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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post:
Confessions of a horizontal DXer and some initial impressions of the Tecsun PL-880
by Jock Elliott
Back in the day when I wrote for Passport To World Band Radio, one of my favorite things to do, while my better half drifted off to sleep, was to clamp on a pair of headphones, lean back against the pillows, and mess around with a Sony 6800W shortwave receiver.
It wasn’t a radio that was built for band scanning: you had to rotate a dial to select the megahertz segment of the bands that you wanted, tune a built-in preselector to the appropriate area, and then dial in the frequency with a tuning knob. And memories? Ha! You want memories?!! There were no stinking memories . . . you had to remember what frequencies you wanted or at least what portions of the bands you wanted to tune. The memories were between your ears.
But it was a receiver with an extraordinarily low noise floor, and many a happy evening I enjoyed programming from half a world away. Drifting off to sleep with headphones piping in a signal from a distant land was not without its dangers, though. One night I fell asleep listening to the news from Radio Australia beamed, in English, to Papua, New Guinea. I woke a while later to the same newscast beamed to Papua, New Guinea, but this time in Pidgin English. I heard some English words, but the rest did not make sense. I panicked, thinking some neurologic event had scrambled my brain, but a crisp voice rescued me: “This has been the news in Pidgin English, from Radio Australia.” Thank God!
Earlier this year, the SWLing bug bit me again, and I fired up a long-neglected Grundig Satellit 800 and started cruising around the HF frequencies. Many of the big-gun shortwave stations were gone, or they weren’t aiming programming at North America, but there was plenty to listen to, including shortwave stations, HF ham bands, and some utility stations.
Gee, I thought, it might be great to have a radio for a little horizontal in-bed DXing before shutting off the lights for the night . . . something I could hold in my lap, turn the tuning knob, and discover hidden treasures. The Satellit 800, emphatically, was not the answer. It is a large radio, roughly the size of the vaunted Zenith Transoceanic radios, and definitely not suited for laps.
So, based on a great reputation and excellent reviews, I bought a CCrane Skywave SSB. The Skywave SSB is a powerhouse, offering AM, FM, Weather, Air, SW, and SSB in a package roughly the size of a deck of cards and perhaps twice as thick. And it delivers the goods, offering worthy performance on every band, although SW performance is greatly enhanced by attaching the wire antenna that is included with the Skywave SSB.
Two factors, I discovered, reduced the suitability of the Skywave SSB for bedside DXing. First, the tuning knob is really small, so you can’t just twirl your finger to traverse the bands. It also has click-detents on the tuning knob and muting between tuning steps, so the tuning is non-continuous, which diminishes the pleasure for me. So the drill becomes: use the automatic tuning system (ATS) to search the bands and store stations in memory and then use the keypad buttons to jump from stored station to stored station. Further, each keypad key makes a distinct “click” sound when properly depressed. And that brings us to the second factor: one night, I am attempting to explore the stations stored by the ATS when my bride, who was trying to doze off, taps me. “What?” I say. “Too much clicky-clicky,” she says. Oh, I thought; now I need to find a radio that is quiet, so long as I am wearing headphones.
Now, just to be clear: I would highly recommend the CCrane Skywave SSB (except for use next to a spouse who is attempting to sleep), particularly for traveling because it is so small and performs so well. To underscore the value of a shortwave-capable travel radio, some years ago, I spoke with a journalist who was in Russia when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place. Russian media were not reporting on it at all; he found out about Chernobyl by listening to the BBC on a shortwave radio he had tucked into his luggage, and he rapidly made plans to leave Russia.
A bunch of research eventually led me to the Tecsun PL-880, which is about the size of a trade paperback book. According to some reviewers (including Dan Robinson), the 880 is a bit more sensitive and shortwave than the PL-990. The 880 offers a bunch of bandwidths on both AM and SSB, and the tuning is butter smooth with no muting or detents. The smallish tuning knob has a bit of knurling on the edge, which make it possible to twirl the knob with one finger; you can fine-tune SSB with another knob, and, with one button-press, use the tuning knob to select filter bandwidths or memory channels. In short, if you avoid the keypad, this is a radio that can be operated in near silence next to a better half who wishes to snooze.
The performance, so far, is exemplary; using the PL-880 whip antenna, I could readily hear Gander, Newfoundland, broadcasting aeronautical weather as well as Shannon, Ireland, air traffic controllers directing aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Yes! I haven’t yet begun to explore all that the PL-880 can do, but it promises to be a lot of fun.
A 360-degree rotating AM antenna enhances the radio’s ability to pull in weak AM signals. You can listen to AM, FM , SW, LW, SSB and aircraft band frequencies, and you can program in up to 100 of your favorites for each band.
It receives every radio wavelength—AM(MW), FM with RDS, LW, and Shortwave (SW)—at home or abroad. Plus, it also receives VHF aircraft band, Single Sideband (SSB) and includes a PLL tuner.
The Etón Elite Field receives most every radio wavelength—AM (MW), FM, and Shortwave (SW)—at home or abroad. It’s easy to set the station spacing and frequency so your stations come in loud and clear wherever you are. And with Bluetooth®, you can stream your own music or favorite podcast.
Eton TravelerAM/FM/Shortwave Radio with World Time and Auto tuning storage, 500 memory stations, automatic or manual tuning. FM with Radio Data System.
Eton MiniAM/FM/Shortwave radio with digital tuner and display which shows frequency, time, and alarm activation, automatic frequency up/down scanning.
This has been a busy week, but Wednesday evening I took a few minutes to finally remove the sticky residue on my Grundig G6.
In case you’re not familiar, back in the day (roughly 2009 to 2013) Eton/Grundig covered a number of their radios models with a rubberized coating that unfortunately breaks down over time and becomes tacky or sticky to the touch. The Grundig G6 was one of those radios.
If you’ve been an SWLing Post reader for long, you’ve also no doubt read our numerous posts about cleaning off this mess. There are a number of solutions, but it seems the most positive long-term results by employing a de-greasing product called Purple Power (click here to read archived posts). Indeed, it’s the solution Eton Corporation recommends and the one I used to clean my Eton E1 XM.
Pre-cleaning, the G6 was incredibly sticky. It’s hard to see in the photos, but it was so sticky, it was challenging to remove it from its OEM pouch where it had been stored.
The Purple Power solution is effective, though. It requires only a few minutes to clean off the residue, then another few minutes to do a final polishing (I use a simple window cleaning solution).
The results are so impressive.
When I pulled the G6 from its pouch before cleaning, the back stand fell off. I believe it actually stuck to the inside of the pouch.
It’s so great to enjoy the G6 once again. It is a gem of a compact portable. One thing that surprised me? I forgot how fluidly the tuning works with no muting between frequency changes and how quickly (immediately) it switches into SSB mode. In the day an age of DSP portables, we’ve forgotten that these legacy receivers are actually better at both of these tasks.
Next up is my Grundig G3 which is quite sticky. I need to pull it from its storage bin.
Have you rescued a sticky radio recently? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Meyer, who writes:
Hi Thomas.
I have a question regarding the Eton Grundig Satellit’s DAB function – or rather: It’s missing DAB function.
The Eton Grundig Satellit was reviewed in WRTH 2016 by John Nelson, demonstrating its capability of receiving DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast in Europe – some politicians want to shut down FM-band and replace it with DAB only). Since I live in Denmark, where DAB+ is widely implemented as a supplement of FM broadcasts, I do find this function unique, since it must be the only shortwave radio with DAB on the marked.
The SWLing Post have had some reviews as well as a link to Amazon.com, which tempted me to buy the “Executive Edition” at an attractive price. It arrived in early December 2018, and I am happy with most of the features of this radio. Good audio, sensitive and a nice size for a portable. I do agree with other reviewers regarding the mediocre sync-function, but I got truly surprised regarding the selectivity on shortwave, which on my model is poor! Strong broadcasters can easily be tuned 5 kHz away from their “true” frequency – even when putting bandwith to 3 kHz, there is not much difference in audio on VOA on 15580 kHz tuning to 15575 nor 15585 kHz. But when tuned, reception is stable and audio is good. Another very weird issue is the “double-click” feature, where first press on any button activates the light only – and the user has to press again to actually activate button function!
But now to the main reason for me writing this: How does the user activate DAB? I wrote to WRTH to get their opinion on this – I paste in my correspondence with them (I have got their permission to do so in writing you):
Dear Mr Meyer,
The version we were sent for review had a DAB+ function. Several readers
have since written to say they could not find the function despite the fact
that it is shown in the display. We have raised this matter with Eton but
have not received an answer. We may be wrong but our impression is that the
company did not apply for CE approval and as a result never implemented the
DAB function in the production models. The FCC approved versions of the
receiver of course would not require DAB.
It might be worth putting the question on the DX chat groups and see if
someone has found a solution.
Kind regards,
WRTHdx
Very good question, Michael. Frankly, I had forgotten that the EU version of the Satellit had a DAB function although I do recall the WRTH review.
Post Readers:Do you have any insight? Have you successfully used the EU version of the Satellit to listen to DAB broadcasts? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, for producing this excellent comparison of the Tecsun S-8800 and Grundig Field BT “lunchbox” radios:
The Lunchbox Showdown
by Troy Riedel
I have been watching with interest all of the information & reviews of the new Tecsun S-8800. Frankly, I was especially interested in how it would compare with the other “lunchbox” SW radio – the Eton Grundig Edition Field BT (the Digitech AR-1748 lunchbox radio is also available in AUS for approximately $207US shipped). As I contemplated which lunchbox to purchase, I put together the following Excel comparison table of the S-8800 vs. the Eton Field BT to assist me in making my decision:
Tescun S-8800
Eton Field BT
Price:
$268.00
$129.99
Tuning Methods:
FM / LW / MW / SW
FM / MW / SW
Q.Tune
Q.Tune
Digital tuner, Jog dial manual tuning
Digital tuner, Jog dial manual tuning (Fast, Slow and Hold)
Auto scan tuning with 5 second stop (w/ storage)
Auto scan tuning (no tuning storage)
Direct frequency entry using the remote control
Fine Tuning Knob: SW Meter Band
No soft muting when tuning
“Subtle“ Soft Muting when tuning
Station Storage Methods:
Manual storage: tune into stations manually and store them
Manual storage: tune into stations manually and store them
Semi-auto storage: storing stations during auto scan
Auto Tuning Storage (ATS): automatically tune into and store stations
FM / MW / LW / SW
FM / MW / LW / SW
AM Bandwidth:
Bandwidth selection (2.3, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0)
Narrow & Wide Settings (3.0*, 6.0*) *Reported
SSB:
SSB (USB/LSB)
N/A
SSB tuning steps at 10 Hz / 1 kHz
SSB Bandwidth selection (0.5, 1.2, 2.3, 3.0, 4.0)
N/A
FM with RDS
N/A
Bluetooth
Adjustable shoulder or hand carrying belt
Hand carrying strap
Remote control operation
N/A
SYNC:
N/A
N/A
Gain:
Local / DX antenna gain switch
Local / DX antenna gain switch
SW RF Gain Control
Memories:
650 station memories
50 station memories
Stored stations memory browsing
Auto Sorting Memory
LCD:
Standard Backlight
Orange Backlight
5-seconds or continuous settings
10-seconds or continuous settings
Clock/Alarm Time:
Clock/Alarm time (24H-format)
Clock/Alarm time (12 & 24H-format)
Alarm:
(1) Alarm
(2) Alarms
By radio only
By radio (60-mins) or buzzer (2-mins)
Digital Display:
Frequency & SW meter band
Frequency & Band (e.g. FM, LW, SW1)
Signal strength indicator
Signal strength indicator
Stored station location
Stored station location
Clock & Alarm time
Clock
Volume Level (while using remote)
Battery indicator & charging time
Battery Indicator
Sleep Timer A & B (Selectable)
RDS Info
* No Lock Feature
Display Lock “On”
Tuning Speed (Slow, Fast, Stop)
Sound Tuning:
Bass & Treble
Bass & Treble
Line In:
N/A
3.5mm Stereo Input for mp3 Player
Line Out:
(2) RCA Left & Right Stereo Channel Line Out
(1) 3.5mm Line Out for tape recorder or audio amplifier
Ant Selector:
Int. or Ext. Switch for FM/SW
Int. or Ext. Switch for FM/SW
FM/SW Antenna:
BNC: Low-impedance (50?) FM/SW
Coax: Low-impedance (50-75?)
MW Antenna:
High-impedance (500?) wire clamp terminals
High-impedance (500?) wire clamp terminals
Battery:
2 x 18650 Li-ion Cell
4 x “D” Cell
AC Adapter:
No AC included – does include a USB mini-B charging cable
7v 1200mA DC Neg Center included
Yes, the S-8800 without a doubt has more features than the Field BT. However, the S-8800 is slightly more than twice the price of the Field BT ($268 vs. $130)! Does the performance of the S-8800 equate proportional to the price difference?
Shortly after I made my Excel comparison table, Thomas published video comparisons of the S-8800. I very much appreciated the review and video comparisons that pitted the S-8800 against several popular portables. It gave me a baseline to set my expectations. However, those videos didn’t answer my question: “should I purchase the S-8800 or the Field BT”?
I contacted Thomas and I told him “we need an S-8800 vs. Eton Field BT” video comparison so SWL’ers have a true lunchbox vs. lunchbox comparison! I volunteered to purchase an Eton Field BT and have it delivered to Thomas for him to compare the two (after which he would forward the Field BT to me). After he hesitated, I replied: “what if I buy the Eton and we meet in North Carolina to compare them together”? Fortunately Thomas readily agreed and I made the 6.5-hour journey from Southeast VA to Mount Mitchell State Park for the Lunchbox Showdown (864-miles roundtrip on my odometer)!
Thomas and I had a limited amount of time. I arrived at noon. Thomas and I had 8-hours … and that included time for Thomas’ Parks On The Air (POTA) Activation, our S-8800 vs. Field BT comparison, we had to eat (it was a long drive for me!), and Thomas brought many other toys so we had to carve out time to “play radio” (and I can’t drive 400+ miles to Mount Mitchell and not walk to the summit of the highest point east of the Mississippi River!).
Luckily conditions were as ideal as I have ever seen them (evidenced by the fact Thomas made contacts from TX to the Azores with his Elecraft KX2). So please keep in mind, what follows is in no way a complete comparison. And to be clear, it was never my intention to review either receiver (there are many people more competent than I am that have already done this – Thomas among them!).
My interest re: these two models is primarily limited to each’s shortwave performance (I use a Sangean PR-D15 and a Grundig YB400 for AM DX, I prefer my Sangean PR-D15 for FM and I own 12 shortwave receivers). Thus our goals were to find and compare multiple representative SW signals. Thomas is obviously familiar with local AM stations in the area that he uses in his comparisons, thus we sought out a few AM signals (I recorded one to illustrate one huge difference that we both perceived in the two radios). Due to time, hunger, and eventually darkness we had to call it a day at 8 P.M.
I used my iPhone 6S to record the following comparisons. This was the first time I recorded shortwave signals. In retrospect, I wish I had made the recordings longer but at the time I was unsure of how much memory each recording would used, how much time it would take to upload, etc., so I kept everything at 1-2 minutes. As you will see, I recorded nearly all of the signals with the backlight off. You’ll see me reaching in, on Shootout 5, to tune off frequency – then back on – simply to show how the backlight would/or would not affect the weak signal on the Field BT (you’ll also see that it’s harder, outdoors, to read the Eton display without the backlight vs. the clearer Tecsun S-8880).
The Eton Field BT has its own SW RF Gain (a huge bonus) and you will see me reach into the field of view once or twice to fine tune the Field BT on weaker signals. And if you’ve studied my comparison table, you’ll see that the S-8800 has multiple bandwidth choices whereas the Field BT only has Wide & Narrow settings.
You will see me occasionally change the BW on both. I preferred not to speak during the videos as not to mask the audio of the signal thus I will set-up the specifics of each video with each individual link to my new YouTube Channel, SW Hobbyist, that I set-up to host these (and hopefully many future SW-related videos to include radio recordings & antenna comparisons).
Thomas and I both felt that the AGC of the Tecsun S-8800 was very slightly better (more stable – absolutely no “chug”) than the Eton Field BT (again, a very subtle difference). We both liked the sound of the Eton Field BT much better – it was crisp, full and just seemed to “pop” through its grill (see Shootout #7). The huge thing we both disliked with the Eton Field BT is its tuning dial. Yes, it has Q-Tune so one can jump from 5000, 6000, 7000, etc., with the push of a button but the tuning dial (even in “Fast” mode) is painfully slow and deliberate (dare I say horrible in comparison to the S-8880?). We both love the fact the S-8800 has a remote. But even without the remote, the S-8800 was much more pleasurable to manually tune.
Not to speak for Thomas, but I believe we generally felt [overall] that the SW signals were essentially close enough to call even … the edge to the Tecsun on a couple and the edge to the Field BT on a couple of others (I specifically remember us both commenting on an Arabic language broadcast from Radio Saudi Arabia where we both felt the Field BT was a very clear winner – that was one of the signals that I did not record). The better “sound” of the Field BT’s speaker may have influenced our opinions – a sound that was markedly better on FM, better on AM, but a sound that was much closer on SW.
My final thoughts and conclusion: Radios are like vehicles. No one vehicle is best for everyone. Each vehicle has a specific purpose and each has a subset of features. I own a large travel trailer. I need and thus own a heavy-duty diesel truck to tow it. But I surely wouldn’t recommend my vehicle to somebody who only needs a commuter vehicle. That’s why we have everything from SmartCars, to sedans, to SUVs, to dually diesel trucks. The same goes for radios. Some people will absolutely need SSB, others may demand SYNC (neither of these units has this feature!) while others may choose a radio based on size (compact for travel or larger models with a large, easy-to-read display for desk or tabletop use). Until now, I felt the video comparisons we had for the S-8880 were comparing a truck to an SUV to a sedan. At least now we have a few videos of two lunchbox radios compared side-by-side. True, one (the S-8800) is fully loaded (in vehicle terms: a 4×4 with a touchscreen GPS and DVD entertainment system). But not everyone who requires a truck needs a 4×4 with GPS and DVD entertainment system. Some truck owners prefer the smoother ride from a 4×2 truck. I think that’s the best way to describe these lunchbox receivers.
Am I glad that I bought the Eton Field BT? For me – despite the cumbersome tuning of the Field BT – I feel the S-8800 is not worth 2x the price of the Eton (I got an even sweeter deal for my new, sealed box Field BT off eBay that was well under the $129.99 street price). But you can make your own decision, you can decide which features are must-have, and you can listen to these videos as well as the other videos that Thomas has already posted and determine if one of these lunchbox models are in your future. And because I learned so much regarding the video recording of shortwave signals (I suffered from tunnel vision while recording – not fully aware of what I caught and what I missed), I hope I can meet-up with Thomas again so I can do a better, more thorough job with a “Lunchbox Comparison, Deuxième Partie” (that French was for Thomas – I hope I got that correct!).
Thanks for putting together this comparison, Troy! It was great hanging with you last week on Mt. Mitchell!
If you’re shopping for either of these radios, you have a few options:
The Tecsun S-8800 is only available worldwide via Anon-Co at time of posting. Eventually, they will begin appearing on eBay. There are retailers in Australia and Europe also selling the model (Important: make sure you’re ordering a model from the latest production run which solves the DSP birdie problem in early units).
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steve Lebkuecher, who writes:
Hi Thomas
I was a little surprised to see a batch of new Grundig G3s selling for $79.99 on eBay. Given the quality issues with the G3 it may be a bit of a risk but what a great deal if you could get one that works. I have enjoy mine but ended up having to return the first one I bought due to issues with the sync.
Thanks for all you do, I always appreciate your website!
Many thanks for the tip, Steve! You’re right, if this batch of new, un-opened radios is from the last production run of G3s, there could be inconsistency in quality control. The seller, hileydeals, has a 99.6% positive rating and offers, “14 days money back or item exchange, buyer pays return shipping.” So, if you purchase a G3 and feel it’s not performing up to spec, then you could return for a full refund within 14 days, but you’ll be out your return shipping.
I’ve owned a total of three Grundig G3s over the years and have never been displeased with one. I may have simply been lucky. In fact, the G3 was my go-to travel portable for quite a few years. I gave two G3s away and still have one here in my collection. It’s a sensitive little radio and certainly worth the $79.99 price (if not one of the faulty units).
Confessions of a horizontal DXer and some initial impressions of the Tecsun PL-880
