Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who writes:
Anon-Co is offering a Tecsun PL-606 Clone for $31.99 shipped. It’s badged as a: “Ritmix RPR-7020”. I’ve never heard of that badging/brand, maybe you have?
Kaito (via Amazon) currently prices the PL-606 at $41.80, Amazon’s price is $46.50.
Click here to view special on Anon-Co’s website.
Thank you for the tip, Troy! That is a great price for the PL-606 and Anon-Co is a retailer I certainly trust. I’ve never heard of the Ritmix name either.
The r f gain on the Russian ritmix is bumped up slightly over the tecsun model on the am and shortwave band.(my experience)
RitMix RPR-7020 update:
Today 17 July 2017 I have received the unit purchased at Anon-Co 8 days ago. I am located in Western Australia.
It arrived in mint conditions, new unit as expected, undamaged, well wrapped in bubble wrap. Interestingly, bundled with the user manual and the warranty card in Russian, there is a user manual in english only from Tecsun, for the PL-606.
This re-confirm that this radio is in fact a PL -606 rebadged.
Very early impressions: looks solid, ok to me, after all it’s a USD 31.99 radio. Lots of features, covers from 64 Mhz to 108 Mhz in one go. Other bands still to be explored. The box itself is carton, but it’s good quality carton, color printed and slightly embossed and it doesn’t feel cheap or flebile.
Surprise: as I have no batteries at hand at the moment, I connected it via the (supplied) USB cable, for 5Vcc power from a PC.
Obviously it does work, BUT after I disconnect it from the 5Vcc power, it does NOT go off. The display stays on, but on the timer mode. And if I try to switch it on, it shows a Low battery icon.
I cannot find anywhere any reference to any internal rechargeable battery. So, how is that possible?
At the moment it is connected to my PC and it will stay that way for few hours.
I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers,
73 de Stefano VK6WFM.
Thank you for the report, Stefano!
I received one of these from Anon-Co today. Compared to the PL-606, it ships without a puck, ear buds and longwire antenna. I can live with that so it’s $10 saved. Anon-Co’s shipping is excellent, taking four days from HK to me here in Britain.
Does this receive have a BFO for Morse or SSB reception?
No, unfortunately it does not have a BFO.
Phil,
The PL-606 is listed as having 550 memories … the VITE VT-111 60 (20 + 20 + 20). To my eyes the case looks different as well (look at the top right button on the front). And looking at the button function labels, they are different. So though I own neither I would have to say no, they are not the same.
Troy
OK Troy,
I should have checked it out a bit closer.
Thanks,
Phil
Is this the same as the VITE VT-111 and TIVDIO V-111? It sure looks like it and all the posted specs match.
Both the Vite and TIVDIO sell for about $10.00 less.
I have the VT-111 and it works well.
I’m from Russia and yes, under the Ritmix brand some Tecsun models (but not limited to) used to be sold in local Russian market. I own the RPR-7020 and I cannot tell anything bad about it. This is exactly the same as PL-606, I suspect it is actually the tecsun made on their facilities but only with the Ritmix name printed on the cover. It works well and I never read any bad reviews from other owners here in Russia, other than the tiny tuning wheel is getting out of order soon, but that is no wonder when the radio lacks a numpad. I guess original Tecsun has the same problem. So the good hint is to save basic frequencies from each band in memory for quick access to minimize the wheel use.
Ritmix also has a telescopic antenna extender included in the box, I don’t know if Tecsun has one.
Ritmix is a brand sold in Russia.
Tecsun got stuck with a number of them after they were never paid for. Back in the old days (pre-1990) they have a line of tape recorders. They also made handheld video games.
Historically Ritmix and quality didn’t go together. I have an old Ritmix I bought in the GDR in 1986, when looking at their website I see they are still making it. The model now is the RPR-151. The only difference with this one is it has an mp3 player. But it looks the same.
Awful thing.
Ok … Ordered one @ 31.99 (To Australia) with free shipping; they say 1 bus. day to actually ship it; will keep you posted 🙂
Speaking of Tecsun and Anon-Co, any word on the S-8800 being re-released with fixes?
Nothing recently, but I plan to check this week for an update.
Funny you should mention that – the local electronics magazine gives it a fairly positive review in this months issue, and the local Tecsun distributor currently lists it as “available early August”.
That said, I’m not particularly inclined to believe either of them…
I had one, it’s very good for AM and FM. SW is acceptable.
There reason why it’s no longer here, it’s because I missed direct entry. Turning the knob to go from one end of the band to the other gets old quickly.
It’s ‘claim to fame’ when it was originally released, if I recall, was that it came with an antenna extension. FM reception with the extension was better than the PL-310 and PL-380. I don’t see the extension in the ad above, it may not be included anymore.
At the regular price, there is no reason to go with it, when you can buy a PL-310 or PL-380 for not much more, but at this price, your call.
Sorry for the confusion – my comment was in reference to Ken’s query about the S-8800, not the RPR-7020 / PL-606.
The PL-606 is a fine little portable that, while not a standout performer out of the box, is still pretty good & has enough dynamic range & selectivity to take good advantage of an external AM loop or SW longwire/loop even in the presence of multiple 10-50kW AM broadcasters nearby. The couple of PL-380’s I’ve played with didn’t seem to be quite as good – but that may just be the infamous Tecsun “individual variation” 😉
Its main deficit, for me at least, was the lack of SSB.
In addition to ‘individual variation’, there were reports that recent production units of the PL-310 and 380 had internal shielding reduced, or removed altogether.
This “Ritmix” brand is used to sell Tecsun products in Russia.
I had no idea–thanks!
Correction:
It’s a Korean brand … and it looks like they are targeted to Russia.
A Chinese radio, branded in Korea and sold to the Russian market. And we’re getting a deal on it.
Yep…2017 alright! 🙂
Adding to the post, Ritmix is a Russian brand/company.