I'm happy to hear that the PL-368 is performing well against the SR-286; it's a personal favourite among *all* the low-cost portables. I'm sure both were set to a 6k bandwidth, but it wouldn't hurt to specifically mention that fact. Great comparison (as always), and this method of recording the output is definitely better than using USB/wireless mic. 👍
Thanks for your comment. My little Tecsun PL-368 is also one of my personal favourites! Sorry I did not mention the bandwidth. I generally do most of my videos with the bandwidth set between 3K and 4K. In this case also, the Tecsun was mostly on 3.5K, and the Qodosen either 3K or 4K. I find that when I go wider than that it often introduces some kind of humming noise.
@@swlistening OK, cool, the variation was minimal. The bandwidth selection implementation on DSP is a whole topic on its own. I'm not sure about humming noise, but when it comes to selectivity, it may produce unexpected results. For example, a stronger nearby station may be audible at 6k, almost inaudible at 4k, then audible again at 3k. 🤪
Thanks Andre for leveling the playing field by using the headphone output. I have a CommRadio. G-5 and am planning on buying a G-7 which is the equivalent of the 368 whenever they have back in stock. My Belka would give both of those radios stiff competition by using the headphone jack, however, speaker wise the radio sounds like my tiny speakers on my PineBook Pro. I my limited hearing, they both seem neck and neck in terms of hearing the weak signals. I know the 368 has SSB so if I was limited to one radio…the 368 would be it for SW. The Q wins on MW for ease of use and DXING capability, but I would not refuse either set….😊😊😊! 21470KHZ used to be my favorite BBC channel in the summer,especially during high solar Max. 21740 KHz was Radio Australia’s go to for the same reason….memories…😂! I why I never pick any of these frequencies up as it is 0330 to 0400 local time…,ZZZZ…😂! 73! Have a great day!
Thanks, I think it does give a better idea of the actual capability of each radio when I record through the headphone jack. And it sounds better. A bit more work for me, but it's worth it in the end. I agree about the PL-368/GP-7, with the addition of SSB it is a very good choice and it is, indeed, very close to the SR-286. I do still think the SR-286 is ahead when it comes to really weak signals, and even on the Reach Beyond Australia signal here it sounds cleaner than the PL-368. But both these radios picked up all the signals, even the weak ones, so I think they are both quite excellent. I would still like to get a Belka one day, there are so many radios to try :-) I have some MW recordings from last night on the SR-286 and some comparison, will be editing them over the weekend and then uploading. I think you will find them interesting. On MW there is simply no contest, the SR-286 far outperforms both the XHDATA D-808 and the Tecsun PL-368, it was interesting to see. Last night was actually the first really good night for MW DXing here at my place.
Well done Andre. I like the way you are now taking the audio straight out to the digital recorder. In the past using a mic in front of the receiver showed how the rig may sound 'as is'. Folks would've noticed how much better it was with a pair of headphones plugged into the radio. Often a major difference between receivers was the different small speakers. What you're doing now gives a better idea of how the receiver is actually performing. 😁
Thank you Rob, it really does give a better idea of performance when recording straight to the digital recorder. I think in the case of the PL-368, for example, it just sounds so much better when recorded digitally, the small speaker on that one is a bit of a limitation. But great performance through the headphones jack!
@@RJDA.DakotaThanks! The PL-368 is one very good example. Not the best speaker, but really shows what a good radio it is when audio is recorded digitally.
Thanks for making this shootout, André. I was among the ones calling for it to take place 😁 The Tecsun really holds the comparison quite well here. I'd even go as far as giving it the first round. A bit less noise. The Qodosen clearly wins the second one, and the next one is a draw to my ears. Again I'll give the fourth and last round to the Qodosen. I'm wondering how you figured out that the second station was in Burmese? pretty hard to catch the language here. My SR-286 seems close to reaching me now, hopefully by mid next week. I'll certainly do some comparison with my PL-330 and my Degen DE1103. I concur that recording line out signal helps giving us a more accurate audio rendering, much nicer to listen to also. It takes the loudspeakers out of the equation too. Keep up the good videos. Thanks for entertaining us.
Hey Alain, thanks for your comment! Your request is one of the reasons why I did this :-) I am happy to hear that your Qodosen is close to reaching you, I think you will enjoy it. In my experience it really is quite an amazing radio. About the Burmese signal, I could not figure out the language at all, except at the end where the woman speaks, where it sounds a bit like Thai, to be honest, so kind of neighbouring country. But shortwavedb lists this one as Burmese language, unidentified station. So that's where I got the Burmese from. I agree with you about the PL-368 (and, by implication, the PL-330). The 368 did really well here, I think on the first signal the two were basically equal, maybe, as you say, with the 368 slightly ahead. I am lookimg forward to your comparison of the Qodosen and the PL-330, will be really interesting for me. As an aside, this video is not about MW, but tonight MW conditions were really good here and the Qodosen really impressed me (until the battery gave up, the battery does not last long...) None of my other good MW radios even came close. I have three videos now that I will edit over the weekend and upload.
It's been a while since your PL-368 appeared on your channel, bru! 😊 I remember when the XHDATA D-219 was the star of your show, followed by the D-109 and then the yellow D-608WB. Now it's the SR-286 that's become your favorite radio in 2024. 📻♥️ It's a good thing that you didn't buy the cheaper TEF 6686 project radios, because they seem to be plagued by the noise from the color LCD screen. Qodosen did the right thing by prescribing the noiseless, monochrome LCD display and not only that, the LCD panel seems to be custom built for the SR-286. I've not seen any other TEF-6686 receiver using this LCD panel.
It's true, I have been neglecting the PL-368! The last couple of videos where I used the PL-368 and recorded digitally into the Tecsun ICR-110 made me realise what a good little radio the PL-368 actually is. I think like many of these small portables it is actually let down by its less-than-optimal speaker. The radio itself is better than its speaker would let you believe :-) I agree about the cheaper TEF radios, I think the Qodosen seems to have some real product development and clever thinking behind it. It is just a more well-rounded radio, compared to the homemade versions. The Qodosen is certainly my current favourite, perhaps it might even turn out to be an all-time favourite. It is just so good on MW, nothing I own comes even close. On SW it is also really great, its weak-signal capabilities are far superior to any of my other radios. On stronger signals the difference is not that big though. I will move on to something else soon. You know me, I always spend a lot of time on my channel with a new radio, as you indicate in your comment also, then I move on again... :-)
Hi Andre, I live on almost the opposite side of the world from you in Arizona USA. Some of these small SW radios are fantastic DX machines. My distance record is All India Radio 15050kHz in Bengaluru - 14,923 km from the transmitter to my house using a 53 meter horizontal skyloop antenna and aTecsun PL-680 or XHData D-808. Mark.
Hi there Mark, thank you for your comment! That is quite a record on All India Radio, it really is amazing what some of these small receivers can do if you add a good antenna. The PL-680 is said to be a really great radio. I am currently looking at buying either the PL-680 or the PL-660. I think I might go for the PL-660 because it is, from what I have read, slightly better on MW, which is important for me.
Yes, I agree with you the PL-680 is only mediocre on MW. Frankly the XHData D-808 is better than both Tecsun radios when DXing MW. I use a vintage Panasonic RF-2200 and a marine RDF radio for MW myself.
@@MDyna32 Thanks for that. I used my XHDATA D-808 in the past, but I can see that the Qodosen SR-286 will become my MW DXing radio, it is really good on MW.
sorry I missed that been soldering plugs making a CB dipole and using it on SSB as the conditions are pretty good into the states had a few contacts but mostly into the continent I use an Antron 99 but experimenting with antennas all good fun keep up the good work... @@swlistening
Hi Ali, the plugged in cable is an audio cable to my digital recorder (the Tecsun ICR-110), it is not a plugged in external antenna. On the Qodosen the antenna jack is on the left, and on the Tecsun it is in the middle of the radio at the top.
I'm happy to hear that the PL-368 is performing well against the SR-286; it's a personal favourite among *all* the low-cost portables. I'm sure both were set to a 6k bandwidth, but it wouldn't hurt to specifically mention that fact. Great comparison (as always), and this method of recording the output is definitely better than using USB/wireless mic. 👍
Thanks for your comment. My little Tecsun PL-368 is also one of my personal favourites! Sorry I did not mention the bandwidth. I generally do most of my videos with the bandwidth set between 3K and 4K. In this case also, the Tecsun was mostly on 3.5K, and the Qodosen either 3K or 4K. I find that when I go wider than that it often introduces some kind of humming noise.
@@swlistening OK, cool, the variation was minimal. The bandwidth selection implementation on DSP is a whole topic on its own. I'm not sure about humming noise, but when it comes to selectivity, it may produce unexpected results. For example, a stronger nearby station may be audible at 6k, almost inaudible at 4k, then audible again at 3k. 🤪
Thanks Andre for leveling the playing field by using the headphone output. I have a CommRadio. G-5 and am planning on buying a G-7 which is the equivalent of the 368 whenever they have back in stock.
My Belka would give both of those radios stiff competition by using the headphone jack, however, speaker wise the radio sounds like my tiny speakers on my PineBook Pro.
I my limited hearing, they both seem neck and neck in terms of hearing the weak signals. I know the 368 has SSB so if I was limited to one radio…the 368 would be it for SW. The Q wins on MW for ease of use and DXING capability, but I would not refuse either set….😊😊😊!
21470KHZ used to be my favorite BBC channel in the summer,especially during high solar Max. 21740 KHz was Radio Australia’s go to for the same reason….memories…😂!
I why I never pick any of these frequencies up as it is 0330 to 0400 local time…,ZZZZ…😂!
73! Have a great day!
Thanks, I think it does give a better idea of the actual capability of each radio when I record through the headphone jack. And it sounds better. A bit more work for me, but it's worth it in the end.
I agree about the PL-368/GP-7, with the addition of SSB it is a very good choice and it is, indeed, very close to the SR-286. I do still think the SR-286 is ahead when it comes to really weak signals, and even on the Reach Beyond Australia signal here it sounds cleaner than the PL-368. But both these radios picked up all the signals, even the weak ones, so I think they are both quite excellent.
I would still like to get a Belka one day, there are so many radios to try :-)
I have some MW recordings from last night on the SR-286 and some comparison, will be editing them over the weekend and then uploading. I think you will find them interesting. On MW there is simply no contest, the SR-286 far outperforms both the XHDATA D-808 and the Tecsun PL-368, it was interesting to see. Last night was actually the first really good night for MW DXing here at my place.
Well done Andre. I like the way you are now taking the audio straight out to the digital recorder. In the past using a mic in front of the receiver showed how the rig may sound 'as is'. Folks would've noticed how much better it was with a pair of headphones plugged into the radio. Often a major difference between receivers was the different small speakers. What you're doing now gives a better idea of how the receiver is actually performing. 😁
Thank you Rob, it really does give a better idea of performance when recording straight to the digital recorder. I think in the case of the PL-368, for example, it just sounds so much better when recorded digitally, the small speaker on that one is a bit of a limitation. But great performance through the headphones jack!
Agreed with you 100%. These sets really are meant to run through much better speakers than most people think.
@@RJDA.DakotaThanks! The PL-368 is one very good example. Not the best speaker, but really shows what a good radio it is when audio is recorded digitally.
Thanks for making this shootout, André. I was among the ones calling for it to take place 😁
The Tecsun really holds the comparison quite well here. I'd even go as far as giving it the first round. A bit less noise.
The Qodosen clearly wins the second one, and the next one is a draw to my ears.
Again I'll give the fourth and last round to the Qodosen.
I'm wondering how you figured out that the second station was in Burmese? pretty hard to catch the language here.
My SR-286 seems close to reaching me now, hopefully by mid next week. I'll certainly do some comparison with my PL-330 and my Degen DE1103.
I concur that recording line out signal helps giving us a more accurate audio rendering, much nicer to listen to also. It takes the loudspeakers out of the equation too.
Keep up the good videos. Thanks for entertaining us.
Hey Alain, thanks for your comment! Your request is one of the reasons why I did this :-)
I am happy to hear that your Qodosen is close to reaching you, I think you will enjoy it. In my experience it really is quite an amazing radio.
About the Burmese signal, I could not figure out the language at all, except at the end where the woman speaks, where it sounds a bit like Thai, to be honest, so kind of neighbouring country. But shortwavedb lists this one as Burmese language, unidentified station. So that's where I got the Burmese from.
I agree with you about the PL-368 (and, by implication, the PL-330). The 368 did really well here, I think on the first signal the two were basically equal, maybe, as you say, with the 368 slightly ahead. I am lookimg forward to your comparison of the Qodosen and the PL-330, will be really interesting for me.
As an aside, this video is not about MW, but tonight MW conditions were really good here and the Qodosen really impressed me (until the battery gave up, the battery does not last long...) None of my other good MW radios even came close. I have three videos now that I will edit over the weekend and upload.
It's been a while since your PL-368 appeared on your channel, bru! 😊 I remember when the XHDATA D-219 was the star of your show, followed by the D-109 and then the yellow D-608WB. Now it's the SR-286 that's become your favorite radio in 2024. 📻♥️
It's a good thing that you didn't buy the cheaper TEF 6686 project radios, because they seem to be plagued by the noise from the color LCD screen. Qodosen did the right thing by prescribing the noiseless, monochrome LCD display and not only that, the LCD panel seems to be custom built for the SR-286. I've not seen any other TEF-6686 receiver using this LCD panel.
It's true, I have been neglecting the PL-368! The last couple of videos where I used the PL-368 and recorded digitally into the Tecsun ICR-110 made me realise what a good little radio the PL-368 actually is. I think like many of these small portables it is actually let down by its less-than-optimal speaker. The radio itself is better than its speaker would let you believe :-)
I agree about the cheaper TEF radios, I think the Qodosen seems to have some real product development and clever thinking behind it. It is just a more well-rounded radio, compared to the homemade versions.
The Qodosen is certainly my current favourite, perhaps it might even turn out to be an all-time favourite. It is just so good on MW, nothing I own comes even close. On SW it is also really great, its weak-signal capabilities are far superior to any of my other radios. On stronger signals the difference is not that big though.
I will move on to something else soon. You know me, I always spend a lot of time on my channel with a new radio, as you indicate in your comment also, then I move on again... :-)
Hi Andre, I live on almost the opposite side of the world from you in Arizona USA. Some of these small SW radios are fantastic DX machines. My distance record is All India Radio 15050kHz in Bengaluru - 14,923 km from the transmitter to my house using a 53 meter horizontal skyloop antenna and aTecsun PL-680 or XHData D-808. Mark.
Hi there Mark, thank you for your comment! That is quite a record on All India Radio, it really is amazing what some of these small receivers can do if you add a good antenna. The PL-680 is said to be a really great radio. I am currently looking at buying either the PL-680 or the PL-660. I think I might go for the PL-660 because it is, from what I have read, slightly better on MW, which is important for me.
Yes, I agree with you the PL-680 is only mediocre on MW. Frankly the XHData D-808 is better than both Tecsun radios when DXing MW. I use a vintage Panasonic RF-2200 and a marine RDF radio for MW myself.
@@MDyna32 Thanks for that. I used my XHDATA D-808 in the past, but I can see that the Qodosen SR-286 will become my MW DXing radio, it is really good on MW.
KBS on 15575 is a really great catch. Singal on SR-286 is a bit more stable.
Thanks!
interesting comparison what antenna was you using by the way I haven't got the Tecsun PL -368 but might add one to my radio collection...
Hi Stephen, I am using a 10 metre random wire. I mention that in the intro. That is my regular antenna, and sometimes the MLA30+.
sorry I missed that been soldering plugs making a CB dipole and using it on SSB as the conditions are pretty good into the states had a few contacts but mostly into the continent I use an Antron 99 but experimenting with antennas all good fun keep up the good work... @@swlistening
@@stephenwright8103 I am also noticing that conditions have been very good over the past few days. Great for DXing. Good luck with your antennas!
Why do u attach wire with whip antenna when u have plugged in external antenna jack as well? Plz explain
Hi Ali, the plugged in cable is an audio cable to my digital recorder (the Tecsun ICR-110), it is not a plugged in external antenna. On the Qodosen the antenna jack is on the left, and on the Tecsun it is in the middle of the radio at the top.
I feel the Tecsun 330 would be a better competitor to the Qodosen unit...
Hi Joe, the PL-368 and the PL-330 are basically the same inside, but I agree with you, I think these two are very good competition for the Qodosen.