7 Dec 2021

Active RX loops

Some months ago I swapped my little used X80 multi-band vertical for a Wellgood RX active loop. This is essentially the same as the Wellbrook RX active loop.

I just use mine stuck to the shack window. It cannot even be turned! It has been used from 2200m to 15m. It may even work at 10m, but I have not tried it. The convenience of not having to swap or tune antennas is great. As far as I can tell it is every bit as good as my alternative antennas.

3 comments:

Keith said...

I had a Wellbrook loop too. I say “had” because I found out the hard way that the so-called”weatherproof” box into which the amplifier was mounted was definitely NOT weatherproof, judging by the amount of water that I drained from it following a storm! However, while it was working it was very good….

I’m looking at ferrite antennas for 475 and 136kHz - have you had any success with those?

Regards,
Keith G0RQQ

Roger G3XBM said...

I have never tried ferrite antennas on these bands. I would expect standard MW/LW ferrite rods would be fine on RX. On TX I have great doubts.

Keith said...

I agree - I am thinking only from a reception point of view. I’m not sure whether there would be any improvement over the wire I use at the moment; it seems to work well on 475kHz (16 countries decoded on WSPR so far) but not so well on 136kHz, or on long-wave broadcast stations for that matter.