TRRS

Comparison testing of the Eton Satellit and Tecsun PL-880 shortwave radios.
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Remember, I am no expert so take everything you see with that in mind.
Thanks for watching.

[@st.charlesstreet9876]

Thinking of buying either radio and your performance tests were invaluable! TY for the post.🙂

[@hamrad88]

You are very welcome and have a great day.

[@aeronwilliams94]

thanks for putting this video up .... I've been looking to get a new portable sw radio and it was a toss up between these two .

[@Need4Steam]

Loved the sound of the rain in the background. In California we forget what that sounds like ;)

[@hamrad88]

This year we have had enough rain for Florida and California. Tom

[@gerardorinconke8rrg533]

I would love to see a similar review of the Eton Elite Executive vs Tecsun PL880 or PL990X in SW but connected to an external antenna such as MLA-30

[@kissingbanditt]

Amazing video review...Thanks for making it...looking forward for more of your videos...

[@hamrad88]

Thank you. It's always difficult to record shows when trying to listen to shortwave as conditions are always changing. Tom

[@mikejk27]

Always very informative videos....many thanks....regards from the u.k

[@hamrad88]

+Michael Ketchell Thank you, Michael.

[@jjcoolaus]

One thing suggested to me with the g3 that worked well is to tune 1khtz below your intended frequency before enabling sync. So 6149 in this case?

[@hamrad88]

Thank for the input. Tom

[@ezl7052]

My Tecsun 660 was an early one and I had all kinds of problems with it and that pretty well turned me off on Tecsun 660.

[@ezl7052]

Dalibor, Tom reviewed the Kaito 1103 and you might want to check that one out, it's impressive! If a person can afford the Satellite 750 it's expensive but looks like a good one. I have the older Satellite 800 and I like it and I guess a fella gets what he pays for. Tom might have some more ideas on these radios but if I had a choice on a tight budget I would go with the Kaito 1103.

[@VictorVii]

Kaito KA1103 is same radio as Degen DE1103 ant it seems to be very good radio. Only thing i dislike about it is fact that you tune and and control sound volume with same button. I will be looking radio in price range $50-$100 because everything above that is way to expensive for me. You can buy same amount of stuff here for the dollar (maybe even less) as in USA but it is much harder to earn it. I'm in one of those countries where you can hardly find a job and everything is expensive. Anyway, IF I get new radio I think that I will have to select between Degen DE1103 and Tecsun 660, it seems that new series of 660 do not have any problems.

[@johncase7564]

The sync detector works best when you are as close to being "dead on" in frequency as possible. The station you were listening to was broadcasting on 6150 KHz. For some reason, you tuned to 6149 KHz. To make matters worse, you then set the fine tuning on SSB using the 6149 KHz frequency as a base. You were then way off true frequency. The fine tune settings on SSB remain at the last setting until you set them again. They do not reset for normal power cycles. So your fine tune setting was acting like an offset to the SSB frequency, and you were, as I said, way off. If you had set the frequency to 6150, then set it to SSB and fine tuned it on 6150, then engaged the sync, the sync would have worked much better. I mentioned this to you several videos ago. Trying to sync on 6149 KHz is not going to work if the station is broadcasting on 6150 KHz. Having the fine tune setting so far off also was causing the distortion when you finally got the frequency tuned right at 6150 KHz in sync mode. The fine tune settings affects the sync much as the BFO on the Grundig Satellit 700 affects the sync detector on that radio. I have tested one of these against a Tecsun PL-880, and it was more sensitive on the whip antenna than my PL-880. Given the wide variances in quality control on these radios, I hesitate to draw too many conclusions, but . your Eton Satellit is acting like you have the attenuator set to local. I asked you this before and you said it was set to DX. Was this eyeballing the switch, or did you physically move it back an forth to make sure it was set all the way in DX? If so, possibly the input sensitivity was damaged during your attempts to get the stereo external antenna jack to work. Or, you may just have a dud. Why don't you just return it? The muting during tuning seems to have you so flustered you are not being fair to yourself or the radio.

[@Greg-et2dp]

Tom's radio room show the Eton Elite satellite Mw lw fm air sw ssb is awesome my friend

[@alexandrecunha5241]

Hi Tom! At this moment I have this Eton Executive Satellit. I’m thinking about to change this radio for the Tecsun S2000 or Tecsun PL-880. Which one do you recommend? Hugs from Brazil🇧🇷

[@hamrad88]

First keep in mind the quality control of the Tecsun radios is poor. One person can get one that works great and another person can get one that works poorly. So I always advise people to get a radio from a company that has a good return policy. I have not tested the S2000 and I got some of the early models of the 880 which had a lot of design shortcoming. So I would not recommend either based on my limited knowledge and experience. That is not to say that either would be a good choice.

[@Richard_K1630]

Does the 880 have an external antenna jack?

[@hamrad88]

+Richard K Yes

[@aeronwilliams94]

I'm considering getting a new radio pretty soon , which one of these would you recommend ? I also like the sangean 909 . At the moment I'm using the degen 1103 non dsp and the tecsun 660 .regards .

[@hamrad88]

+aeron Williams That is a tough questions. They all have their pros and cons. If you are not interested in SSB then I would say the 880. My two 880s do poorly on SSB but otherwise great. I love the display on the 909 but it has a very unique tuning control. I was disappointed with the Eton Satellit.

[@aeronwilliams94]

+hamrad88 thanks , I would like ssb as I like to listen to ham's etc . maybe wait for the 1103 with dsp

[@hamrad88]

+aeron Williams The 1103 is definitely a good radio.

[@greggaieck4119]

I have the eton satlit

[@greggaieck4119]

You should used fin tune on the eton satlit when you lison to sbs

[@erichigbie2404]

The eton satteit is EXACTLY like my Grundig g5.Right down to the hole /reset button on right side. Listen to my G5 nearly every day The G5 size and weight make radio quite handy as i can keep it in my scoter basket and listen to AM and FM broadcat, Need to study the synch mode

[@hamrad88]

Eric Higbie I agree. Thanks for your comments. Tom

[@Greg-et2dp]

Tom's radio room show on the two shortwave receivers clip a long wire on the antenna my friend

[@dscooby5942]

When you sync'ing if LSB is noisy like that flip to USB while sync is activated you're getting a channel on the lower side bleeding in .My Satellite 800 is like that if LSB is wonky on Sync go to USB while in Sync mode and use a narrower filter too if you have to . It wont do it all for you sadly..you have to massage the signal's out.The Sat . 800 does admirable once you turn sync on and select upper/lower and filter width that works at that time.

[@Hi-lb8cq]

I love the eton executive radio I have...I feel like the new eton radio reception has been improved compared to eton satellite

[@hamrad88]

Thanks for the report and have a great day.

[@KrissDucky95]

Hello I will give you my opinion on several Tecsun receivers. I tested the PL660 and the PL880 because both have the airplane band. Previously I had bought the PL880 whose sound of the speaker has always made me dream. I am French and we have a lot of radios on the Parisian FM which prevents me from testing the FM quality. I left in the countryside with FM transmitters in Amiens around 50 kilometers and as I was looking for a good receiver in LW, MW, SW and FM I could see that the 680 and 660 were worth nothing in FM compared to the PL880. It's really the one that captures distant FM while the other two have only noise. The big problem is that I miss the air band and the RDS. So I banish the 680 and the 660. I would like to test the ELTON Satellite which seems to me complete but the FM is it as sensitive as on the 880? I also thought of SANGEAN but no air band. So if you have an idea for my Christmas it would be nice.

[@sidneycavalcant]

Conseguiu a resposta ?

[@gmorgan1118]

I have an Eton Elite Executive that behaves nothing like your example -- very sensitive on the whip, more so than my Tecsun 680. With variations in build quality being what they are, I'm wondering if your Eton might just be a bad build? It's surprising to watch, compared to what I'm used to with my example. Just a thought.

[@hamrad88]

I agree about bad build. Early production runs quite often have problems that are correctly in later runs. Thanks for the information and have a great day.

[@jimberence]

..i like these site and todderbert..

[@hamrad88]

Thanks and have a great day.

[@Greg-et2dp]

Tom's radio room show your Tecsun pl 880 mw lw fm sw ssb is awesome my friend

[@nickmad887]

Thanks

[@jeffking4176]

Cool. 📻🙂

[@dxace1]

Tecsun 880 obviously has it all over this new Eton, sorry to say. It's amazing that the Eton appears to have gotten through stages of design and final production with these faults..

[@jjcoolaus]

It's disappointing. I was going to buy the smaller eton to maybe replace my Tecsun on trips away from home but that won't be happening now I guess.

[@shannonpriestley3833]

I just wish the 880 had RDS

[@ezl7052]

The readout on the Eton is easier to see vs the Tecsun. Eton has a lot of updating to do on their radio especially on the muting. The Eton needs a lot of refinement done on it and they need to watch the reviews on it. I had the Tecsun 660 and wasn't very impressed with it after it kept locking up the processor which had to be reset. Good comparison between the two radios, Thanks.

[@hamrad88]

I did not have good lighting as I wanted to keep the RF noise to a minimum. The Tecsun's backlight is not very strong but is fine in a completely dark room. I had hoped the Eton would be much better since it took them an extra 3 months to release it. Tom

[@VictorVii]

That's disappointing news for me because I kinda started to save money for PL-660, Thanks for pointing out that problem.

[@hamrad88]

Dalibor Komaromi I have a newer PL-660 (had it for about 8 months) and I have never had any problems with it. Tom

[@jjcoolaus]

Dalibor Komaromi I've had the 660 since 2012 iirc and haven't had this issue at all. It's a great radio, much better than the 600 and 880 in many ways. Good sync detection too. 880 has better sound quality if you have strong signals but it's not as good for dx'ing IMO.

[@VictorVii]

jjcoolaus Thanks for the info, I have not found bad reviews for that radio. I know only few examples where people got defective radios. If I get one I hope that I will buy good model.

[@medo123345]

👍stay successful

[@hamrad88]

Thanks and have a great day.

[@tlebryk]

Eton Satellit has 10 Hz Fine Tuning mode while in SSB. Warbling can be eliminated very effectively. Page 17 of the manual. No need to return the radio if you like SSB.

[@hamrad88]

Thanks for the info. Now if I could just remember were I put it. :)

[@charleswendt4868]

You and I have many of the same radios. Of all my radios my realistic is my favorite.

[@hamrad88]

Interesting. Thanks

[@Kreemerz]

aviation band? RDS?

[@hamrad88]

No

[@STR82DVD]

The performance, sensitivity and selectivity on my Eton Elite executive are bloody outstanding and I get every frequency the pl 880, the pl990 and the 501x gets. Odd result on your demonstration tbh.

[@hamrad88]

Thanks for your comments and have a great day.

[@STR82DVD]

@@hamrad88 Thanks for hours of content lad. Much appreciated.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I really only care about ssb and I'm just not sure what radio to purchase. Anywhere from $80-$200 is what I am looking for. Oh, and portable for us in hotels on business travel.

[@hamrad88]

+hoshnasi I would suggest you look at the Tecsun PL-660 for SSB listening.

[@steveburgblattstein5423]

Agreed. The PL-880 has never particularly impressed me on SSB. Sounds too metallic, and the sync lock function is a joke!

[@uscg8168]

youkits hb-2b if you only care about ssb and willing to do without complete 2 to 30 mhz coverage.

[@jeff-73]

Wanted to see this comparison for a while. Thank you! New eton radios are junk. So many production flaws. i do love their external design though. Why does putting your hand on the antenna make it better? Grounding?

[@hamrad88]

Yes, it helps act as a ground or Counterpoise.

[@CL-ty6wp]

Crazy how expensive these plastic chinese radios are. I could see 80$.

[@xavierathorne]

Max Grundig is flipping in his grave at the crap that they plaster his name on these days.

[@greggaieck4808]

Toms radio I have Eton Elite Executive is pice junk I. Am go to geting Tecsun 909x

[@remopkr198]

DSP receiver can't sync

[@KrissDucky95]

I just bought this radio that I had delivered from Amazon USA because in France impossible to have it. This radio is a disappointment to me first of all I was told about an exceptional reception, Nothing of that ! the LW band is shabby, the FM ok but nothing more and MW OK. In addition the parasitic lighting reception and even disease the radio does not hold in place relative to the weight of the antenna. Again my PL880 is far from being beaten. I wonder if I will not make a return! what a christmas present!

[@o00scorpion00o]

The PL-880 has one fatal flaw and that is crazy AGC and Bad distorted sound on SSB, it's a total failure, at the price, it should be a lot better. This is an issue I have heard with a lot of DSP radios, the Eton and C.Crane SKywave SSB also suffer, as well as my Tecsun S-8800 but the tecsuns seem to be the worst on SSB. After some time of listening to this rubbish performance I went back to my PL-660 for SSB and it's a pleasure to listen to compared to the 880 the only issue is the radio is physically beat from heavy use over the years so last night I ordered the PL-880. The MW , SW and FM performance of the 880 is excellent but to my ears the XHDATA D-808 is a much better sounding radio especially on SSB, it still has some of this DSP Chip related issues but it's vastly better than the PL-880 and S-8800. For the money the D-808 is true value for money. The other issue not heard in a lot of these videos is that I am using a proper external antenna and the stronger the signals the worse the ssb distorting is on the tecsuns. My only mistake is that I didn't return the 880 and S-8800. Big mistake. Tecsun are making their last so called performance radios in 2020, the H-501 and the PL-990, I hope the SSB issues have been addressed.

[@KrissDucky95]

hello, you seem to have knowledge about many radios so what do you think of ETON executive satellit from Grundig .i found it very bad in LW from my point of view

[@o00scorpion00o]

@@KrissDucky95 I have no experience with the Eton radios, very hard to get here in Europe.

[@wildbillo68]

You can tell this is an old video... The Eton is now about 120.00 on ebay (New) and the Pl-880 are goin for about 130. on ebay as well...

[@michaeldavis4746]

It seems to me that sync distortion from a fair signal is quite distorted and unintelligible on the Eton. It also seems that the Eton is not as intuitive to use when compared to the PL-880 Tecsun. Also, the PL-880 has much superior audio compared to the Eton. I purchased the Tecsun PL-880 along with the Tecsun A< Tunable loop. I am extremely pleased with both! I have had mine for around a year and use it every day with zero problems. A very fine radio IMHO.

[@hamrad88]

Thanks for your inputs and have a great day.

[@thedancingalien7766]

Us aliens use these too.

[@circuit-breakermi3865]

Bye-bye Eton.

[@VictorVii]

This Eton Satellite is so bad. Tecsun looks better, works better and it's cheaper. I am not sure where Eton is going with everything. Tecsun DR920 is same radio as Eton 1100 and it's less than half a price. This just does not make any sense. Good video.

[@hamrad88]

Keep in mind the early Tecsun 880's had some major problems too. I had one and returned it and got one with newer firmware that fixed some of the problems but not all. Tom

[@zimilanga]

+DK Production tecsun is the best, ı have got pl 600 and pl 360 quality ( sound and antenna) is so good

[@hohnercorso]

Tom Hi again ! I sent you the same message about 3 years ago with regard to comparing radios. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Turn off the radio next to to the one under test. In this video you suggested that you would not use the ac adapter because it causes interference ...So what about the radio sitting adjacent to the one under test while still turned on ? The oscillators for generating the mixing frequencies for the 1st , 2nd , and maybe the 3rd , if the radio is so designed with one generate interference ! In England , one needs a radio license to simply receive. The authorities drive around in little vans with high gain yagi antennae and pick up the oscillations from the mixer sections of a radio receiver. If the guy does not have a license , he is charged. I love your channel by the way ! Bill VO1BR

[@spresc2180]

Please test your radios using a decent external antenna, and pretty much forget the whip testing. Whips suck, plain and simple. Thanks.

[@hamrad88]

Thanks for your comment. That would kind of defeating the propose of having a small portable radio. Secondly, many people will not have the antennas that I have so I may have good results and they on the other may not. Normally when I test larger desktop radios I use outside antennas.