TECSUN PL-660 Portable AM/FM/LW/Air Shortwave World Band Radio with Single Side Band, Black

The Tecsun PL-660 is a surprisingly good receiver. I'm an experienced Shortwave Listener. Previous radios included a Kenwood R5000 and a JRC NRD-545 DSP so I came into this with high expectations and since 9/11 happened - I haven't listened since I was hearing small planes with reporters on board tried to get into the air to see Manhattan.The Tecsun PL-660 does what it advertised. Shortwave to 30 MHz SSB capable... and when using it some of the signals sound fantastic. The BFO is effective and centered well on the frequency. Makes tuning in those contest stations easy. It also made tuning in the HF SELCAL checks out of San Francisco easy from Airinc. These are small utility frequency signals that based on this radio and it's telescopic whip antenna were able to be received. We have a great deal of fluctuation in signal quality from day to day. At the bottom of a Sunspot cycle we are a long way from seeing consistently beautiful signals coming to this radio. (sort of like rating a pair of binoculars at midnight) The glimpse into what this unit is capable of is very refreshing. So when the band is heating up a bit... you'll know about it for sure. International Broadcasters that I hear from Tucson on the edge of the Sonoran Desert. I'd like to say that I'm in an apartment in an electrically noisy area. I am able to hear what is there despite it all. I sit by a window and hence I'm away from CFBs and computers. That is where I listen.I have Arizona Public Media on the AM Band. Beautiful clarity. FM signals are also wonderful on this device. And then... There is the Air Band. I've only heard a little traffic on the Air Band. I'm next to an Air Force Base here with Tucson International Airport just beyond that... so I'd thought I'd hear more. I put my scanner on and listened to Air and grabbed a few frequencies to try on the PL-660 Air Band. I didn't have much luck trying to hear aircraft.The Radio is very well designed. It is tactile and smooth tuning making it easy to tune and listen to. Having been out of listening since 9/11, I am very pleasantly surprised. I could feel how much I'd missed it. It isn't one of the big rigs I mentioned right up front... but it does get enough of the fun down to make it interesting. I'd had a Kaito KA1103 and returned it a week before due to a really sharp AGC effect on each part of an incremental frequency step. Made it impossible to listen. This PL-660 radio demonstrates to me that I wasn't just over-expecting... It smoothly goes through the bands and between them letting me find the Utility Broadcasts. It does pretty darn well.Came with a little Manual that was even designed with some finesse. Couple typos but not bad. A more thorough explanation of the ATS Storage System of 2000 memory channels would be helpful. I'm not real sure how to utilize the pages of memory as they are allocated. Hopefully something will come along that might explain it to me.This all came about by seeing the OfficialSWLChannel on YouTube showing you that you can hear utility broadcasts on a Tecsun Portable. Was a nice demo and made me go and buy a portable SWL Radio. I loved it. I will take very good care of this receiver because it's a KEEPER.

I'm a long time world band radio user, and Amateur Radio Operator. I already have too many radios, but decided to buy the TECSUN PL600 on a whim. I have to say I'm more than pleasantly surprised at its performance. The first band I tested was the air band. It picked up all the local air traffic in my area without any issues such interference or bleedover from other bands. Next I tuned in several English SW broadcasts from Europe, etc. Again, the radio performed excellently. The narrow filter allowed me to separate stations when the bands were crowded. The SYNC Detector works good. It's not equal to the SYNC Detector on my Sony 2010, but is on par with my Sony 7600GR. SSB was where I was really amazed. I went to the 75m Amateur Band to see if I could hear anything using the telescopic antenna. After doing a little fine tuning, I picked up a conversation that was so loud and clear, I feared it was bleedover from another band. It wasn't. It was two Amateur Radio Operators having a QSO on the other side of the country. To pick them up as well as I did using a portable radio, and telescopic antenna was amazing. As for FM and AM (MW), all I can say is it picks up both bands well. I didn't do any extensive testing on either, other than attempt some MW DXing. I didn't pick up any distant stations, but it is probably the current conditions in my area, and not the radio's fault. DX has been poor by me lately on all my radios. All in all, I couldn't be any happier with the PL660, especially at this price point. It sounds good, performs great, and has features found on radios costing much more. If I would change one thing on the PL600, it would be to add a RF gain control, and remove the sensitivity switch. If you're looking for a portable world band radio that is loaded with features, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I highly recommend the TECSUN PL660.