PL990 Digital Worldband AM/FM Shortwave Longwave Radio with Single Side Band Reception & MP3 Player, Matte Black

As a licensed ham radio operator I find myself buying all sorts of radios and have 4 shortwave radios. 1) The radio arrives in a high quality box expertly packed. 2) includes an impressive leather case. 3) The speaker and sound this radio produces is a noticeable level above other radios of equal or lesser value. This is a fabulous sounding radio. 4) At this price you expect SSB, great sensitivity and selectivity and great reception. This radio checks those boxes. 5) At this price you expect package to include optional long wire antenna. Included. Of all these features the feature this radio provides over other models is the amazing sound quality. You won’t be disappointed.

This is a modern radio with modern features, but from its execution to documentation, is clearly a love letter to the past (watch some YouTube videos about it!) Bravo, Tecsun. I also own the Eton Field BT, but bought this because it can play MP3s (it was worth that much to me) and was money well spent. This a more premium product than any Eton I’ve owned. I was a Grundig guy back in the day, but will definitely look first at Tecsun in the future.

This receiver supports it's specifications and, as an added bonus, has excellent audio fidelity. FM is excellent and tuning all bands is extremely is easy and precise. I highly recommend this receiver for anyone that needs a good, portable all-band receiver.

Solidly built. Great reception on FM with whip antenna. AM reception is ok but terrific with a loop antenna. Shortwave is good with whip antenna and pretty good with exterior antenna. Controls are easy to use. ATS is a great feature in scanning for available signals in the MW, FM and SW bands. SYNC option is pretty useless as it is in most TECSUN SW radios. I am impressed with the Pl-990 and recommend it. The extras in the box such as external SW antenna, leather like carry case and charging block are nice touches. I like the PL-990 over the 330 due to it being larger and having a kickstand. Reception quality is similar in both with the 990 sounding better due to its larger speaker. A word of caution on the 990s whip antenna. The tip is very thin and easily bent unlike the 330 which is smaller and more compact. I will be purchasing the H-501 when it is available in late June. Tecsun is quality and their radios are widely praised by the experts.

Overall, a great little receiver. It works much better for SSB and CW on the ham bands, than other portable receivers. The biggest problems are in the software. I noticed the following issues: 1) Memory truncates to nearest KHz. If you try to store a frequency of 14.31250, it is changed to 14.31200 2) Memory is easily corrupted when scanning into it, requiring a reset of all memory to make it work again. 3) Battery status wanders from full to empty and back unless fully charged or discharged. 4) It lacks true AM synchronous detection which uses both sidebands to synchronize and detect the signal. What it does is use the carrier to lock the frequency (similar to AFC on an FM radio) and then receive one of the sidebands. This only works on signals with little fading. For most fading signals, simply using basic USB or LSB works better.

The price is a bit high, but the product quality is decent. If you're not too bothered by the cost, it’s worth considering.

Dislikes This receiver has only one power source. I have the generic battery that came with the Tecsun PL-990, plus two brand name batteries I purchased. (50 bucks) Thank you to Scott, who kindly offered a fix, it didn't work (plus, I had already tried the reset 73). 1) Only one power source. 2) Very short lifespan 3) This Receiver has a history of charging failures. (My own fault, I didn't do my homework as thorough as I should have) 4) With my number of years getting shorter, I rushed into this purchase. 5) Stick with products I'm familiar with. An old dog can learn new tricks; never purchase a single power source electronic device again. The primary reason I purchased the Tecsun PL-990 was due to the fact I wake up, get out of bed & go to our laundry room and listen to the 76/80 meter Amateur Radio Operators chew on the rag. Soon my Wife began joining me in my nightly hobby; listening to the guys chew the rag reminded her of the daytime Soap Operas that once dominated daytime TV. We could go to the 'shak' & fire up one of my rigs, but at the age we are enjoying each other's company is more important in my eyes. But, purchasing an almost $300.00 Receiver and it fails in about 6 months is a sign this Tecsun PL-990 was defective before my purchase. I will say the speaker is clear & crisp. I was actually looking forward to Solar Cycle 25, with our Sun's recent CMEs my hopes are high. The $300.00 I spent on this little thing Tecsun calls a Receiver could have been spent on some Amateur Radio goodies. Oh well, as I stated I want to say Thank You to all the guys who offered fix-it suggestions.

Still working well in reception and sound quality and battery life was considered long within my expectations.

Un magnífico receptor multi bandas y muy intuitivo en su uso, además, la recepción de estaciones de larga distancia mediante a.m., LW, ISW es excelente. También, el reproductor que incluye este magnífico receptor de radio es muy práctico cuando queremos escuchar nuestros audios favoritos en diferentes formatos. Como incondicional RadioEscucha desde siempre recomiendo la compra de este receptor de radio

Es un excelente receptor, se siente de buena calidad, pesa lo suficiente y tiene buen sonido. La recepción en onda corta también es muy buena con su antena telescópica que mide unos 97 centímetros, su último tramo es muy delgado por Loque se debe ser cuidadoso. Funciona bien el Bluetooth para escuchar música desde tu teléfono y tiene buena duración de la batería. Sólo hay un detalle en la perilla de sintonía, se endurece pero sólo un poco en algún punto al girarla, pero poca cosa. Por lo demás un radio fantástico para la escucha de onda corta. Para FM es muy bueno porque tiene un sonido equilibrado, si tuviese RDS sería mejor, pero no es imprescindible, toda la vida escuché radio sin necesidad de ello.

Excelente recepción muy sensible am fm onda corta tecsun es una buena marca

El radio tiene una apreciación de ser de buena calidad y construcción robusta, tiene muy buena recepción y sensibilidad.

Me gusta mucho que tiene casi todos los controles al frente.