{"id":8346,"date":"2013-12-21T08:29:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-21T12:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=8346"},"modified":"2013-12-24T14:02:50","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T18:02:50","slug":"video-pl-880-soft-muting-on-ssb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/video-pl-880-soft-muting-on-ssb\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: PL-880 soft muting on SSB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many on the PL-880 Yahoo Group have been reporting &#8220;soft mute&#8221; or &#8220;noise gate&#8221; audio jumps that are heard when the PL-880 is tuned to a weak SSB signal.<\/p>\n<p>SWLing Post reader, Tim, has a Tecsun PL-880 with\u00a0<a title=\"Important note about Tecsun PL-880 firmware versions\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/important-note-about-tecsun-pl-880-firmware-versions\/\">firmware version<\/a>\u00a08819 (<a title=\"A review of the Tecsun PL-880 portable shortwave radio\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/a-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-880-portable-shortwave-radio\/\">mine is 8820<\/a>) 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.\u00a0Tim notes that the sound quality of his $30 camera phone is poor, but I can still easily hear what&#8217;s happening:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wJjlM9451Cg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>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. \u00a0My SSB copy is solid, regardless of signal strength, noise level, or adjacent signals (at 5, 10 or 15 kHz and much closer)&#8211;no muting at all in SSB.<\/p>\n<p>While I&#8217;m <em>very<\/em> 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&#8211;<em>admittedly, I&#8217;ve felt this way as well<\/em>&#8211;but with time, I imagine many of the 880 quirks will be ironed-out by Tecsun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many on the PL-880 Yahoo Group have been reporting &#8220;soft mute&#8221; or &#8220;noise gate&#8221; 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\u00a0firmware version\u00a08819 (mine is 8820) that exhibits this soft mute behavior. Check out the following video where he [&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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,26,304],"tags":[2065,479,2066,2433,2364],"class_list":["post-8346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radios","category-videos","tag-pl-880","tag-tecsun","tag-tecsun-pl-880","tag-tecsun-pl-880-ssb-soft-mute","tag-tecsun-pl-880-videos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2aC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12548,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/pete-gives-kaito-high-marks-for-customer-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":0},"title":"Pete gives Kaito high marks for customer service","author":"Thomas","date":"March 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Pete\u00a0Jernakoff (K3KMS), writes: \"I purchased two PL-880 radios from Amazon about a year ago and before the soft muting issue became a hot topic. Both of my radios (8819 firmware version) suffered from this most annoying problem but it wasn't until I started reading your excellent blog\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;How To&quot;","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PL-880 (1)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/PL-880-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/PL-880-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/PL-880-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8405,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/kaito-able-to-update-pl-880-firmware-in-house\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":1},"title":"Kaito able to update PL-880 firmware in-house","author":"Thomas","date":"December 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u00a0(#8820). Fortunately\u00a0SWLing 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Click here to learn how to display your PL-880's firmware version.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL-800-Firmware-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL-800-Firmware-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL-800-Firmware-101.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8291,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/hidden-feature-calibrating-the-tecsun-pl-880-on-medium-wave\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":2},"title":"Hidden feature: Calibrating the Tecsun PL-880 on medium wave","author":"Thomas","date":"December 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This hidden feature was described by Diemtar on the Tecsun PL-880 Yahoo Group: Tune to a strong medium wave (AM broadcast) station Turn on on SSB mode USB\/LSB Move the fine tuning control until you have a good\u00a0SSB signal (i.e. obtain a good zero-beat of the AM station) Press and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;How To&quot;","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tecsun-SSB-QRG-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-SSB-QRG-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-SSB-QRG-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-SSB-QRG-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8289,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/important-note-about-tecsun-pl-880-firmware-versions\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":3},"title":"Important note about Tecsun PL-880 firmware versions","author":"Thomas","date":"December 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems that there are some important differences emerging between PL-880 firmware versions. You may have noted that the PL-880 I reviewed yesterday has a firmware version of 8820. I purchased my PL-880 through eBay seller, Anon-Co. As far as I can tell, most, if not all of the units\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Click here to learn how to display your PL-880's firmware version.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL-800-Firmware-101-300x147.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16903,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/tecsun-pl-880-fine-tuning-bug-solved-by-anon-co\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":4},"title":"Tecsun PL-880 fine tuning bug solved by Anon-Co","author":"Thomas","date":"January 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Georges (F6DFZ), who writes: As you may know, a few [of us PL-880 owners] have documented the extremely annoying bug that affect the Tecsun PL-880 during Fine Tuning of SSB signals. To sum it up, recently manufactured Tecsun PL-880 tune backward when using the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PL-880-Tuning-Bug","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PL-880-Tuning-Bug.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PL-880-Tuning-Bug.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PL-880-Tuning-Bug.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8103,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/hidden-feature-adjusting-the-tecsun-pl-880-muting-threshold\/","url_meta":{"origin":8346,"position":5},"title":"Hidden feature: Adjusting the Tecsun PL-880 muting threshold","author":"Thomas","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader Owl points out another hidden feature of the Tecsun PL-880: \"Press and hold 9 when you listen to AM or SSB, you may adjust the muting threshold using either tuning knob. Press 9 again after you are done, the new threshold will be saved.\" Many thanks, Owl,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tecsun-PL-800-Sync-SWLing-Post","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Tecsun-PL-800-Sync-SWLing-Post-225x300.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\/8346","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=8346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}