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After learning about the new Tecsun S-8800, yesterday, I contacted Anna at Anon-Co and asked for any information regarding specs and availability. Anna replied:
“Regarding the S-8800, there is no information available of when this will be actually launched. I think that the absolute earliest could be some time in January, but I expect that it will be after Chinese New Year. To be honest, it is very difficult to say at this moment. There isn’t much information available about it yet.
Supposedly it is pretty much the same [chassis design] as the existing BCL-3000, but it will be a PLL radio with DSP IC. It should have SSB features, but other details (like SYNC) I’m not aware of at this moment. I’m hoping to hear more about this soon.
Anna will contact me as soon as she has more info about the S-8800 features and availability.
It seems that Tecsun has a new large portable in line.
Someone posted a photo of a new Tecsun product catalogue which shows a new model S8800.
The Tecsun BCL-3000 for comparison.
Apparently it uses the housing of BCL3000 [see above] and is multiple conversion (so a PL880 inside?), DSP based with separate LSB/USB and 10Hz minimum tuning step, and comes with a remote control (for direct frequency input?). Two 18650 batteries are used.
Photo source: http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/ via OWL. Click to enlarge.
Photo source: http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/ via OWL. Click to enlarge.
[Here’s a] link to the post in Tecsun’s web forum:
Many thanks for sharing this find, OWL! This is a very curious development from Tecsun.
I can imagine why Tecsun is re-using the BCL-3000 (a.k.a. Grundig S350DL) body–not only is it roomy inside, but it’s proven to be a popular large portable form factor over the years. Of course, since this is an existing chassis design, design/development costs will be minimal. If Tecsun is including a remote, I’m sure OWL is correct: it’ll aid with direct frequency entry. The S-8800 will be the first portable shortwave radio with remote control I’ve seen in many years.
If audio is anything like its predecessors, I would expect rich fidelity from the built-in speaker. In terms of performance, though? This is a completely different receiver than the single-conversion BCL-3000, so only time will tell.
I’ve been traveling along the coast of South Carolina this week, and on Thursday, I found myself in the historic town of Conway, South Carolina. I parked downtown and strolled into the past via Papa’s General Store, a small local store with a lot of merchandise––and a lot of charm.
While browsing a display of antiques, I happened to notice a vintage radio perched on a high shelf. Here’s what caught my eye:
I asked, was the radio was for sale? And, indeed, it was. One of the sales clerks pulled it from the shelf, dusted off the top, and read the price: $74. I noted that it was a West German Telefunken receiver. I asked the clerk, Chris, if it worked, and he confirmed that it did; it belonged to his uncle, who had clearly taken very good care of it.
Chris allowed me to plug it in, turn it on, and tune in a couple of local stations…The Telefunken produced beautiful audio without even the slightest hint of a hum. Chris was pleased that I appreciated the radio, and sincerely wanted me to take it home, so he lowered the price a bit further. I agreed, and purchased it without hesitation. Just couldn’t help it…
Chris behind the counter with his uncle’s classic Telefunken.
The Telefunken Superheterodyn Caprice 5451W covers the AM/mediumwave band and FM. It’s a tube radio produced in the early 1960s in West Germany, and is now the only tube-based radio I own that covers the FM band.
Of course, I was very eager to get the Telefunken on the air, so that afternoon I headed to our balcony overlooking the Atlantic, tuned around a bit on the mediumwave band…and was simply amazed at all it could receive. I picked up my smart phone, and with it made a very short recording of the Cuban station, Radio Reloj, on 820 kHz:
My smart phone’s microphone doesn’t begin to do the Telefunken’s rich audio justice, but you can clearly hear Radio Reloj’s ticks and “RR” in Morse Code at the top of the minute (indeed, if you’re listening with headphones, you may also hear crashing waves in the background). Something nearby generated a lot of RFI right on frequency, too , but the rest of the broadcast band had a surprisingly low noise floor.
I also spent some time with the Telefunken on the FM broadcast band; with a simple wire antenna, this worked wonders.
In my humble op, the audio the Telefunken produces is simply beautiful. And so, I’ve got to add, is this vintage radio. See for yourself.
One of the main reasons I got the SDRPlay RSP was its wide bandwidth. It can show up to 8 MHz of spectrum at once. I figured it should be able to watch TV. Turns out it can, but it’s only designed to receive DVB-T.
Unfortunately, they only use that in Europe and a few other places. In North America we use ATSC.
In this article I will show how to use it to watch ATSC.
I just saw an eBay auction for a used DE1103 which listed “DSP” in the title. But I looked at a photo of the product and it showed the labeling of the original product. If you look at the bottom left of the unit, the older radios have two lines of product description printed in black, and the newer radios have one line.
Based on photos I found online, here is the old product’s description (which applies to both the Degen and Kaito versions)
“PLL FM STEREO/SW MW LW DUAL CONVERSION SYNTHESIZED WORLD RECEIVER”
And here is the new product’s description.
“FM STEREO/SW MW LW DIGITAL WORLD RECEIVER”
I thought this would be useful for anyone wishing to buy the new DSP version of this radio where a photo of the actual unit is shown.
Eric has a good point–many times on eBay, sellers simply copy descriptions from previous or existing listings. You my find a used DE1103 listed as a unit with DSP. It’s best to confirm the version with the seller before purchasing. To my knowledge, only the 2015 version of the Degen DE1103 has DSP.
It doesn’t matter that propagation is rather poor this morning: I have a Sony ICF-SW100, a good cup of coffee, a beautiful sunrise and Radio Australia is loud and clear on 9,580 kHz.
All is well.
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After learning about the new Tecsun S-8800, yesterday, I contacted Anna at Anon-Co and asked for any information regarding specs and availability. Anna replied:
