[Lowfer] Any comments from users of this LW Receiver ?

[Steve Ratzlaff]

Hi Stan,
I belong to a yahoo "ultralight radio" list that discusses such pocket radio 
that this Tecsun PL-360 belongs in the class of. It and the various other 
Tecsun radios such as the PL-310 and PL-380 use a Silicon Labs DSP chip that 
includes a varactor-tuned front end. The SiLabs data sheet for the chip has 
a lot of info. Folks have made replacement antennas such as the common 7.5 
inch ferrite rod from Amidon, wound for MW reception; one guy tried it with 
a coil wound for LF. I've tried a similar Tecsun model (PL-380) that doesn't 
have a removable ferrite antenna but uses the same SiLabs DSP chip, with a 
ferrite rod with LF coil. LF sensitivity was very poor and there were lots 
of spurious noises and hets over the LF range. The DSP chip was designed 
primarily for MW and HF usage.
Note that a replacement antenna has to have an inductance that will resonate 
over the varactor's tuning range; you can't simply plug in a longwire or 
random ferrite antenna. The varactor won't cover the full LF range with one 
LF antenna coil.
Several folks have reported using these radios in Europe and report poor 
LWBC reception, even with the very strong stations relatively close by 
there.
73,
Steve

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stan, W1LE" <stanw1le at verizon.net>
To: <Lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 5:53 PM
Subject: [Lowfer] Any comments from users of this LW Receiver ?


> http://cgi.ebay.com/TECSUN-PL360-PLL-DSP-ETM-AM-FM-SW-LW-PL-360-/110487962902?pt=Shortwave_Radios&hash=item19b9988516
>
> Thanks   Stan, W1LE     Cape Cod