Don’t go down the distant AM station rabbit hole. I am hooked on listening to AM at long distances. So far there are about 2000 feet of beverage antennas strung around the property. Going to add more. Nothing like having land as a ham.
Hi there, Ive been using this MLA30 plus for 2 years now indoors. First, I replaced the crappy wire readiator for 6 feet of 1/8 copper tubing from home Depot. Waaaay better, that's a known upgrade for this MLA. Second it is surrounded by walls in your garden. Give it height, put it on top of the house and use a cheap rotator, remember loops are directionals when polarized vertical. You can check my channel I uploaded a video 2 days ago using my Drake R4B receiver and this upgraded MLA. 73 de Kk4nww 👍🏼
I understand the MAL 30 takes 5 to 12 volts of power. Does it do better if you put more volts closer to 12 , have you tried that ? Thanks for the video.
I asked because I have a CHA250B right next to my RV in a permanent campsite in NH. It tunes easily from 80-6M, but is neither good for sending or receiving. Like you (similar space outside to mine) I have no room for a dipole or tower/beam. I’ve ordered an Alpha Loop and hope to do what you did… mount it above roof level. Hope it works better than the Comet vertical!
I own two MLA-30+ loops. The comparison you are doing is not really fair. A loop antenna is directional and to truly benefit from it's qualities you should place it on a remote rotator. I suggest the RCA remote rotator. Its little more than $100 and pairs very well with my MLA-30+ loops.
Wohooo Capt. this sneaky little Loop Antenna seems to work well for you. Can we try to make a Contact with this Thing? Believe it or not I had a contact with K4OGO, Walter from Virginia Beach Area just a few hours ago he worked me with a AL-705 Mag Loop Antenna on 20m Band with 20W LP from a Xiegu G90 Radio. That was frikken awsome. I could hear him 44 and he had me with a 55 signal report. I ran 87ft. Endfed Inverted L on a 40ft. Spiderbeam Telescopic Fiberglass Mast with 100W. That was such a great Contact which really made my Day. Good job on your new Mag Loop Capt Darren. Happy Easter Weekend for you and little Sophia. 73 de YFUG 💯🍻🙋♂
Wow, great comparison video, the kind I was looking for… but the trouble here is the MLA-30+ is around $40, whereas the cheapest Zero Five I found on a quick search was over $700 with most being over a thousand $! For a lower price, is the MLA-30+ the best I can go with?
The MLA 30 is only a receive antenna. I'm waiting for a cheap rotator or a Yaesu Rotator to come down in price. It's best to have a rotator so you can turn the MLA 30 to the best signal strength. And use the Zero Five Antenna for Transmit. Yeah, it's kinda pricey as well. I receive no kick back for make these videos. I purely make them for entertainment and educations to see if it's something that fits your situation. 73's and good luck in hunting.
if i'm understanding properly, you have the MLA30 what seems to be 10ft from your HF antenna... does this pose a risk to the circuitry inside the MLA30 or the SDR it's connected to when you're transmitting from the HF antenna? i'm just getting back in to amateur radio, and wasn't into HF until now, but i have an MLA30 and would like to get it on my roof which will be where my EFHW is based.... so I'd like to know if you've had any issues with the spacing here, or how you're dealing with that - thanks!
I took my MLA30 down because I wanted to get an antenna rotator for it. I have not fully tested it out. I would move my MLA30 to the roof and away from my transmitting antenna.
At 9:30 Don't you have to tune a variable capacitor every time you change frequencies? That might be why it failed. And moving the loop in a circle may have made the difference.
Yes, its suppose to be... I just bought a rotator and will make a video in the future. If you haven't done so yet, please subscribe to my channel and click on the notification to so that you will get alerts of my new videos I post.
Are you rotating the loop, if not, you can't do test.. As the loop is directional. Loops like that are designed for low bands, 40M and below where noise is actually an issue.
I just resurrected my MLA-30, handily powered from the USB socket on the rear of the FTDX101MP, not a wonderful antenna but ideal for a little diversity receive. I may put it in the loft with a larger loop.... by the way those sockets are SMA not BNC but I am sure you realised that. 73
I have 2 MLA 30+ antennas. The Biasing Tee powers up fine on a USB plug in power adapter but when I try and power it through a portable power bank the power cuts off after a few minutes. This happens with both antenna Biasing Tees and with several different portable power banks different power cords. I would like to use the antenna for portable use but cannot power it. Is this normal or do I have two defective antennas.
I had that same problem but found a workaround. Make sure that you power bank is completely powered off before you connect the USB cable from the Biasing Tee. At this point the green LED on the Tee should be off. Press the On button on your power bank now and the LED on the Tee should go green and stay green until you unplug the USB cable again from the bank. If I don't follow those steps, the Biasing Tee will shut off after a couple of minutes. Hope this works for you.
I use a Samsung USB cellphone charger on my MLA-30+ and it adds no detectable noise on my shortwave reception. I also tried a battery bank with that tee and noticed no audible improvement in reception.
hi captain went you transmit was hearing a buzz other than how you doing. Ever fly into Tampa. What would be the frequecy to the tower. you all fly over the house KQ4CD
You should have gotten the Chameleon receiving loop. Much better product. Just my opinion. You need to put that loop on your roof. Needs to be higher up.
