LZ1AQ Active Small Magnetic Loop HF Antenna
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ธ.ค. 2023
- Here we take a look at an LZ1AQ Amplifier based, magnetic loop RX HF antenna which has 3 different modes of use. Surprising results from such as small antenna.
www.banggood.com/custlink/3GG...
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_op4...
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I have tested mine indoors and it worked better than the mla 30 in indoor conditions. it is the best solution i have ever encountered for an apartment dweller. It also does a decent job on FM. Also when indoors moving it by a few inches can change the background noise level so you have to experiment for the best location when indoors.
I got this antenna and for now I tested it at home with a Ft 817, I was surprised by the good reception but I had to add an FM filter increasing the reception by 50%! Happy New Year .
Happy new year and what a cute little antenna.
Thanks for this review. I’m just now getting started and a long wire antenna isn’t very practical where I am.
Thanks for the video! I recently finished building my modified Levkov-Talbot -loop (as I call it), there is a Short on my channel. Main difference is at the input transistors: my version uses BFQ235A NPN video transistors that run quite warm. It works, but in an apartment there is so much RFI that probably no indoor antenna could help.
Happy New Year! I've been looking for a good HF Antenna for my small London house.
I mainly use my Wellbrook outside with coax into the house, but love testing out other smaller options; this one is impressive. Have used with my Malahit DSP2, ICF2001D, Tecsun PL990 (amongst a few…) and am pleased with the performance . Have created a plywood cross to support the loop and powered with a 12V rechargeable battery pack that I also use with my PK Loop. Nice one Matt…
I really think that RX loops are the way forward for us in the UK. QRM (not QRN - it's man-made) is an unfortunate part of life and we are stuck with it. The only way that I've found of getting a decent SNR is to use an RX loop
I use a Megaloop MLA30 in the attic for rx only and it's better than I expected. had two years now.
On the LZ1AQ website it appears the configuration switches are intended for different physical loop arrangements. I suspect the one that didn't work is using the inner conductor of the coax on its own.
Nice! How would you say this compares to the Airspy Youloop you covered in 2020?
I also have this antenna. In my indoor testing, I could not see a difference between the three different modes. Also I thought the noise level was a bit higher than I expected, clearly related to the amplifier. Since my radio (Malahit SDR DSP1 V5) already has a preamp, I reverted back to my old Airspy YouLoop and felt it was a better solution.
Could you recomend a power supply for it please
Embassies seem to be fans of loop antennas. There must be a good reason. They seem a very intriguing option for some circumstances.
Hi Matt! Your impression on this loop vs the Criss Country Wireless loop?
Several people have commented that they received their "HFDY active loop" in a bag rather than a box, and it did not contain everything that Matt shows in this video. As to the missing instructions, there is only one page, and it is what Matt shows at 0:23 and 2:02, so you can save a screen shot if you did not receive this page with your antenna. As to the missing items and a bag rather than a box, this suggests that some group is now making knock-off HFDY antennas, perhaps the same group that is making knock-off MLA-30 antennas?: th-cam.com/video/XTOfC2PLlQA/w-d-xo.html (My HFDY active loop arrived yesterday. It was in a box and included everything that Matt showed in this video, so it appears that I was lucky enough to get a genuine HFDY antenna.) As others have pointed out, this antenna claims to use a preamp design by LZ1AQ, but it is neither produced by nor endorsed by LZ1AQ.
Thanks for this video. Very intetesting.
I just ordered it on Banggood for
about $40.00, US, with a small charge
for shipping. Not bad. It was listed a
bit cheaper on Aliexpress, but I always
am denied on using my credit or even
my debit card. 😊
Hope you enjoy it!
The Banggood website description says it's frequency range is from 50K-500MHz, do you know how well it performs in the VHF and UHF bands?
Hi, newbie here, does the voltage applied to the loop make any difference, I have just got one and am trying it on a SDR
In magnetic loop mode, wouldn’t you need to reposition the loop 90deg? Shouldn’t it copy the relation between E and H fields?
Hi, and thanks for your video really enjoyed the content. I purchased the loop and had a little test seems good. I noticed the amp getting a little warm and wondered if yours felt warm to the touch and if the center conductor was center +. Thanks again and keep up the good work.
Yup, mine also got very warm.
Mine also got warm, but not to a level to be alarmed about.
Thanks for that was a little worried but ok know..@@TechMindsOfficial
Bought it since i was curious. I also own an MLA 30+. What i can say is that the performance of both seem similar. Yet, i did upgrade the MLA coax, used a copper pipe for the loop, tweaked with the knob inside the bias tee. With these mods, the MLA30 is far better. I imagine if i tweak the other one, i might get better reception as well. So far, i like it. I might replace the stock blue cables with heavy duty coax. It's fun to experiment.
Do you mean that (1) your MLA-30 is now much better than it was originally, so that it is now comparable to the HFDY loop with LZ1AQ-designed amp or (2) your modified MLA-30 loop is much better than a stock HFDY loop with LZ1AQ amp?
Do you think this would work for an old-fashioned Shortwave Radio?
Great stuff 👍👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Why have 3 operating modes if one is always better? Isn't that the obvious question? And it would have been good to compare to the popular MLA 30+. For those of us with one of those, I'm guessing we're all wondering if it would be worth buying one of these. Looks like I'll have to look elsewhere for the answers, but thanks for the quick look at this.
Okay. So I ordered one of these, but it came with no instructions or diagram. Could you please scan the documentation that came with yours and post a link to it below the video?
Think i'll buy 2x one for N-South the other W-East and use the ports to switch on the RSPDX.
I wonder if its better than MLA30+ loop antenna
I bought this hoping it would be a good indoor antenna but after trying 2 different mains 12v power supplies and then 12v over battery - all it did was provide an exceptionally weak signal and a loud drone
No idea how Matt got such crisp reception from his?!
Next time will stick to the source products.
I have this one as well as the MLA30+ and the original LZ1AQ loop amplifier. The Banggood loop is definitely better than the MLA30+, especially below 500 kHz where the MLA30+ is of no use to man nor beast.
But a loop with the original LZ1AQ amplifier runs circles around the other two.
I bought this exact same loop antenna about weeks ago, while it works resonable well, when I connect a regulated 12V power supply the main antenna PCB with the amplifer get very hot, this only happens when I connect it to a 12V supply the input range is 5V-12V at 5, 9 volts it heats up a little but no where as hot as when i supply it with 12V.
Does anyone have this problem ? or is it time to return it to get a new one.
Mine actually would not work at 12 volts, but worked fine with 9 volts. It only got a little warm.
I was wondering how this antenna performs compared to the MLA-30+....
Well for me says up to 500mhz i hopeing this is true or is it a typo. but i would like to see comparsion please as well Tech Minds.
@@greilly1982 I used mine on air band as well, it works, but I can't tell you if this is much better than a resonant electric antenna. It is very compact and a really great allrounder to take with. I have not tested it versus my homemade mag loops. As a main antenna I use the original LZ1AQ differential EU loop that is being fed by twisted wire LAN cable and that works wonder. Will have to see what the difference is. Fact is that I way very impressed by its low noise sesitivity on lower bands that is already worth it. VLF-LW-MW it rocks in all modes of operation.
I recommend it to anyone who needs a small and capable antenna e.g. in a hotel on a window ... there will be nothing coparable you can roll up and squeeze into your luggage with minimal impact.
I also recommend to look for an old lumb supply with a real transformer, like I did, and not a noisy switched supply unit that will only counteract any noise reception.
What is your favourite SDR software?
Sdr console v3.3 I like it
Hi, thanks for the video! Im a little late with this question. What was your outside antenna you were comparing qith this loop?
Thanks
Bob
If I remember correctly it would of been an EFHW antenna using a 49:1 auto-transformer.
to be honest it was far quieter on the end fed antenna and better signal to noise.
That may of been true, I didn't notice, but I guess if I spent a lot more time I would install it in the loft with some kind of mechanism to rotate it, to eliminate noise. Cheers
I tried ordering this: they sent me the cables and the bias tee but that’s all. Never buying from China again. Thanks for the life lesson.
Man, mine came in a bag instead of a box, with no directions and no plastic spreader/window hangs.
Same here but also missing documentation.
@@mrradio2187 I just received my order of this antenna and it was packaged like Matt's. The only instructions inside were a sheet like Matt shows at 0:23. I wonder if there are now knock-offs (copies) of this antenna, and you received one, just like there are copies of the MLA-30: th-cam.com/video/XTOfC2PLlQA/w-d-xo.html
@@mrradio2187 As to the missing instructions, there is only one page, and it is what Matt shows at 0:23 and 2:02, so you can save a screen shot if you did not receive this page with your antenna. As to fewer items in a bag rather than a box, this suggests that some group is now making knock-off HFDY antennas. Perhaps the same group that is making knock-off MLA-30 antennas?: th-cam.com/video/XTOfC2PLlQA/w-d-xo.html
I could never understand how these things work
Google: How does a loop antenna work? Here are two TH-cam videos on the subject:
th-cam.com/video/g4SqRkeUFAw/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/QX0-d54oB7I/w-d-xo.html
@@JonAhlquist hey thank you!
I hate supporting pirated copies aka stolen IPs! Instead you should purchase genuine product from Bulgaria…
I wrote something similar and how the real LZ1AQ compared against a EFHW, but my comments did not make it through...
I have the absolutely brilliant original LZ1AQ antenna, it to my humble opinion, is is hands down the best active antenna you can get, that will always give you an outstanding signal/noise, no matter in what kind of a noisy mess you are. Just today I received thousands of HFDL signals from all over the world, up to more than 15.000km from my location in Germany (Australia).
This Chinese thingy is not to replace that, it is simply a cheap ultra portable compromise that is good for "on the go", like in a hotel room, or when visiting family over xmas, but at home I would never use this as an alternative to the real deal.
LZ1AQ will not loose any money unless he planned to come up with its own ultra portable version, which I don't see happening.
Absolutely right! If Matt had taken a minute to look at Chavdar's website he would this is not one of his products, and the title of this video deceives buyers otherwise.
I just ordered an LZ1AQ loop antenna amplifier the other week and while waiting for it to arrive I'm building my figure 8 loop.
I really question the legitimacy of this being an LZ1AQ product since the build quality and engineering detail isn't anything like the loop amplifier on sale on his site.
I guess he should be flattered that they put his callsign on it. I just hope people don't flock to poor Chavdar looking for support!
I have two LZ1AQ Active-Antenna Loops fed into a RSP-Duo used in diversity mode.
I was surprised when this video started showing this Bangood crap, its clearly not from LZ1AQ.