I’ve got an MLA 30 + and it’s fantastic. It was good out of the box but I have upgraded the cable and erected it outside about 6metres high. I power it with a power bank charged by USB. I pull in some really distant stations at night with very low noise.
The MLA-30+ loop is for RECEIVING, and not transmitting hence fine coax as the signal power will be picowatts. Works very well at my location here in NZ.. Good video.
MLA-30 for me is GREAT pulls easily as well as my 100 Ft Long Wire with lot's less noise Worth it at twice the price. Mine survived the winter in Canada just fine. Also I used a good quality power adapter rather than supplied cable that did add a bit of noise.
Thanks for the review. I ordered one off Amazon last month, it is sitting beside my recliner where I put the box after exploring it, of course. When the damn SNOW has gone, I will indeed put it up and give it a shot. I live in, well, sort near the end of the known earth in South Dakota. On a good day I can get 2 AM radio stations that are listenable, and 1 FM rebroadcast of our local AM station. Since this is South Dakota (very rural indeed) the content is mostly local news and modern country music during the week. I loved country when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's but a tour in Vietnam changed my love for Country to a very deep love of the 60's and early 70's ROCK AND ROLL so modern Country is something I avoid at all costs. The weekends however are dedicated to we old farts with the hits from the 60's so I do, on occasions listen to that. Lately I have been building WIFI radios and have several in our home now where I can choose which era tunes I wish to hear, and the quality of those is wonderful, of course it depends on which speaker system I have the receivers attached to, the one on my 70's vintage receiver from SONY pipped through a set of 15 inch speakers from some kids BOOM CAR that bounced from the reverb in his make out rig. Got them from a small radio/TV repair shop run by a disabled dude who knew how to solder but little else years ago. Traded an old mono reel to reel machine I had picked up for 3 bucks at an auction in a nearby city. I am still awaiting the delivery of one of those expensive SDR receivers. I ordered it off Alibaba from what they claimed was an American Shipper a month and a half ago. According to their shipping data, it shipped 2 weeks ago but since our town has been buried by two blizzards back to back, it may well be sitting in some post office in the area, who the hell knows. I have almost lost my desire for the set after awaiting deliver for over a month! To think I spent an extra 20 BUCKS to get it from a US Seller only to discover the bastard reorders from China and the shop in China must be out of stock so must BUILD the SDR first then ship from China to the IDIOT seller, who then RESHIPPS it from USA so he can be branded a USA Seller. I knew there was some reason why I never shop there. Just for shits and giggles I ordered a cheap adapter for another Ham set I have from the Alibaba (seller in china!) and it has already arrived, while the one I ordered over a month ago is still in the mail?? Who knows? I think I will now stick to Amazon since the shit gets here! Anyhow, signing off, just another grumpy old man, 73's KE0JBL
Great Video. I had a question for you regarding what setting I should be using on my Grundig Sat 800 when using an exterior MLA 30+ Loop antenna. There is 2 setting on my radio. One setting is for 50 ohm and the other is for 500 ohm. At this point, the 50 ohm seems to be giving me a much better reception with very little noise while the 500 ohm setting gives me a much better signal yet more noise. What's the rule of thumb for SW enthusiasts like yourself when choosing a setting for a MLA 30 antenna? Our perhaps, is it just preference?
Tom's radio room show I learn lot from you about shortwave receivers and antenna for shortwave receivers and what to lisn to on shortwave and what time in utc at your location
I bought one over a year ago but only set it up at the end of march during the lockdown here in Wales . To be honest I was very surprised on how well it works .
Hi Tom, it's definitely prudent to be cautious when using active atennas... my R1000 can attest to that, build quality of the MLA30+ looks okay but it wouldn't hurt to run a voltage meter across the output of the antenna system before connection 👍
Hello from Alabama, I really enjoy your show and I have a quick question 🙋♂️, I’m a year behind and was wondering since this was first posted have you tried it out and what results did you have. Thanks again ✝️🇺🇸🤙🏻🅰️
You mentioned that the air in your area has some salt mixed in with it from the Gulf. Do you know if that helps you with you receiving distant/faint signals? Just curious if you have any knowledge about it because salt water is supposed to be such a great conductor. It looks like the new loop hardware boxes are well constructed and will hold up well for you. Enjoy the new toy. Let us know how it receives for you.
Tom, how would I connect this to a Tecsun PL-660 radio? What`s the difference with the normal one and the + (plus) version? Both are on Amazon and visually there appears to be no difference so I don`t want to get ripped off by China again?
You would need an adapter or maybe even a combination of two adapters. The cable that comes with the antenna has an SMA male connector, so you need a SMA female adapter to 3.5 mm. I don't think the make one of those so you probably will have to get a SMA female to PL-259 then an adapter of SO-239 to 3.5 MM. Please double check me on that. The + version is a newer version with a slight improvement on sensitivity.
I am anxious to hear what you think of this antenna given that you have so many other antennas and so many receivers to test it on. I am a casual SW listener and over the years have tried many different home brew antennas without much success. I bought the original of this loop several months ago and have been pleased with its performance especially given the price. I could never justify paying more for an antenna than I do for a receiver so this one made sense to me.
Note this is suppose to work from 0.5 to 30 Mhz. The loop is about 30 inches when uncoiled.
Thank you,
I’ve got an MLA 30 + and it’s fantastic. It was good out of the box but I have upgraded the cable and erected it outside about 6metres high.
I power it with a power bank charged by USB. I pull in some really distant stations at night with very low noise.
Awesome. It's my favorite antenna. Thanks for the report.
The MLA-30+ loop is for RECEIVING, and not transmitting hence fine coax as the signal power will be picowatts. Works very well at my location here in NZ.. Good video.
MLA-30 for me is GREAT pulls easily as well as my 100 Ft Long Wire with lot's less noise Worth it at twice the price. Mine survived the winter in Canada just fine. Also I used a good quality power adapter rather than supplied cable that did add a bit of noise.
Thanks for the report and have a great day.
Sounds like a smokin' recommendation right there 👍
Thanks for the review. I ordered one off Amazon last month, it is sitting beside my recliner where I put the box after exploring it, of course. When the damn SNOW has gone, I will indeed put it up and give it a shot. I live in, well, sort near the end of the known earth in South Dakota. On a good day I can get 2 AM radio stations that are listenable, and 1 FM rebroadcast of our local AM station. Since this is South Dakota (very rural indeed) the content is mostly local news and modern country music during the week. I loved country when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's but a tour in Vietnam changed my love for Country to a very deep love of the 60's and early 70's ROCK AND ROLL so modern Country is something I avoid at all costs. The weekends however are dedicated to we old farts with the hits from the 60's so I do, on occasions listen to that. Lately I have been building WIFI radios and have several in our home now where I can choose which era tunes I wish to hear, and the quality of those is wonderful, of course it depends on which speaker system I have the receivers attached to, the one on my 70's vintage receiver from SONY pipped through a set of 15 inch speakers from some kids BOOM CAR that bounced from the reverb in his make out rig. Got them from a small radio/TV repair shop run by a disabled dude who knew how to solder but little else years ago. Traded an old mono reel to reel machine I had picked up for 3 bucks at an auction in a nearby city. I am still awaiting the delivery of one of those expensive SDR receivers. I ordered it off Alibaba from what they claimed was an American Shipper a month and a half ago. According to their shipping data, it shipped 2 weeks ago but since our town has been buried by two blizzards back to back, it may well be sitting in some post office in the area, who the hell knows. I have almost lost my desire for the set after awaiting deliver for over a month! To think I spent an extra 20 BUCKS to get it from a US Seller only to discover the bastard reorders from China and the shop in China must be out of stock so must BUILD the SDR first then ship from China to the IDIOT seller, who then RESHIPPS it from USA so he can be branded a USA Seller. I knew there was some reason why I never shop there. Just for shits and giggles I ordered a cheap adapter for another Ham set I have from the Alibaba (seller in china!) and it has already arrived, while the one I ordered over a month ago is still in the mail?? Who knows? I think I will now stick to Amazon since the shit gets here! Anyhow, signing off, just another grumpy old man, 73's KE0JBL
Good to hear from you and your adventures. Have a great day.
Great Video. I had a question for you regarding what setting I should be using on my Grundig Sat 800 when using an exterior MLA 30+ Loop antenna. There is 2 setting on my radio. One setting is for 50 ohm and the other is for 500 ohm. At this point, the 50 ohm seems to be giving me a much better reception with very little noise while the 500 ohm setting gives me a much better signal yet more noise. What's the rule of thumb for SW enthusiasts like yourself when choosing a setting for a MLA 30 antenna? Our perhaps, is it just preference?
This an is a 50 ohm antenna.
Love your video and thank you for your support from Shediac River, New Brunswick Canada
WD-40 stop's rust and if you spray it's connecter's will help p.s. yes noise not on battery Bank 🙂👍
Tom's radio room show I learn lot from you about shortwave receivers and antenna for shortwave receivers and what to lisn to on shortwave and what time in utc at your location
I bought one over a year ago but only set it up at the end of march during the lockdown here in Wales . To be honest I was very surprised on how well it works .
Thanks for the report and have a great day.
Good video. I just put it up. What do I look for in terms of pl259 adaptors for this antenna. I've never seen such tiny connectors.
You need SMA to whatever you normally use adapter. Such as, SMA to BNC.
Hi Tom, it's definitely prudent to be cautious when using active atennas... my R1000 can attest to that, build quality of the MLA30+ looks okay but it wouldn't hurt to run a voltage meter across the output of the antenna system before connection 👍
Thanks, I did that. Have a great day.
I finally set mine up and it’s sooo much static. I have to find some way to tune it
Strange. Don't have much static with mine.
@@hamrad88 I’m sure it’s my setup and area. I moved it around and it got better.
Hello from Alabama, I really enjoy your show and I have a quick question 🙋♂️, I’m a year behind and was wondering since this was first posted have you tried it out and what results did you have. Thanks again ✝️🇺🇸🤙🏻🅰️
Thanks. Yes, this antenna is my best antenna for shortwave and I have over a dozen antennas just for shortwave.
@@hamrad88 thanks for responding, have a great day
@@appalachianunderground8474 Have a great day.
Hey Tom, you've got my curiosity up with this one. All I have is an end fed longwire up and I'm looking for something with less noise, aren't we all?
So far it is looking good.
Tom you can use a battery Bank with the antenna my friend it works with my antenna nice for when there is no power 😍👍
Thanks for the tip
Tom's radio room show mega loop
30 loop antenna is cool 😎 👌 👍
Are there any of these that are not potted inside with black goo so you can see what it is made of?
Don't know.
Are
You mentioned that the air in your area has some salt mixed in with it from the Gulf. Do you know if that helps you with you receiving distant/faint signals? Just curious if you have any knowledge about it because salt water is supposed to be such a great conductor.
It looks like the new loop hardware boxes are well constructed and will hold up well for you. Enjoy the new toy. Let us know how it receives for you.
I am guessing it does not help much.
Tom, how would I connect this to a Tecsun PL-660 radio? What`s the difference with the normal one and the + (plus) version? Both are on Amazon and visually there appears to be no difference so I don`t want to get ripped off by China again?
You would need an adapter or maybe even a combination of two adapters. The cable that comes with the antenna has an SMA male connector, so you need a SMA female adapter to 3.5 mm. I don't think the make one of those so you probably will have to get a SMA female to PL-259 then an adapter of SO-239 to 3.5 MM. Please double check me on that. The + version is a newer version with a slight improvement on sensitivity.
Tom's radio room show I like your utube videos
How wide is the loop points in a circle
Less than 3 feet
Tom the link in your Amazon store offers the mla 30, not the mla 30+. Can you confirm that your link is for the + model? Thanks
Unfortunately, the 30+ is out of stock now due to the high demand. Sorry.
Hi Tom, can you give me the site link where to buy the MLA-30+ model?
I got mine from Amazon but they are sold out now.
@@hamrad88 Thanks for the info. It seems the Plus type Is available on Wish site
I got mine from amazon and I love it
Thanks for the report and have a great day.
👍 Thanks Tom
Good luck.
Thanks
Cool.
📻🙂
Thanks
I am anxious to hear what you think of this antenna given that you have so many other antennas and so many receivers to test it on. I am a casual SW listener and over the years have tried many different home brew antennas without much success. I bought the original of this loop several months ago and have been pleased with its performance especially given the price. I could never justify paying more for an antenna than I do for a receiver so this one made sense to me.
I have to agree with you about antenna cost.
Please be careful. 📻
Thanks
📻🙂👍
Cool
Good o'l virus, hmmm, OK.
Let us know on another video how it works for you? I might get one. Randy. California. KN6BZG
I got it up today and will be doing some shows on how well it works.
@@hamrad88 Thanks! Tom.