A big thank you to Ron at Scorpion Antennas, my Black widow Antenna for the motorhome arrived this week. Ron is too generous, no charge for this beautiful antenna. Much appreciated 😍😍😍
Hello! Great video and much appreciated! I'm thinking of getting the 1786 and putting it in my attic. I'm looking to use it for transmitting and receiving than just receiving. Also will be using it for mainly QRP use only unless I can get it outside on my chimney. Was going to add a rotator to it as well if in the vertical position. I hope you can give me some insight or direction on different setups. If in my attic, will I need to lay a piece of metal underneath the antenna? I've seen many videos whereas others had to use a metal screen or such under their loop antenna for better performance. Another question would be: Does it make a difference if I were to mount it vertically or horizontally? The Third question: I vaguely saw a photo of your roof mounted loop. Do you have it mounted vertically or horizontally? It kind of looked to be in a horizontal position. Whatever the position its in, why did you use that position instead of the other? And since it's on your roof, does the antenna again need to have a metal base foundation underneath it. I was talking to an Italian antenna manufacturer named Ciro Mazzoni. He told me that in order to mount their loop antennas on a roof you will need a metal roof. Maybe for their antennas but maybe the MFJ Antenna is a lot different. Was thinking of mounting the antenna on my chimney if all works good in the attic. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for another great video from you. Very informative! Be safe out there! 73's from -N3NQP-
Richard, this takes an outside or “remote“ tuner to use. Are use the MFJ 998RT. The instructions say to tune between 10 and 30 watts. There isn’t any gain to this antenna, so it’s going to like a regular vertical. Great question. Hit me up on QRZ would you? I’d be happy to answer questions about it. Larry
A lot of non related stuff and gushing about the antenna. However, from what I see it doesn't seem to do much except be able to tune to a point. That after all demonstrates that it truly is Hi-Q. But if you can't hear the call on contact what good does the $600 antenna do over a $20 random length one.
A WORKING loop antenna and ANY wire antenna have NOTHING in common. First of all Erich, A wire antenna receives signals that are electromagnetic in nature. A high q loop Antenna as I review here works off of the magnetic portion of the electromagnetic wave ONLY. That’s why they aren’t prone to static crashes and that’s why they’re QUIET compared to a “wire,” “random wire” or vertical. They don’t pick anything up off the E Field. They use the M field ONLY. That’s why they’re called “mag loops,” “ magnetic loops,” etc... There’s a great book you might want to take a look at called “The Antenna Book.” It’s produced by the ARRL, and it will help teach you some antenna theory so you can understand antennas much better. Find it here: www.arrl.org/arrl-antenna-book I’d recommend a loop right now by the way after the last solar flare yesterday. Have a good weekend and great DX to you! Larry
@@HamRadioLiveShow Beyond about 1 wavelength from the loop the field impedance is similar to a dipole. It is absolutely not true that they work independently of an E field. It might be helpful to have a study of W8JI's website. Arguably a so called magnetic loop antenna is a curved short dipole tuned by end capacitance. IMHO they have some merit, being physically relatively small but they are a very poor relation to a full sized half wave dipole. FWIW I have NEVER known a contest station to use one.... says it all..
Can 2 of these antennas be stacked on a common mast for greater gain/overall performance? If so, what should be the proper distance between antennas? And should the feed lines be phased and what length? New to HF and still a lot to learn. KC0OLH, Texas.
No. This is a great question. You never stack loops. Loops work independently. Because they have a noticeable drop in noise (null) in the dead center of the loop, they need to be worked independently. Great question Charles.
@@HamRadioLiveShow Good to know. I am working to re-enter ham radio and upgrade from Tech to General on my licensing. I know that some antennas (my experience is solely VHF/UHF) can be linked to increase the gain, but HF and loops are something I have yet to explore and work with. KC0OLH.
Larry I am thinking of getting this MFJ loop antenna for HF, I have to set it up in my attic. I am looking at the Yaesu 991A & the Icom 7300. I like the Yaesu because it has the 2 M & 440 band, and ability of FM & SSB on both of the bands. Which radio do you think would be a better match? Given the tuning method of the loop, the auto tuning feature in the radio is not a necessity. I am in an HOA, so the antenna type is limited. So I have to start there. I have the room up there for both a 2M/440 antenna & the MFJ loop.
The loop works well for me but keep in mind it has a very narrow queue… Meaning that you’re going to have a very small area to transmit with before you have to re time it for SWR. The antenna worked me from coast to coast in terrible conditions… Be sure to follow the instructions carefully as they recommend mounting it horizontally if you are higher than 20 feet. It takes a little work and it takes some practice but you’ll get it with time and then it’s a piece of cake. It’s nice to meet you… If you have any other questions please let me know. Larry
@@HamRadioLiveShow That’s the fun of HAM talkin & adjusting, learning & thinkin of better ways.! I don’t mind working the systems, reinventing the wheel daily. It’s a good way to exercise the neurons & neurotransmitters, sort of tuning my own antenna. Louis KK7AAG
I might be missing something, but SWR is not everything in an antenna, I made a loop myself, I get 1 to 1 SWR as well, but my resistivity is close to 0 so I receive alright but transmit nothing. Power probably dissipates as heat I imagine. However, I would definitely want to try this antenna if it wouldn't be such a commitment to get it in Australia, some day maybe. Cheers for the video - VK4ALE
Just bought one this last weekend. Tested it out in the garden using the FT857 in the car with the loop propped vertically on a stand about 18" above the ground and running 25W and got a 56 SSB contact on 18MHz about 400 miles away. Couple of things: compared to the adjacent long wire the loop has much lower noise floor levels, I also found setting it on a higher power level (15-20W) gave a better SWR indication than the 5W shown due to the scale of the meter on the control box. Next thing is to get it up a bit higher on a pole and run a feed back to the shack.
A big thank you to Ron at Scorpion Antennas, my Black widow Antenna for the motorhome arrived this week. Ron is too generous, no charge for this beautiful antenna. Much appreciated 😍😍😍
Thanks Larry, Wynand, Erin and Rodney, you guys are the best😀😀😀
when i use mine i just go by the noise to tune it, spot on each time
And yes, loads of ts850sat line ups, drake line ups, oh boy, its a long list 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hello! Great video and much appreciated! I'm thinking of getting the 1786 and putting it in my attic. I'm looking to use it for transmitting and receiving than just receiving. Also will be using it for mainly QRP use only unless I can get it outside on my chimney. Was going to add a rotator to it as well if in the vertical position. I hope you can give me some insight or direction on different setups. If in my attic, will I need to lay a piece of metal underneath the antenna? I've seen many videos whereas others had to use a metal screen or such under their loop antenna for better performance. Another question would be: Does it make a difference if I were to mount it vertically or horizontally? The Third question: I vaguely saw a photo of your roof mounted loop. Do you have it mounted vertically or horizontally? It kind of looked to be in a horizontal position. Whatever the position its in, why did you use that position instead of the other? And since it's on your roof, does the antenna again need to have a metal base foundation underneath it. I was talking to an Italian antenna manufacturer named Ciro Mazzoni. He told me that in order to mount their loop antennas on a roof you will need a metal roof. Maybe for their antennas but maybe the MFJ Antenna is a lot different. Was thinking of mounting the antenna on my chimney if all works good in the attic. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for another great video from you. Very informative! Be safe out there! 73's from -N3NQP-
Does the increase power affect tuning? I am debating this antenna as HOA is issue. Do you ever use it SSB?
Richard, this takes an outside or “remote“ tuner to use. Are use the MFJ 998RT. The instructions say to tune between 10 and 30 watts. There isn’t any gain to this antenna, so it’s going to like a regular vertical.
Great question. Hit me up on QRZ would you? I’d be happy to answer questions about it.
Larry
Great demo, Larry!
I'm thinking of getting one of these. Once tuned, how does the RX performance compare to full size diopole?
A lot of non related stuff and gushing about the antenna. However, from what I see it doesn't seem to do much except be able to tune to a point. That after all demonstrates that it truly is Hi-Q. But if you can't hear the call on contact what good does the $600 antenna do over a $20 random length one.
A WORKING loop antenna and ANY wire antenna have NOTHING in common.
First of all Erich, A wire antenna receives signals that are electromagnetic in nature. A high q loop Antenna as I review here works off of the magnetic portion of the electromagnetic wave ONLY.
That’s why they aren’t prone to static crashes and that’s why they’re QUIET compared to a “wire,” “random wire” or vertical. They don’t pick anything up off the E Field. They use the M field ONLY. That’s why they’re called “mag loops,” “ magnetic loops,” etc...
There’s a great book you might want to take a look at called “The Antenna Book.” It’s produced by the ARRL, and it will help teach you some antenna theory so you can understand antennas much better. Find it here: www.arrl.org/arrl-antenna-book
I’d recommend a loop right now by the way after the last solar flare yesterday.
Have a good weekend and great DX to you!
Larry
@@HamRadioLiveShow Beyond about 1 wavelength from the loop the field impedance is similar to a dipole. It is absolutely not true that they work independently of an E field. It might be helpful to have a study of W8JI's website. Arguably a so called magnetic loop antenna is a curved short dipole tuned by end capacitance. IMHO they have some merit, being physically relatively small but they are a very poor relation to a full sized half wave dipole. FWIW I have NEVER known a contest station to use one.... says it all..
Can 2 of these antennas be stacked on a common mast for greater gain/overall performance? If so, what should be the proper distance between antennas? And should the feed lines be phased and what length? New to HF and still a lot to learn. KC0OLH, Texas.
No. This is a great question. You never stack loops. Loops work independently. Because they have a noticeable drop in noise (null) in the dead center of the loop, they need to be worked independently. Great question Charles.
@@HamRadioLiveShow Good to know. I am working to re-enter ham radio and upgrade from Tech to General on my licensing. I know that some antennas (my experience is solely VHF/UHF) can be linked to increase the gain, but HF and loops are something I have yet to explore and work with. KC0OLH.
A company called (m2 ho ) they do stack there loop antennas but the ones I’ve look at are at different meter band then 1-160
Larry I am thinking of getting this MFJ loop antenna for HF, I have to set it up in my attic. I am looking at the Yaesu 991A & the Icom 7300. I like the Yaesu because it has the 2 M & 440 band, and ability of FM & SSB on both of the bands. Which radio do you think would be a better match? Given the tuning method of the loop, the auto tuning feature in the radio is not a necessity.
I am in an HOA, so the antenna type is limited. So I have to start there. I have the room up there for both a 2M/440 antenna & the MFJ loop.
The loop works well for me but keep in mind it has a very narrow queue… Meaning that you’re going to have a very small area to transmit with before you have to re time it for SWR.
The antenna worked me from coast to coast in terrible conditions… Be sure to follow the instructions carefully as they recommend mounting it horizontally if you are higher than 20 feet. It takes a little work and it takes some practice but you’ll get it with time and then it’s a piece of cake.
It’s nice to meet you… If you have any other questions please let me know.
Larry
@@HamRadioLiveShow That’s the fun of HAM talkin & adjusting, learning & thinkin of better ways.! I don’t mind working the systems, reinventing the wheel daily. It’s a good way to exercise the neurons & neurotransmitters, sort of tuning my own antenna.
Louis KK7AAG
my call is N6XT Tnx for the Pod cast om 73 De N6XT
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure. Was there a lot of QRN out there? What is the signal coming in very strongly?
Maybe you'll use the beam 😂😂
I might be missing something, but SWR is not everything in an antenna, I made a loop myself, I get 1 to 1 SWR as well, but my resistivity is close to 0 so I receive alright but transmit nothing. Power probably dissipates as heat I imagine. However, I would definitely want to try this antenna if it wouldn't be such a commitment to get it in Australia, some day maybe. Cheers for the video - VK4ALE
Just bought one this last weekend. Tested it out in the garden using the FT857 in the car with the loop propped vertically on a stand about 18" above the ground and running 25W and got a 56 SSB contact on 18MHz about 400 miles away. Couple of things: compared to the adjacent long wire the loop has much lower noise floor levels, I also found setting it on a higher power level (15-20W) gave a better SWR indication than the 5W shown due to the scale of the meter on the control box. Next thing is to get it up a bit higher on a pole and run a feed back to the shack.
is this better than the imax 2000?