Tecsun PL-360 Digital PLL Portable AM/FM Shortwave Radio with DSP, Black

This small handheld receiver by Tecsun is quite capable and does exactly what it is designed to do. As a point of reference, I will compare its features to other radios in my arsenal.1. ATS: This feature is almost required to effectively use the radio. The tuning dial on the right hand side of the radio, while adequate, is single step, and for shortwave listening, can take a long while to tune around the meter bands. For MW and FM, the ATS function is excellent. Just hold down either the MW or FM button, and within seconds, the radio has scanned the band and placed all received signals into a memory page for easy tuning and listening.Utilizing the DSP chip from Silicon Labs, the PL-360 amazingly catalogs the available stations while almost negating any false signals. The ATS function on the PL-360 is much better than the ATS offered on the much more expensive and Tecsun flagship PL-660. The PL-660 will readily skip powerhouse stations and catalog a frequency either one step above or below the target station. For instance, the powerhouse station 95.50 out of Johnstown, PA, is often saved as 95.40 and sometimes it will even skip over 95.50 altogether. On the PL-360, every available frequency is cataloged perfectly! The ETM feature works similarly to ATS.2. Sensitivity is very good, not excellent on MW and the rotatable AM antenna works very well.3. Attach the supplied clip FM/SW wire antenna and the FM band really comes to life. It can overload signals at times on powerhouse shortwave stations. The PL-360 is every bit as sensitive as the PL-660 on FM, however, it does not match the capabilities of the PL-660 on SW. This should be expected in my opinion. With the supplied wire antenna clipped to the telescopic antenna, many stations unheard by the telescopic antenna alone come to life from as far away as MD, WV, and OH!4. The sound through the small speaker is surprisingly adequate for a small pocket radio and through the ear buds, FM stereo sounds very pleasant, though not as good as the PL-660.I would recommend this radio. The coolest feature in my opinion is the rotatable AM antenna. It is my personal belief that all multi-band radios should offer a rotating AM antenna just as some of the old Panasonic radios from the 1970's did. For the price, it is well worth the $47 I paid and the radio arrived within 3 days.

My Tecsun PL-360 has so far exceeded all my expectations.The MW and FM sensitivity is good. I've seen no issues at all with selectivity. A bunch of its features are entertaining. The Signal Strength and Signal/Noise indicators really do work and prove that the assorted antenna options make a difference.I didn't buy it to use as a MW DXing toy, but it's quickly become one.I haven't given it much of a workout on the SW bands, but the initial ETS scan (indoors) did pick up stations. For no good reason, I even turned ON the LW band (instructions are in the manual) and that worked. I think that I heard a coded signal from a navigation transmitter. That's interesting but not useful for me, so it's back OFF..I put in 3 used AA NiMH batteries and set up the Sleep Timer to keep the radio ON. I thought I was testing its power consumption. Several days have passed without recharging and the radio is still running!A bunch of features that I wouldn't have understood before getting the radio have turned out to be very nice.The buttons are small, but it's a small radio. The enclosed manual has some quirky instructions, but everything is there in it.If you hate programming your own home digital thermostat, the radio probably isn't for you. If you refuse to follow instructions, you won't get very far with this radio. But I'm really pleased that I bought it!=====P.S. It's a day since I wrote my original review and I haven't turned off the radio yet. It's still playing an AM station through its speaker... so the battery LIFE is excellent! The battery level indicator shows remaining battery charge still available too, but I'm tiring of the sound of the thing in the background! Maybe I'll stuff into a sock and stash it in a dresser drawer just to see how much longer the batteries will hold up (they are green and black with a copper colored top and labelled "DURACELL RECHARGEABLE AA/HR6/DX1500 NiMH 1.2V/2000mAh". Pretty good, I think!=====P.P.S. Well, another 24 hours has elapsed and the radio is still playing through its speaker. The BATTERY INDICATOR is showing near empty, but it's not yet flashing as promised in the Operation Manual that it eventually will. I'll wait until the radio dies, then recharge through the USB port. I'm not going to report on this again... it's not useful info except to note that battery life really good and not something to be concerned with!=====another note: Using the LW band with the included plugin AM antenna I was able to find (on the ground) the local airport radio navigation approach beacon that I earlier heard at 385 KHz. According to Google Earth, it turned out to be 10 miles from where I first heard it and at an angle of 40° off of the aircraft flight path that it marks.That antenna shows a significant sharp "null" that aligns with the antenna position and works pretty well as a direction finder as well as a noise cancelling aid for both the LW and MW bands. Maybe FUN for DXing... kind of like geo-caching with a LW receiver!

The media could not be loaded. Useful for on the road or while hiking. Nice ETM function. Useful instructions in a small pamphlet. Comes with an mw/lw external antenna, telescoping fm antenna, and an external fm/sw antenna, and very basic headphones. Suggest buying a SW antenna with this radio. I bought the Sangean ANT-60. Can be held and operated with one hand. Eats through batteries because clock and temperature monitor are always on. Has a DC 5V jack on the side.I'm happy with this purchase. Good reception on all bands.