{"id":61822,"date":"2025-01-23T06:39:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T10:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=61822"},"modified":"2025-01-23T06:39:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T10:39:39","slug":"jeffs-short-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-880","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/jeffs-short-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-880\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff’s short review of the Tecsun PL-880"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor Jeff McMahon, who notes that he’s recently published a short review of the Tecsun PL-880 on his blog, The Herculodge.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jeff has discovered something that portable radio enthusiasts have known for more than a decade: the PL-880 sports some of the best audio fidelity in a modern portable radio!<\/p>\n

His review prompted me to search for my original review of the PL-880. It turns out I published it in December 2013<\/a>. Has it really been over 11 years since the PL-880 was introduced? It’s hard to believe\u2014but I’ll admit it still holds its own. I’ll never let mine go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Jeff McMahon, who notes that he’s recently published a short review of the Tecsun PL-880 on his blog, The Herculodge. Jeff has discovered something that portable radio enthusiasts have known for more than a decade: the PL-880 sports some of the best audio fidelity in a modern portable radio! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,26,129,43],"tags":[2940,4464,2066],"class_list":["post-61822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radios","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","tag-herculodge","tag-jeff-mcmahon","tag-tecsun-pl-880"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-g58","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/comparing-the-tecsun-pl-880-and-pl-660-in-an-rfi-rich-environment\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":0},"title":"Comparing the Tecsun PL-880 and PL-660 in an RFI-Rich Environment","author":"Thomas","date":"February 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Jeff McMahon, who notes that he\u2019s published a new post on his blog, The Herculodge. This time, Jeff examines the Tecsun PL-880 vs. PL-660, exposing the quirks and realities of DSP-based radios in his interference-heavy household. Jeff finds that in real-world conditions, the trusty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ECSS-PL-660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ECSS-PL-660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ECSS-PL-660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ECSS-PL-660.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7004,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/the-new-tecsun-pl-880-sounds-promising\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":1},"title":"The new Tecsun PL-880 sounds promising","author":"Thomas","date":"August 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night, I discovered news of the new Tecsun PL-880 on Jeff's excellent blog, the Herculodge. Out of all of the current shortwave radio manufacturers, Tecsun seems to be one of the only companies making new models for the radio hobbyist--models with important features like SSB, bandwidth control, fine tuning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Tecsun PL-880 (Photo: bbs.tecsun.com.cn\/)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/TecsunPL-8801-300x164.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7338,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/grundig-g3-discontinued-tecsun-pl-880-on-the-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":2},"title":"Grundig G3 discontinued, Tecsun PL-880 on the way","author":"Thomas","date":"September 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Not really a surprise, but I've confirmed that the Grundig G3 has been discontinued. They are still available, for the moment, from Universal Radio and online sources like Amazon.com. I would not advise buying from Amazon as I've received numerous complaints that they've shipped faulty units. Universal Radio, on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Grundig G3 shortwave radio.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/g3_selector.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62071,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/rfi-fm-habits-and-jeffs-tabletop-radio-temptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":3},"title":"RFI, FM Habits, and Jeff’s Tabletop Radio Temptation","author":"Thomas","date":"February 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Jeff McMahon for sharing a recent Herculodge post, where he battles radio frequency interference (RFI) while trying to enjoy his Tecsun PL-990\u2014only to find his PL-880 unaffected. This led to a deeper reflection on FM listening habits and the temptation of tabletop radios like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/JEff-McMahon-PL-990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/JEff-McMahon-PL-990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/JEff-McMahon-PL-990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/JEff-McMahon-PL-990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8165,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/a-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-880-portable-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":4},"title":"A review of the Tecsun PL-880 portable shortwave radio","author":"Thomas","date":"December 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I have never seen such a eager response and extraordinary anticipation over the announcement of a new portable radio as with the new Tecsun PL-880. And I'm not surprised.\u00a0 You see, it has been a couple years since a really good portable radio has been introduced to the market. Plus,Tecsun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0510.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8799,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/universal-radio-now-shipping-the-tecsun-pl-880\/","url_meta":{"origin":61822,"position":5},"title":"Universal Radio now shipping the Tecsun PL-880","author":"Thomas","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Universal Radio is now shipping the Tecsun PL-880--I understand that\u00a0all of their units are firmware version 8820. Click here to check out the PL-880 at Universal Radio's website. To read our review of the Tecsun PL-880, click here.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Tecsun PL-880","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL880-SWLing-Post-0526-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61822","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=61822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61823,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61822\/revisions\/61823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}