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Tecsun PL-380

D

ddsparxx

Earlier this year I bought a Tecsun PL-310. The tuning knob keeps falling off of it but I still have the knob.
This month I bought a Tecsun PL-380 and it appears to be a better radio, and I have expected it to perform about the same. On AM it hears AMs almost as well as my Sangean PR-D5 and even better than the PL-310. ??? What the heck?? I have read that the 310 has a bit more sensitivity on the AM band, and there is much less "chuffing" noise when receiving weak signals. On FM sensitivity seems to be better on the 380. I find that the signal strength number to be a little higher than that of the 310. Also, the keypad entry responds more quickly. I am thinking quality control of Tecsun radios?? The speaker is smaller then the 310's. Overall, the 380 turns out to be more fun than the 310. I could hear W228AM 93.5 (a Bible translator) in Frederick, MD about 45 miles away; the other Tecsun radio can hear it, though not as well.
I could hear WKGM 940 near Norfolk here in northern VA, also I could hear WOR 710, though very weak. The 310 now serves as a backup.
 
Very, very interesting review! I've held off from buying the PL-380 because of the mixed reviews that it has been getting. Some have said that the AM is not as sensitive because the ferrite bar is shorter. However, it has also been noted that the lack of "soft muting" on the 380 tends to mitigate that to a degree. But yours is the first review I've seen which makes a decent argument that the PL-380 may be an improvement over the PL-310.

I do wonder about the QC on your 310, though - I have never had any trouble with the tuning knobs on mine, which performs wonderfully.
 
Thanks for the comment. I do want to add that with the Grundig AN200 loop I can hear Detroit's WJR, Cincy's WLW and even Nashville's WSM, all with very weak signal at 2 PM EST. That loop makes it a killer DX combination. The little WLEE 990 down in Richmond, VA which I could barely hear with the PR-D5 barefoot is a bit listenable with the 380-loop combination. (WLEE is very directional with a deep null toward N-NW according the R-L map). This is a neat radio to have around.
 
I've found an area in which the PL-380, and AFAIK ALL other SiLABS DSP chip based radios suffer, and that is desensitization near very strong mediumwave signals. This desense is manifest by an abnormally high RSSI reading and no listenable signal (or a very weak one) across portions of the band in the vicinity of a strong signal. When the offending station is nulled, the desense is usually tamed somewhat.
For example, my grandma lives in San Gabriel, CA, about 1/3 mile from 1300 KAZN's daytime 23kW and 1430 KMRB's 50kW (daytime) diplexed site, at an approximate heading of 150-170° from the site. On my PL-380, I get a 50dBu RSSI, 0dB SNR reading there from about 1220 to around 1500 or so, and 49dBu from around 1000 to 1710 approximately. Also, several stations for which she would be within (or near) R-L's 2mV/m local contour are either blocked or severely weakened, including 1230 KYPA, 1260 KGIL, 1280 KFRN, 1330 KWKW, 1460 KTYM, 1480 KVNR, and to a lesser extent, 1390 KLTX, 1580 KBLA and 1650 KFOX.
Also a little earlier today I was testing several radios about 02 mi SSW of 910 KECR's 5kW and 1170 KCBQ's 50kW day site, one of which was the G8 (uses same DSP chip as the PL-380, fixed at 3kHz bandwidth). There was 50,00 desense from approximately 880 up to somewhere in the low 1500s or so, and the extremes showed 49dBu for 1710 and about 41dBu or so for 520. On 910 I was getting a 79,25 reading, and 88,25 on 1170. (Directly in line with 4 towers outside the property, it was 98,25 for 1170 and probably (don't remember exactly, though) 90,25 or so for 910. I would hve done the tests there, but a few of the radios were noticeably overloading, evident by distorted audio on 1170, so I moved the tests a little farther away.) Needless to say, even the reception of some strong stations was degraded. (I would have done more tests, but I noticed skywave fading in and out on 1670 KHPY, and I prefer my tests to be done using stable groundwave signals only). Also, the site isn't way out in the middle of nowhere - there are people that live as close as or closer than where I was testing the radios. (Also there are several houses directly west of the aforementioned KAZN and KMRB dual site right in KMRB's lobe, with the station directly behind their back yards - their east property line IS the station's west property line.)
At home, my PL-380 (which is capped at 63,25), generally has 30,00 desense across much of the band, dipping several dB lower at the extremes, and rising some near a few fairly strong signals, the strongest of which are north of me. (The desense is less severe when the radio is facing east/west.) For example, 10kW 1130 KSDO 6 miles north reads 72,25 on the G8, 50kW 1170 KCBQ 9 miles north is 77,25 in the daytime, and 50kW 760 KFMB 7 miles north is 77,25 at night. In the daytime I get 45,00 within about 20kHz or so of 1170, and about 41,00 within about 70kHz or so.. At night it's about 43,00 within a few channels either side of 760.
 
The 310 desenses on FM as well. The radio is HOT when you're more than a mile or two away from 50KW, but it's sensitivity suffers any closer than that.
 
Did anyone comment on the knob falling off of the 310? That happened to me but I lost the knob. Where can I get a new knob and how can I keep it from falling off? Love that radio but it's worthless as it is now.
 
Putting the knob on the 310 back on didn't work out for me. The knob couldn't stay on. I used a strong glue and that turned out to be a big mistake. I ended up ruining the radio.
 
ddsparxx said:
Putting the knob on the 310 back on didn't work out for me. The knob couldn't stay on. I used a strong glue and that turned out to be a big mistake. I ended up ruining the radio.
Click to expand...
I was afraid of that, so getting another knob will get me nowhere. I bought a 390 figuring like others that the longer ferrite rod would mean better AM reception...it didn't (the 310 was better). The AM reception has a loud hiss on blank frequencies...like there's something in the radio interfering with itself. I guess I don't understand how it is that with all the advances in technology & DSP chips, they can't make a small radio that is as sensitive as my 30 year old Super Radio I. For that matter, today's AM car radios use a rubber whip no longer than the ferrite core in the SR I and they get equal or better reception. It appears that the Tecsun 310 has the FM reception nailed but unless there's a Tecsun model that I haven't heard about, the AM reception just isn't quite there yet.
 
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