Tag Archives: Tecsun S-8800 Hidden Features

More Tecsun S-8800 hidden features/adjustments

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who has recently been in touch with Anna at Anon-Co and discovered a few Tecsun S-8800 hidden features we haven’t mentioned in the past.

Anna notes:

There are some hidden features for this model that are worth mentioning, and are available on all S-8800 radios, also the pre-2021 ones.

Backlight setting

In power-off mode, press and hold [ 2 ] on the remote until the display shows “ON” or “Off”, this to change the backlight setting to always-on or auto-off. In the auto-off setting the backlight turns on after pressing a button or using a tuning knob, and turns off automatically after a few seconds.

DNR (Dynamic Noise Reduction

In the AM band (LW, MW, SW), first press and hold [ 4 ] on the remote to activate the possibility of this feature. The display will show “ON” or “Off”. Make sure that it is turned on. Subsequently, press and hold [ 6 ] on the remote until the display shows “ON” (DNR activated) or “OFF” (DNR deactivated).

FM De-emphasis Time Constant

While receiving FM broadcasts, long press [ 5 ] on the remote to adjust the de-emphasis setting to 50?s or 75?s.

Adjusting the signal indicator sensitivity:

1. Enter FM, LW, MW or SW band

2. Select a weak station.

3. Press [ 7 ] on the remote for about 0.5 seconds.

4. Rotate the main tuning knob immediately to adjust the bars of the signal indicator.

5. Press any button for confirmation or auto save after 2 seconds.

While making the adjustment in step 4, the value in the top-right corner of the screen changes. The factory default value is supposedly around “6” for FM and SW: 6, and around 16 for MW. The adjustment range is -99 – 99.

Add Seconds to the Clock

With the device turned off, press and hold [ 8 ] on the remote to add seconds to the clock. Press and hold [ 8 ] again to hide the seconds from the clock.

Adjust the FM soft muting threshold

While in FM, press and hold [ 9 ] on the remote for about 2 seconds until the current level (probably around level 5) appears in the main display area. Then adjust it by rotating the tuning knob and then press [ 9 ] again to confirm the setting.

Many thanks to Dan and Anna for sharing these tips!

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Tecsun S-8800 Hidden Feature: Frequency display calibration

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following procedure for calibrating the Tecsun S-8800. Dan received this procedure from Anna at Anon-Co:

Apparently there is a “hidden function” through which you can manually calibrate the SSB frequency display. Please follow the below calibration steps to see if it helps:

1) Turn on the device and set it to USB/LSB.

2) Now press & hold the “AM NORM.” button until you see the backlight blink twice (takes about 2 seconds).

3) Now press & hold the “MEMORY” button, until a certain value is shown on the display, for instance “6829”. This example value refers to a frequency like “xxx68.29 kHz”.

4) If you noticed a frequency deviation of 0.05 kHz up/down earlier, then you can use the main tuning knob to do the calibration. In the above-mentioned example, you would turn the main tuning knob to adjust the value to “6824” or “6834”.

Wow! Thanks for sharing this Dan! That’s two posts about S-8800 hidden features in one day. A record for sure! Readers: please comment if you know of other hidden features. I’m compiling a full list.

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Bill discovers a number of Tecsun S-8800 Hidden Features

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill (WD9EQD), who writes:

I’ve owned a Tecsun S-8800 for about eight months and have come to enjoy it more all the time. It, along with my PL-880, have become my main work horses for shortwave listening.

The S-8800 is perfect on the desk connected to a wire antenna and the PL-880 is perfect for carrying around.

Since I knew of the hidden features of the PL-880, it got me thinking on whether the S-8800 had any hidden features.

A quick Google search turned up the following Web Page:

http://swli-05940-mi.blogspot.com/2017/03/tecsun-s-8800-hidden-features.html

I used Google Translate to get a rough translation and then spent some time testing the features out and also just pressing and holding buttons to see if anything else showed up.

Following is what I have come up with:

(Note: some of these are in the manual)

With the radio off

Toggle Longwave on/off: With the Radio OFF, Press & Hold 2

Toggle backlight permanently on/off: With the Radio OFF, Press & Hold 3 – Note that this means the light will be on even when radio is off. While the light does go out when radio is turned off, any operation of a control will turn the backlight on and it will then stay on. Too bad they just didn’t install a slide on/off switch. Plus I know of no way to turn the backlight on permanently without the remote.

Toggle Seconds display on/off: With the Radio OFF, Press & Hold 8

Displays “0888”: Maybe this is version?: With the Radio OFF, Press & Hold “Back”

Displays all segments of display: With the Radio OFF, Press & Hold “AM NORM” – Displays all segments of display. Press & Hold again to display “H802”

With the radio on in FM mode

Displays “75US”: With the radio ON, Press & Hold 5

Squelch Setting: With the radio ON, Press & Hold 9 – Range 0-5. Use Tuning Knob to set. Press 9 again to set.

With the radio on in SW/AM mode

Toggles Extended functions on/off: With the radio ON, Press & Hold 4

With extended functions on:

Press & Hold 6 – Toggles DNR (Dynamic Noise Reduction) on/off.

Press & Hold 9 – Squelch Setting. Use Tunng Know to Set. Press 9 again to set.

Squelch ranges:

MW: 0-40

MW with USB/LSB: 0-30

SW: 0-25

SW with USB/LSB: 0-30

So far that’s all I’ve been able to find. Has anyone else found any others?