I’m not sure why Tecsun decided to hide these features. I’ll admit that I’ve really enjoyed hunting for and discovering them–most are terrific additions. On the other hand, it has been frustrating as well: I came close to posting an article describing what seemed to be an unfortunate audio stability problem in the PL-880, as I found that when I tuned in a weak station, if the signal level either fell below or climbed above 5, the audio gain would increase or decrease dramatically, making listening very fatiguing. A reader then discovered the hidden “muting threshold” feature, and the story changed. I found that my radio had shipped with a default threshold of “5”– I was able to turn off muting, changing the threshold to zero, and this instantly fixed the problem.

Choosing a bandwidth couldn’t be easier: simply press the “AM BW” button to display the current bandwidth setting, then either use either tuning control to widen or narrow the filter, or press the “AM BW” button to cycle through the options. I’m reading this old post as I am a new user of the PL-880. I have it as my bedside and coffee table receiver in my house up in the Indonesian jungle.

Drumroll, please….and now, the PL-880

Update: Jan 1, 2013] PL-880 owners living in urban areas with strong AM (MW) stations are hearing multiple images from those stations across the MW band, making it difficult for medium wave DXing. With that disclaimer out of the way, I find that the PL-880 certainly holds its own on the AM broadcast band (570-1600 kHz). The PL-880 can hear every local and relatively distant AM station that my C.Crane CCRadio-SW could hear. For this type of armchair listening, the PL-880’s speaker delivers fidelity that is nearly unmatched amongst portables of similar size. It’s most impressive. The PL-880 sports both broad tuning and fine tuning controls on the right side of the radio. They’re perfectly positioned to be operated with ease by the user’s thumb. They also protrude enough from the right side of the radio so that it can be tuned much like the tuning knob of the PL-660–from the top side of the control. To begin with, please note that my impressions of performance band-by-band, below, is based on a little over one week of listening. I typically spend longer with radios before publishing a review, but with the holiday season fast approaching, readers have asked for a more rapid response. [That being said, I will of course update and adapt this review over time; but be assured that any significant updates will be noted as such]. But comparing these two radios in terms of sensitivity is problematic, as it’s not an “apples-to-apples” comparison. In the examples above, I tried to keep the playing field level by leaving the PL-880 on one bandwidth setting and not using the hidden DNR feature (which seems to alter the bandwidth and lower the noise floor). It’s certainly possible some users may be able to tweak the PL-880 to give it an edge on the PL-660 in similar conditions.

Supplied battery charger is a bit noisy on medium wave and shortwave if listening while charging. (Not a problem for me, as I’m a batteries-only listener.)

Another piece of advice, do not connect a Ham radio style wire antenna to this or most portable radios, they overload badly unless you use some serious attenuation.

Every radio has its pros and cons, of course. When I begin a review of a radio, I take notes from the very beginning so that I don’t forget my initial impressions. Following is the list I formed over the time I’ve been evaluating the Tecsun PL-880:

Where to buy the PL-880

Unlike the CC Skywave, the CC Skywave SSB covers all the way up to 30 megahertz. It also has Upper and Lower sideband to listen to ham operators and other stations that broadcast in SSB only. The radio also covers the Aircraft Band and the NOAA Weather channels plus AM and FM. This radio is very compact but don’t let the small size fool you. It’s a great little radio with great reception. The only problems I have encountered with this radio is that when you switch on or off on the upper or lower sidebands, there is about a three second delay. Also, there is a brief no audio when scanning frequencies. Other features I wish the radio had was an antenna input. It only receives via the small antenna and the built in ferrite AM antenna. The sound quality is pretty good for the size of the radio. Products to be reviewed typically should be tangible ham radio related items such as radios, antennas, towers, test equipment, feedlines, etc. The older radio (sent for repairs under warranty) seems to have developed a bug that the technicians have never seen before. They say that diagnosis and repair could be very difficult… therefore they are replacing THAT radio too! If your new review has not been Approved after several days you can assume that it was found to not be within the product review T's&C's shown below during screening.