It became obvious some time ago that it made no sense to own both a Tecsun PL-880 and a PL-990 portable shortwave receiver. I knew one of them should go — but which one?
The PL-880 had the best speaker of any radio I’ve owned. The bass was fantastic. It was also smaller than the PL-990. The PL-990, on the other hand, has the ability to use an external antenna on MW and supports synchronous detection. In the end, I found myself using the PL-990 and not using the PL-880 very much.
The PL-880 sold on eBay for a stunning $141.
I’m eyeing an XHDATA D-608 to buy with some of the proceeds when it finally goes up for sale. It’s a yellow emergency radio (solar and crank power) that seems to be similar internally to their D-109WB. Then the Mesqool CR-1009 Pro will go down to the Goodwill Store (it works OK but it’s now well-designed for shortwave).
Update: XHDATA sent me a free D-608WB in exchange for my help in improving the manual (or maybe just because they think I’m an influencer). In any case, I don’t recommend it.
For years, a PL-380 was my go-to travel radio. Soon after it was introduced, I bought a PL-330, a much better radio.
A few days ago, I sold the PL-380 on eBay. Already, I kind of miss it, like an old friend.
I hear ya, bro.