| IZ8FNY |
Rating:     |
2023-02-20 | |
| Un piccolo gioiello non privo di difetti |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| The two things I definitely liked were: the size, the audio quality, the FM reception. As far as reception is concerned, it is certainly average. In long waves (LW) the receiver is practically deaf: much worse than the PL310. The receiver saturates easily with a few meters long piece of wire, maybe a preselector would be needed. Let's get to the usage. The two knobs (tune and volume) are better than two keys, but they seem flimsy and I don't think they will last very long. Some keys are really small. There is no backlighting of the keys. In general, the quality of the assembly is precarious: creaks during use. At €50, however, it is worth all the money spent. |
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| K6SDW |
Rating:     |
2022-06-09 | |
| Needs a squelch control |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I mostly agreed with the other reviews except I wish the receiver had a squelch control for monitoring VHF/UHF and aviation signals.
GL |
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| N5JRN |
Rating:      |
2022-06-09 | |
| Excellent value for the money! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Surprisingly sensitive with just the tiny whip antenna. Good audio, so long as you use headphones and not the tiny built-in squeaker of a speaker. Surprisingly small and light. Tunes SSB and offers multiple bandwidths!
I got it because all-too-often I regret not bringing a more capable receiver with me because it is too large and bulky. So far, the longest “trips” it has been on is down the block to the nearest park; it’s a great low-hassle way to get some listening in while away from power lines and houses full of cheap electronics that spews RFI.
Yes, it has its quirks. No, it’s not as good as a desktop receiver. At this price, size, and weight, you can’t really expect that. For what it is, it’s an excellent radio, and the receiver you have with you always performs better than the one you left at home. |
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| KN4LJG |
Rating:     |
2021-05-28 | |
| How good can a small, cheap, radio be with a modern DSP? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
All commercial portables are more compromised designs than other form factors. Technology moves on and modern DSP chips should move the bar compared to earlier designs and that is the PL-330. I've had mine for a few weeks and can compare it to my now-32-year-old 2010, 20-year-old ATS-909, and newish (but PLL analog!) PL-680.
The expected benefits are manifest: it has very good sensitivity and selectivity for such a tiny and inexpensive (~$80 w/shipping for mine) package. While lacking any form of attenuator the receiver seems remarkably resistant (but my no means immune) to overload; which is a pleasant surprise and a high compliment for a cheap, small, unit. While i noted a few birdies the 330 does not seem any worse than my analog units. There are a bah-jillion memories and rich -- if complex -- set of memory management functions (keep the manual handy). An unusual ability -- and very useful for small radio with an under two inch ferrite rod -- is that the PL-330 can bypass the rod on medium wave for an external antenna. Finally the large-ish coat-pocket size, battery life, and low cost are somewhat freeing: the 2010 feels like a brick in comparison but it is no problem to tote the PL-330 anywhere.
Make no mistake about it however, the PL-330 is not a replacement for a more expensive, larger, portable. While the PL-330 is a quite good receiver, "no" it does not equal my 2010 or PL-680 on the same external antenna. By swapping the antenna from set-to-set it is not difficult to find numerous marginal stations that both larger units copy but the PL-330 can not. While the tiny speaker's audio is reportedly "good for its class" it is objectively tiring to me and i almost exclusively use a pair of the newer wireless earphones with the PL-330. The cramped case, limited keys (some keys have unmarked multiple functions, such as the medium wave antenna function cited above), and only two rotaries make inputs clumsy and unnatural for its many complex functions. For example, while the PL-330 will tune in 10Hz doing so is a chore that an extra fine tune/BFO knob would greatly alleviate. Obviously the short whip is a limitation; virtually all my listening is on a wire reel or better (see attenuator comment).
The PL-330's headline features are SSB and Sync. The former -- subject to the tuning clumsiness noted -- works passably well. Certainly the 10Hz resolution offers potential for far better zero-beat potential than my older analog portables. However a not unexpected problem in this radio class is the moderate, but noticeable, oscillator instability which makes SSB tiresome to listen to long-term. I do not have experience with the notoriously poor snyc's offered in other DSP portables (e.g., PL-880) but my PL-330's sync is only helpful about a third of the time that i wish to use it and, as expected, heavily filters the audio. I would not call the feature "useless" but by comparison both the 2010's and PL-680's syncs are effective proportionally twice as often for me.
Thus for a variety of reasons the PL-330 will not replace my other portables "around the house"; they simply work better or are more convenient to use. But I will be throwing the PL-330 in the luggage with a cheap powered loop antenna on business trips and not feel I am leaving much behind (while not worrying about a Ukrainian baggage handler walking home with an irreplaceable 2010 . . .) All of this with a more-than-fair value-for-money is a reasonable bargain. YMMV.
In closing let me say that, since the dawn of DSP mass market integrated circuit availability roughly two decades back, the promise has been for advanced RF capability just by attaching an antenna and power supply to a cheap DSP chip. DSP radios certainly have delivered lower costs: my 2010 cost $760 in today's money and ATS909 was $230. However small form factor radios simply do not have the real estate for advanced IF front-ends, etc, so the initial wave of them had problems. For example they were poor on a number of scores (e.g., overload, IM, birdies, etc) but the chips have gotten better. The PL-330 probably represents about the best that can be done with today's state-of-the-art . . . which sadly may represent the end of an era of mass market portable SW receivers. Sic transit gloria mundi.
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| GRUMPY2021 |
Rating:    |
2021-05-18 | |
| It's good. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Can't really get around the quirky indented tuning and volume knobs. 1/8 of a turn between indents? Just odd. Nothing about it really blows my socks off. |
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| EI3IBB |
Rating:      |
2021-05-17 | |
| Great for the Size! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
The PL-330 is a great little radio for the size, around the size of the PL-310et.
One really big surprise is that the 4 Khz filter works on SSB, it does not work on the PL-880/990x or the S-8800 and it also sounds a lot clearer, the 880/990 and S-8800 have very muffled sounding audio with harsh sound on ssb + distortion which is unacceptable for the money, the 330 still has some distortion but it's forgivable for the money.
the 330 is a good bit less sensitive on the telescopic whip than the 990x but some wire attached to the antenna makes a big difference.
Another big surprise is how well it works with an external antenna, I use the Bonito mA-305 with the longer whip and I was amazed at how well the 330 handled this without severe overload. The 310et at night is almost impossible to use with the ma-305 antenna.
The radio works so well that I like to use it in the armchair and due to it's small size, no kickstand it can fall off the chair so using it with two hands is essential, I just wish the 990x had sounded so good as it's now up for sale because the sound on SSB is so poor but the 330 I will keep because it sounds a lot clearer and it's tiny and it's really great having Ssb in such a tiny package.
I don't like the lithium battery, I much prefer AA cells.
If you're thinking about buying the 330 then do, you won't be disappointed, but get some wire for the antenna, 20-30 feet will have a big impact. |
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| YOGURT |
Rating:      |
2021-05-13 | |
| Highly recommended? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I also bought it from https://radiwow.com/. I bought it on April 1st and received my PL-330 on April 10th. It is currently the latest 3305 hardware version, type C. I love this baby very much. Works better outdoor which was what I bought it for. Got me back into SW radio of more than 40 years ago. Couldn't afford a digital one then. This came at a very good price. Highly recommend for those getting started in this. Love that it can be USB charger. Came with English language instructions too among others. The merchant is the official operation of XHDATA, very good service |
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| N7BWB |
Rating:      |
2021-05-11 | |
| Recommended! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've had this little gem since they were first available to the Chinese market, so this particular unit exhibits a known problem to this firmware version. Since you likely have a non-domestic market version, you won't see the frequency readout problem with sideband. I've adjusted. Speaking of sideband, the intelligibility is excellent upper or lower.
But what really hooked me was the ability to switch to an external AM antenna from the front panel, unheard of at this price point. The internal antenna is adequate, but with a proper external AM antenna, it is a good little DXing rig. Word to the wise, like most radios of this class, high RF fields from local broadcast stations can crush the front end. We have a couple of local broadcasters that can wreak havoc on nearly every radio I have, save my R390A.
I've read reports that the PL330 is a junior version of the 990, missing the large speaker and a couple bells and whistles, but mirroring the sensitivity and selectivity of the 990. I believe it. This is my carry-around receiver when I'm walking the dog. I can listen in on my favorite 40 meter net and if band conditions aren't cooperating, I can rock out to my favorite FM station, which by the way sounds excellent on this radio.
Best sideband capable SW radio value for your money without a doubt. |
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| N4YX |
Rating:      |
2021-05-06 | |
| Very Good Little AM/FM/SSB LW/MW/SW Portable |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Similar features to the Tecsun PL-368 which at this date is not fully ready for the USA market. Also very similar in performance to the Tecsun PL-365 / County Comm GP-5/SSB. The PL330 has all the newer added features too & it's performance to price ratio is excellent. I own & have owned MANY lw/mw/sw portables & this one's a winner. |
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| KE8WO |
Rating:      |
2020-11-09 | |
| Full feature, good performing, sub-compact receiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The Tecsun PL330 is very small about 3 by 5 inches receiver that covers from long wave thru 30 MHZ plus the FM BCB. Some feature highlights:
- DSP based design for very good performance on all bands
- Modes supported are AM, AM-Sync, SSB and FM.
- Full numeric keypad for direct frequency entry
- Two forms of automatic frequency scanning and storage
- Several tuning steps sizes and bandwidths .. including 500 HZ and a tuning step size of 10 HZ in SSB mode
- Clock, alarm clock and sleep timer
- Jack for external antenna
- USB cable for charging the included battery
I bought mine from a RADIWOW.COM for under $70 and received it in 2 weeks. This is a PL330 apparently intended for the Chinese market. Hence the user manual is in Chinese but the radio itself is marked in English. Later models intended for the US will have English manuals. In my case, plenty of PL330 information is available on the Internet to allow quickly learn how to use it. Its operation is not complex given all that it does.
The radio case, display and all buttons and controls operate properly. The tuning control has a soft detent and does not seem the highest quality but looks appropriate for this price point. The antenna is about 20 inches long. The speaker is plenty loud and a good tone for a small radio. The headphone output is stereo on FM. SSB mode on the ham bands works very well. The sensitivity seems about the same as the very well regarded Eton / Grundig Executive Satellit that I own.
This go-anywhere sized radio is a good performer on all bands that it covers (but not so much on longwave). Definitely worth a look if you are searching for small radio with this general feature set. |
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