Tecsun PL-990 Review

[@SirSteveFury]

I got mine new a year ago (amazon) for $230. Now is about $280. Great review. The MLA30+ is a low cost active loop antenna that compliments this radio. I brought mine to the Philippines. I average about 30 SW broadcasts a a night. Sometimes over 100. While in the States, I can listen to Texas or Wyoming MW stations at night (From Georgia) using the MLA30+. I have no complaints about this radio except the sync, as you covered. You must have gotten a bad battery. My battery lasts more than a month using the radio almost every night for about an hour. This is my best SW and MW radio.

[@AMFMDX]

You got a good deal! I can't afford nearly $300 for a radio, no matter how good it is. I have a couple of Tecsun's, but they are not nearly the radio the PL-990 is. I wanted stereo audio from a portable (which isn't easy to find!), so I bought the PL-398BT and also have a Tecsun PL-398 in silver. Good little radios - but terrible speakers. Everything - even Bluetooth - kinda sounds like AM radio audio. But they are both decent MW/Shortwave DX radios and I got each of them for between $30-$40.

[@royrow8879]

You are off to a great start. I’m a follower!

[@twohandsandaradio]

What a great deal! I wonder why radio manufacturers can't do sync detect well? Seems like the Sony ICF-2010 is the only one out there that does it well. I went with the H-501x over this. Reason, I could only afford one. I really wish I had got this. Seems to be a better build quality. My biggest pet peeve with the 501x is a wobbly tuning knob. That drives me insane. Anyway good luck with your channel! Excellent review.

[@vinayfondekar3455]

80 bucks? that’s a good catch for that radio.u need MLA 30 loop antenna and then u gonna c what magic this radio can do.

[@n7bcp]

I thought that was a very nice review. I noticed you were showing off the SSB mode on an AM station. How is the performance of SSB on a station transmitting in SSB? Same distortion?

[@JMastura]

$80 is a good deal for this radio

[@JMastura]

What battery did you replace the original one with?

[@nyesslee]

I used a nitecore battery from a flashlight but any button top 18650 would work

[@JMastura]

@@nyesslee Thanks 👍

[@Blackstone.security.utopia]

How long will the battery last with it fully charged if it's off and how long will it run if on about half volume

[@j7ndominica051]

I'd buy it for 80. But it costs 300 new, which is too much. I guess they can't have economies of scale with radios anymore & the chinese are counting on thick wallets in the west. They could have made it bigger and put a decent speaker and a bigger ferrite antenna, or make a second model that is bigger. I'd like to see how the synchronous detection works on distant stations with fading. Like China Radio International. It can't really impve the snr if the signal is stable but low. Can you make SSB sound natural without a frequency shitt?

[@sebicarjan1179]

Weak presentation!