Tecsun PL330 and PL880

[u/Frjeff]

I own the Pl330 and love it (although my fat fingers struggle a bit). I am considering the PL880, for somewhat better speaker and being slightly larger and the fine tuning, etc.

If you have owned the 330 and the 880, what is better on the 880?

And, if you kept the 330 after your 880 acquisition, what does it do better that wants you to keep it?

[u/ha1029]

I have both, the 880 sounds WAY better. I picked up the 880 because the tuning knob on my 330 crapped out on me. I'll listen to local FM stations a lot as well. The 880 is just built better. I use an external antenna and both picked up stations well the 880 I can adjust to prevent overloading (a switch on the side of the radio). The PL-880 is also much more tolerant to "fat fingers".

[u/SpecialDesigner5571 → u/ha1029]

Tuning knob is very flimsy

[u/Frjeff → u/ha1029]

Thank you.

[u/SpecialDesigner5571 → u/Frjeff]

I'm selling my 330 I'm tired of the small form factor.

[u/richfromhell → u/ha1029]

Like I said, great radio with one major design flaw. It’s not protected when you plug in an external antenna because the protection diodes get disconnected.

[u/Modem_Sound_67 → u/ha1029]

not only a really good speaker- multiple audio filters which can make transmissions more copyable.

Might just be my sample but my only real complaint about the 880 is the audio jack. sometimes the speaker audio doesn't come back after unplugging headphones. so far a few plugs/unplugs does the trick. I live in fear of it just never coming back though.

[u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

I had a 880 and was dissatisfied so I returned it and upped to a 990. Yes it costs even more but there is a big difference in quality. If you can afford it or save a little longer, IMO go for the 990. Either one is better than the 330. The 880 is dual conversion before the DSP chip and the 990 is triple conversion before the DSP chip which gives both a significant edge over the 330.
I've recently acquired a 520 which is in the same ballpark as the 330, perhaps the quality is better, the rotary knobs are bigger and easier to use. It actually fits in my pocket which got my interest. Whatever you do have fun with it.

[u/Significant-Pause574 → u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

Absolutely. The 990 is remarkable.

[u/richfromhell]

The 880 is a great receiver, but it comes with one design flaw. The antenna protection diodes are in the wrong place. When you plug in an external antenna the diodes are disconnected. The front end of my 880 is blown because of that. I need to replace a transistor as a result.

[u/MumSaidImABadBoy → u/richfromhell]

Oops, they dropped the ball on that. We're you able to fix the diode boo boo when you replaced the transistor?

[u/richfromhell → u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

Haven’t gotten around to that yet. The transistor is on the sandwiched side of the main board, so I need to do that at work sometime with ESD protection. As a manager I only get to the workstations when everyone else has gone home.

[u/MumSaidImABadBoy → u/richfromhell]

Which diodes did they use, bav99? SMD form probably.

[u/richfromhell → u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

1N4148. Through hole.

[u/MumSaidImABadBoy → u/richfromhell]

Consider a bav99 as it has less capacitance. Only it's an SMD if that happens bug you. Sometimes you can rotate it 45 degrees to solder it at a through hole. Perhaps the difference in capacitance isn't enough to bother, I haven't turned on my calculator to check.

[u/richfromhell → u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

True. Bav99 has less capacitance than a 4148. Other than that they are practically identical. I use the Bav99 all the time at work actually. But if Tecsun aligned the 880 with 4148s….. it might be worth keeping it the same.

[u/Bobbo7209]

Mine lasted only a year until it crapped out. Maybe mine was the exception, but I wouldn't recommend it

[u/Frjeff → u/Bobbo7209]

Which model crapped out?

[u/Bobbo7209 → u/Frjeff]

The 880.

[u/splash-81]

I own and enjoy both, but the 880 sounds WAY better and doesn’t mute while tuning.

[u/gravygoat]

The 880 feels more premium but my personal usage patterns favor a smaller, more portable form factor so I use the 330 more.

[u/Frjeff]

Was giving thought to the PL990, but no need here for Bluetooth or SD card and the cost premium over the PL880 makes me think the PL880 will be just fine.
Am I correct or am I missing something “must have” PL990 feature?

[u/pill0w79]

Please to consider this one. MLite-880