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Tecsun 880 SSB
ACL777
Posts: 1,665 Forum Member
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Ive noticed it distorts and rattles abit when using SSB. It sounds abit like the speaker is shot although this cant be the case as other modulations work fine without any rattling. Has anybody got any ideas as to what the issue could be? Its only an intermittent problem and reduces when switching from dx to local.
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SSB can struggle on my Sony portable when the batteries are low, even though everything else seems OK.
Edit: Just realised it's a Li-ion rechargeable. Is SSB ok when it has just been charged?
Interesting review on Amazon - worth reading:
There are many things to like about this radio. It appears to be of high quality construction, the tuning knobs have a good feel to them and operate smoothly, and it has a sound bigger than the relatively small size of the speaker would suggest. There are some problems with it, however, mainly related to SSB and weak signal reception. I would urge prospective buyers to research the radio in the Yahoo Groups for the PL-880. It was brought out in the group that there appear to be multiple firmware revisions available, and that batch 8820 is the most recent. Earlier versions had even more problems than the 8820, so do yourself a favor and check.
The radio does have sync detection available by pressing and holding either one of the SSB keys. However, sync does not hold well at all, and it also adds considerable distortion. There are multiple filter options available, but SSB is limited to 4 KHz, even when sync detection is activated, which limits the fidelity of the radio. There are also other problems with the current firmware which cause the bandwidth to change when you try to tune a SSB signal, and also cause the audio to jump around when trying to listen to a weak signal. The front end overloads easily with an outdoor antenna, even when the signal is attenuated by using the 3 position switch to cut down the antenna gain.
If all you are looking for is a good looking radio with a great sound for AM and FM only, I would recommend it. If you will be listening to more Shortwave, Longwave, or SSB, and want a functional sync detector with a reasonable bandwidth for good fidelity, then I would hold off until the design matures more. Also beware firmware revisions 8819 and below at this time. These should be "B" stock and not sold as new.
Last time I checked nobody appeared to be stocking it, even Amazon.co.uk
Nevada radio will sell it direct or via Amazon.
Looks to be an upgraded PL-660 based on AAA batteries rather than the Lithium of the PL-880.
It will sell for less than the 660 so presumably the 660's will be dumped.
* FM doesn't cover the Japanese frequency band down to 76MHz.
* MW doesn't cover the extended North American band to 1710kHz.
* No RDS.
* No DAB/DAB+ or other digital systems.
Apart from the gaps in coverage it seems very similar to the Éton E5 / Grundig G5. It seems to offer nothing new or improved, so it's rather disappointing especially with its relatively high price.