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Author Topic: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?  (Read 732 times)

2E0SVE

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Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« on: June 15, 2020, 05:08:05 AM »

Can anyone relate their experiences and reviews of the TecSun pl-365.  In particular, can this radio receive all frequencies in the range 150-1620 Khz?  In particular can it receive 518 (NavTex) and with USB?  What is the reception like? Is the Extra antena worth it?
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VK6HP

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2020, 07:25:44 AM »

First off, I can't help with an owner review but I notice there are a few decent reviews on the Tecsun Australia web site. It seems a pretty good basic radio but whether it's adequate might depend on how you want to use it, and what external decoders etc you plan to use (you mentioned NavTex).  On my reading of the manual it does support LW and MW operation, with both USB and LSB modes always available.

I find that ergonomic limitations in a radio of this format can be quite severe: for example, I have an Icom R20 and rarely use it just because it's such a pain to operate, especially for SSB.  Crazy menus don't help, either. However, it's much more usable when listening to one frequency, in one mode, for extended periods.

The external MW antenna for the Tecsun appears to be just 6 m of wire, so I'd just grab a 3.5 mm plug and make your own antenna.  The radio will almost certainly benefit from a better, outdoor antenna.  Simpler receivers are often a bit limited in dynamic range: you want a strong signal, but don't want strong local interferers.  A good outdoor antenna will almost always help but check for overload if you live near strong broadcast stations.

If you don't have to have an ultra-portable receiver you could keep a watch out for a used communications receiver, or a ham transceiver with general coverage receiver going down to LF/MF.

73, Peter.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2020, 07:28:07 AM by VK6HP »
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VA3VF

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2020, 04:15:28 PM »

Quote
Can anyone relate their experiences and reviews of the TecSun pl-365.  In particular, can this radio receive all frequencies in the range 150-1620 Khz?  In particular can it receive 518 (NavTex) and with USB?  What is the reception like? Is the Extra antena worth it?

I don't have the PL-365, but I do 3 other Tecsun models. My experience with the models I have is that MW is the lowest useful range.

As for SSB demodulation, only 1 of the 3 supports it. Voice is ok, data is  'iffy'.

Most of the small DSP based Tecsun radios excel on MW and FM, not the other ranges.
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SWMAN

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2020, 02:38:51 AM »

 The PL 365 was discontinued about a year ago. Now they have the PL 360. I bought one of those just recently. It is very similar to the 365 but without SSB. It is a real nice little radio and has very good reception. It comes with the little top mounted swivel MW antenna which is a nice feature. The audio is ok but not the best because of the small speaker but sounds great with the supplied earbuds. Kaito Electronics in California sell all of the Tecsun radios at a good price.  Good luck.  Jim. W5JJG
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LNXAUTHOR

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2020, 05:22:24 PM »

the pl-365 is still being sold... you can get one used, on the bay of evil, or through CountyComm as the GP-5

great little radio! very surprised at the no overloading on my 40M endfed

this is about the least expensive ssb radio on the market... use the auto-store to build memories of your bcb stations... use the autoscan morning or evening to get your active SW stations

radio has a tiny am loop ferrite inside, or you can use the included rotatable, or you can use a 3.5mm plug with BNC... an FM telescopic is also built in, replacements are $8

folks who complain that it is hard to navigate to a band/freq do not know how to use the radio... very fast and simple to use!

i charge my two AA nimh cells inside the radio using a little 7W solar panel

« Last Edit: October 21, 2020, 05:26:56 PM by LNXAUTHOR »
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EI3IBB

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2020, 10:38:41 AM »

I was mistakenly given the 365 after an ebay sale went wrong a few years ago, I did have a chance to test it out before I gave it back.

I can't comment on the frequency range but LW/MW wasn't it's strong point.

I think they now have a DSP version, it was the non DSP I had and I'm really not a fan of DSP radios especially the PL-880 and S-8800 are disastrous on SSB they sound just awful and harsh and on LW/MW/SW if you try zerobeat ( can't remember the correct term for it ) on USB/LSB it just doesn't work because SSB performance is so bad, for those who may not know, using  USB/LSB can be really fantastic at reducing or eliminating QRM, use the BFO to make the audio sound as natural as possible.

For LW/MW the PL-680 is a good radio and has decent SYNC detector but being a pure analogue design you can use USB/LSB on LW/MW/SW and it sounds so much better than the PL-880 S-8800 and I believe the latest Tecsun radios suffer from bad SSB performance/Sound. The sound of the PL-680 is really great.

Frequency range on LW/MW on PL-680, you can get one on anon-co.com

MW (AM): 522 – 1720 kHz
LW: 100 – 519 kHz

There's also older radios which would offer even better performance on LW/MW and some have external antenna input for LW/MW, I have the Sony ICF-2000 and the performance on LW/MW is amazing and I can even connect my Bonito MA-305 and the performance of that little antenna on LW/MW from LW - SW is incredible and you can purchase it with a longer whip for more gain having Support for external antenna for LW/MW makes a huge difference.

2 disadvantages to the Sony is that they are pricy enough 2nd hand but the SYNC detector is amazing and the Narrow filter is a bit too narrow but the wonderful performance on LW/MW especially with externally mounted and grounded Bonito MA 305 antenna make for a really high performance radio on LW/MW and using the built in antenna attenuation you can adjust the gain which can be very useful at night and the wonderful SYNC detector.

The 680 has soft muting which can effect the weakest of signals but it's still way better than the PL-880 and S-8800. Soft muting can be disabled by a simple mod seen in the link below.

https://swling.com/blog/2017/10/tecsun-pl-680-rolf-touts-enhanced-performance-using-pl-660-mod/#comments

Failing all that a SDR Play RSP 1A or Airspy HF+ are great receivers.
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K1QQQ

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2022, 01:21:50 PM »

This radio is still sold. An updated model is out though. What steered me away of the 'new' is the 'unique lithium battery'.

Otherwise do not think there is a cheaper SSB radio. For amateur radio that gives CW ability also. (or beacons, etc.)

It has an external antenna ability but yet to figure out how good or where the overloading comes in. (or mis-match)

I know I am not helping !!!  but reminds me to get one of these radios again before they are gone. I noted on AM Broadcast 530/1700 khz it is really not bad at all. Daytime scans weak AM'ers seem to come through better than I first thought.

The deal is check the price of portable radios now !!!! I like the new Eton's and what was getting close to $200 is now $300 !!!!!!  $300 for this ? Buy a legit receiver. I mean even the receiver in a transceiver.

Above-- I bought the 365 and put it away to play with later --  but might buy another before gone -- Radios minus SSB are not rare but with SSB they can be.


SSB Shortwave Radio ??      https://www.ebay.com/p/25008016332 

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ps..don't make the error of ordering a PL360 which is minus SSB and at a lower price (360?) but that might be a good buy or is. Of coarse I have no affiliation with 'sellers'. The 365 did claim a new different 'chip' but do not know if true.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/111288607108?hash=item19e9516184:g:u0gAAOxy8x9SMqDH&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoAnvGdXxQTi3wPJVfrTGwgRP0yNfesCOsN4BcvgxdP2UQzyU9RLwZ2bNjl%2FeYSNM0FaHjONRZh%2FiwJHum2yYIBifzOeXscVf0JgcVi%2FIGIV2qmxygLSVa2%2FePY64Or5ede7wv0WQrjly%2BvFL6vs84PTEFeJXcqiwD%2Bg5xaqmf0XycDymltrPJFkutq%2BVbT8o5X1BZFh2PQueL%2B%2BvBMy%2B250%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7yK9ezjYA 

If the 365 gone I did just buy one as this reminded me but I think other places still sell them.  (if they link works quite an url ?

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« Last Edit: September 08, 2022, 01:39:01 PM by K1QQQ »
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SWMAN

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2022, 06:51:35 PM »

 Kaito Electronics in California still sells them, that’s where I got mine.
 Mine is still running just fine and I still like it. I wrote about it on this thread 2 years, see above. If you get one I am sure you will like it. Good luck.

73. Jim. W5JJG
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VK6HP

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Re: Tecsun pl-365 reviews or advise?
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2022, 12:31:50 AM »

I had reason to refresh my memory of this thread when looking for a low-ish cost portable or handheld receiver to act as a beacon receiver for my LF and MF beacon digital transmissions on 136 and 475 kHz respectively.  The performance doesn't have to be that good since it's really just used as a relatively local go/no-go audio monitor.  To date I've used my Icom R20 in the 475 kHz role. Unfortunately its frequency coverage lower limit is 150 kHz, making it useless as it stands for 2200 m.  A number of the Tecsun models share the same limitation, of course.

The Tecsun PL-680 has been mentioned and, with its 100 kHz lower limit, would probably do the job. However, I see a few reports of an integer 1 kHz error in the displayed frequency which, while not absolutely fatal in the envisaged application, is certainly a negative.  The internet commentary is, unsurprisingly, variable in quality (and somewhat contradictory).  I'd be curious to know whether PL-680 users participating in this thread notice the 1 kHz offset effect in their radios. 

73, Peter.
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