can't with the others

I have an XHDATA D-109WB, a Tecsun PL-660, and, last but not least, a Qodosen DX-286. The first two are sensitive radios, but the Qodosen is basically a DXer’s race car. Most of the time if I get a catch on the Qodosen, the XHData and Tecsun can tune it, too. But sometimes the Qodosen really wows me with an obscure SW station halfway around the world. It doesnt really have any features. Nice case, nice buttons, nice sounding speaker, but aside from that, it’s a radio. A very good one, but nonetheless just a radio.

 

[T680]

The things the Radio Solar does it does really well and that's mainly what I want in a radio. The D-109WB doesn't pull in my favorite FM station as well as the Radio Solar not does it sound quite as nice but I got it for shortwave and it seems to do a good job there considering the RFI we all live in. The Qodoson is supposed to be the best portable for FM now, but I'm really happy with the Radio Solar and can't see getting another radio for a little better shortwave reception - especially if it doesn't have the weather band. The PL-330 has SSB and ETM but it took lacks the weather band and uses a cell phone battery. And it's still hard to resist.....

 

[Falcon9h]

The things the Radio Solar does it does really well and that's mainly what I want in a radio. The D-109WB doesn't pull in my favorite FM station as well as the Radio Solar not does it sound quite as nice but I got it for shortwave and it seems to do a good job there considering the RFI we all live in. The Qodoson is supposed to be the best portable for FM now, but I'm really happy with the Radio Solar and can't see getting another radio for a little better shortwave reception - especially if it doesn't have the weather band. The PL-330 has SSB and ETM but it took lacks the weather band and uses a cell phone battery. And it's still hard to resist.....

I have the 330. Great little radio and for its size sounds really good.

 

[ditto1958]

I have the 330. Great little radio and for its size sounds really good.

See!? That‘s not what I need to hear lol.

 

[KevinC]

Odd timing on this thread. I got an Amazon gift card for Christmas and spent some of it on the PL-330. I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with this little radio.

 

[T680]

See!? That‘s not what I need to hear lol.

I think it's exactly what you need to hear so you can but it and then tell me how it compares to the radios I already own!

 

[KNL3408]

For what it's worth I've been comparing the PL-330 to the ZHS-757 and HRD-757 (Identical radios made by in China by Hanrongda). For simplifying purposes I will refer to my comparisons as 330 and 757. The 757 boasts additional band coverage of air, vhf, uhf and weather. I can tell you now, the vhf and uhf reception on the 757 has been horrible using a Tram 1094 mobile scanner antenna (with an adapter for the ext antenna plug) that I use for my scanner. The antenna works well on my Uniden scanner. Anyway, back to the 330. Great! I'm located at the east coast of the US, and I've received stations from New Zealand, China, Mongolia, Romania, France, the Vatican, Spain, Brazil, Cuba & various transmission stations from the east coast of Africa. Also numerous broadcasts from within the states. Not much in the way of hams or ssb though. My antenna? Believe it or not, the same tram 1094 that I use on my scanner for wideband vhf & uhf reception (with a bnc female to 3.5mm male plug to fit the external antenna) . I don't know if it's the antenna itself or the coax that boosts my reception, but I can say I tried an Xhdata AN80 reel type sw antenna and also a circular "donut" ring antenna, both dedicated sw antennas, which showed no improvement from the attached telescopic antenna. I highly recommend the PL-330. As for the two 757s? The reception wasn't bad on shortwave. I received a lot of the same stations as on the 330, but definitely not as many and not as strong. But the worst part of the 757, is terrible bleed over of a strong AM band local station that can be heard in the background of a lot of the shortwave transmissions. The PL-330 has almost zero interference from this strong AM station. My conclusion, the 757 is not worth it. Vhf, air and uhf reception is horrible, though weather station reception is capable, as is AM and FM. Shortwave is fairly good, but for the heavy bleed over of the strong AM station. The PL-330 is superior for shortwave listening. I have a Qodosen DX286 on the way to compare it to, but haven't received it yet.