Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had some goals in mind when I purchased the Tecsun PL-360: I was looking for an easy to use, very portable, AM/FM/Shortwave radio for under a hundred dollars, that was not demanding on batteries and provided decent reception. So, here is what I found when the PL-360 went to work: The first thing I did with it, out of the box, was to scan the SW band with ETM. The Easy Tuning Mode button locates audible stations and then lets you flip through them with the tuning dial. This feature can be run at any time to update your location or add to the list with antenna changes. The Tecsun scanned the SW band indoors with just the whip antenna and locked onto 38 stations. 2300-21950khz continuous. Later, with the addition of an outdoor antenna, the PL-360 (during evening hours) using ETM, scanned and locked on to over 135 shortwave stations. Not bad and I felt that met my expectations for SW. I am not real fond of the clip-on antenna rigging. But, it will add to the ETM station count. ( Note: I got to my outdoor antenna by soldering a alligator clip to the bitter end of the supplied clip-on antenna wire. I am sure you are on your own when you do this since it is outside the design and not in the user guide.) When the PL-360 locks on it is discriminating and holds the station well. Little to no bleed over or fade beyond the nature of the band. AM/FM radio and features: Just fine & handy too. Stereo radio sound is surprisingly decent with my Skull Candy headphones. I also tried three other types of headsets; over ear and soft inserts with differing results. Basically, better phones improve sound. You get about what you would expect from the small onboard speaker. Features are easy to access. Faceplate buttons are small but snappy and clean with room to disallow "fat finger." There is not so much clutter that it is confusing. Noted in one review was the tuning knob as being crisp and solid with good indexing. I agree with that. The buttons support a "short press," and "long press" action to manipulate features. The little AM antenna that fixes to the body and makes it look like a TNT igniter is okay. In fact, it is directional. There is a signal strength indicator on the LCD and that responds clearly to movement of the bar antenna. Holding the radio in the left hand allows my wrap around fingers access to the tuning knob and volume knob. In the right hand the thumb is in charge. LCD Display and button markings are easy to read at arms reach as if holding a book. The LCD screen lights when buttons or knobs are moved and turns down with inactivity. Scan and memory features are handy. Very briefly: You scan using the VF button and the radio holds a station for a few seconds then moves on. You can use the tuning knob to stop the scan and fine tune. Also, there is an up and down button feature in the four button Band selector and Auto Tuning Storage section that makes gross moves from band to band while the LCD provides a quick band reference as you troll. The band you are on flashes for about two seconds. (It took me a while to catch this indication. Two seconds is kind of quick. So, you have to be looking for this.) So, if you like 31m, you just push the up or down button until 31m shows in the upper right corner of the LCD. You can then scroll through the band. A press of the memory button drives a station you like to one of the memory sets for later use by the VM button as a preset. The Alarm (wake up) mode is easy to use and set. The auto off timer has a surprisingly large selection of time choices. A blinking sleep icon flashes in the upper left corner of the LCD when setting this feature. Also, the LCD shows ambient temperature. This is listed in Fahrenheit when North American step settings are selected for AM. I did purchase NMH rechargeable batteries to use in the radio. The PL-360 needs to be told it has NMH batteries installed. I found the setup for this easy and the Intelligent Charging Feature handy. So far, the radio does not appear to be a power consumption hog. Overall, the PL-360 is a nice surprise. I feel the radio met all the goals I had in mind and provided some very nice extras that made it well worth the price paid. Also, the learning curve is not too bad and even the user guide is compact as well as straight forward.