In the three weeks I've had it the Tecsun PL-390 has provided more fun per square inch than any of the other seven shortwave radios I've acquired along the way.
The kid-in-a-candy-store feature is ETM, Easy Tune Method, which polls the shortwave bands and in a minute or two puts into memory all the stations that have a reasonable signal. Then, it's a simple matter of dialing through them to see what's on the air. It's pretty effective. After the top of the hour, I re-poll the stations and see who's come on the air, and who has left.
In my brief experience it has pulled out stations I would have missed with my other radios (which include a beloved Eton E1). The bigger, fancier radios aren't going away -- but this little guy holds his own against some tough competition. The biggest issue is the small speakers -- but small size is one of its advantages in other ways.
I agree. This is a fun radio.
Posted by: Doug T. | November 29, 2011 at 07:14 PM
The 390 review above is my original work, reprinted without permission; I am not "Toaster" nor do I know who that is.
Please correct the writing attribution to show it was written by KI6H (my FCC call, which is how I was credited on eHam.)
The full piece (posted on 19 April 2011 to eHam) can be read here: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/9410
Michael
KI6H
PS hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: KI6H | November 29, 2011 at 08:16 PM
MIchael, correction will be made. Jeff
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | November 29, 2011 at 08:57 PM