ΠΡΠ·ΡΠ²Ρ ΠΎ Π Π°Π΄ΠΈΠΎΠΏΡΠΈΠ΅ΠΌΠ½ΠΈΠΊ Tecsun PL-310ET
226 ΠΎΡΠ·ΡΠ²ΠΎΠ² ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Π΅ΠΉ o Tecsun PL-310ET
ΠΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°Π»ΠΈΡΡ
Tecsun PL-310ET?
ΠΠΎΠ΄Π΅Π»ΠΈΡΠ΅ΡΡ ΡΠ²ΠΎΠΈΠΌ ΠΎΠΏΡΡΠΎΠΌ ΠΈ ΠΏΠΎΠΌΠΎΠ³ΠΈΡΠ΅ Π΄ΡΡΠ³ΠΈΠΌ ΡΠ΄Π΅Π»Π°ΡΡ ΠΏΡΠ°Π²ΠΈΠ»ΡΠ½ΡΠΉ Π²ΡΠ±ΠΎΡ
Orlando Gotay
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
As advertised. Crystal clear reception. Very nice!
gtwaller7
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
I liked the temperature function
Amazon Customer
08.01.2021
8/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π₯ΠΎΡΠΎΡΠΎ
a very handy smaller short wave radio/ works well
Amazon Customer
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
Great radio for beginner shortwave listeners. Outstanding SW reception with a simple wire antenna. Very easy to learn and use.
Len
08.01.2021
2/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π£ΠΆΠ°ΡΠ½ΠΎ
This is a good small radio, but, for me, it is useless as a radio alarm. The manufacturers have a fixed minimum volume for the radio when used as an alarm. In my view it is too loud to be used in many situations - if you live in a house with others, even if they sleep in other bedrooms, for example, or even in hotels.
If you are thinking of buying it as a radio, in my opinion, there are far cheaper alternatives.
If you are thinking of buying it as a radio, in my opinion, there are far cheaper alternatives.
haoxi tan
08.01.2021
8/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π₯ΠΎΡΠΎΡΠΎ
The ETM sweeping and VM/VF function is superb. The signal display is accurate.. i could pickup shortwave stations by the masses (like 60 of them) internationally from Australia (which has 0 SW stations) at night.
The audio quality is not as good as some, and you should probably upgrade the antenna.. but overall awesome.
The audio quality is not as good as some, and you should probably upgrade the antenna.. but overall awesome.
Greg Smith
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
Good little radio.Well packaged. Manual clear. Works well. Sound very good.
zedaus
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
Great little radio, highly recommended
Barry Robinson
08.01.2021
6/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ»ΠΎΡ ΠΎ
Presently I have three Tecsun radios: a PL880 which is fantastic, an R9012 which works great - for being less than $20 when I bought it - and is my toss and go, and now, this one, the PL-310. I also have my old standby, my comparison 'big daddy' radio if you will, a GE 7-2990A which has worked without complaint since about 1984, sans a speaker change I did several years ago. It's off by 2khz and has the knob catch but is still a workhorse. Anyway, I could drone on about the pros and cons of this radio but frankly, they have been covered, ad nauseam, in other reviews so I will spare you, reader. I will, though, add a couple of my own that I have not seen listed. The fact this radio operates on regular AA batteries is a plus. You can also put in rechargeable batteries, switch the radio to charge mode and with a 5v charger - i.e., an iPhone wall wart or any battery pack charger - you will never have to change batteries again. Nice. No sideband but it wasn't expected. Get the PL-880 if you need that. This is a digital radio and the tuning knob operates such that if you turn slow, it will tune 1khz at a time. The faster you turn, the more it skips. In auto scan it skips 5 khz at a time. This radio works well on AM and is stupid-sensitive on SW. I did as I usually do and immediately clipped a long wire to the stock antenna and scanned the SW bands. I was met with birdies and overlapping stations. Not seeing a sensitivity switch like on the PL-880, I disconnected the long wire and it started working fine. This radio is very easy to overload if clipped to the antenna. Using the SW antenna port on the side seems to help tremendously, which, as a side note, is the exact opposite on the PL-880. The sound quality of the PL-310 is average and acceptable. Now, to the DSP...maybe I'm not accustomed to DSP but I DO NOT like it one bit in this radio. If the station is a bit weaker, after every word said, in AM or SW, the radio immediately denseness and reduces bandwidth. It wears my ears out! On SW when the signal fades in-and-out, the radio can't decode and instead of getting the typical SW 'swoosh-swoosh' static sound, it just cuts out completely and kind of makes a popping sound, like the radio has no idea what to do. Very annoying. If you can deal with that, I would say this radio is worth what they are asking which is, at the time of this writing, $48. I completely recommend the other two Tecsun's I have listed.
4-19-2019: Iβve made a video comparison between the PL-310 and the much more expensive PL-880 which should emphasize the poorer sound quality of the 310 on AM. The 310 is set at 6khz and the 880 at 5khz which is as close as they can get. The video was taken with an iPhone 7+ using its normal settings.
4-19-2019: Iβve made a video comparison between the PL-310 and the much more expensive PL-880 which should emphasize the poorer sound quality of the 310 on AM. The 310 is set at 6khz and the 880 at 5khz which is as close as they can get. The video was taken with an iPhone 7+ using its normal settings.
Todderbert
08.01.2021
8/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π₯ΠΎΡΠΎΡΠΎ
Great ultra small portable radio that pulls in distant stations fairly well. You have so many options with this radio.
My favorite features of this radio:
* The digital display is nice and large, giving supporting information such as a signal strength meter or UTC clock.
* Browsing function...this has the be one of the coolest features I've see yet. You have this for normal searching plus surfing your presets.
* 550 presets...Do I ask for more?
* Bandwidth control on the MW and SW. 6,4,3,2, and 1Khz spacing.
* Always on option for the LCD's side light.
* Ability to charge your NiMH batteries in the radio.
* FM reception is top notch! FM Stereo with headphones is amazing.
* AM reception is close to top notch!
* External antenna jack for FM/SW.
* Price!
What I didn't like about this radio:
* It suffers with noise from the DSP while using the AM band. When you key press options it makes a digital type interference noise.
* Build quality could be a bit better, the buttons are hard to press and feel a little cheap. The LCD cover on mine is a little loose on one side.
If you have just entered the hobby or a collector of different radios, don't hesitate to punch that add to cart button. Its so worth it!
My favorite features of this radio:
* The digital display is nice and large, giving supporting information such as a signal strength meter or UTC clock.
* Browsing function...this has the be one of the coolest features I've see yet. You have this for normal searching plus surfing your presets.
* 550 presets...Do I ask for more?
* Bandwidth control on the MW and SW. 6,4,3,2, and 1Khz spacing.
* Always on option for the LCD's side light.
* Ability to charge your NiMH batteries in the radio.
* FM reception is top notch! FM Stereo with headphones is amazing.
* AM reception is close to top notch!
* External antenna jack for FM/SW.
* Price!
What I didn't like about this radio:
* It suffers with noise from the DSP while using the AM band. When you key press options it makes a digital type interference noise.
* Build quality could be a bit better, the buttons are hard to press and feel a little cheap. The LCD cover on mine is a little loose on one side.
If you have just entered the hobby or a collector of different radios, don't hesitate to punch that add to cart button. Its so worth it!
philz
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
When the hurricane Irma was barreling toward Florida, during preparations I found that I didn't have a battery powered radio. While perusing radios on Amazon, I remembered the times I had as a child listening to my parents old Zenith shortwave radio and thought to myself, if I am getting a radio, heck, why not see how much extra it would cost to get a SW radio as well? As it turned out, not much more at all. This little thing fit the bill. Got AM and FM radio, ran on regular AA batteries (and it can charge NiMH cells too, bonus!), and its small and cheap.
There was one little problem, though, the tuner knob would fall off easily, it wasn't snug. Not a problem though, I used a little DiClo (dichloromethane, a relatively common solvent that welds many plastics), and it is stuck on for good now.
It surprised me how this is a fully digital radio. There are no analog controls. The tuner dial, as well as the volume dial, are both rotary encoders, no variable caps or pots... You can spin the dial or punch in the frequency you want. Tons of presets available. Reception is pretty good. I haven't tuned much SW radio but the FM reception is very good. Battery life is good. The clock and temperature readout are accurate. I kinda wish it was a bit more hackable, I mean, it runs on a little microcontroller inside (you can read the current firmware version by holding down the "fm st" button), it has a USB port on the side, it would be fun if the firmware was moddable. One can dream...
There was one little problem, though, the tuner knob would fall off easily, it wasn't snug. Not a problem though, I used a little DiClo (dichloromethane, a relatively common solvent that welds many plastics), and it is stuck on for good now.
It surprised me how this is a fully digital radio. There are no analog controls. The tuner dial, as well as the volume dial, are both rotary encoders, no variable caps or pots... You can spin the dial or punch in the frequency you want. Tons of presets available. Reception is pretty good. I haven't tuned much SW radio but the FM reception is very good. Battery life is good. The clock and temperature readout are accurate. I kinda wish it was a bit more hackable, I mean, it runs on a little microcontroller inside (you can read the current firmware version by holding down the "fm st" button), it has a USB port on the side, it would be fun if the firmware was moddable. One can dream...
Ronald Jones
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
Recently I had the opportunity of comparing the Tecsun PL-380 and the PL-310ET. My curiosity was sparked as to why Tecsun would market two such similar radios. Here are my observations... I will refer to the 310ET simply as the 310. The 380 and the 310 are the same size (310 seems a smidgen bigger). The 310 has an external antenna port ... not on 380. The 310 has a tuning knob ... 380 has a tuning wheel. Both have volume wheels. The 380 has a slightly larger LCD. Both have back stands. The 380 comes with a wire antenna that clips directly to the built in antenna ... 310 has no wire antenna. Both come with earbuds. The features on the radios are the same ... MW, FM, SW, ATS, BW, Light, Snooze, Alarm, ETM and so on. What is notable is the buttons for these features are small and particularly hard to engage on the 310 because they are level with the body. On the 380 the buttons are raised and much easier to engage. Both radios preform the same as far as functionality, sensitivity and selectivity are concerned (both very good on all bands. They both hear the same stations. So what is the difference in the two ? The sound their speakers produce. The 310 has a mellower, smoother, more comfortable sound best for music (FM) but not unacceptable for voice (MW SW). The 380 has a brighter, crisper, clearer sound best for voice and talk (SW MW) but not unacceptable for music. But bear in mind both have small speakers so this difference is not like night and day, but noticeable if you listen to them side by side. Both radios have a solid, quality feel to them. Hope this helps with your decision ... you will not be disappointed with either.
VR
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
2.5 month update
- Battery life is amazing, over two months with Amazon Basic alkaline. Doesn't even justify buying rechargeables and the charger
- More SW testing - excellent sensitivity and ability to bring stations in a very noisy environment
- Durability - tested by my kitten who tried his growing teeth on the telescoping antenna - no damage, and later dropped the radio on the floor - no damage, no scuff marks.
The only minor issue is volume control. At a low volume the control is too coarse: while listening in a quiet environment, I use settings 8 or below, and between 5 and 7 the volume changes too much. This is a minor issue, will not be noticeable on AM or SW or in a noisier environment.
Overall: the best radio for under $50 I've ever had
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Original review
I tried several other radios before ordering Tecsun PL-310ET. I watched numerous videos and read many reviews, and finally decided to give it a try. This radio did not disappoint, but rather impressed me. As a point of reference, I am an electrical engineer with 30 years of experience, so I am writing this not just from a consumer's point of view.
I read some reviews here, and I am not sure where the most of negative reviews come from. One reviewer is complaining about not receiving anything on LW - sure, the LW broadcast has been discontinued in North America decades ago, and this type of waves don't propagate far enough to receive them from another continent. Not sure why there are complaints about distortions while receiving high-power stations - I live in SF Bay area with many high power stations nearby, the closest in 3 miles, and I've never noticed any distortions. Not sure where "cheaply made" comes from. The only one complaint I could agree - the manual is not written clearly, and since the controls are not 100% straightforward, less technically literate consumers may have some difficulties.
Another complaint I've seen in several reviews is that the radio mutes for a split second while tuning manually. I agree, it makes browsing though the SW bands more difficult. But this has nothing to do with this specific radio. This radio as well as many others are based on Silicon Labs receiver ICs with DSP, and this is the way these chips work. If this is something you cannot live with, get a traditional radio.
I experimented with the radio a little, and the results exceeded my expectations:
- I am receiving all MW and FM stations equally well, even weak ones, in the room where I have a desktop PC, laptop PC, cable modem, Wi-Fi router, two NAS, and LED lights with dimmers. The DSP is dealing with all interference beautifully. For a comparison, I have analog dual-conversion Tecsun R9710 radio (which is not a bad radio to begin with), and it simply cannot deal this so much interference, while PL-310ET can.
- SW reception is great. As soon as I take the radio onto a backyard, I am receiving about 20 stations. This was tested at 8pm with Kaito 23' antenna. My backyard is pretty small, and all neighbors houses have similar interference-causing equipment. Yet the radio is fully capable of filtering most of the noise.
- Battery life is excellent. I've been using this radio for several hours every day for a week, and the display still shows two out of three bars. I am using low-cost Amazon Basic batteries.
- The sound is very good. It is not a Hi-Fi tuner but every measure, but it is not intended to be either. For a subcompact radio it is more than sufficient. The variable lowpass filter is a great help. On FM I often connect the radio to an amplified stereo speaker, and it sounds sufficiently good to listen to music while working.
- The build is reasonably good. Not sure that the radio would take any excessively rough handling, but I wouldn't expect any special ruggedness from a $50 radio, considering its all features. With reasonable handling the radio will likely last for a very long time.
In conclusion, I can recommend this radio for someone who wants an all-band consumer-grade subcompact radio and a casual listener. For DXing, the muting between frequency steps and the lack of sensitivity control could be the showstoppers. For someone who wants everything in a radio, get an AOR receiver or similar instead.
- Battery life is amazing, over two months with Amazon Basic alkaline. Doesn't even justify buying rechargeables and the charger
- More SW testing - excellent sensitivity and ability to bring stations in a very noisy environment
- Durability - tested by my kitten who tried his growing teeth on the telescoping antenna - no damage, and later dropped the radio on the floor - no damage, no scuff marks.
The only minor issue is volume control. At a low volume the control is too coarse: while listening in a quiet environment, I use settings 8 or below, and between 5 and 7 the volume changes too much. This is a minor issue, will not be noticeable on AM or SW or in a noisier environment.
Overall: the best radio for under $50 I've ever had
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Original review
I tried several other radios before ordering Tecsun PL-310ET. I watched numerous videos and read many reviews, and finally decided to give it a try. This radio did not disappoint, but rather impressed me. As a point of reference, I am an electrical engineer with 30 years of experience, so I am writing this not just from a consumer's point of view.
I read some reviews here, and I am not sure where the most of negative reviews come from. One reviewer is complaining about not receiving anything on LW - sure, the LW broadcast has been discontinued in North America decades ago, and this type of waves don't propagate far enough to receive them from another continent. Not sure why there are complaints about distortions while receiving high-power stations - I live in SF Bay area with many high power stations nearby, the closest in 3 miles, and I've never noticed any distortions. Not sure where "cheaply made" comes from. The only one complaint I could agree - the manual is not written clearly, and since the controls are not 100% straightforward, less technically literate consumers may have some difficulties.
Another complaint I've seen in several reviews is that the radio mutes for a split second while tuning manually. I agree, it makes browsing though the SW bands more difficult. But this has nothing to do with this specific radio. This radio as well as many others are based on Silicon Labs receiver ICs with DSP, and this is the way these chips work. If this is something you cannot live with, get a traditional radio.
I experimented with the radio a little, and the results exceeded my expectations:
- I am receiving all MW and FM stations equally well, even weak ones, in the room where I have a desktop PC, laptop PC, cable modem, Wi-Fi router, two NAS, and LED lights with dimmers. The DSP is dealing with all interference beautifully. For a comparison, I have analog dual-conversion Tecsun R9710 radio (which is not a bad radio to begin with), and it simply cannot deal this so much interference, while PL-310ET can.
- SW reception is great. As soon as I take the radio onto a backyard, I am receiving about 20 stations. This was tested at 8pm with Kaito 23' antenna. My backyard is pretty small, and all neighbors houses have similar interference-causing equipment. Yet the radio is fully capable of filtering most of the noise.
- Battery life is excellent. I've been using this radio for several hours every day for a week, and the display still shows two out of three bars. I am using low-cost Amazon Basic batteries.
- The sound is very good. It is not a Hi-Fi tuner but every measure, but it is not intended to be either. For a subcompact radio it is more than sufficient. The variable lowpass filter is a great help. On FM I often connect the radio to an amplified stereo speaker, and it sounds sufficiently good to listen to music while working.
- The build is reasonably good. Not sure that the radio would take any excessively rough handling, but I wouldn't expect any special ruggedness from a $50 radio, considering its all features. With reasonable handling the radio will likely last for a very long time.
In conclusion, I can recommend this radio for someone who wants an all-band consumer-grade subcompact radio and a casual listener. For DXing, the muting between frequency steps and the lack of sensitivity control could be the showstoppers. For someone who wants everything in a radio, get an AOR receiver or similar instead.
Leonard F.
08.01.2021
8/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π₯ΠΎΡΠΎΡΠΎ
DX'ers dream. Auto scan set and casual browsing. excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Excellent FM stereo. Only glitch is selecting presets can be flaky. Best compact multi band radio I have ever owned.
Tucker Cox
08.01.2021
6/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ»ΠΎΡ ΠΎ
I am not an expert on these SW/MW/LW radios; but i had already a few years ago bought another TECSUN desktop alarm radio that word well. So, i figured okay, give them a try. This radio functioned as advertised. If things change, I'll report back. One issue: the instruction "manual" is written in poor English, some of which is indecipherable. The folks at TECSUN i hope will take a look at this part of their offer. This radio requires some study, which i expected, as to what its features do and how they work. For this reason, my rating is three stars that otherwise would be four if i focused exclusively on the radio. The mediocre "manual" notwithstanding, i would buy it again.
Thomas R.
08.01.2021
6/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ»ΠΎΡ ΠΎ
Got this radio and tested it on a local AM station. Could barely hear it even though it comes in loud and clear using my Grundig G6 and a RadioShack headset radio. I immediately put it back in the box to return it. Very disappointed!
(EDIT) After using the radio I discovered that when using headphones AM reception is normal. Nobody can explain what could cause this. But there`s another issue...when I tune to the exact frequency of a strong AM station the volume pumps in a very irritating way that makes listening impossible. Others with working radios say it does this when listening using the speaker too. This is either caused by DSP soft muting or a terrible AGC (automatic gain control).
I found a way to solve the horrible pumping of the audio that affects AM severely and sometimes shortwave. When listening to WBAP 820 AM from Dallas, for example, tune down 1kz from 820 to 819. This not only stops the pumping but disables soft mute on weaker stations allowing you to actually use the radio properly on the AM band. But tuning down 1kz causes the volume to drop considerably so I use headphones when doing this. Thank God I discovered this. I can now use the AM band on my radio!
Shortwave works great on this radio and it has some great search features that I won`t go into here that quickly store active frequencies that you can tune through. See the instructions. Keep them handy because you`ll need them when things go wrong until you learn how to use the radio.
FM works great and both FM and shortwave offer great reception.
The speaker sounds very tinny when listening to FM music but the volume can be turned up pretty loud. Tecsun needs to put a better audio circuit in this radio or at least add a control so the user can add some bass or tone to the audio.
When using shortwave and AM there are filters you can use that help reduce the treble. These filters can be set at 6, 4, 3. 2.5 and 1. A setting of 2.5 or 3 is best.
I bought the power adapter so I can charge three rechargeable batteries inside the radio. The adapter can`t be used to power the radio because it causes horrible static on the AM and shortwave bands and when using it while listening to FM I hear distortion.
If you plan to use portable radios a lot to listen to AM and shortwave get rechargeable batteries. That way you simply don`t have to worry about dead batteries and it will save you a LOT of money! I have a lot of radios and I use them in all of mine. Get a big package of normal batteries for extended power outages or camping trips.
(EDIT) After using the radio I discovered that when using headphones AM reception is normal. Nobody can explain what could cause this. But there`s another issue...when I tune to the exact frequency of a strong AM station the volume pumps in a very irritating way that makes listening impossible. Others with working radios say it does this when listening using the speaker too. This is either caused by DSP soft muting or a terrible AGC (automatic gain control).
I found a way to solve the horrible pumping of the audio that affects AM severely and sometimes shortwave. When listening to WBAP 820 AM from Dallas, for example, tune down 1kz from 820 to 819. This not only stops the pumping but disables soft mute on weaker stations allowing you to actually use the radio properly on the AM band. But tuning down 1kz causes the volume to drop considerably so I use headphones when doing this. Thank God I discovered this. I can now use the AM band on my radio!
Shortwave works great on this radio and it has some great search features that I won`t go into here that quickly store active frequencies that you can tune through. See the instructions. Keep them handy because you`ll need them when things go wrong until you learn how to use the radio.
FM works great and both FM and shortwave offer great reception.
The speaker sounds very tinny when listening to FM music but the volume can be turned up pretty loud. Tecsun needs to put a better audio circuit in this radio or at least add a control so the user can add some bass or tone to the audio.
When using shortwave and AM there are filters you can use that help reduce the treble. These filters can be set at 6, 4, 3. 2.5 and 1. A setting of 2.5 or 3 is best.
I bought the power adapter so I can charge three rechargeable batteries inside the radio. The adapter can`t be used to power the radio because it causes horrible static on the AM and shortwave bands and when using it while listening to FM I hear distortion.
If you plan to use portable radios a lot to listen to AM and shortwave get rechargeable batteries. That way you simply don`t have to worry about dead batteries and it will save you a LOT of money! I have a lot of radios and I use them in all of mine. Get a big package of normal batteries for extended power outages or camping trips.
Dave in Houston
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
I wanted a small radio with a lot of features that wouldn't take up much space in my laptop bag. The Tecsun PL-310ET is exactly what I was looking for.
I primarily listen to FM and AM for talk or news, with a bit of music thrown in. I'm not a shortwave listener, but that is a neat bonus for me to play around with when I have time. Being that I live in the suburbs of a major city, I get plenty of stations on FM and AM. Near and sometimes far.
The sound is good for a little low power radio with a small speaker. It's not as high pitched as other small radios, which means it's easier on my ears for longer periods of time.
My favorite feature is the ETM search mode. Of course, I can switch it back to manual tune mode, but just rolling the tuning wheel notch-by-notch to the next ETM saved station sure is a time saver. I do also like the direct station entry when I know exactly where I want to tune to.
I like the size and feel of the side tuning knob, which makes me wish the volume knob was the same. Like other's have mentioned, the side tuning knob will slide off with little effort. So, I used a tiny bit of super glue to attach that knob to the tuning control shaft. An easy fix.
Another point is that I've found the on board temperature read out to be accurate as long as the radio isn't on, in my hands, or in the sun. If the radio is on, the temp is about 2 degrees high. If I hold the radio for a length of time, the temp will try to match my hand temperature.
It seems that the PL-310ET is a well designed and a well built miniature radio. I sure like the size and all the electronic gadgetry it has within. All in all, this Texan likes this Tecsun.
Update June 2, 2018:
I found some older rechargeable AA batteries and a old style USB cable at my home to charge the PL-310ET from my laptop. It works great, but the rechargeable batteries don't have the endurance of new AA batteries. It's still worth the effort to keep my battery purchases down, but you do need to follow the recharge instructions from the PL-310ET operators manual. Thumbs up for this little feature.
Also, I ordered and received a Tecsun AN-06 plug in wire antenna for the heck of it. The wire antenna gives solid signal strength increases to shortwave stations. From the upstairs in my house, the channels received went from 19 shortwave on the telescopic antenna to 31 shortwave on the plug in wire antenna. I also used the wire antenna for FM reception, but it had much less effect than it did on short wave. 68 FM stations on the telescopic antenna versus 70 FM stations on the wire antenna. No effect on AM/MW as that uses the internal antenna, of course. It's kind of fun to have the plug in antenna, but it's not really necessary in my situation.
I primarily listen to FM and AM for talk or news, with a bit of music thrown in. I'm not a shortwave listener, but that is a neat bonus for me to play around with when I have time. Being that I live in the suburbs of a major city, I get plenty of stations on FM and AM. Near and sometimes far.
The sound is good for a little low power radio with a small speaker. It's not as high pitched as other small radios, which means it's easier on my ears for longer periods of time.
My favorite feature is the ETM search mode. Of course, I can switch it back to manual tune mode, but just rolling the tuning wheel notch-by-notch to the next ETM saved station sure is a time saver. I do also like the direct station entry when I know exactly where I want to tune to.
I like the size and feel of the side tuning knob, which makes me wish the volume knob was the same. Like other's have mentioned, the side tuning knob will slide off with little effort. So, I used a tiny bit of super glue to attach that knob to the tuning control shaft. An easy fix.
Another point is that I've found the on board temperature read out to be accurate as long as the radio isn't on, in my hands, or in the sun. If the radio is on, the temp is about 2 degrees high. If I hold the radio for a length of time, the temp will try to match my hand temperature.
It seems that the PL-310ET is a well designed and a well built miniature radio. I sure like the size and all the electronic gadgetry it has within. All in all, this Texan likes this Tecsun.
Update June 2, 2018:
I found some older rechargeable AA batteries and a old style USB cable at my home to charge the PL-310ET from my laptop. It works great, but the rechargeable batteries don't have the endurance of new AA batteries. It's still worth the effort to keep my battery purchases down, but you do need to follow the recharge instructions from the PL-310ET operators manual. Thumbs up for this little feature.
Also, I ordered and received a Tecsun AN-06 plug in wire antenna for the heck of it. The wire antenna gives solid signal strength increases to shortwave stations. From the upstairs in my house, the channels received went from 19 shortwave on the telescopic antenna to 31 shortwave on the plug in wire antenna. I also used the wire antenna for FM reception, but it had much less effect than it did on short wave. 68 FM stations on the telescopic antenna versus 70 FM stations on the wire antenna. No effect on AM/MW as that uses the internal antenna, of course. It's kind of fun to have the plug in antenna, but it's not really necessary in my situation.
Renard Dellafave
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
If you want SSB, ability to really use an external antenna, or great sound quality then get a bigger radio for five times the price. But, for what this does, and the price, it's the best. It'll pick up anything reasonably strong with the built in whip. You can use an external (there's a jack) but it's easily overloaded and I find with more than maybe 10ft of wire, the strong stations bleed into other frequencies. The narrow AF filter helps avoid the tinny sound of a small speaker, in addition to making this incredibly selective.
Pulls in weak FM stations much much better than AM/FM only pocket radios (or my table-top ones). AM is solid, only uses internal ferrite core antenna. Gets 880 WCBS nice and clear every night though. Wish I'd bought this first instead of getting cheaper AM/FM portables. The only advantage of those is that, for giving to other people, the interface on this is too complicated (it's fine, but it's more than a volume and tuning knob).
Pulls in weak FM stations much much better than AM/FM only pocket radios (or my table-top ones). AM is solid, only uses internal ferrite core antenna. Gets 880 WCBS nice and clear every night though. Wish I'd bought this first instead of getting cheaper AM/FM portables. The only advantage of those is that, for giving to other people, the interface on this is too complicated (it's fine, but it's more than a volume and tuning knob).
BP
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
Perfect little shortwave radio. Very easy to throw in a backpack or suitcase on trips. Works great with Kaito KA33 Amplified Active Loop Antenna.
Curt Wuollet
08.01.2021
8/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π₯ΠΎΡΠΎΡΠΎ
This is a really nice radio to operate, with all kinds of convenient features. I bought it because I needed a DSP radio with excellent FM performance to provide listening in my extremely challenging work location in rural MN in a steel building. I had purchased a Kaito KA321 which has excellent FM performance, but is extremely position sensitive with only the built-in whip. Moving around it could completely blank the very week signal available. I was disappointed a bit, as it isn't as sensitive as the KA321 with it's built in antenna. But, this radio has an antenna jack which opened possibilities up to and including an outdoor antenna. A length of wire didn't help, neither did the traditional twinlead folded dipole. But I paired it with the very compact Terk FM+ and was able to find a spot for the antenna with solid reception. An inch or two drops you back into the noise, but that's signal situation with a deep fringe signal in a steel building. So, it lost a star for FM sensitivity, but it's a really nice little radio. The rechargeable battery setup which works from any convenient USB port is a big plus too.
Rem Djemilev
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
This is an amazing little radio that simply can! It can pull out even the weakest of the stations on shortwave, AM and FM. Sound quality through the right pair of headphones, like Edifier H180 is astonishing! Great selectivity and incredible super sensitivity. It works great even with just a telescopic antenna. I am very pleased with this radio and I am hoping that more radios will be as sensitive and noise-free as this one! Thank you Tecsun! Thank you Amazon!
Highly recommend it to absolutely everyone - you will have a problem-free shortwave radio that always work perfectly!
Highly recommend it to absolutely everyone - you will have a problem-free shortwave radio that always work perfectly!
Jacquelyn L.
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
I'm a fan of Tecsun radios. I've had one at work that has lasted almost 8 years now and it's still going strong. This is my second PL-310. I had one but I accidentally broke it, so I had to get another one. For its size, it has GREAT pull on AM(MW) and even shortwave. I've even used longwave (LW) to catch local non-directional beacons - just another interesting thing to listen to.
The included manual is great! Simple and easy to read - no problematic translations here. Easy to follow and look up functions. You will be up and running in no time.
For better reception: hook up an external antenna. You can get one for this model for cheap (or even make one) and it has a jack for an external antenna. Get it up as high as possible, and outdoors if possible - you WILL get better reception! A radio will simply work better with an external antenna. For local FM stations, I find the built-in whip antenna to be perfectly satisfactory, but your mileage may vary... I live in a large city area with tons of FM stations, so they are easy to nab.
For the price and ease of use, I highly recommend this small rig. You will find yourself tuning in often.
The included manual is great! Simple and easy to read - no problematic translations here. Easy to follow and look up functions. You will be up and running in no time.
For better reception: hook up an external antenna. You can get one for this model for cheap (or even make one) and it has a jack for an external antenna. Get it up as high as possible, and outdoors if possible - you WILL get better reception! A radio will simply work better with an external antenna. For local FM stations, I find the built-in whip antenna to be perfectly satisfactory, but your mileage may vary... I live in a large city area with tons of FM stations, so they are easy to nab.
For the price and ease of use, I highly recommend this small rig. You will find yourself tuning in often.
Jerry M.
08.01.2021
10/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
ΠΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ»Π΅ΠΏΠ½ΠΎ
After unboxing this radio. I went through my standard to see how many radio statios this one would pick up. The test was completed one day after receiving this item. The location northern Colorado. The test occurred between 2 and 4pm; outside temperature about 45 degrees. The Tecsun PL- 310 ET picked up 28 am and 55 fm station. I did a quick check on
Shortwave and it picked up several stations. Likes about this radio ETM: easy tuning method, it works fairly well. It picked up a few points on the am dial that was noise instead of stations. This unit also has direct frequency entry which is good. The radio's external tuning dial is big enough to quickly tune to the next desired station. I checked the long wave frequency and picked the airports non-directional-beacon at 400 khz broadcasting it's morse code identification. This is used mostly by general aviation aircraft equipped with an ADF.
This is a DSP radio digital signal processing. The way most DSP radios are configured
Makes them more sensitive and selective compared to their analog dual conversion
Counterparts.
Shortwave and it picked up several stations. Likes about this radio ETM: easy tuning method, it works fairly well. It picked up a few points on the am dial that was noise instead of stations. This unit also has direct frequency entry which is good. The radio's external tuning dial is big enough to quickly tune to the next desired station. I checked the long wave frequency and picked the airports non-directional-beacon at 400 khz broadcasting it's morse code identification. This is used mostly by general aviation aircraft equipped with an ADF.
This is a DSP radio digital signal processing. The way most DSP radios are configured
Makes them more sensitive and selective compared to their analog dual conversion
Counterparts.
S9plus
08.01.2021
2/10
ΠΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠ° ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ·ΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΠ΅Π»Ρ
Π£ΠΆΠ°ΡΠ½ΠΎ
Had to return it after batteries got hot and melted the wires and contacts!
ΠΠΎΠΊΠ°Π·Π°Π½Ρ ΠΎΡΠ·ΡΠ²Ρ 145-168 ΠΈΠ· 226.
ΠΠΎΡ ΠΎΠΆΠΈΠ΅ ΡΠΎΠ²Π°ΡΡ Ρ Π»ΡΡΡΠ΅ΠΉ ΠΎΡΠ΅Π½ΠΊΠΎΠΉ
8.8/10 Π±Π°Π»Π»ΠΎΠ²
Perfeo Sound Ranger, Π·ΠΎΠ»ΠΎΡΠΈΡΡΡΠΉ.
ΠΎΡ 2016.00 ΡΡΠ±.
142 ΠΌΠ΅ΡΡΠΎ ΠΈΠ· 326 Π²
