Passport to World Band Radio 2009

I bought the Tecsun PL-600 from China as a cheap but capable portable to take with me when I travel abroad, which I do frequently. I’m really very pleased with it and I think it offers very good value for money. I can’t disagree with your comments, but I would like to adda couple of things:

—I didn’t have the sound distortion problems you had. I suspect you got a duff radio. Like you, though, I don’t think the chances of getting a unit replaced are very high: I got mine through eBay from a guy in Shenzhen. No twine wrapping on the parcel, thank goodness, but not a lot of padding in the envelope either.

—The PL-600 will power a Sony AN-LP1 aerial, like the Sony radios do. This isn’t a great advantage but is a nice little plus.

—The external power supply is a weird hybrid: it has US pins but works on European voltages. As I live in the UK and have lots of travel adaptors this doesn’t bother me. Maybe it will also work on 110V? I’ll try the next time I’m in the US.

—It’s one of the easiest to use radios I’ve had. I also have a Sony ICF-SW7600GR which has more features but the PL-600 but isn’t quite as pleasant to use.

—My unit didn’t smell of creosote.

—Carl Moss

Ed.: This model doesn’t appear to be shown anymore on the factory website.