- Using Silicon Labs Si4734 DSP; To Digitalize The Analog MW / FM / SW Broadcasting Signal Base On The Modern Software Technology And Radio Principles
- Small and exquisite design, convenient to carry, excellent for walkers, hikers, campers, backpackers
- Seven Tuning Mode Selectable,LCD Display Screen,550 Preset Memories,Digital Clock Function With 12/24 Hour Format,Highly Intelligent On / Off Switch
- Light & Snooze Function,Key Lock Function,Built-In Charging System To Charge The Ni-Mh Rechargeable Battery,Built In Dc 5v Usb Jack, Earphone Jack
- Accessories:1PC STEREO EARPHONE, 1PC EXTERNAL FM/SW ANTENNA, 1PC CARRYING POUCH AND ENGLISH MANUAL. 1 YEAR WARRANTY ONLY BACKED BY VAIROCANA
I wish I could give it a higher rating because I am a real fan of these Tescun DSP radios.
I think this radio falls short of the mark in a number of ways, yet it is very good in a lot of ways. The previous reviewers have given all the good points and I agree with their appraisal.
But this radio has some cons when you compare it to the PL-310 or the Sangean DT-400W.
I find because it has a smaller internal AM/Long-wave antenna then the PL-310 it has less sensitivity and more noise on both strong and weak signals. Some of the noise is generated by the larger LCD display panel. It does not do well on Long-wave beacons. It does have good selectivity. The radio nulls well though.
The smaller speaker and audio amplifier are not nearly as good as the other two mentioned radios. Making it less desirable to listen to for long periods of time.
The PL-380 does have switches that seem to work better than the PL-310, it takes less pressure on them to engage. And the set up of the buttons and switches are very nice with the inclusion of EMS memory features does make it a very attractive radio.
Still I would have to recommend one of the other radio's to my friends, also the PL-390 is getting excellent reviews and another radio to consider, though I have not used one yet.I am an enthusiastic supporter of this radio. I have over 80 portable radios, most of them shortwave and I think this one is the best value of the lot. You can get a better portable shortwave radio for more money, but not all that much better.
What makes the difference is the Digital Signal Processing chip. The result is outstanding sensitivity on FM along with very good performance on Shortwave and decent performance on AM. The radio is also very selective with no less than 5 selectable bandwidths.
I've taken this radio with me internationally, and the light weight is greatly appreciated. The carrying case conveniently has space for a set of ear buds (something most portable cases surprisingly don't have). Another nice travel feature is the ability to recharge the batteries with a standard USB cable. Chances are you will have something else with you that charges the same way (or a laptop) and so won't have to carry a separate charger. The Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) is ideal for scanning and setting the local stations in memory when you arrive at a new location. This doesn't erase your home settings. It takes less than a minute on FM and around 2 minutes to scan Shortwave.
I find the operation of this radio highly rational. The features make sense, and are easy to get to. Even the memory system that's usually the most complex feature on a radio is pretty straightforward on this one.
I won't repeat the feature list. About the only thing the radio lacks that someone might need is single-sideband reception (decoding utility stations and ham radio).
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I recently purchased a Tecsun PL-380 from Kaito Electronics the US supplier. Upon opening the box the first impression was just how ultralight weight the radio is compared to my other world band portables, yet still has a solid feel when holding the case. It is really pleasing to see the workmanship and quality of the Chinese radios improving, although I note that the prices have also been increasing as well. It wasn't long ago that Japan lead the way in world band radios with the likes of Sony, then Taiwan with the likes of Sangean taking the market and now it looks like it is China with Tecsun. We should be thankful that at least someone is still manufacturing world band radios considering the demise of many of the major SW broadcasters in the west.Anyway back to the radio. The radio didn't come with batteries or a USB charger, but came with a clip-on antenna wire, earphones and a small zippered pouch that includes a small earphone pouch...hmm very thoughtful. After unpacking I installed 3 x AA NiMH (from another Kaito radio) and the radio immediately identified on the display "NiMh" and the charge state. The radio has a USB charging jack which I think is a great idea, I have already charged the radio using the phone charging port from an Eton FR160 emergency "cranker" radio, as well as having charged it from a PC and from an old Motorola phone USB charger. USB charging is just so versatile hopefully all small radio and cell phone manufacturers standardize on USB. I only wish that the radio required 2 rather than 3 AA batteries.
The radio has the FM, MW, LW and SW 120M to 13M bands inclusive, they appear to have dropped the 11M band which isn't a big issue in my opinion as the 11M band is mostly dead.
OK so how well does it operate. I compared the PL-380 to my first digital portable the Kaito 1101 and I can say that I'm amazed at the low noise level of the PL-380, no more digital buzzing in the my headphones at zero volume levels. The controls and use of the features such as alarm setting, clock setting, bandwidth etc. is just so much better than the early Kaito's. I really like the Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) that basically scans the band you are on MW, LW or SW and stores them in a temporary memory that you can then access them using the tuning jog wheel. I did a few SW scans last night and was very impressed it makes it very easy to find SW broadcast stations rather than manually scanning. The other feature I like is that the backlight can be manually switched to stay on rather than the auto 3 second time when you pres a key. The radio also has 5 selectable bandwidths in AM mode 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6kHz. Rather odd sizes IMHO and they could have just settled on three bandwidths say narrow 2kHz, normal 4 kHz, and wide 6kHz. Nevertheless it is a nice feature to have in this class of radio. Another area that the PL-380 runs circles around the Kaito 1101 is that it allows tuning and frequency entry down to the 1kHz level so that you can tune off frequency if you so desire i.e. 9999 kHz for WWV. The Kaito I discovered the hard way only allows on frequency tuning e.g. 9995, 10000, or 10005 kHz so if you enter 9999 it tunes to 10000 kHz. Something to watch out for in the cheap digital radios. SW, MW and FM (including stereo) all sounded good to me.
OK so what don't I like. There is no tone control, switch (news/music) or the like, but the tone sounded balanced at least to my ears. Well I can tell you I don't like the volume control as it is a notched jog wheel, like the tuning jog wheel, and appears to have 30 volume positions. Basically, the volume control does not have linear sound levels. Individual hearing and volume or loudness is a personal thing. When I'm using the radio I have found that sometimes that volume position 4 is too quite, yet volume position 5 is too loud and similarly with positions 5 and 6 depending on what I'm listening to. I much prefer a full linear volume control thank you. As for the signal strength display that reports in dBu and dB signal-to-noise it really is meaningless, it would be far better to have a simple signal strength meter that reads S1 to S9, 20+, 40+dB then it would be a better reference to signal strength relative to other receivers. The radio has a temperature display, what for I don't know or care for to be honest and I'm wondering if it the actual IC chip temperature rather than the ambient temperature as it seems to be reading high at least on my radio it does.
Overall though for an ultralight weight world band radio that is easy to use you probably can't go wrong.
Happy listening.
