Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been a shortwave listener for 61 years, an amateur radio operator for 32 years and did military communications for many years. I have owned receivers dating back to the 1920s most of which I worked on and enjoyed for many years. The reason I mention all of this is it might lend my review a little more weight than a review from someone who doesn't really know what they are talking about. I received the radio on Thursday and I put it through its paces for many hours on MW, SW and FM. I was really shocked by the performance on FM. It is better than my Sony 2010 on FM and bear in mind that the Sony cost about 8 times as much! I live in a horrible area for FM because there are mountains and hills in all 4 directions. What is called multipath distortion is caused by the station you are listening to bouncing its transmitted radio waves off the mountains and hills so they arrive at your radio at different times and angles. This little radio gives me a perfectly clear signal from Portland, Maine which is 65 miles away. My Grundig YB400 pe cannot quite do that and neither can my Sony 2010. On FM the only other portable I have which can get this station cleanly is my Sangean ATS 909 Deluxe which cost $ 289.95. I had mods done to the Sangean which cost me 50 bucks so it was worth it. The Tecsun is $ 46 dollars and it is really a keeper. The SW performance is stellar at this price point and the variable bandwidth feature is great! On MW I know there is a station in Cuba on 530 Khz and the Tecsun was picking it up about an hour ago very faintly which is surprising as I live 85 miles from Canada. I set it near my Tecsun AN-200 MW loop antenna and the Tecsun pair really hauled the signal up enough so I was able to hear it quite well. A word on some of the radio reviews and I perceive a lack of logic in quite a few. For instance the criticism that an external antenna cannot be hooked up to this radio. Wrong! One reviewer said that some of his other models of portables overload when he attaches an outside antenna. Either shorten the antenna or take and inductively couple it to the whip. It is a simple fix so do some research on radio sites if you are interested. On Youtube one reviewer said he liked this radio but then said the only negative was that it doesn't receive ssb signals. Balderdash! You wouldn't buy this radio if you want ssb capability so that is not a negative! That really is a stupid statement. It wasn't designed for ssb as it is an entertainment broadcast radio and the engineers did a great job with this little treasure. Oh yes, I once reviewed a model airplane and it was a four engine model and I really loved it. The only negative was that it couldn't maneuver near as well as my buddy's Mitsubishi Zero. See what I mean about nonsense? I am extremely impressed with this little gem and it came with an English instruction manual and a one year warranty. If the radio all of a sudden refuses to turn on with good batteries, take the batteries out of the radio and after 30 minutes or so put them back in. In winter in colder climates the air can be very dry and there is a lot of static around. A tiny static pulse from just having the radio near a miniscule charge can lock up the circuitry. What you have done is a reset and hopefully that will fix it. It has happened to me with my 350 dollar Sony 2010 so don't blame the radio as it is sometimes normal with any radios that have memory chips in them. Today I went to turn on my new PL 380 and it was dead. Did a reset and now just picked up Cuba on 530 Khz a few minutes ago barefoot without the Tecsun loop. Amazing for such a small 46 dollar radio. Oh yes, I think the audio produced by this radio is excellent and can fill a decent sized room. Have fun, read the manual and remember to do a reset if it locks up!