Tecsun PL-310ET User manual

TECSUN TECSUN
OPERATION MANUAL
FM stereo / SW / MW / LW DSP RECEIVER
TECSUN ELECTRONIC IND. LTD.
Address: Rm 11, 13/F, Block A, Hoi Luen Ind. Ctr.,
55 Hoi Yuen Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.tecsun.com.cn
TECSUN ELECTRONIC IND. LTD.
Timer
PL-310ET
VM/VF

PL-310ET Functional Block Diagram
PL-310ET is using DSP si4734 Microchips (from Silicon Labs in
USA) to digitalize the analog AM/FM broadcasting signal base
on the modern software technology and radio principles. It can
highly improve on radio's sensitivity, selectivity, S/N ratio and
anti-interference.
AMPLIFIER
CONTROLLER
CONTROL
INTERFACE
SW LPF
FM ANT
MW/LW ANT
PL-310ET Functional Block Diagram
MEMO

1
PL-310ET
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTROL LOCATIONS................................................... 2
LCD DISPLAY.....................................................................4
...............................5
.....................................................6
● ETM (Easy tuning mode)
● Manual tuning
● Auto browse stations
● Direct keypad entry
.......................10
●
●
●
................................11
●
● Direct key in memory address
DELETE MEMORY...........................................................12
●
SLEEP FUNCTION...........................................................13
CLOCK SETTING.............................................................13
WORKING WITH ALARM.................................................14
●
● H
● H
● H
.......................................................15
.....................16
....................................................16
.........................16
.....................................................17
SYSTEM SETTING...........................................................18
APPLYING INTELLIGENT CHARGING FUNCTION........19
..................... 20
TROUBLE SHOOTING..................................................... 21
.....................23
HOW TO TURN ON/OFF THE RADIO
TUNE INTO STATIONS
WORKING WITH STATION MEMORIES...
Auto tuning storage (ATS)
Storing station manually
Semi-auto storing stations
LISTENING TO STORED STATIONS
Manual memory tuning
● Auto browse memory
Deleting a single memory manually
● Semi-auto delete memory
● Manual deletes all memory within the band
How to set the alarm by buzzer
ow to set the alarm by radio
ow to activate / deactivate the alarm
ow to turn off when alarming
SNOOZE FUNCTION
HOW TO CHANGE THE DISPLAY MODE
KEY-LOCK FUNCTION
WORKING WITH INTELLIGENT LIGHT
.......................................................17
IMPORTANT MATTERS FOR USING BATTERIES......... 20
.............................................................25
FM ST. (FM STEREO)
AM BW (BANDWIDTH)
HOW TO IMPROVE FM / SW RECEPTION
SPECIFICATIONS
"BEEPING (B)" SOUND VIA FUNCTIONS

CONTROL LOCATIONS
SLEEP
Timer
13 14
2
1
3
4
19
18
21
22
20
TUNING
VOLUME
5
6
7
910
1112
15
16
FM & SW
ANTENNA
17
DC-IN 5V
8
ETM
VM/VF
BEEP ON/OFF PL-310ET
PL-310ET
2

Battery Compartment
22
Volume Knob
21
20 Back Stand
Multifunctional Tuning Knob
19
18 FM & SW Telescopic Antenna
USB 5V DC-IN Jack
17
Earphone Jack
16
15 FM & SW Antenna Jack
Numeric keypad
12
Memory button
11
Enter / Delete button
10
9 SW/ ATS button (SW meter band selector & Auto Tuning Storage)
8
MW / LW button ( MW / LW band selector & Auto Tuning Storage)
7
FM / ATS button (FM band selector and Auto Tuning Storage)
FM ST. / AM BW button (Band width)
6
VM / VF button
5
4 Easy Tuning Mode (ETM)
Light / Snooze button
3
2Display & Lock button
1Power on/off
14 Alarm Set
Time Set
13
3
PL-310ET

4PL-310ET
LCD DISPLAY
Battery consumption indicator
1
2Sleep indicator
3Alarm indicator
" " alarm by radio
" " alarm by buzzer
6Signal indicators
dBu: signal strength unit
dB : Signal to Noise Ratio
(S/N) unit
7
8Meter band indicator
9Preset memory address
indicator
4Temperature (Temp.)
10 ETM indicator
5AM, PM indicator for 12-hour
format clock
Tuning speed:
" " Slow Tuning
" " Fast Tuning
11
12 kHz: frequency unit for MW,
LW & SW
MHz: frequency unit for FM
15 Key-lock indicator
Digital number display (4 Digits)
With radio off: local time, alarm
time, temperature
With radio on: local time, signal
strength / SNR, alarm time,
temperature, memory address,
meter band.
13
14 Master Digits
With radio off: local time
With radio on: frequency display,
band display
FM stereo status indicator
16
Band indicator
17
Alarm indicator
12 4 6 7
8
10
14
17
18
16
Temp.
SLEEP
Timer
3
9
13
5
11
12
15
Ni-MH Battery Symbol
18

QUICK START GUIDE
HOW TO TURN ON/OFF THE RADIO
1. Open the battery compartment located on the back of the
radio; install 3 x AA alkaline batteries observing the
battery polarity diagram. Close the battery door.
2. Press the [POWER] button to turn on/off the radio.
Note:
If the radio is unable to be turned on, please check if the
batteries were installed correctly, or the battery capacity is
sufficient and the lock function has not been turned on
(press & hold the [ ] button to unlock.)
Installing batteries
Press
5
PL-310ET

SLEEP
Timer
PL-310ET
6
flashing
Frequency
changing
Preset station
number ETM
Press the [POWER] button to turn on your radio, then
select your desired band by pressing the [FM], [MW/LW],
SW [ ] or [ ] button. In case of receiving FM/ SW
broadcasting, fully extend the telescopic antenna for a
better reception. When receiving MW (LW) broadcasting,
please rotate the radio or change it's location to achieve
optimum reception. Now, you can turn into your favorite
stations with any of the below tuning methods:
TUNE INTO STATIONS
METHOD 1:
ETM (EASY TUNING MODE)
ETM is a unique tuning method designed by Tecsun. It
skillfully combines the reception circuitry & control
procedure to pre-select the radio station and temporarily
auto stores them into the ETM memory (not the regular 550
memories). This highly enhances the efficiency when tuning
into radio stations.
1. Press the [ETM] button and “ETM”
will appear on screen to enter Easy
Tuning Mode.
2. Press & hold the [ETM] button until
the frequency start running to auto
scan and store stations into ETM
memory,
within the present band.
3. When the frequency stops
running, turn the [TUNING]
knob to select those stored
stations.
Notes:
While operating ETM to search for stations, a few stations
might be missed if there is interference in the surrounding.
In this case, you can simply key-in the frequency, then press
the [ETM] button to manually store it into the ETM memory.
Please follow below steps to tune into your preferred
frequencies employing ETM:

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PL-310ET
Tips:
FM station: When you are in a different city or country, you
should perform the ETM function again in stead of using
ATS function, because this will not delete any of the
stations already stored within the memory.
MW station: It is recommendable to perform the ETM
function during night time, because there are usually many
stations starting broadcasting at night.
SW station: It is recommendable to perform the ETM
function in the morning, afternoon as well as night time,
because the transmitting signal of SW is very unstable and
usually there are more stations that start broadcasting in
the late afternoon.
FAST/SLOW tuning is shown in the chart below for each band.
0.01 MHz
1kHz
1 kHz
1 kHz
0.1 MHz
9 /10kHz
9 kHz
5 kHz
FM
MW
LW
SW
step
band
turning step
Slow tuning mode Fast tuning mode
turning step
METHOD 2: MANUAL TUNING
Frequency searching: Press the [VM/VF] button to switch
into frequency mode, and then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select your desired station.
Memory searching: Press the [VM/VF] button and “VM”
will appear on screen to enter memory mode, and then
rotate the [TUNING] knob to select those stored stations.

METHOD 3: AUTO BROWSE STATIONS
1.Turn on the radio and press the
[VM/VF] button to switch into
frequency mode.
2.Press & hold the [VM/VF] button
until [ ] advancing to scan
from one station to another,
staying on each station for about
5 seconds.
3.To stop the auto browse function,
simply press the [VM/VF] button.
SLEEP
Timer
8PL-310ET
Note:
While operating the “Auto-browse Station” function, you can
press the [M] button anytime to store the station into
memory, and the radio will keep on auto browsing the next
available station.
Auto browse station
advancing
METHOD 4: DIRECT KEYPAD ENTRY
To search for a frequency, turn on the radio and press the
[VF] button to switch into frequency mode, press the
numeric keys [0] - [9] to enter the station frequency directly.
To search for those stored stations, press the [ ]
button to switch into memory mode, then press the numeric
keys [0] - [9] to enter the preset memory number directly.
Notes:
1. Ignore the decimal point for FM band when inputting the
frequency numbers.
For example, FM 89.3 MHz, just enter 8 9 3.
2. If the entered frequency is not within the covering area,
the display would display “Err” (error) symbol.
VM/VF

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PL-310ET
METHOD 1: Auto Tuning Storage (ATS)
FM ATS:
1. Fully extend the telescopic
antenna and press the [FM]
button to select FM band.
2. Press & hold the [FM] button
until “PRESET ” flashing and the
frequency advancing; now the
unit starts scanning and storing all available stations into
the memories.
When the frequency stops advancing, it means the ATS
operation is done completely. You can rotate the
[TUNING] knob to search for those stored stations.
SLEEP
Timer
WORKING WITH STATION MEMORIES
flashing
MW/LW ATS:
Press the [MW/LW] button to select MW/LW band, then
follow step 2 of FM ATS.
SW ATS:
Fully extend the telescopic antenna and press the SW [ ]
or [ ] button to select SW band. There are two modes for
SW ATS tuning:
Mode A: Press & hold the [ ] button to ATS the stations
within all meter bands
Mode B: Press & hold the [ ] button to ATS the stations
within present meter band.
Notes:
1.During ATS process in FM, MW / LW or SW (mode A),
pre-stored radio stations will be replaced automatically by
the new searched stations.
2.With ATS in SW (mode B), those existing memories will
not be replaced; all the newly found radio stations will be
stored in the blank memory addresses.
There are in total 550 preset memories within the unit. 100
preset memories for each FM, MW, and LW band, and 250
for SW.

10 PL-310ET
1.Press the [VM/VF] button to
switch into frequency mode.
2.Press & hold the [VM/VF] button
with “ “ advancing to auto
browse from one station to
another.
3.While tuning to your desired
station, press the [M] button
followed by “PRESET ” display to
directly store the station into the
next available memory. The
unit will keep on browsing until
you deactivate it by pressing on
the [VM/VF] button again.
METHOD 3: SEMI-AUTO STORING STATIONS
While operating the “Auto Browse Station” function, you can
simply press on the [MEMORY] button to store the station
into memory to avoid storing unwanted stations and
interfering signals.
3.If there is too many interference in your surrounding or
many mirror/blank stations are being stored during ATS,
you should contract the telescopic antenna (FM & SW) or
rotate the radio for better reception (MW & LW).
METHOD 2: STORING STATON MANUALLY
1.Select band and tune to your desired station.
2.Press the [M] button with “PRESET ” flashing.
3.Press the [M] button again to store the station into
memory.
4.You can also wait for 3 seconds to auto store the station
into memory.
SLEEP
Timer
Auto browse station
advancing

11
PL-310ET
METHOD 1: MANUAL MEMORY TUNING
Press the [VM/VF] button and
“P ESET ” will appear on screen
to enter memory mode, then
rotate the [TUNING] knob to
tune into the stored station
one by one.
METHOD 2: AUTO BROWSE MEMORY
1.Press the [VM/VF] button and
“P ESET ” will appear on screen
to enter memory mode.
2.Press & hold the [VM] button
until “P ESET ” flashing to auto
scan from one memory to
another, staying on each
station for about 5 seconds.
3.To stop auto search memory,
simply press the [VM/VF]
button.
R
R
R
LISTENING TO STORED STATIONS
SLEEP
Timer
Memory address
address state
SLEEP
Timer
flashing
Auto browse preset station
METHOD 3: DIRECT KEY IN MEMORY ADDRESS
1. Press the [VM] button to enter the memory mode.
2. Press the numeric keys [0] - [9] to enter the memory
address directly, and then press the button to
confirm.
Note: If the display shows “ - - - - ”symbol after entering
the number, it means the entered memory address
does not exist.

12 PL-310ET
Press the [VM/VF] button, then you will see the “Memory
address” and “VM” flashing on the upper right corner of the
display to enter the memory mode. Then follow one of the
below methods to delete those unwanted stations:
METHOD 1. DELETING A SINGLE MEMORY MANUALLY
Rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select the memory that you want
to delete, press & hold the
[DELETE] button until “dEL” and
“memory address” flashing; then
immediately press the [DELETE]
button to remove the unwanted
memory address.
METHOD 2: SEMI-AUTO DELETE MEMORY
Press and hold the [VM/VF]
button until “PRESET ” flashing to
auto browse those stored stations,
press the [DELETE] button at
anytime to direct delete the
unwanted station; the radio will
keep on auto browsing the next
available station until you press
any other button to stop this
function.
METHOD 3: MANUAL DELETES
ALL MEMORY WITHIN THE BAND
Press & hold the [DELETE] button
for 3 seconds and notices “ALL”
appears on the upper right corner
of the display, then press the
[DELETE] button to delete all
memory within the selected band.
DELETE MEMORY
flashing
Delete a single station
Delete memory
SLEEP
Timer
SLEEP
Timer
flashing
SLEEP
Timer

1. Press & hold the [TIME] button
until hours flashing, then rotate
the [TUNING] knob to adjust the
hour.
2. Press the [TIME] button, then
rotate the [TUNING] knob to
adjust the minutes while minutes
is flashing.
3. Press the [TIME] button to confirm the setting.
※ If the [TIME] button has not been pressed again within 3
seconds, the unit will automatically confirm the setting.
Note: You can also direct key-in the number to set the
clock after pressing & holding the [TIME] button.
Example: To set the clock to 6:35, press the numeric key
to enter 0 6 3 5 ; then you will hear a prolonged
beep (B) sound suggesting that the time has been set.
Timer
SLEEP
Timer
13
PL-310ET
SLEEP FUNCTION
1.Press & hold the [POWER]
button until “ ” and “On or
1~120” shows on the display.
2.Rotate the [TUNING] knob
immediately to select sleep
timer from 1 ~ 120 minutes or
select permanently “ On ”,
then wait until the radio auto
turn on to confirm the setting.
flashing
Sleep time range
SLEEP
CLOCK SETTING
flashing

HOW TO SET THE ALARM BY RADIO
First preset the alarm station following below steps:
1. Turn on the radio, then tune into your favorite station for
alarm by radio and adjust your desired alarm volume
level.
2. Press the [M] button with “PERSET ” flashing,
3. Press the [ALARM] button immediately and notice “ ”
shows on the display to confirm the preset alarm station.
Then set the alarm time:
1. Press & hold the [ALARM] button until hours flashing in
the upper right corner, then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
adjust the hours.
2. Press the [ALARM] button, then rotate the [TUNING]
knob to adjust the minute while minutes flashing.
3. Press the [ALARM] button again
and notice “30” shows on display,
then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select 1 ~ 90 minutes to set the
auto alarm off timer.
4. Press the [ALARM] button again
to confirm.
14 PL-310ET
WORKING WITH ALARM
It is recommended to set the alarm by buzzer if you are not
familiar with the local radio frequency and air time.
HOW TO SET THE ALARM BY BUZZER
1. Press & hold the [ALARM] button until hours flashing in
the upper right corner, then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
adjust the hour.
2. Press the [ALARM] button, then rotate the [TUNING]
knob to adjust the minute while minutes flashing.
3. Press the [ALARM] button again to confirm the setting.
※ If the [ALARM] button has not been pressed again
within 3 seconds, the unit will automatically confirm
the alarm setting.
Timer
Auto sleep timer

15
PL-310ET
※ If the [ALARM] button has not been pressed again
within 3 seconds; the unit will automatically confirm the
setting.
The radio will turn on automatically playing the preset
station when it reaches the alarm time. It will auto turn
off as well when it reaches the preset alarm off timer.
HOW TO ACTIVATE / DEACTIVATE THE ALARM
You can press the [ALARM] button repeatedly to
activate/deactivate the alarm by buzzer / radio respectively.
- If “ ” shows on the display, it means the alarm by
buzzer is turned on.
- If “ ” shows on the display, it means the alarm by radio
is turned on.
- If “ ” / “ ” does not show on the display, it means the
alarm by buzzer / radio is turned off.
HOW TO TURN OFF WHEN ALARMING
Buzzer alarm: Press the [POWER] button to turn off the
alarm.
Radio alarm: Press the [POWER] button once to continue
listening to the radio, press twice to turn off
the station alarm.
Note: If the preset alarm is activated when you are
listening to the radio, it will auto switch to the preset radio
station.
When the preset alarm is activated, you can press the
[LIGHT / SNOOZE] to temporarily turn off the alarm, the
unit will start alarming again 5 minutes later.
SNOOZE FUNCTION

16 PL-310ET
HOW TO CHANGE THE DISPLAY MODE
With radio OFF: Repeat
pressing the [DISPLAY] button
to view temperature,
home/world time or alarm time
display.
With radio ON: Press the
[DISPLAY] button to view
home time, world time, alarm
time, temperature or signal
strength showing on the upper
right corner of the display.
KEY-LOCK FUNCTION
Press & hold the [ ] button until “ ” symbol appears
on the display to activate the key lock function.
Press & hold it again until “ ” symbol disappears to
deactivate the locking function.
WORKING WITH INTELLIGENT LIGHT
This radio has an intelligent lighting function with which the
backlight would be on for 5 seconds when operating any
keys or knobs.
You can use the following methods to turn on / off the
backlight:
TEMPORARY ILLUMINATION:
Press the [LIGHT/SNOOZE] button with a “B” sound to
illuminate the LCD for 5 seconds.
PERMANENT ILLUMINATION:
Press & hold the [LIGHT/SNOOZE] button until a prolonged
double beep (BB) sound heard for permanently illumination.
Press it again with a double beep (BB) sound to turn off the
backlight.
Temp.
Press

17
PL-310ET
Notes:
1. When the unit is powered by the batteries, please try to
avoid setting the backlight to permanent illumination to
reduce power consumption.
2. When the unit is turned off, the permanent illumination
function will be turned off automatically as well.
FM ST. (FM STEREO)
While listening to FM stereo stations, press the [FM ST.]
button and notice “ ” appears in the display to
activate the stereo listening. If the received FM broadcast
signal is too weak, it is recommendable to turn off the
stereo function by pressing the [FM ST.] button again with
“ ” disappears.
Note: The stereo function will not be activated if the FM
station is not stereo broadcasting.
Repeat pressing the [AM BW] button to select your desired
6, 4, 3, 2, 1 kHz bandwidth.
Wide band: It has better audio fidelity when receiving
strong signals or local stations.
Narrow band: It is suitable to receive weak & long distant
stations as narrow band is able to limit the interference
from adjacent strong signal and reduce background noise.
AM BW (BANDWIDTH)

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PL-310ET
SETTING FM FREQUENCY RANGE:
In radio off mode, press & hold the [FM SET] button until
87.5-108MHz, 64-108MHz, 76-108MHz, or 87-108MHz
appears in the display. Quickly keep pressing on the [FM
SET] button to select a suitable frequency range for your
local FM.
SETTING MW (AM) TUNING STEP:
With radio off, press & hold [9/10 kHz] button until "9kHz"
or "10kHz" appears on the display to select your desired
AM tuning step
TEMPERATUE:
When the AM tuning step is 10 kHz, the temperature
displays will auto switch to Fahrenheit (℉). When the AM
tuning step is 9 kHz, the temperature display will auto
switch to Centigrade (℃).
TURN ON/OFF THE LW:
With radio off, press & hold the [MW/LW] button until “LW
ON” or “LW OFF” appears on the display to turn ON or
OFF the LW respectively.
SYSTEM SETTING
TURN ON/OFF THE CHARGING FUNCTION &
EXCHANGE THE BATTERY CONSUMPTION DISPLAY:
With radio off, press & hold the [ ] key until “ ” &
“ ” show on the display to activate the consumption
display of rechargeable batteries and the built-in charging
system. Press & hold the [ ] key until “ ”
showing and “ ” disappears to activate the
consumption display of regular batteries and turn off the
built-in charging function.
Note: The default setting of this radio is to use regular
batteries for power supply. In case of using rechargeable
batteries, you should switch the radio system to
rechargeable batteries mode in order to show the correct
power capacity.