SWLing Post reader, Paul, writes:
“Check out this PL-880 set from Anon-Co on eBay.
. Looks like it includes an AN-03L SW antenna and ICR-100 FM/MP3 player/recorder amongst other things.”
Very interesting. I have never heard of the ICR-100. I wonder how well it records FM radio?
For those of you who aren’t satisfied with the PL-880’s internal ferrite antenna for mediumwave and longwave reception, here is a video explaining a work-around that will force the PL-880 to use an external antenna on those bands:
Many thanks to YouTube user pesnyaozemle for posting this video and to SWLing Post reader Jon for sharing.
Earlier we posted that Tecsun PL-880s being sold by Kaito Electronics had an older firmware version (#8819) than those being sold by Anon-Co on eBay (#8820).
Fortunately SWLing Post reader, Tim, has been working directly with Kaito in California. Yesterday, he visited their headquarters where they updated his PL-880 from firmware version 8819 to 8820.
Tim writes:
“Just got back with my PL-880 from Kaito. It took about 5 seconds to update the firmware (they let me watch). Tecsun sent them a little silver box with a cord that plugs into the radio just below the LCD screen. After removing the face plate, they merely plug in the cord, press a button and voilà, the firmware is upgraded to 8820, and no more soft mute problems. They told me mine is the first one to get the update and it seems just great so far!
I asked if they will be updating new radios before they ship, and they said, “of course, by all means.” [T]hey are now selling the radio with 8820 firmware. People who bought the radio before are also welcome to send theirs back for the upgrade.”
The review of the Tecsun PL-880 we posted two weeks ago was purchased from Anon-Co and has the newer 8820 firmware version.
Tim, many thanks for the report!
Many on the PL-880 Yahoo Group have been reporting “soft mute” or “noise gate” audio jumps that are heard when the PL-880 is tuned to a weak SSB signal.
SWLing Post reader, Tim, has a Tecsun PL-880 with firmware version 8819 (mine is 8820) that exhibits this soft mute behavior. Check out the following video where he uses the built-in attenuator to force the PL-880 to engage the soft mute. Tim notes that the sound quality of his $30 camera phone is poor, but I can still easily hear what’s happening:
There have even been confirmed reports of SSB soft muting in PL-880s with 8820 firmware. With that said, I have now spent hours trying to force my PL-880 to engage soft muting in SSB, but to no avail. My SSB copy is solid, regardless of signal strength, noise level, or adjacent signals (at 5, 10 or 15 kHz and much closer)–no muting at all in SSB.
While I’m very pleased with my PL-880, I would encourage many readers to consider waiting a couple of months before making the purchase. Many of the PL-880 early adopters have felt a bit like Beta testers–admittedly, I’ve felt this way as well–but with time, I imagine many of the 880 quirks will be ironed-out by Tecsun.
Thanks to SWLing Post reader, Tim, we know how to display (what we believe is) the date of manufacture for your Tecsun PL-880:
1.) With the radio turned off, simply press and hold the “AM BW” button and the full display panel will turn on.
2.) Then press and hold the “AM BW” again and your 880?s firmware version will display (a four digit number).
3.) Finally, by pressing and holding the “AM BW” button one more time, a date appears in a year-month-day format. For example, my PL-880 (see above) was manufactured on November 13, 2013.
Again, we have no confirmation from Tecsun if this is truly the date of manufacture, but there is a strong possibility.
You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.
Tecsun PL-880 owner, Patrick, has made a video showing how to calibrate SSB on the PL-880. In the video, you can hear what it sounds like to zero-beat an AM carrier. Patrick writes:
Some people reported their PL-880 wasn’t properly calibrated in SSB (off-frequency).
Here is a simple tip to calibrate your TECSUN PL-880 for zero-beat operation (SSB mode) : either tune to USB or LSB, say 500 Hz off-frequency (603.05 USB for example, if you wish to calibrate your radio on 603.00, or 602.95 LSB).
PRESS and HOLD the 0 button of the keypad.
Look at the UPPER RIGHT corner of the display, where stands the clock and S/N ratio. A 2-digits number is BLINKING as well as the Hz digits of the tuned frequency.
RELEASE the 0 button, and properly adjust the FINE TUNING. You will probably have to slightly tune, de-tune and re-tune before calibration is perfect. Play a bit with it to understand how it works … (the change is effective AFTER you press again the 0 number to validate the value).
Do the same for both USB and LSB modes.
Check the tone when tuned to xxx.95 USB and xxx.05 LSB. They should sound exactly the same.
Et voilà !
Merci, Patrick!
You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.
This hidden feature was described by Diemtar on the Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group:
I just tried this on my PL-880 (firmware version 8820) and it worked well.
Many thanks, Dietmar!
You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.