TECSUN AN-48X Active Receiving Loop Antenna Review 

Finally bought one. They were unavailable for a while. So far I think I have it set up correctly and seems to be working. Had to watch this video again to remind me how to use it. 73

Great review. I just picked one of these up along with a Tecsun PL-368 from a dealer in Hong Kong. I plan on taking it on my weekly business trips in addition to my VHF/UHF ht.

I do carry a random wire antenna with the FT3. I've only used it a few times. But i found this video because i want to carry a better antenna for situational awareness. Thanks again Josh

I'm a SWL in the UK and I use this with my Tecsun PL990x with excellent results. It requires a light touch and careful tuning but works well.

Just ordered theTecsun 368 together with this antenna, hope the combo will work fine! and thanks for review! - 73 Levi in Sweden

Thanks for the review I had to get one of these for my SDR. Funny I used to complain that my house acted as a faraday cage since it has a steel roof and aluminum covered insulation in the walls, however this changed yesterday. You see we were in the middle of an ice storm, followed by a 2 day blizzard, this just days after a 3 day blizzard. The power went out on the night of the first day as Ice gathered on the power lines and took out power from an area of about 350 miles in the middle of North and South Dakota. I was listening to our local radio station on a small transistor radio for announcements of when we could expect power again, as my house went from the comforts of 70 degrees down to around 50 degrees. The ice cream was discovered to appear to be soup, and we quickly ate it to save what was left of that treat. My first radio ran down, it's a rechargeable and I had extra batteries but instead I took my old reliable Grundig Traveler out and put some duraswell batteries in her. She was tuned to a distant station since the last use was in our camper and suddenly that radio station came in as if we were in the local town! My house was NOT a faraday cage at all, it was just filled with Static from all the damn little switching power supplies plugged in at every outlet, and power strips with them hanging from every slot! When the house is again warm, as it is now getting livable once more and our blankets are returning to the closet, the next step is obvious. UPLUG all the damn supplies not actually doing something necessary but can they all be eliminated? Perhaps not as my internet needs the router, my phone needs it charger, the television has a box, the damn cable TV needs it's power box and so forth. I do have a 12 volt battery, sealed lead acid, that sits beside my recliner to power my little spot welder for making battery packs, I am considering building a 5 volt step down converter (Damn another switching power supply!) to replace the ones in this spot where they gather near my computer, but I doubt this would cut down on them. Now that the power is back up, my reception on my Grundig has gone the way of the passenger pidgin! Strange, you know when I was growing up just a mile North of my current home, I used to be able to get that station all the time, and my car radio picked it up when we were down south in Arizona near Bullhead City, well over 1000 miles from Bismarck ND in the middle of the afternoon! But I can't get it in my house unless there is a power outage. I am putting u p a loop antenna of different design when the blasted snow and ice have melted from the last blast of wintery weather has gone away from Northwestern South Dakota. Ah yes, as my father always said, "There is no rest for the wicked" 73'S KE0JBL

Thanks for the video Josh! I use a YouLoop (Airspy loop antenna) with my Kenwood D74 HT, works awesome for HT SWL.

Baofeng Daddy has returned to us!

Great review, Josh! I am also a SWL. I have two SW portables and am always looking for new antennas. Thanks for sharing. 👍

AWESOME! I was looking at these. Thanks for this video. Just like you demonstrated these antennas as with all loops seem great to use with an SDR because you can directly see the effects of tuning and power adjustments. 73 de N2NLQ

I don't have an antenna that does this. I will now. Thanks Josh

SWL isn’t top of mind for me but I love how you introduce us to new pieces of kit.

I do carry shortwave radio(s) in a kit everyday as part of my edc.. a few radios , antennas and adapters etc. I’ll definitely give one of these a look see as a add on. Thanks for the helpful info , subscribed here ✝️🇺🇸🤙🏻🅰️

I love the an-200 passive mw loop, no connection to your radio needed and no batteries its just magic and it looks cool too

I ordered it from Hong Kong excited about it

Thanks, very helpful! The reviews on Amazon are both good and bad. Good to see it in actual operation so I can judge for myself.

Great review. Thanks

Thanks that was interesting.

Well done. 👍

Great review Josh! I have always picked my HT's bases on if they have wide band HF/shortwave receive mode. There have been quite a few handheld rigs capable of this over the years. The Wide Band HT's I've owned are the: Yaesu VX-1R, VX-2R, VX-3R, VX-8DR, and of course now the FT-3DR. Just wish it had SSB/CW receive modes for HF listening. Currently I'm using an old pocket sized Radio Shack wind up shortwave antenna that I modified to have a SMA connector for my HT. Of course I do use antennas of my own design from time to time as well. 😁 73!

I use a Tecsun R9012 and a Kaito long wire antenna. Makes a world of difference.

Truly an intriguing little piece of kit. I plan on getting a SW receiver soon, and this might just be the antenna I get! Also the price is great too. Question, I assume since this is a loop antenna, is it somewhat directional? 73 de W8IJC

Good Video, i wil buy it. Now i have 3 Receiver produced by Tecsun: A 660, a S-2000 and the new S-8800. This new radio works better than the S-2000. SSB is clear, no BFO inside. And UKW, that is nearly impossible -i receive stations which are often 200 km away. Sometimes, depending of the weather, ich receive them in Stereo. Excuse my bad Englisch, i wish You all the very best and send many greetings from Germany........

I like the concept of a portable loop, I will try to make a smaller one, so it can be used while in backpack (making me look less crazy while walking around and fiddling with a radio). Maybe two turns of wire some 30 cm in diameter might work as well as a larger one? I think Belka DX receiver I bought recently has some matching circuit and a preamp inside as it works fine with a simple (passive) wire loop indoors. QRM is horrible inside, so I want to test the radio around but without too much hassle. Antenna like this one can be useful.

Would have liked some demonstration of its LW function.

I had to purchase a SMA adapter but it works OK with my RTL-SDR. Having a waterfall makes it much easier to tune. Shortwave isn't it's strong point though, at least in my situation.

Thanks!

thank you

👍 Tks , cool video.

Yeah I purchased one of these specifically as a "pack-in" to keep with my portables. Seems to really be tailored for MW more than anything, however its a great alternative to a full sized loop, and vastly better than the reel up pocket antennae.

I had to google what a Rode was :-)

I am using a Tecsun PL-990 and the AN-48X loop did not work well for me so I an going to try the MLA-30 loop. Hopefully that will work. I have a General Class Ham license but I am now in an Apartment so I am limited to what I can do. Wish me luck.

Could you add the hand held tuner inline with any other loop? I was thinking about adding the tuner in between my pl368 and the GA-450 for a little more tuning

Hi. I just bought a Tecsun PL-330 and when I tried it with the intern antenna, it seemed not to be that good.... So I took a short look what antenna I could use for it. I know nearly nothing about the technic yet, so I will order this antenna to get better results. Thank you for the video. I am excited how the antenna will work with my small Tecsun PL-330...

would i be able to change the wire tosomething a little more solid, say a small diameter tube of copper pipe that is formed into a circular shape? or could i incorporate a larger ferrite into the antenna instead or in addition to the wire part of the antenna?

I carry a little Tivdio 115 with a 23 foot real antenna in my get home bag, is this worth getting to add to it the Tivdio isn’t the greatest short wave radio and looking to upgrade.

Hey there! I recently found your channel and I appreciate everything you've taught me so far. I just so happened to have bought this item a few months ago. I was in the market for a solid AM/FM radio because, in spite of being relatively young (my 34th birthday is on the 22nd, so maybe I'm a little in denial about the 'young' part 😭😅), I enjoy listening to talk radio. Also, I enjoy camping & backpacking, so I thought trying to tune into stations in the middle of nowhere (hell, there isn't much of that left nowadays) would be a fun thing to do during the down time & help to stave off loneliness as I'm usually by myself while pursuing those activities. After looking online for the AM/FM radio, I came across the civilian version of the County Comm GP5 and the reviews of it were stellar. The extra band-receiving capabilities of the GP5 piqued my interest (I had never listened to shortwave or had ever even known about it until then), & despite the whopper of a price tag (I never imagined paying $100+ for dang radio in my life 😲), all of the reviews regarding it, plus all the rage it was getting from the 'prepper community' sold me on it & I pulled the trigger on ordering one. Once it got here, I quickly found that in my bedroom, FM signal was great & AM signal was okay, but as far as shortwave, I was only able to pick up the time signal on 5000khz out of Colorado. I found your videos & a few others as well & it seemed like I needed to try out two things to get more out of my GP5 (short of installing a radio antenna on the roof 😅): try getting out of my bedroom & see what signals I could get & the second being a passive and/or active loop antenna. As I was searching online for an active loop, I came across that Tecsun gizmo & decided, hell let's try it out. We'll so far, I haven't yet tried out receiving in the back yard, but here in my bedroom, I can say that it has helped to make my AM radio listening MUCH more enjoyable now that the signal is as clear as an (I think) AM signal can be and now I can faintly make out a few signals on shortwave. Woo hoo! I wish my shortwave was coming in clearer... I took y'alls advice & have tried to listen mostly in the evening when the signal is bouncing off of the stratosphere the most (I hope I have that correct)... but it's barely audible. Hopefully once I get out of the house & away from all the interference that comes with it, I'll find a much more enjoyable experience. Still haven't been able to hit the trail or get out to camping in the middle of nowhere, but I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what my radios can do when I get a chance. Fingers crossed I don't get out there and find out I wasted all my $$ and don't receive anything, but even if that's the case I'll still have AM talk radio & a last ditch emergency way to transmit if, God forbid, I ever have an emergency & hopefully someone somewhere will be listening. 😂 Since my County Comm GP5 purchase & learning more about the wide world of radios, I also purchased my first Uv-5r! It's been a blast listening to the local amature nets, but even here in El Paso, TX (a fairly large city) the airwaves are pretty quiet & it's been a little frustrating, especially since I don't have a ham license. I have downloaded onto my phone, a ham license study guide & an app with mock tests I can take as many times as needed, but I haven't committed myself to it as much as I'll need to in order to pay for and pass the real deal. We do have an amature ham club here in El Paso & once all of this Covid madness calms down, hopefully I'll be able to get with them & find it fortuitous to go through with studying for & getting my license. Truth be told, I am so disheartened & frustrated that this is all becoming a dying interest/hobby/artform because (to me and I'm sure to a lot of people) I can see how it is still such a great opportunity & viable form of communication even in the cell phone age we find ourselves in. God bless you & folks like you for still tending the fire/keeping the lighthouse lit for those who seek it. Everyday I'm thankful there's still folks out there who see the value in it that I do & especially you for teaching me and others the ways of the waves. You sir, ROCK! I look forward to more of your continued content & all it has to offer. 😉 👍

Já utilizou o modelo Degen 31ms ?

@HamRadioCrashCourse you had a video about content creator needed to keep Ham great; you can help with simpler beginning courses. It's kinda off putting when videos are described with the abbreviated content geared towards current licensee rather than the super green nubi. I'd like some more starting out videos especially when people are stuck in the house

Josh, would this bring in the SW channels pre-programmed on the ft-3dr?

Seems a pretty decent active antenna for $35 bucks, especially with all the supplied accesories. Wonder how it performs against the Sony AN-LP1active antenna (got a couple of those). I got rid of my Yaesu FT-3DR, didn't like it much.

Josh, I’m both a ham and a SWL. It’s a neat little antenna system. I’m curious though, you said the connecting “wire” is about 20 feet long but you only “unwrap” it foes the length that you need to connect to your radio. Have you tried extending it full length to see the affect it has on reception.... after all, although you can tune the system, its only a long wire with a wire loop on the end, and you don’t have a coax lead-in cable to the radio. Works like my MFJ-1020C without a loop, but in a smaller package. Anyway, interesting review and for the money, worth getting for my Tecsun PL-880. (Using my Chameleon F-loop on the PL-880 is a bit overkill)

Loops are directional, I think a lot of people forget that and you can end up nulling signals without realising

Hi, thanks for the review. When you connected the red clip and did not connect the black one, should I assume that the loop is acting just as a random length of wire ? And not as a loop? My DEGEN1103 has a socket to admit a doble pin, not stereo or mono. and I don't see a plug for that type of socket provided.. Sorry about my question !! Regards from Melbourne, Australia.

Wow thanks . that's cool. This is posted 3 hours ago and it got 1.4k views that's fast. Thanks for the video de DU6KVC

It’s like a MLA-30 portable

Bought one of these recently but found it to be totally useless. Seems I might have a dud ?

Have you found that this antenna does any more than a simple 20 ft wire attached to a nearby tree and run though a window? I have this antenna and my simple 20 ft wire works just as well (or better).

Would this active loop antenna work with the Sony ICF-SW7600GR AM FM LW Shortwave Radio active antenna 3.5 inch port?

Seems putzy to use.😊

Is it better than mla30+ ? Don’t know with one to get

Hahahaaa talk about apropos. Transmitting conversations & C2C talking about FCC 😂

Sounds like it needs a multi-turn pot on the tuning side....

instead of a metal telescopic antenna it may be better to use a wooden dowel or plastic tube because of a possible shorting efect.

Any idea if it will work with the ETON elite executive??? Paul K1YOU

Did you ever see a video that discourse buying?

Ask The Gods.

Is there any small portable sw radio with a filter to recieve CW signals?

:-)

So what's the problem with Coast to Coast AM? I know they have some controversial topics, but are they a problem on RU-vid? For you short wave listeners, why do you listen to shortwave? I've heard of people listening to shortwave since I was a kid, but never quite understood why. Not being negative, but I'm always looking for more stuff to do.

Homeschooling?

Gilles at the OfficialSWLchannel concluded this is a dud. Except for the variety of connectors, it's too picky and not easy to use, and mostly too much trouble, almost impossible to tune or usually makes the signal worse, on SW..

FIRST

I was told it was crap

would like to have you open up the powered unit and do a bit of basic reverse engineering to see what kind of variable cap system they are using, I think we probably have a good idea but ya never know, and then what kind op-amp is used for the amp. could you perhaps do that?

Wow. I found this video and bought the 48x ant. As stated it does have many many uses so thankyou. RON Z. WA3090SWL. THE NORTHAMERICAN SHORTWAVE RADIO AND TOY ROBOY MUSEUM.