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Reviews For: TECSUN PL-600

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : TECSUN PL-600
Reviews: 36MSRP: 85.00
Description:
FM STEREO/AM/SW/LW SSB DIGITAL WORLD BAND RECEIVER WITH 600 MEMORY PRESETS
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tecsun.com.cn/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15364.3
IZ0PXT Rating: 2011-01-08
Very good Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got the radio form China for XMAS, I already own a DEGEN DE 1103, but the PL 600 ears better and is more sensitive and selective.
I am very happy with it.

73 de IZ0PXT
W8YG Rating: 2011-01-08
Bad Bad Bad bad bad!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one radio that should have never left China. Horrible Horrible radio. This thing sounds so bad I was considering committing suicide.a Has no selectivity at all / well it does the off switch.. The only thing it would be good for is a punishment for QRMers. Oh yeah tie them to a chair and leave this on SSB for 24 hours and they will never QRM again!!!
I was going to give this radio a 2 but there is no helping it. ITS A DOG WOOF WOOF!!!!
VK3VMS Rating: 2010-11-19
Bloody brilliant for it's price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hey there, I bought this little gem off eBay for only AU$60 +$AU24 postage...
This little HF/AM/FM/LW portable compares favourably to my old FRG-7700 as well as my Icom IC-R20, it is just so darn sensitive, especially with the 3 position switch in the DX position - but when you are receiving a strong signal, it is a very good idea to turn the volume down a little, so as not to blow the speaker out of the box :-)
I did do one little mod to the supplied wire antenna, added about 6-8 metres of wire onto it and the results are even better than the standard length it comes with - my QTH is down the bottom end of Australia and I am easily able to receive Utility stations from the Northern Hemisphere, not to mention hams from the US, UK and Canada, without any problems whatsoever!!!
The option of 2 bandwidths helps too.. It has 600 memories to store all your favourite listening targets too - all in all a 5 out of 5 from me.

Mike - VK3VMS
KC4CQS Rating: 2010-08-31
Good for the price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had many portable receivers such as Sony 2010,ICF-SW55,Grundig G5 and the list goes on. Good bang for the buck,Yen or whatever. Oh well they own alot of the USA anyway! Well they have a pretty good receiver for the buck. Easy to use, sensitive as good as the G5 or better. Better access to the memory system. Grundig is poor in that area. Compared side by side with the G5 and Kaito 1103 and SW-55 sensitivity and selectivity comparable maybe better. For the money you can't beat it. For a receiver to check band conditions from another location I would recommend highly! Comparisons mainly on SSB where we operate mostly. Good for Military and Civil transatlantic air traffic. SW performance is also very good. No it's not a 2010 but it's close. For the money it's a good deal. You can get em from several distributors on EPAY oops I meant EBAY. 73!
LOCKWORKS Rating: 2010-07-18
A very fine radio at a reasonable cost. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've owned quite a few radios and one of my favorites the Kaito 1103 has been replaced. I recently acquired an excellent PL 600 and I'm really impressed with the sensitivity and sound. Tecsun must have addressed the sound problems noted in earlier reviews as mine sounds excellent. It closely compares to my Grundig 750 in performance and features even the display appears to be the same size.
W8RMV Rating: 2010-06-30
Hard to beat! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have a number of GC receivers (HQ100 & 145A, IC-R75, Grundig Traveler, etc) & I have been very impressed with the PL-600. I have not had any of the problems that others have commented on. It is just an amazing radio. I wish it came with higher capacity batteries but this is a minor issue. I love all my radios, but if I had to keep just one, it would be my PL-600. Of course, I'd always miss the others.
JIM1701 Rating: 2010-06-26
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great radio, I had a Kaito 1103 when I first bought it but then I started to hear that it wasn't a good as when I bought it.

So I sold it on ebay...

Then I saw this radio and saw that it got good reviews.

it is really sensitive, this one is a keeper...

FPX77 Rating: 2010-06-16
Amazing radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have got this radio from Hong kong for 50euros (60dollars) shipping included.As AM was a little distorded I have done immediatly the resistor mod (with a 2,2K)then the sound is good and pleasant.I was surprised by the good performances of this set.Only LW is substandard,in France we have several stations.On FM the set is sensitive and sound very well.On SW the PL600 is more sensitive than my Sony ICFSW7600GR on the whip antenna! Only my ICF2001D fare slighty better.The PL600 match very well with the Sony active loop ANLP1,and it switch on and off the loop as it was the ICF7600GR.I have also a DEGEN 1103 and the performances are very close betwen the two receivers (same circuitry?)Both these receivers are very interesting.Chinese engineers have done a good job with them.On the two sets I have put 2500mah batteries (from LIDL,3euros (3,6dollars) the set).
Olivier.
DORPMULLER Rating: 2010-02-04
Good but not outstanding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wish I could give it a 5-but I can't.

From the start, I did KB5AG's (thanks a million!!) resistor mod and it got rid of the AM distortion. (2K resistor from pin 18 of audio IC to ground)

Other than that, sensitivity/selectivity is just not up to my EG/G5's. However, the ergonomics and size are much better for my fat fingers. And it is a nice-looking radio.

MW is pretty horrible-I know it is loopstick design troubles because the radio will light right up on MW with my AN-200 passive loop. OTOH, FM is really good and I get WJAZ 91.7 from Harrisburg fine when I find the whip's sweet spot. (I'm ~40 mi. N of Harrisburg, behind a multipath-crazy hill.)

Shortwave sens could be better-it's not up to my G5's but fairly close, just enough to disappoint. Along with that, setting the bandwidth to narrow cuts down sensitivity.

With the resistor mod, the audio is nice and pleasing with no fatigue after listening a long time.

All in all, I'm gonna keep it, but if anyone here has figured out alignment points to do a tuneup, I'd sure like to hear from you!
OE3SGU Rating: 2010-02-04
very good for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my PL-600 from a dealer in HK via ebay and it arrived within 2 weeks. After using the radio for a couple of days now I am really impressed. The audio sounds fine, I cannot find any of the described distortions. SSB tuning is a bit tricky but after getting used to it it works too. But the main strenght of this radio is in the AM part. Sensitivity with the built-in antenna is very good, on both SW and FM. The size is just perfect for my backpack and I will probably order another one. What`s best is that the radio comes complete with a charger/power supply (for 230 V only), 4 1000 mah rechargeable batteries, a wire antenna and earphones. Even the manual is quite good written and understandable - not the norm with cheap Chinese products! My vendor even included a spare telescopic antenna and a free stand. Well done Tecsun! This radio is one of the best bargains you can ever get and makes me want to try more of their products.