{"id":27762,"date":"2017-08-28T11:12:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T15:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=27762"},"modified":"2017-09-08T10:30:49","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T14:30:49","slug":"video-daytime-mediumwave-shootout-with-the-tecsun-s-8800","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/video-daytime-mediumwave-shootout-with-the-tecsun-s-8800\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: Daytime mediumwave shootout with the Tecsun S-8800"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-27766\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR-1024x690.jpg\" alt=\"The Tecsun S-8800\" width=\"625\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR-1024x690.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR-768x518.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR-624x421.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170823_191416757_HDR.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>About a week ago, I received a re-engineered version of the <strong>Tecsun S-8800<\/strong> from Anna at the excellent online retailer, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.anon-co.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anon-Co<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you recall, I evaluated an early production unit of the S-8800 in February and while putting it through the paces, <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/tecsun-s-8800-the-birdie-problem\/\">I discovered loud, warbling DSP birdies throughout the mediumwave and shortwave bands<\/a>. Tecsun, to their credit, pulled the S-8800 from production to address the issue.<\/p>\n<p>My schedule last week made it impossible to carve out the dedicated time I needed to begin an S-8800 evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, however, I spent the afternoon with my family at Richland Balsam, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway (6,000&#8242; ASL) and a completely RFI-free zone. I brought the Tecsun S-8800 and a few other portables along for the ride&#8211;namely the <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/digitech-ar-1780\/\">Digitech AR-1780<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/cc-skywave\/\">C.Crane CC Skywave<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/panasonic-rf-2200\/\">Panasonic RF-2200<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I had just enough available space on my smart phone to record this one short video:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oFpoRkAMxv4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/oFpoRkAMxv4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to view on YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s be clear:<\/strong> comparing any modern radio with the RF-2200 on mediumwave is hardly fair.<\/p>\n<p>For one, the RF-2200 has been out of production for a few decades.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly (what I never finished saying in the video is that) the RF-2200 has a large rotatable ferrite bar antenna that provides excellent gain.\u00a0The RF-2200 simply wipes the floor with <em>all<\/em> of my modern portables as their ferrite bar antennas are a fraction of the size.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the RF-2200 was engineered to rule mediumwave <em><strong>like a boss<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>On shortwave, the RF-2200 does a fine job, but isn&#8217;t nearly as accurate and stable as modern DSP receivers.<\/p>\n<h3>Spoiler alert<\/h3>\n<p>Still, as the video indicates, my final review of the Tecsun S-8800 will indicate that it is not a receiver for the serious Mediumwave DXer. It&#8217;s been my experience that few shortwave portables are excellent on both HF and MW.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27773\" style=\"width: 635px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Tecsun-S-8800-AM-Local-Dial-e1503932712302.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27773\" class=\"wp-image-27773 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Tecsun-S-8800-AM-Local-Dial-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-27773\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">At home, tuned to local station 880 AM.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Of course you can&#8217;t tell from the video, but the S-8800 actually sounds brilliant when tuned to a relatively strong\/local AM station, but either a lack of sensitivity or internal noise makes MW DXing a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>I spent the better part of two hours yesterday evaluating its daytime MW performance&#8211;the video is pretty indicative of my findings. The S-8800 struggles with weak stations, but does a fine job with strong ones. It&#8217;s overall audio fidelity almost matches that of the RF-2200 when tuned to a strong broadcast. I&#8217;ve yet to test evening MW<\/p>\n<p>The S-8800 still has some birdies on MW, but they&#8217;re not the loud warbling kind <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/tecsun-s-8800-the-birdie-problem\/\">found on the previous model<\/a>. Tecsun did properly address this, though in full disclosure, I haven&#8217;t fully explored the shortwave bands yet.<\/p>\n<h2>Shortwave?<\/h2>\n<p>I suspect the S-8800&#8217;s performance on shortwave will be much better than mediumwave because the previous S-8800 showed excellent results. As long as sensitivity wasn&#8217;t harmed while addressing the DSP birdies, I expect it&#8217;ll give the PL-880, PL-680 and Sony ICF-SW7600GR a run for their money.<\/p>\n<p>Still&#8230;the lesson learned yesterday?<\/p>\n<h2>The Panasonic RF-2200 is the indisputable champion of mediumwave!<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Panasonic-RF2200-MtMitchell-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-13559\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Panasonic-RF2200-MtMitchell-3-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Panasonic-RF2200-MtMitchell-3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Panasonic-RF2200-MtMitchell-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Panasonic-RF2200-MtMitchell-3.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>UPDATE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/a-review-of-the-tecsun-s-8800-shortwavelwam-mwfm-portable-receiver\/\">Click here to read our full Tecsun S-8800 review.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About a week ago, I received a re-engineered version of the Tecsun S-8800 from Anna at the excellent online retailer, Anon-Co. If you recall, I evaluated an early production unit of the S-8800 in February and while putting it through the paces, I discovered loud, warbling DSP birdies throughout the mediumwave and shortwave bands. Tecsun, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,433,836,3,26,129,43,154],"tags":[6396,2303,2304,6332,374,4099,2642,2639,2643,479,4396,5855,4093],"class_list":["post-27762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-mediumwave","category-new-products","category-news","category-radios","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","category-shortwave-radio-reviews","tag-ar-1780","tag-c-crane-cc-skywave","tag-cc-skywave","tag-digitech-ar-1780","tag-medium-wave","tag-mediumwave","tag-panasonic","tag-panasonic-rf-2200","tag-rf-2200","tag-tecsun","tag-tecsun-s-8800","tag-tecsun-s-8800-review","tag-videos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-7dM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28139,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/a-review-of-the-tecsun-s-8800-shortwavelwam-mwfm-portable-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":0},"title":"A review of the Tecsun S-8800 shortwave\/LW\/AM-MW\/FM portable receiver","author":"Thomas","date":"September 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year, Tecsun released its long-awaited newest large portable: the Tecsun S-8800 portable shortwave\/LW\/AM-MW\/FM receiver. Though I fully intended to buy a Tecsun S-8800 for review, our friendly Hong Kong-based Tecsun retailer, Anon-Co, sent an S-8800 to me before I could. I\u2019ve worked with Anna at Anon-Co for at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Angle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Angle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Angle.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23578,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/another-review-of-the-tecsun-s-8800\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":1},"title":"Another review of the Tecsun S-8800","author":"Thomas","date":"January 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATE: Click here to read our full review of the re-engineered Tecsun S-8800.\u00a0Note that the review below refers to a first production run S-8800e model.\u00a0 In reply to our Tecsun S-8800e overview, SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Hymefly, comments: I own this radio. Its performance on AM and shortwave is better than my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23857,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/tecsun-s-8800-unboxing-photos-and-initial-impressions\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":2},"title":"Tecsun S-8800: Unboxing, photos, and initial impressions","author":"Thomas","date":"February 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATE: Click here to read our full Tecsun S-8800 review. Yesterday, I received a Tecsun S-8800 from Anon-Co in Hong Kong. As I always do when a new radio comes on the scene, I requested to purchase an early release of the Tecsun S-8800\u00a0radio for review months ago. \u00a0But this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800-Box-1024x698.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800-Box-1024x698.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-S-8800-Box-1024x698.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27791,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/video-shortwave-shootout-with-the-tecsun-s-8800\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":3},"title":"Video: Shortwave shootout with the Tecsun S-8800","author":"Thomas","date":"August 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After enjoying an afternoon testing the Tecsun S-8800 on the Blue Ridge Parkway\u00a0this past weekend, I decided to return to the parkway yesterday and test the S-8800's shortwave performance. I carved out about two hours of my afternoon and spent the entire time comparing the S-8800 to the Tecsun PL-880\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Tecsun-S-8800-shortwave-dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Tecsun-S-8800-shortwave-dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Tecsun-S-8800-shortwave-dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28673,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/radio-day-at-mount-mitchell-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":4},"title":"Radio Day at Mount Mitchell State Park","author":"Thomas","date":"October 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Shortly after publishing my review of the Tecsun S-8800, SWLing Post contributor Troy Riedel contacted me and asked if I would consider comparing the S-8800 to the Grundig Field BT. Of course I was very curious how the $130 Grundig Field BT might compare with the $268 Tecsun S-8800, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_20171006_133056417_HDR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_20171006_133056417_HDR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_20171006_133056417_HDR.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34871,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/dan-compares-and-reviews-the-tecsun-s-8800-portable-am-fm-shortwave-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":27762,"position":5},"title":"Dan compares and reviews the Tecsun S-8800 portable AM\/FM\/shortwave receiver","author":"Thomas","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for the following guest post and review: Tecsun's S-8800: \u00a0Is This All The Radio You Will Ever Need? These days, we who still derive enjoyment from listening to shortwave broadcasts, be they larger international broadcasters or smaller stations that remain on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Front-Table.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Front-Table.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Front-Table.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Tecsun-S-8800-Front-Table.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}