Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes:
Hi Thomas, here is Shanghai International Audio Exhibition with the new toys:
https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/digital/plamvgp.html
Check out all of the photos and commentary (in Chinese) by clicking here.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Richmond, who shares two images of the Tecsun H-501 dated June 21, 2019 from this radio forum.
As Robert notes, “Probably a prototype, so YMMV.” Very true–it’s quite possible further changes could be made to the design or silkscreening before a full production run.
The photo above with BG71CA does give us an indication of the radio’s overall size.
Thanks for sharing, Robert!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lee, who writes:
Hi Thomas, I just found this photo [above] on Reddit of three new radios from Tecsun: the PL-330, the PL-990, and the H-501. I knew about the PL-990, but I didn’t realize there was a PL-330 or H-501. Any inside info? 73, Lee
Thanks for your message, Lee. I had not seen the photo of the PL-330 until you sent this one.
The PL-330, I assume, is the latest in the PL-3XX line which has primarily been DSP-based ultralight broadcast receivers. I believe only one model, the PL-365/CountyComm GP5-SSB, had SSB capabilities. The PL-330 appears to have dedicated LSB and USB mode buttons on the front panel (lower right in photo below).
Since both the Digitech AR-1780 and XHDATA D-808 both have selectable sideband, I’m not surprised the new PL-330 does as well. I’m very curious if the PL-990 will be priced competitively like PL-3XX models have been in the past–perhaps below $80 US.
The PL-330 certainly appears to have taken design cues from the PL-990 in terms of overall control layout.
The Tecsun H-501 is a new model that was previously referred to as the Tecsun S-9900. I believe a pilot run has been made of the PL-990 and H-501–possibly the PL-330 as well.
I will be reviewing each of these radios as soon as they’re available here in the US.
Thanks for the tip, Lee!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Grayhat, who writes:
Hi Thomas, was about to write you about some infos related to the NooElec balun when found that they now offer a v2 model:
https://www.nooelec.com/store/balun-one-nine-v2-barebones.html
The new balun has the same schematic as the previous one:
But it is slightly bigger, has a better connector for the antenna wires and (according to NooElec) uses a transformer which allows the tiny balun to work more efficiently from 0 to around 70 MHz (check out the charts found in the downloads section of this link).
The transformer used, judging from the pics, is a CoilCraft WB9-1, whose data can be found here:
https://www.coilcraft.com/wb_th.cfm
As I wrote the reason for this was the fact that a friend of mine reported that he used the (v1) balun with a Loop On Ground (LoG) Antenna !
If you look at the schematic (above) you’ll notice that there’s a “jumper” labeled R1 (zero Ohm resistor). That tiny detail is important, see, leaving the balun as is, it will work fine with a longwire, one just connects contact #1 to the antenna and #2 to a counterpoise or ground system and there he goes, BUT there’s another way to use the balun, that is, CUT the “jumper” (ok, resistor) labeled “R1”. If you cut it, the balun will become a 9:1 isolation transformer and with such a modification will work just fine with the KK5JY “LoG”
antenna: http://www.kk5jy.net/LoG/According to what my friend reported, the balun works just fine, and although probably the ferrite core used in the V1 isn’t up to par with the original one used by KK5JY, the difference isn’t so huge.
Oh, and I also suspect that the modified balun may work fine with the KK5JY simpler passive loop http://www.kk5jy.net/rx-loop/ which may be a nice antenna for restricted spaces!
I think it may be of interest to people not knowing/willing to wind their own baluns, at that point one may just need an enclosure to protect the balun and putting up a receive antenna will be as easy as 1-2-3.
Thank you for sharing this! Readers: Grayhat has been encouraging me to deploy a LoG antenna at my home and I do plan to do so in the coming months. Please comment if you use a LoG similar to the KK5JY model and what your results have been.
Thank you again for the tip, Grayhat!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve Lebkuecher, who shares this video which compares the mediumwave performance of the PL-990 and PL-680:
https://youtu.be/m9osecPwiq4
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve Lebkuecher, who shares this video which compares the speaker audio of the PL-990 and PL-680:
https://youtu.be/anWfnsWNi_Q
Click here to view on YouTube.
I would love to hear a comparison with the PL-880 since the PL-880’s audio is also superior to that of the PL-680.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares a link to the following video (in Chinese) of the new Tecsun PL-990:
https://youtu.be/9asB3keMrE0
