Charging the Tecsun PL-880 with the C. Crane Witness AC Adapter

CCWitnessAdapterSWLing Post reader, John Case, comments:

“I bought a C. Crane Witness AC Adapter to try it out on the PL-880. It is rated at 900 mA, more than enough to handle the PL-880. I think it is more than reasonable at $14.95.

I am happy to say that it works very well on the PL-880 and does not introduce any noise in any mode , even when the PL-880 is recharging the internal Battery. I also ran the PL-880 in Shortwave without the battery with no problems off of this AC Adapter. All in all, it is very well filtered, and thus quiet.  I can highly recommend it for use with the PL-880.”

Update–John adds:

“I should add that the idea to use the C. Crane Witness AC Adapter for the Tecsun PL-880 came from Dave Zantow, of “Dave’s radio Receiver Page”. He had looked at the Skywave adapter, but it is rated at a maximum of 300 mA, while the PL-880 is rated at > 300 mA. Dave originally tested the Witness Adapter on the Degen DE 1128H, and was pleased with the results. Unfortunately he no longer had his PL-880 test sample, so he could not test the adapter with that radio.

He did add one cautionary note that it may be necessary to add bypass caps to the power regulators to avoid picking up low level switching hum on a whip or other indoor antenna. I did not experience any of this, but it sound like a good idea easily implemented. Dave’s review is at the bottom of this page: http://webpages.charter.net/n9ewo2/ats909x.html

Many thanks, John! I may pick up one of these myself–would be nice to have a regulated supply for many of my radios and digital devices. (Would come in handy if I ever decide to pull the trigger on the CC Witness, too!)

Click here to view the CC Witness Plus adapter at C. Crane.

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8 thoughts on “Charging the Tecsun PL-880 with the C. Crane Witness AC Adapter

  1. Ricardo Vargas Diaz

    Please, explain me which one is the right with TECSUN PL-880
    1- C. Crane Witness AC Adapter
    2- C. Crane Witness Plus AC Adapter
    Thanks a lot….. Ricardo

    Reply
  2. Joe

    You cab just pick up one of these:

    http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-ACD477-Universal-Supply/dp/B000Z31G3M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425582128&sr=8-1&keywords=multi+voltage+adapter

    Hosa Cable ACD477 Universal AC Power Supply

    Input: AC 115v 60Hz,
    Regulated Output: DC 3-4.5-6-7.5-9-12V, 1200mA max
    High Efficiency: More than 80%
    Six Adaptor Plugs: For use with most small home electronic devices
    Short Circuit Protection (SCP): Self-protection against short circuit

    Reply
    1. Thomas

      Jeff,
      I bought that exact adapter from them with the PL-880 and the one I received from them introduced all sorts of noise in the bands where the one from CCrane is noiseless or almost noiseless compared to the one from Universal Radio.

      It does charge the battery nicely but is too noisey to keep plugged in when listening to the radio but the CCrane one works great plugged in for me.
      Tom

      Reply
  3. Thomas

    I ordered one of these as soon as I saw this article and just received it in the mail today and the person was right this thing works on my PL-880 with no noise which my other adapters I bought seem to love creating on my pl-880.

    I tested it on shortwave and fm and I could not tell when it was plugged in and when it wasn’t other then the battery charging symbol 🙂

    Thanks John Case and Thomas for sharing this great find.
    Tom

    Reply
  4. Dave

    I assume similar results on PL600? I might as well run an electric razor while listen on shortwave on the adaptor.

    Reply
  5. John Case

    Hi Thomas,

    I should add that the idea to use the C. Crane Witness AC Adapter for the Tecsun PL-880 came from Dave Zantow, of “Dave’s radio Receiver Page”. He had looked at the Skywave adapter, but it is rated at a maximum of 300 mA, while the PL-880 is rated at > 300 mA. Dave originally tested the Witness Adapter on the Degen DE 1128H, and was pleased with the results. Unfortunately he no longer had his PL-880 test sample, so he could not test the adapter with that radio.

    He did add one cautionary note that it may be necessary to add bypass caps to the power regulators to avoid picking up low level switching hum on a whip or other indoor antenna. I did not experience any of this, but it sound like a good idea easily implemented. Dave’s review is at the bottom of this page: http://webpages.charter.net/n9ewo2/ats909x.html

    Reply

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