Tecsun Radio PL-380 DSP FM AM Stereo World Band Receiver with Pocket Size

I purchased the Tecsun PL-380 for use at my tiny cabin, primarily for the shortwave reception of world wide news, and it works great for my application. It receives AM (MW), FM, SW, and LW broadcasts. Like all shortwave radios, reception is best at night, and depends on atmospheric conditions, so be aware of this. I use it to receive shortwave broadcasts from all over the world. I noticed that some reviews mention signal overload when using a longwire antenna clipped to the telescopic antenna on the radio. I have not had this issue, and routinely use a longwire antenna of 18 ga. insulated, stranded wire with an alligator clip on the end, and simply clip this to the telescoping antenna. You don't need anything fancy, I just ran the wire randomly around the rafters of my cabin.You will rarely hear Ham operators on this little radio, as it lacks sideband capability, where most Hams choose to operate, however there are a few Hams out there that are not running sideband, as I have listened to them as well. AM (MW) reception is great at night with reception of stations many states away, and FM reception is great day or night. I have not heard anything on LW, and I suspect that there is not much to hear there anyway. SW reception, as I mentioned is great at night.I really like the ETM (Easy Tuning Mode), especially for shortwave. With ETM selected, the PL-380 will scan through the shortwave band (or any other band selected for that matter), storing found signals in ETM memory. When scanning is completed, using the tuning dial jumps from one found station to the next. Favorite stations can be stored in permanent memory, which is another great feature.This little radio operates from three AA batteries, and I opted to install lithium batteries, which have been working great for me. My tiny cabin uses 12 volt solar for power, and this little radio allows me to recharge my batteries with a usb charger plugged into a 12 volt lighter receptacle at my cabin. Just be sure to set up the radio to use rechargeable batteries. I will say that the manual is a little "wonky", and you will need to refer to it repeatedly, the first few times you use this radio.The Tecsun PL-380 is an excellent little shortwave radio that seems to get some bad press from reviewers, and in my opinion, the bad press is unfounded. Every hobby experiences one form or another of snobbery, but, truth be told, you really don't need to drop a bundle to enjoy shortwave listening.

I bought one of these many years ago. It made it through some rough times. The old one never programmed properly...it would shut off after 10 minutes, no matter how many times I or someone else followed the manual's directions. Eventually it started turning itself on in the middle of the night. When my housemate woke up from it he broke it and lost the battery cover. Never mind, it was still one of my favorite little radios in my long life. Love the ETM finding my favorite stations. Right size, great sound, (when it played) the batteries lasted a long time, and it was so handy & portable. This new one - same Pl-380, is even better, feels sturdier. And I got some extra stuff. Kept the plug from the old one which I gave a homeless guy who loves it. Truth be told I have another two Tecsuns. My housemate wanted me to play the radio on the Amazon Echo and Google Mini he installed, but I like my Tecsuns better. One in the kitchen one in the office and this little puppy follows me around.My housemate wanted me to play the radio on the Amazon Echo and Google Mini he installed, but I like the Tecsuns sound better. Clearer. Sprang for rechargeable batteries. I'm taking it abroad, and can set the ETMs to all the different countries I pass through. Handy dandy. Life is good.

I ordered the PL-380 as a travel radio after reading about its DSP chip, but also because it uses a standard USB port for charging and AC power, which is nice due to it making one less power adapter needed for travel since most cell phones, other gadgets have USB supplies as well these days. I also have Kaito 1102 and the Grundig G6, both of which require a separate adapter. Like both of those radios, the PL-380 will charge batteries in the radio. Give the edge to the Tecsun in terms of flexible/portable power supply options (an important consideration on the road). One reviewer said this radio is too large to travel with, but with the power supply factored in it is definitely smaller than the Kaito and about the same as the Grundig.The build quality seems good, and the controls are reasonably intuitive. You will need a manual/user guide though for some things, and unfortunately this vendor (Seatech Inc.) sent a Chinese packaged version - not a word of useful English in the Chinese language manual or on the box, though the does have controls in English and other useful info in English. Well, for $50 I guess it isn't so bad if you have to download an English version of the manual (reasonably well translated). I found a PDF version at:[...]Once I had an English version of the manual, things were pretty easy. I just got this and am trying it out at home, and so far the reception seems good, though I haven't really tested this much (see on-line reviews for details on this).One other thing the PL-380 doesn't include is a set of 3 rechargeable AA batteries. I used 3 Rayovac Hybrids (the ones that hold their charge longer) and they worked great - the radio recognized them and charged them without a problem.All in all, seems like a very good little travel radio. I would have given it 5 stars if the English language version of the manual had been included, rather than requiring me to look for it on-line.