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intelligibility) will be just at the threshold of 100% copyable on the 1103. Used as your primary receiver, the
slightly less sensitivity of the PL-600 on MW becomes a moot point if combined with a signal enhancing
agent like a Q-Stick or even a small tunable passive loop.
On FM, the PL-600 is about the same sensitivity as the 1103. A cursory check was done on several weak
stations, and strength was identical in all cases.
Sensitivity on the shortwave bands is so close I can't tell a difference. A few extra feet of wire clipped to the
whip greatly enhances shortwave signal strength.
TUNING
In tuning the radio, no chuffing or dropout is apparent, and tuning is very smooth. Two tuning speeds are
available, slow and fast, selectable by pressing a button on the front of the radio. In the fast speed, the radio
tunes in 9 or 10 KHz increments on the MW band using the tuning dial or up and down buttons, 5 KHz on the
shortwave bands, and 100 KHz on the FM band. Fast speed tunes through the LW band in 9 KHz increments.
In the slow speed, the radio tunes in 1 KHz increments on the LW band, MW band and shortwave, and 10
KHz on the FM band.
Direct entry tuning couldn't be easier, and is
the best on any radio I have used lately,
including the Eton E1 and my old Drake
SW-8. Simply punch in the frequency and
the radio tunes to it - no pressing an "Enter"
key, or period "." key twice, etc. It does in
fact have an "Enter" key, however it is
generally only needed on the FM band for
MHz operations if you choose not to enter
the trailing zeroes. Also, general band
selection can be done by the "carousel"
method. There is a button which takes you
through LW-MW-FM, and another button
that carousels you through the shortwave
bands.
SCANNING
Scanning is simple. Simply press and hold the "Up" or "Down" tuning button for a couple of seconds and the
radio will scan in that direction through the current band. The PL-600 has a special function called Automatic
Tuning Scan (ATS), which will scan both the MW and FM bands for receivable stations. Those found are
saved in the P0 (Page 0) memory bank. Up to 100 can be saved. Simply press and hold the LW-MW-FM
button and the ATS scan starts. A very nice feature.
FILTERS
Two filter widths are available for LW, MW and shortwave - wide and narrow, most likely 6 KHz and 4 KHz.
The English manual does not specify the filter widths, although I am fairly certain the narrow filter is a 4 KHz
one.
I tested both against strong local channels on the MW band. Both radios have front-end overload tendencies
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