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Reviews For: Tecsun PL-660 PLL World Band Receiver

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Tecsun PL-660 PLL World Band Receiver
Reviews: 63MSRP: 109.9
Description:
FM-Stereo /MW/LW/SW SSB/AIR band (118-137 MHz) World Receiver with high sensitivity and selectivity.
Product is in production
More Info: http:// http://www.tecsun.com.cn/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00634.1
KB1VXP Rating: 2014-06-03
Outstanding value Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I own several shortwave receivers and an an active general class ham radio operator. This PL660 is a great little portable radio. It is more sensitive than my Grundig Satellit 750 and as good as my Radio Labs modified Sangean ATS 909X, Yaesu FT 817, and FT 450D. I'm thoroughly impressed with the AM Synch feature and general layout of this radio. Spend a few bucks for a decent outside wire antenna, as the antenna is pretty much everything. Overall, a great deal at $100 on Ebay.
KB1UAC Rating: 2014-06-03
Poor design implementation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My focus is on SWL (1.7-30 MHz). This radio has not performed near the hype I've read here. It's important to read the reviews of those who are able to compare the 660 with the market leaders in this segment of the market. I've done this with the 660, the SONY 7600GL and the Sangean 909. The radios are contemporaries.

The 660, in short, was difficult to listen to for prolonged periods with it's tendency to a high floor and scratchy rendition of received signals. It was unable to pull out weak signals even compared to less expensive radios. The quality was at best acceptable. If possible, inspect the internals of this radio before buying. It simply does not perform anywhere near the compared radios noted above. As an owner of a 7600GL and a 909 this radio was a disappointment. It appears to have more advanced technology but the implementation doesn't translate into results. The selectivity can be surprisingly poor when chasing DX. It simply has difficulty separating signals.

The value is a different issue. Since it can be had for about $90 as compared to the 909 at about $250 and the 7600 at $160 it is an alternative for those short on cash or those not willing to risk traveling with a more expensive radio (like me). If viable, I would recommend waiting until one can afford a 7600GL or 909. Above all, just do your research on this prior to purchasing.

One recent source of information that compared the Tecsun 660, 880 and the SONY 7600GL appears to support my experience with the 660 and 7600GL. You can find the survey results and reception samples of the 660, 880 and 7600GL at
http://swling.com/blog/2014/04/weak-signals-which-radio-recording-sample-do-you-prefer/.
K6MWL Rating: 2014-05-18
Very,Very Nice Radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Get one. Blows away my Grundig YB-400! Almost blows away a Sony ICF-2010 that I sold used for $500 bucks a few years back. This radio was $85 dollars on ebay from China. Very intuitive! Easy to use. Fantastic SSB. Listed to my 75m net inside my house way before sunset with whip antenna. Picked up almost as good as my base, and it's 35ft. inverted vee!! Fantastic, up to date portable radio! If you need one, this is it! Great, easy to use alarm system. Love it!
WA0ZZG Rating: 2014-04-17
Strange Wild performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's like Tecsun read every radio review there ever was and made sure that feature was included. It has gain, gain, then more gain. All kinds of RF and audio gain. Loud, lots of audio available. Selectivity typical of a single monolithic crystal filter. The MW band suffers from no front-end selectivity. It is a dual conversion analog receiver with filters in both IF frequencies. FM is done on a separate chip similar to what is found in a cell phone. SSB demodulation is excellent with both filters properly centered in the audio pass band. An outside antenna needs padded because it is easily overloaded. CW is only heard on one side of the zero beat. Came with rechargeable batteries and the radio smart charges them. The current production has the firmware upgraded so that the stored frequency lists are 'recompiled' to eliminate duplicates and place them in proper order. WARNING*** SSB frequencies are stored in a separate list. My example of this model has a hard time switching between AM and SSB when stored in a single list. All kinds of storage. It can hold 2000 frequencies. I don't have 2000 stations I want to hear. The LCD display is large. Any bigger and it gets delivered on a truck by a glass company.
I don't think you could do any better in the $100(US) range.
Dave....
W6UXB Rating: 2014-04-09
Very good on HF Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had my 660 that I bought on the recommendations here for about a week or so now and will give my observations, I will start with the bad first

MW is not that good, OK for local or near local reception but as it only has a small ferrite rod antenna and no way to connect an external antenna it is mediocre

The 3 seconds you have to enter settings into memory is way to short

AirBand is nearly deaf on my set I have yet to hear OAK which is just 40 miles away as the crow flies and Napa airport only 5 miles down the road is just receivable

Now the good HF AM and SSB is absolutely, awesome for a radio this size, tunes very smoothly with no chugging Sync locks on easily on both LSB and USB, SSB tunes very smoothly with the option of LSB and USB combined with the fine tuning control and does not overload when connected to my external antenna

Broadcast FM reception is fine

All in all this is about the perfect little receiver if you want it for the HF bands as I did, got to give it a 5 even though the minor little gripes
2E0AYQ Rating: 2014-04-08
Outstanding Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I'm a very experienced swl and had
had lots of top end portables this goes top of
the list
1.sensivity excellent
2.selectivity excellent
3. AM sync on a par with my communications receiver costing over 15 times as much
4. Great Audio
you certainly wont regret purchasing one
LOCKY Rating: 2014-01-20
Tried & tested radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This radio is an absolute cracker. I am a SWL of 50 years and a licenced ham with many radios been and gone. Boy, was I correct in choosing the PL-660. It puts my Kenwood R5000 in the shade. R5000 no longer here. Antenna is a 132` sloping loop with NO overload. Background noise kept to a minimum allowing stations to leap out. FM, v.good, AM v.good, SSB good, with air band a bonus. Scan facility. Most controls associated with more expensive radios are included. 1200 memories. You will NOT be disappointed with this little gem.
SV2BWM Rating: 2013-12-14
Surprisingly good for a small portable radio... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
You can take it anywhere outside the noisy city you live in and listen to every station you could possibly imagine!!! Excellent SSB/AM listening, FM wide only for 88-108MHz (I wish it had FM also on the CB band) and good AIR band monitoring. Yes, it's really good...+73's
WR3KI Rating: 2013-11-22
Excellent portable for SSB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Use this for Ham band SSB monitoring. Accurate readout, excellent sensitivity & two well chosen filters. AM/FM & Air bands are merely a bonus & all work well. Good ergonomics. For the money, hard to beat this little portable.
W2OMD Rating: 2013-11-08
One of my favorite receivers Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the Tecsun PL-660 for quite some time now, and it's become my favorite portable receiver. It's easy to use, and everything it does, it does well. Even the air-band works well. I've sent my trusty Sony 7600GR to eBay since I never use it anymore. My Tecsun PL-660 is a keeper.