Tecsun PL-390 User manual

TECSUN TECSUN
TECSUN ELECTRONIC IND. LTD.
OPERATION MANUAL
PL-390
FM stereo / SW / MW / LW DSP RECEIVER
SLEEP
Auto Tuning storage (ATS) status
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

SPECIFICATIONS
PL-390 Functional Block Diagram
PL-390 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-390 Functional Block Diagram
PL-390 PL-390 29
SPECIFICATIONS
1. Frequency range
FM 87~108 MHz
Russia 64~108MHz
Japan 76~108 MHz
Eu, USA 87.5~108 MHz
MW 522~1620 (USA 520~1710) kHz
LW 153~513 kHz
SW 2300~21950 kHz
2. Sensitivity
F M (S/N=30dB) Less than 3μV
MW (S/N=26dB) Less than 1mV/m
LW (S/N=26dB) Less than 10mV/m
SW (S/N=26dB) Less than 20μV
3. Selectivity
F M ＞60 dB (±150kHz)
MW ＞60 dB (BW=3kHz, ±9kHz)
LW ＞60 dB (BW=3kHz, ±9kHz)
SW ＞60 dB (BW=3kHz, ±5kHz)
4. FM Stereo crosstalk Less than 35 dB
5. Memory 550
6. Output (Distortion 10%) 180 mW X 2
7. Power UM3 or AA X 3
USB 5V DC
8. Speaker (2 speakers) 57mm, 250mW/8 Ohm
9. Earphone Jack 3.5mm, 8~32 Ohm, Stereo type
10. Dimensions Approx. 186(W) X 89(H) X 29(D) mm
11. Weight 315g (Batteries not included)
φ
φ

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PL-390 1
Control Locations……………………………………………….
LCD display …………………………………………………….
How to turn ON/OFF the radio……………………….............
Tune in stations…………………………………………………
● Easy Tuning Mode (ETM)
● Manual tuning
● Auto browse station
● Direct Keypad entry
Working with station memories…………………....................
● Auto Tuning Storage (ATS)
● Manual storing station
● Semi-auto storing station
Listening to stored stations………………………..............…
Delete memory………………………………………...........…
Sleep function……………………………………............……
Clock Setting…………………………………….................…
Working with alarm function……….....................................
Snooze function...................................................................
How to change the display mode........................................
Key-lock function………………...........................................
Working with intelligent light………….....……………………
FM ST. (FM Stereo) ……………………….....................……
AM BW (Bandwidth) ………………………………..…………
System setting…………………………………………………
Intelligent charging function………………………….………
How to improve FM / SW reception....................................
Line-in function………………………………………………...
………………............
………………………………………………
"B" sound function list ........................................................
Specifications ……………………………………………....…
Important matters for using batteries
Trouble shooting
2
4
5
6
9
11
12
14
14
15
17
17
17
18
19
19
20
21
22
22
23
24
26
29

CONTROL LOCATIONS
125678
910 11 12 13 14 15
SLEEP
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
34
PL-3902

Power on/off button
Band Selector & ATS button
FM & SW Telescopic Antenna
FM Stereo button
AM / BW button
View frequency (VF) & SCAN button
View memory (VM) & SCAN button
Easy Tuning Mode
Light / Snooze button
Display mode / key lock button
Time Set
Alarm by Radio
Alarm by Buzzer
Memory button
Delete / Confirm [ ] button
FM & SW External Antenna Jack
Line in Jack
Earphone Jack
USB 5V DC-Jack
Multifunctional Tuning Knob
Back Stand
Volume Knob
Battery Compartment
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
14
13
23.
PL-390 3

LCD DISPLAY
Battery consumption indicator /
Charging indicator
1
2Sleep timer indicator
3Alarm on/off indicator
" " alarm on by radio
" " alarm on by buzzer
6Signal indicators
dBu: signal strength unit
dB : Signal to Noise Ratio
(S/N) unit
7
8SW meter band indicator
9ETM indicator
4Temperature (Temp.)
5AM, PM indicator for 12-hour
format clock
Tuning speed:
" " Slow Tuning
" " Fast Tuning
10
11 kHz: frequency unit for MW,
LW & SW
MHz: frequency unit for FM
15 Key-lock indicator
Digital number display (4 Digits)
With radio off: world time, alarm
time, temperature
With radio on: word time, signal
strength / SNR, alarm time,
temperature, local time, memory
address, meter band.
12
14 Digital number display
With radio off: local time
With radio on: frequency display,
band display
FM stereo status indicator
16
Band indicator
17
Alarm time indicator
Preset memory address
13
Rechargeable batteries indicator
18
SLEEP
12 4 6
7
8
18
3
9
5
11
15 14 13 16
10
17
12
PL-390

PL-390 5
HOW TO TURN ON/OFF THE RADIO
1. Open the battery compartment located on the back of the
unit, install 3 x AA alkaline batteries observing the battery
polarity diagram on the back of the radio. 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, battery capacity is
sufficient or the lock function had been applied with " "
displays on screen (press & hold the [ ] button to
unlock.)
Press
Installing batteries

TUNE IN STATIONS
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 and LW broadcasting,
please rotate the radio or change it's location to achieve
optimum reception. You can rotate the [VOLUME] knob to
adjust to appropriate volume from 0 to 30 levels.
Now, you can turn into your favorite stations with any of the
below tuning methods:
METHOD 1: ETM (EASY TUNING MODE)
ETM is the unique tuning method designed by Tecsun. It
skillfully combines the reception circuitry & control
procedure to pre-select the suspected 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. Employing ETM to tune
preferred frequencies. you can easily tune into your desired
stations from those preferred frequencies.
flashing
SLEEP
Frequency
changing
Preset station
number ETM
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 ETM memory.
1. Press the [ETM] button with
[ETM] shows 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 stop running,
turn around the [TUNING] knob to
select those stored stations.
PL-3906

PL-390 7
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.
METHOD 2: MANUAL TUNING
Frequency searching: Press the [VF] button to switch into
frequency mode, and then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select your desired station.
Memory searching: Press the [VM] button to switch into
memory mode, and then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select those stored stations.
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

PL-3908
METHOD 3: AUTO BROWSE STATION
1.Turn on the radio and press the
[VF] button to switch into
frequency mode.
2.Press & hold the [VF] button
with [ ] 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 [VF]
button
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.
METHOD 4: DIRECT KEYPAD ENTRY
To search for 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 memory, press the [VM] 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 rate is not within the covering
area, the display would display “Err” (error) symbol.
SLEEP
Auto browse station
advancing
Frequency
changing

PL-390 9
WORKING WITH STATION MEMORIES
There are total 550 preset memories within the unit. 100
preset memories for each FM, MW, and LW band, and 250
for SW.
FM ATS:
1. Fully extend the telescopic
antenna and press the [FM]
button to select FM band.
2. Press & hold the [FM] button
with “PRESET ” flashing and the
frequency start running, then
you can scan and store your
desired stations within the
present band. When the
frequency stop running, it
means the ATS operation has
been completed; then rotate
the [TUNING] knob for those
scanned and stored stations.
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 only.rotate the radio for better
location (MW & LW).
flashing
Auto Tuning storage (ATS)
status
SLEEP

PL-39010
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 would
be stored in the blank memories addresses.
3. If there is too many interference in you surrounding or
many mirror/blank station being stored during ATS, you
should contract the telescopic antenna (FM & SW) or
rotate the radio for better location (MW & LW).
METHOD 2: MANUAL STORING STATON
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.
You can also wait for 3 seconds to auto store the station
into memory.
METHOD 3: SEMI-AUTO STORING STATION
While operating the “Auto Browse Station” function, you
can simply press on the [M] button to store the station into
memory to avoid storing unwanted stations and interfering
signals.
1. Press the [VF] button to switch into frequency mode.
2. Press & hold the [VF] button with “ “ advancing to
auto browse from one station to another.
3. While tuning to your favor station, press the [M] button
with “PRESET ” flashing to direct store the station into the
next available memory. The unit will keep on browsing
until you deactivate it by pressing on the [VF] button
again.

PL-390 11
LISTENING TO STORED STATIONS
METHOD 1: MANUAL MEMORY TUNING
Press the press [VM] button to
enter the frequency mode, then
rotate the [TUNING] knob to tune
into the stored station one by one.
Memory address
SLEEP
address state
METHOD 2: AUTO BROWSE MEMORY
1. Press the [VM] button with
memory page shows in the
upper right corner to enter
the frequency mode.
2. Press & hold the [VM] button
until “PRESET ” flashing to auto
scan from one memory to
another, staying on each station
for about 5 seconds.
To stop auto search memory,
simply press the [VM] button.
flashing
Auto browse preset station
SLEEP
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.

PL-39012
DELETE MEMORY
METHOD 1: MANUAL DELETE SINGLE MEMORY
1. Press the [VM] button to
enter the memory mode.
2. Rotate the [TUNING] knob to
select the memory that you
want to delete.
3. Press & hold the [DELETE]
button with “ ” flashing;
then press the [DELETE]
button to remove the unwanted
memory address.
Note: If " " is flashing more than 3 seconds without
confirmation, it will exit the delete function automatically.
Delete a single station
flashing
SLEEP
Timer
METHOD 2: SEMI-AUTO DELETE MEMORY
Feature: using the Auto-Browse function of memory to
quickly delete unwanted station.
1. Press the [VM] button to enter
the memory mode.
2. Press & hold the [VM] button
with [PRESET] flashing to auto
scan from one memory to
another, staying on each station
memory for about 5 seconds.
3. Once previewing your unwanted
station, simply press the
[DELETE] button with “ ”
shows on display to delete the
station, then keep on browsing
other stations.
SLEEP
Timer
Delete memory

PL-390 13
METHOD 3: MANUAL DELETE ALL
MEMORY WITHIN THE BAND
1. Press the [VM] button to enter
the memory mode.
2. Press & hold the [DELETE]
button for 3 seconds and
notices “ ” flashing in the
upper right corner of display.
3. Press the [DELETE] button
again to delete all memory
within the selected band.
Note: If the [DELETE] button has not been pressed within
3 seconds to confirm, it will exit the delete function
automatically.
flashing
SLEEP
Timer
Delete all memories

SLEEP FUNCTION
PL-39014
1. Press & hold the [POWER]
button with “ ” and “30”
symbols show on the display.
2. Rotate the [TUNING] knob
immediately to select sleep
timer from 1 ~ 120 minutes
or select permanently “ ”,
then wait till the radio auto
turn on to confirm the setting.
SLEEP
Sleep time range
Note:
The default setting of the auto-turn off time is 30 minutes.
CLOCK SETTING
1. Press & hold the [TIME] button
with hour flashing, then rotate
the [TUNING] knob to adjust
the hour.
2. Then press the [TIME]
button with minutes flashing,
and then rotate the [TUNING]
knob to adjust the minute.
3. Press again 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 "B -"
sound suggesting that the time has been set up.
flashing

flashing
PL-390 15
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.
SETTING THE ALARM (BY BUZZER)
1. Press & hold the [ ] button
with hour flashing in the upper
right corner, then rotate the
[TUNING] knob to adjust the
hour.
2. Press the [ ] button with
minutes flashing, then rotate
the [TUNING] knob to adjust
the minute.
3. Press the [ ] button with “ “
shows on display to confirm
the setting.
※ If the [ ] button has not been pressed again within 3
seconds, the unit will automatically confirm the alarm
setting.
SETTING THE ALARM (BY RADIO)
First preset the alarm station:
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 “ PRESET ” flashing,
3. Press the [ ] button immediately and notice “ ”
shows on the display to confirm the preset alarm station.
Then set the alarm time:
1. Press & hold the [ ] button with hour flashing in the
upper right corner, then rotate the [TUNING] knob to
adjust the hour.
2. Press the [ ] button with minutes flashing, then rotate
the [TUNING] knob to adjust the minute.
Setting the alarm by buzzer

PL-39016
3. Press the [ ] button again
with [30] shows on display,
then rotate the [TUNING] knob
to select 1 ~ 90 minutes to set
the Auto Alarm Off Timer.
4. Press the [ ] button again to
confirm.
※ If the [ ] button has not been pressed again within 3
seconds; the unit will automatically confirm the setting.
The unit will turn on automatically with the preset station
when it reaches the alarm time. It will auto turn off as
well when it reaches the preset alarm off timer.
Auto sleep timer
HOW TO ACTIVATE / DEACTIVATE THE ALARM
You can press the [ ] or [ ] 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 once the [POWER] button to
continuously 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.

PL-390 17
SNOOZE FUNCTION
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.
With radio OFF: Repeat pressing
the [DISPLAY] button to view
Temperature or Alarm time display.
With radio ON: Press the
[DISPLAY] button to view Local time,
Alarm time, Temperature or Signal
strength/ SNR showing on the upper
right corner of the display.
HOW TO CHANGE THE DISPLAY MODE
Press
Press & hold the [ ] button with “ ” symbol appears
on the display to activate the key lock function.
Press & hold it again with the “ ” symbol disappears to
deactivate the locking function.
KEY-LOCK FUNCTION

PL-39018
This radio has an intelligent lighting function with which the
backlight would be on for 3 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
illuminates the LCD for 3 seconds.
PERMANENT ILLUMINATION:
Press & hold the [LIGHT/SNOOZE] button with a
prolonged “BB” sound heard for permanently illumination.
Press it again with a BB sound to turn off the backlight.
Notes:
1. When the unit is powered by the battery, please try to
avoid setting the backlight to permanent illumination so
as to reduce power consumption.
2. When the unit is turned off, the permanent illumination
function will be turned off automatically as well.
HOW TO TURN ON/OFF THE INTELLIGENT LIGHTING
Press & hold the [ ] key with the “OFF” shows in the
display to deactivate the lighting function;
press & hold the [ ] key again with “ON” shows up to
activate it.
Note:
After shutting off the intelligent lighting function, the
[LIGHT/SNOOZE] key is still workable for turning on or off
the backlight.
WORKING WITH INTELLIGENT LIGHT