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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: 63	MSRP: 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
0	0	63	4.1

MARK42	Rating:	2012-11-15
Excellent receiver			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased a Tecsun PL-660 and what a pleasant surprise! I've been testing it side by side against my venerable Sony ICF-SW7600GR and I've found the two receivers to be virtually identical in performance across the SW bands. The Tecsun has a big edge with its big beautiful display, but gets knocked down a bit due to the synchronous detector introducing some (not a lot) distortion. The Tecsun also has two bandwidth filters. The excellent narrow filter is comparable to the 7600gr's single filter, while the wide filter is nigh useless. The Tecsun can be detuned by 5 kHz on a strong signal with no apparent degradation in signal! I'm guessing that the wide filter is between 12 and 15 kHz wide. The Tecsun has very pleasant audio and a wondrous display, brightly lit and filled with useful information. Overall the ergonomics are good but not without a few warts. The keys are long, rectangular and sit in fairly deep channels. Attractive, but it makes direct frequency entry more difficult than it should be. The Tecsun tunes SSB transmissions very well as well as being pretty good for ECSS. The only problem is a detent in the fine tune control that makes the control want to move on its own just when the signal is almost perfectly tuned in. Very annoying. The Tecsun has an antenna jack for SW and FM and has the control voltage present to activate a Sony AN-LP1, a nice surprise. The only place I found the Tecsun wanting is on the FMBCB. Not deaf, just not as sensitive as the Sony. The Tecsun is lighter and doesn't feel quite as solid as the Sony, but only time will tell if the Tecsun will hold up to hard use as well as the Sony has; I've had the Sony since '01 and haven't always treated it with kit gloves. All in all, a very competent receiver and a worthy competitor to the Sony ICF SW7600GR. I'd have a hard time choosing between the two, so I'm glad I have both!

ZS00011	Rating:	2012-06-24
GREAT PORTABLE			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the Tecsun PL660 in April 2012 from Amazon at a price of $120. The airband on the 660 is okay, picks up the a/c over Sutherland 160 km/100 miles away loud and clear. But it has no scanning function and no squelch. It tunes in 1 kHz until you turn the tuning knob faster, then it skips along at 400 or so KHz and its therefore very difficult for finding stations unless you know the frequency and can key it in. The PL660 is better on HF SW than my Redsun 2100 and is quite good. Sync function works well on upper or lower side band. The filter can be set in narrow filter mode for crowded bands. On MW it's not so strong, but better than my Eton 100 and Grundig G8. VHF/FM is excellent, very sensitive and as good as my fantastic little G8 on FM. I’m able to pick up far off FM stations 80km/50miles away over the mountains. SSB is also very good for Hams and a/c operating in HF. The narrow and wide filters are better than most cheap portables. 1000 memories divided into ten pages. that is linked to a scanning function that puts the more powerful signals into a page = nice feature. Comes with rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries with internal charger – unfortunately the outboard power supply is only 240v AC. Chews batteries if you use alkalines Altogether it is a nice little radio, but the Sony 2010 is still in a class of its own. John Plimmer, Montagu, Cape Province, South Africa South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s Icom IC-7600, Perseus SDR Drake SW8. Sangean 803A, Redsun RP2100 Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Grundig G8, Eton E100 Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Kiwa MW Loop. http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

NZ8J	Rating:	2012-05-10
Works great for me!			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
All I can say is the radio in the previous review must have been defective. I've had mine for a few months and it is one of the best radio bargains I've got in a while. AM/FM/SW all work very well and the SSB performance is also very good. Audio is pleasant and it is spot on frequency. I'd buy another if need be, maybe when an upgraded model from Tecsun comes out with new features. NZ8J

N6NJS	Rating:	2012-05-10
Very Poor			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Sent it back the same day I got it. It would not receive any signals at all on SW bands. Worked ok on FM & AM broadcast bands. The only thing I can imagine from the other reviews that were glowing, is that the one I got was defective.

SV2OEL	Rating:	2012-04-09
EXELLENT			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
THE SMALL RADIO LISTENING LIKE ICOM'S 7000 RADIO.I BUE IT FROM AMAZON UK AND COME FROM CHINA IN 4 DAYS IN GREECE.IN BACKET I FIND: 4 BATTERIES, 1 EXTERNAL WIRE ANTENNA, 1 POWER SUPPLY, 1 EARPHONE,1 LETTER CASE.I THING IS EXELLENT RADIO

SWLRZN033	Rating:	2012-03-07
Impressive			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
If you're looking for an alternative to the Eton/Grundig G3 then this is it. It seems to have all the functions with no doubts over the sync detection etc. Very sensitive on all bands, the three-position attenuator works very well. I do like the separate BFO adjustment for SSB/CW as well. Subjectively it seems to have a sensitivity edge over my Sangean ATS-909 on a long wire. Another boon is the SW bandwidth switch works on both AM and SSB unlike the ATS-909. The memory page setup it perhaps a little quirky but quite useable once you're used to it. Overall you're unlikely to be dissappointed with one of these.

KD6CCP	Rating:	2012-03-03
outstanding			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted an easy use sw receiver. I have had a few in the past, but wanted a portable unit. The Tecsun 660 fit the bill and is their current receiver. Nothing cheap about this radio but the price, around $110.00. Using the stock antenna I was listing to the 20 meter ham band if if this were my Kenwood transceiver. Fantastic reception from the built in antenna. Connected the supplied wire antenna and I found myself reaching for a mic it was that good. This is the best radio for the price period. Air band was a joy to listen to. Just outstanding...

WB9YCJ	Rating:	2012-02-01
Digital display off 1 Khz. Excessive noise on AM			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Obtained my sample recently and directly from Kaito USA. Digital display is off 1 Khz (by design). This seems to be a design flaw or factory issue and is reported by other owners on the PL-660 Yahoo support group. This issue can quickly be confirmed on your sample by going to Medium wave, narrow bandwidth, WEAK DAYTIME signal, signal peaks 1 Khz off. Variable BFO (beat freq osc) scared me away as I havent seen this feature on a radio in many decades. Variable BFO and a real fine tune are not the same. PL660 Bfo Injection is a bit rough at times. Medium wave AM sensitivity is decent as it it pulls in very weak AM signals as well as the better higher cost radios do, but as signal strength improves the audio hiss does not drop down nearly as fast as it should, meaning that many medium strength signals have some hiss behind them that is not there on better medium wave performers. Good sync and it also does a much better job handling a good external antenna than other low end portables. Shortwave, FM, SSB all very good to excellent. Disappointing overall performance of the AM (MW) section. Panasonic RF-2200 - Still the medium wave (portable) reference against which all others can be compared. Panasonic RF-B65 also an excellent "handheld" choice. See the reviews for both Panasonics here on eHam reviews.

KD7RDZI2	Rating:	2012-01-12
Chinese quality			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Superb!

F6GYY	Rating:	2011-12-08
Very nice , better than PL-600			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi, still have got Sony ICF-7600GR, Techsun PL-600 and Sangean ATS-909X. Ergonomy on the PL-660 is much better than on the PL-600, the keyboard has become more functional. The case has been changed, the look is now top notch. Selecting SW bands keeps the SSB position in now, LSB or USB can be selected .. RX is very sensitive on all bands, including the airband, which is a usefull addition : Local airfield, Vollmet, etc. Longwave is OK. LW could be received within a tunnel of 2 kilometers on a electric train producing heavy QRN… : no QRM on the set, clear LW reception , very rare on LW….indeed… Also on MW….. FM is also very nice…mono and stereo. Selectivity on SSB is OK, 80m SSB could be received on the train, the telescopic antenna being only out by 30 centimeters… 160 m stations on SSB were clearly received at night , on the first floor of my house, with the telescoping whip. The addition of a synchron detector is a big plus. A very interesting set for the price, I am more than happy.

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Category:

Receivers: General Coverage

Product:

Tecsun PL-660 PLL World Band Receiver

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

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