Small Portable Radio's?

[Lebkuecher]

I finally have sold some amateur radio equipment and am ready for a long-overdue update of my ssb listening and table am/fm broadcast radio. I am interested in the S-8800, but the price is steep, and I'm not sure the performance increase on ssb over the PL-880 is sufficient to justify the difference in cost between the two radios. Anyone have both? I also noticed this week that Amazon is saying they don't know if the PL-880 will be back in stock there (edit: Amazon now says they will have more in about a week). Kaito USA is also out of stock.

I also worry that there may be no authorized repair location for the S-8800 in the USA - since it is not sold here - that could conceivably be a problem.

I have both if you have questions or want me to record some samples via YouTube.

Thomas from SWLing already has a good comparison vid on YouTube comparing the two on SSB.

 

[mightysparrow]

Thanks, Lebkuecher. I had seen the video posted on SWLing - could be the same video as this one. I was wondering if anyone here had a different viewpoint. Seems that you are basically in agreement with Thomas. The S-8800 definitely seems to have a lower noise floor, and clearer audio by a small margin. I'm not sure it is enough of a difference for me to spend the $100+ extra on the S-8800 and risk the overseas shipping - especially since any repairs would presumably need to be done overseas. I'll mull it over.

 

[mightysparrow]

Lebkuecher: I do have a question regarding the PL-880. Do you experience the warbling or shaky sound using SSB that has been noted by many PL-880 owners? Allegedly it is caused by an unstable oscillator. I've heard some recent reviews claiming their particular PL-880 does not have this problem. Some claim the newer units have a more stable sound on SSB - more comparable to the PL-660 SSB sound. But others claim the problem has not been solved.

I'm trying to decide between the PL-660 and PL-880 now. I will wait for the S-8800 to come down in price and be available from a USA distributor. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[5S8Zh5]

Is there such a thing as a portable AM radio (does not have to be dedicated) that will tune in via wifi, if you don't have wifi? We don't have wifi, but in my trying to keep up with modern connectivity and mostly not keeping up thinking, tablets and kindles connect via wifi - even if you don't have wifi. If that makes any sense. I just like AM and late in the day there's lots of static from inside the house.

 

[Lebkuecher]

Lebkuecher: I do have a question regarding the PL-880. Do you experience the warbling or shaky sound using SSB that has been noted by many PL-880 owners? Allegedly it is caused by an unstable oscillator. I've heard some recent reviews claiming their particular PL-880 does not have this problem. Some claim the newer units have a more stable sound on SSB - more comparable to the PL-660 SSB sound. But others claim the problem has not been solved.

I'm trying to decide between the PL-660 and PL-880 now. I will wait for the S-8800 to come down in price and be available from a USA distributor. Thanks for your assistance.

I was an early adopter of the PL-880 so I have one of the earliest production runs using the 8820 firmware. As you may recall back in 2014 there was a lot of hype regarding the PL-880 and the possibility of soft firmware updates but as it turns out that was never in the cards. I believe due to the hype Tecsun decided to keep the firmware number the same on future production runs but there have been changes in the firmware since I bought mine and I believe I read somewhere that some of the changes included some enhancements with SSB. I will try to record a quick SSB video tonight or tomorrow comparing the Tecsun PL-880, PL-680, PL-660 and Eton Satellit to try to give you an idea of what you might expect but just keep in mind newer production models of the PL-880 might perform better.

One of the advantages the PL-660 and PL-680 has over the PL-880 is a workable sync, I'm not sure how important sync might be to you but below is a quick video I made a few years ago playing with the sync on the PL-660/PL-680. The sync on the PL-880 isn't worth the time recording.

 

[Lebkuecher]

Is there such a thing as a portable AM radio (does not have to be dedicated) that will tune in via wifi, if you don't have wifi? We don't have wifi, but in my trying to keep up with modern connectivity and mostly not keeping up thinking, tablets and kindles connect via wifi - even if you don't have wifi. If that makes any sense. I just like AM and late in the day there's lots of static from inside the house.

I would be interested in a radio with AM/FM/WIFI but I believe some would be quick to point out that you could just use your phone with a Bluetooth speaker for the WIFI. Still having a dedicated device has some advantages especially if a call comes in.

 

[mightysparrow]

I was an early adopter of the PL-880 so I have one of the earliest production runs using the 8820 firmware. As you may recall back in 2014 there was a lot of hype regarding the PL-880 and the possibility of soft firmware updates but as it turns out that was never in the cards. I believe due to the hype Tecsun decided to keep the firmware number the same on future production runs but there have been changes in the firmware since I bought mine and I believe I read somewhere that some of the changes included some enhancements with SSB. I will try to record a quick SSB video tonight or tomorrow comparing the Tecsun PL-880, PL-680, PL-660 and Eton Satellit to try to give you an idea of what you might expect but just keep in mind newer production models of the PL-880 might perform better.

One of the advantages the PL-660 and PL-680 has over the PL-880 is a workable sync, I'm not sure how important sync might be to you but below is a quick video I made a few years ago playing with the sync on the PL-660/PL-680. The sync on the PL-880 isn't worth the time recording.

Thanks Lebkuecher! I didn't know that the factory has continued to make improvements in the firmware, even though they have kept the revision number the same. Some reviews claim they "gave up" making improvements. It could be that the variations in quality control at the factory make the differences various owners are hearing in their radios, but I've heard the quality control at Tecsun has improved somewhat recently. (?)

Thanks very much, again, for your responses to my questions. Don't worry about spending a lot of time doing another video. I will probably get to hear my father's PL-880 next week during a visit - maybe I can base my decision on what to get partly on what I hear during that visit. The problem with that 'sample trial' experiment is that I won't get much time to search for good ssb transmissions I can listen to at length. That's why I'll do more digging online to look for more reviews of recent units, before making a purchase decision. Some people on eham have PL-880's, I think - I'll post a query there to see if I can get any helpful feedback.

 

[5S8Zh5]

I would be interested in a radio with AM/FM/WIFI but I believe some would be quick to point out that you could just use your phone with a Bluetooth speaker for the WIFI. Still having a dedicated device has some advantages especially if a call comes in.

If you had a smart phone, which I don't. Mine is dumb.

 

[StarHalo]

I would be interested in a radio with AM/FM/WIFI but I believe some would be quick to point out that you could just use your phone with a Bluetooth speaker for the WIFI. Still having a dedicated device has some advantages especially if a call comes in.

My old iPhone 6 is the Spotify/TuneIn server, the catch is that it's the older Bluetooth protocol so it has to remain within ~30 feet, the iPhone 7's Bluetooth is as strong as a wifi signal.

If you had a smart phone, which I don't. Mine is dumb.

The $20 Target phones are better in this role than when used as phones..

 

[Lebkuecher]

I wish Sangean would have put a AM tuner in the Sangean WFR-28 . Decrease the size a little and add a handle along with adding Bluetooth streaming capabilities and you would have a nice versatile radio.

 

[Lebkuecher]

And while I am dreaming why not add HD to boot.

 

[Lebkuecher]

Don't worry about spending a lot of time doing another video. I will probably get to hear my father's PL-880 next week during a visit - maybe I can base my decision on what to get partly on what I hear during that visit. The problem with that 'sample trial' experiment is that I won't get much time to search for good ssb transmissions I can listen to at length. That's why I'll do more digging online to look for more reviews of recent units, before making a purchase decision. Some people on eham have PL-880's, I think - I'll post a query there to see if I can get any helpful feedback.

Just let me know if I can help and please share your thoughts when you get a chance to play with your fathers radio. It would be nice to do a side by side comparison between the earlier production runs VS the latest. I hear some of the hidden features may have disappeared in the newer production models.

 

[Lebkuecher]

The $20 Target phones are better in this role than when used as phones..

I never would thought of using an inexpensive phone for that, that is a good idea for someone using a flip phone who has WIFI.

 

[GaryF]

Anyone have both?

I don't have the 880, but I do have the PL-660 and the S-8800.

SSB on the 8800- Set it to LSB or USB, and you can just tune through the band 1khz at a time and you will find perfectly clear voices when you hit an active band. You can fine tune in .01 kHz steps if needed.

SSB on the 660- finding a good signal is fiddley. It's hard to be sure if you are a kHz off, if you are on USB when you need to be on LSB, or if you just need to adjust the BFO. With that many variables it can be frustrating in comparison to the 8800. Once you get the BFO set correctly, you can tune up and down the band like the S-8800, it's mostly just the initial signal that can be a struggle. Once you do get something tuned in, the 660 is good and stable, but it takes a very fine adjustment of the BFO to come close to (but not quite match) the audio clarity on the 8800.

All that said, the PL-660 is fine, and still miles ahead of trying to tune in SSB on the older and drifty analog SW's. I imagine the PL-880 is a step up from the 660, but I've never had the chance to get my hands on one to compare.

 

[5S8Zh5]

Well my AM listening is going fine without wifi - my PL-880 is getting good reception right now at my bedtime, and with it's passive radiator speaker, the sound is sublime. I'm using my DT-400 a lot lately too - AM and FM. Listening to AM on my Tecsun ICR-110 right now.

 

[aih]

Is there such a thing as a portable AM radio (does not have to be dedicated) that will tune in via wifi, if you don't have wifi? We don't have wifi, but in my trying to keep up with modern connectivity and mostly not keeping up thinking, tablets and kindles connect via wifi - even if you don't have wifi. If that makes any sense. I just like AM and late in the day there's lots of static from inside the house.

I may not understand, or may not be reading correctly. If you are asking about a combination traditional radio that receives broadcasts + internet radio, then I'm not aware of one. If you have been searching and haven't found one, then I would say they don't exist. I didn't search.

As an aside, many traditional broadcast radio stations also feed their broadcast to the internet. Find your favorite stations (or find new favorites) and then look for a button or link. It might be "listen live" or might be a link to tunein or iheart or similar. There are numerous ways to listen and numerous device options, provided you have an internet connection.

 

[StarHalo]

Is there such a thing as a portable AM radio (does not have to be dedicated) that will tune in via wifi, if you don't have wifi? We don't have wifi, but in my trying to keep up with modern connectivity and mostly not keeping up thinking, tablets and kindles connect via wifi - even if you don't have wifi. If that makes any sense. I just like AM and late in the day there's lots of static from inside the house.

You can't connect to something that isn't present; your two options are wifi, which is your home internet data signal coming from your router, or LTE/4G/cell data, which is the data signal that's part of your cell connection and subscription plan - even if you have a dumb phone, whoever sold it to you will have other devices for sale (tablets, mobile hotspots that turn the cell signal into a wifi signal, etc.) that can use the cell connection you're already paying for as a data stream.

You'll find the ease and convenience of having an unlimited selection of radio stations with flawless reception to be very addictive, especially once your device is paired with a Bluetooth speaker..

 

[mightysparrow]

I don't have the 880, but I do have the PL-660 and the S-8800.

SSB on the 8800- Set it to LSB or USB, and you can just tune through the band 1khz at a time and you will find perfectly clear voices when you hit an active band. You can fine tune in .01 kHz steps if needed.

SSB on the 660- finding a good signal is fiddley. It's hard to be sure if you are a kHz off, if you are on USB when you need to be on LSB, or if you just need to adjust the BFO. With that many variables it can be frustrating in comparison to the 8800. Once you get the BFO set correctly, you can tune up and down the band like the S-8800, it's mostly just the initial signal that can be a struggle. Once you do get something tuned in, the 660 is good and stable, but it takes a very fine adjustment of the BFO to come close to (but not quite match) the audio clarity on the 8800.

All that said, the PL-660 is fine, and still miles ahead of trying to tune in SSB on the older and drifty analog SW's. I imagine the PL-880 is a step up from the 660, but I've never had the chance to get my hands on one to compare.

GaryF: thanks for the input - yeah, the S-8800 looks to me like the top of the line for ssb monitoring with a portable. I am actually tempted to consider getting one from Anon-co, even with the problem of overseas repairs being difficult and costly if necessary, but aside from that problem is my concern about the weight. I have serious arthritis issues, and if I am correctly remembering the weight of the S-8800, at 7 pounds, I'm concerned it will just be too heavy for me to cart out to the balcony and put on my leg for a listening session. I'll need a table out there, I think. Still, the performance gives me reason to seriously consider it. How does the weight feel to those of you who have the S-8800? Let's see, four D cells would weigh a little over a pound, I think....hmmm. Will consider getting a S-8800 later, even if I get a smaller radio now. I gave up my real ham gear for HF, after all.

 

[mightysparrow]

Well my AM listening is going fine without wifi - my PL-880 is getting good reception right now at my bedtime, and with it's passive radiator speaker, the sound is sublime. I'm using my DT-400 a lot lately too - AM and FM. Listening to AM on my Tecsun ICR-110 right now.

Yep, the speaker on the PL-880 is definitely a major plus for me! If I can get one that does well on ssb, I'll go for it. And the DT-400 is a favorite pocket radio for many - I'm envious of that, because I also need to upgrade my pocket radio. Mine is old. I would choose between the DT-400 and the CC Crane Pocket. Both are great!

 

[mightysparrow]

In looking for good places on the web to purchase Tecsun radios, I found a radio I had not previously known about that looks quite impressive on the surface. I notice the Kaito.us website shows the Tecsun CR-1100 as being out of stock - but looks like a great radio! Anyone tried one in person?

[Minutes later.....OK, I've seen some reviews of the CR-1100 now....some rate is highly, others not so much. I might go with the Sangean PR-D14 instead, as they have similar features]