Your antenna shows great craftsmanship. It's always a lot of fun to experiment with antenna mods. One of the objectives of the MLA 30+ was to give radio fans a cheaper way to hear shortwave and HF signals. Now I haven't done my own testing, but I've read up about active loop antennas. The circumference of the loop does not seem to affect receiving performance whether it's three foot in diameter or ten feet. So, keep it at 3 feet. Using copper tubing increases weight, increases wind load, doubles or even quadruples the price with no significant increase in performance. Yes, you have a more robust antenna, but its now heavier and bulkier too. And more prone to get puzzled looks from the neighbor's kid when they retrieve the basketball from your yard. One of the things that's not talked about in MLA 30+ mods is the noise generated by the power inserter. The input is USB 5v. I find that it may help lower background noise if the power inserter is run through an old Iphone/Ipad charger. The folks that make KiwiSDRs have noted that the iPhone give off less noise when powering their fine SDR box. I use an iPhone charger and I find its a full 2 s units quieter than your typical made in China charger clone. That's an appreciable difference, but with anything involving antennas, your results may vary. One of the great things about the MLA 30+ is how small and light it is. Also realize that a small antenna like this is a huge compromise compensated with a fairly noisy amp. But it brings a world of signals into the home at modest cost. The fact that this antenna does this for a tenth or a 20th of what other companies are charging for an active loop should raise everyone's eyebrows. Loop antennas are probably best for not gathering signals, but rejecting electrical noise by nulling the sides of the antenna. Less noise means less listener fatigue from my perspective. As for modding the antenna to make it more robust, the power inserter is pretty much weatherproof. Tape or seal the cable connector and you should be good to go. I notice people have no problem spending thousands for their receivers, but then are pretty lightweight when it comes to other performance enhancing mods like good grounding, proper cabling, antenna placement and noise management in their environment.
I was impressed with your ingenuity and professionalism... You went 95%, then the tape and zip ties came out! Still a cool project and I'm certain it works fine. Cheers
My guess is that he chose to use tape and zip ties to avoid using metal to mount the loop to the plastic pipe. If it does not last, it should be fairly easy to remove and try something else.
Well i did not modify mine. And i'm glad i kept it original. The coax it came with i turned into coil so it acts as a poor man balun. From there i ran it into a 1:1 choke. Grounded it. And then with thick coax into the shack! Very good antenna! Love the thing.
Good question. From my point of view, the original loop is perfectly sufficient. While copper is a better electrical conductor than stainless steel, I have my doubts whether this fact really justifies the great effort. A tall mast is also not really necessary for this type of antenna. But that's just my personal opinion. However, a thicker antenna cable definitely makes sense.
Securing loop to mask option. Tee fitting @ top, cross@ bottom, a wood dowel for insulator, pack non-hardening putty to center tubing in fittings and filling voids.
great work and I would be happy about a video with the connected receiver that this antenna can be outside for the next few years without being damaged by a storm
Hah, this is scary, last night I bought parts to convert my MLA 30 to BNC (for RG58 coax) and then this morning, this is the first video UA-cam recommends! I swear it's psychic at times! Thank you for making the video Arczi :)
I got a kids hula hoop (75cm), fed 12awg copper wire through the hoop and hooked it up to the MLA30+. Used some 20mm pvc pipe and connectors to mount it. The hoop was multi rainbow colour segments, so as it wasn’t Pride month, I sprayed it black. Took about an hour and cost around £7 (mostly hula hoop). Definite improvement in 40M band and even had better reception between 118-136MHz.
I took the challenge to do the same improvemente . The quality of the signal will not be stronger, but the noise floor is better now. I tried with almost the same radius as the original antena, I dont know what the measurements of this one are. My final thoughts are, if you are really happy with the signal and you live in a quiet place there's NO point on doing this unless your antenna is very expose to storms and rain. Otherwhise leave it original.
I would like to know a comparison of reception between before and after this modification, to see if we are convinced to do it. Otherwise, interesting video, friend. 73
I used a 3m length of heliax and fed it though a hole drilled in the top of the waste pipe. In the end it worked just the same as the original though. Btw you can buy black waste pipe now. Less conspicuous than the white.
Bonjour. Intéressant ce montage. Attention cependant au perçage du boitier de l'ampli. C'est extrêmement délicat et si le foret atterrit sur la self, c'est fichu. Pour éviter cela je préconise de mettre le boitier de l'ampli dans une boite un peu plus grands et de fixer la fiche antenne à cette même boite. On relie ensuite avec un morceau de câble le petit boitier MLA30 et le fiche fixée sur cette seconde boite. C'est sans risque.
I have 2 MLA 30+ antennas. The Biasing Tee powers up fine on a USB plug in power adapter but when I try and power it through a portable power bank the power cuts off after a few minutes. This happens with both antenna Biasing Tees and with several different portable power banks different power cords. I would like to use the antenna for portable use but cannot power it. Is this normal or do I have two defective antennas.
The current draw for the antenna is very low. Maybe your power bank is switching off automatically because it's such a low current? Might be worth trying another power bank.
Mine did this too and figured out what was going on. I believe if the biasing tee doesn't see a signal it will auto power off. In other words hook up all your kit and power up the box with your portable. It worked for me. Lmk if it helps you
Why go to all this trouble ? Why are you using hard copper tubing rather than the wire that the kit comes with? Do you get better reception with a copper pipe ? If you feel you must use copper tubing why not buy the flexible copper tubing that comes in rolls that can be stretched out by hand in about 2 minutes.
It wasn't - it's not a continuous loop, that's what he was showing with the meter....He had two pieces of copper, I assume because he didn't have one continuous piece. He only joined one side copper to copper.
You would most certainly destroy the device used as a preamp. I suspect an LMH6550 Op Amp/line driver or similar device. To transmit, you would have to build a keying circuit that utilizes a relay to quickly switch the preamp out of the circuit during transmit, and bypass the radio's final output directly to the antenna. This would also require an impedance match or a tuner to set SWR to the loop. The copper tubing would indeed be able to handle most wattages but the tuning would be a factor and the circular shape might be a problem. Most antennas are linear, vertically, or horizontally polarized. A circularly polarized transmission would lose half of its power if received by a linear antenna, oriented vertically or horizontally. The benefits of the magnetic loop as a receive antenna would not apply to the outgoing signal.
What a waste of time and material. He really had me laughing out loud when I saw the N to BNC adaptor at the connecting cable. Why not use N at the antenny side? That would at least have made the whole thing waterproof.
@@TonyLing It works. You can also fill PVC pipe with sand and use a heat gun to bend it into arcs. The sand supports the interior walls so they wont just collapse.
@@j.allenhood7429I had a pool installer show me a trick. He dug the trench to fit the system, then hit a length of one or two inch PVC with a brush torch to make the pipe plastic and then just dropped like a snake and it laid in just perfect!
@@jn1lfdI can assure you, that soldering was not professional! Due to the heatsink effect of the large amount of copper, that was just a badly done blob. Basically, a dry solder joint.
I would like to have or to hear a test of the mod and a stock side-by-side. I'm not sure that the copper pipe over the stainless loop will yield any difference at all.
Your antenna shows great craftsmanship. It's always a lot of fun to experiment with antenna mods.
One of the objectives of the MLA 30+ was to give radio fans a cheaper way to hear shortwave and HF signals. Now I haven't done my own testing, but I've read up about active loop antennas. The circumference of the loop does not seem to affect receiving performance whether it's three foot in diameter or ten feet. So, keep it at 3 feet. Using copper tubing increases weight, increases wind load, doubles or even quadruples the price with no significant increase in performance. Yes, you have a more robust antenna, but its now heavier and bulkier too. And more prone to get puzzled looks from the neighbor's kid when they retrieve the basketball from your yard.
One of the things that's not talked about in MLA 30+ mods is the noise generated by the power inserter. The input is USB 5v. I find that it may help lower background noise if the power inserter is run through an old Iphone/Ipad charger. The folks that make KiwiSDRs have noted that the iPhone give off less noise when powering their fine SDR box. I use an iPhone charger and I find its a full 2 s units quieter than your typical made in China charger clone. That's an appreciable difference, but with anything involving antennas, your results may vary.
One of the great things about the MLA 30+ is how small and light it is. Also realize that a small antenna like this is a huge compromise compensated with a fairly noisy amp. But it brings a world of signals into the home at modest cost. The fact that this antenna does this for a tenth or a 20th of what other companies are charging for an active loop should raise everyone's eyebrows.
Loop antennas are probably best for not gathering signals, but rejecting electrical noise by nulling the sides of the antenna. Less noise means less listener fatigue from my perspective.
As for modding the antenna to make it more robust, the power inserter is pretty much weatherproof. Tape or seal the cable connector and you should be good to go.
I notice people have no problem spending thousands for their receivers, but then are pretty lightweight when it comes to other performance enhancing mods like good grounding, proper cabling, antenna placement and noise management in their environment.
I was impressed with your ingenuity and professionalism... You went 95%, then the tape and zip ties came out! Still a cool project and I'm certain it works fine. Cheers
My guess is that he chose to use tape and zip ties to avoid using metal to mount the loop to the plastic pipe. If it does not last, it should be fairly easy to remove and try something else.
Thank you very much for the easy to follow and generous video. Be well.
So at the end of all that from a receive point of view was it all worth it ?.
Nice work!.... May all of your tools work well for another 50 years! 👍👍
Well i did not modify mine. And i'm glad i kept it original. The coax it came with i turned into coil so it acts as a poor man balun. From there i ran it into a 1:1 choke. Grounded it. And then with thick coax into the shack! Very good antenna! Love the thing.
Very nice job! Very nice. But, how well does it work compared to the original?
Good question. From my point of view, the original loop is perfectly sufficient. While copper is a better electrical conductor than stainless steel, I have my doubts whether this fact really justifies the great effort. A tall mast is also not really necessary for this type of antenna. But that's just my personal opinion. However, a thicker antenna cable definitely makes sense.
Securing loop to mask option. Tee fitting @ top, cross@ bottom, a wood dowel for insulator, pack non-hardening putty to center tubing in fittings and filling voids.
great work and I would be happy about a video with the connected receiver that this antenna can be outside for the next few years without being damaged by a storm
Hah, this is scary, last night I bought parts to convert my MLA 30 to BNC (for RG58 coax) and then this morning, this is the first video UA-cam recommends! I swear it's psychic at times! Thank you for making the video Arczi :)
its your cellphone :-)
I got a kids hula hoop (75cm), fed 12awg copper wire through the hoop and hooked it up to the MLA30+. Used some 20mm pvc pipe and connectors to mount it. The hoop was multi rainbow colour segments, so as it wasn’t Pride month, I sprayed it black. Took about an hour and cost around £7 (mostly hula hoop). Definite improvement in 40M band and even had better reception between 118-136MHz.
Plastic hoop from a $2 shop..... Done in about the same time it takes to put it up in the first place👍
And then inserting a thicker electrical cable into the hula hoop. Has the same effect. 🙂
Or wrap with aluminum tape For more skin in the game?@@andreasg7834
I took the challenge to do the same improvemente . The quality of the signal will not be stronger, but the noise floor is better now. I tried with almost the same radius as the original antena, I dont know what the measurements of this one are. My final thoughts are, if you are really happy with the signal and you live in a quiet place there's NO point on doing this unless your antenna is very expose to storms and rain. Otherwhise leave it original.
I would like to know a comparison of reception between before and after this modification, to see if we are convinced to do it. Otherwise, interesting video, friend. 73
Nice job but does it improve reception...
The BNC plug & socket are not waterproof. Otherwise, a nice project 👍
no demo before/after mod would be nice to see improvment.
How big of a difference does it make using a copper antenna?
Not much, although copper is a better electrical conductor. The original loop is okay. It only wobbles more in the wind. 🙂
The opposite coax end that attaches to the power source, you don't mention you need a reducer male fitting, or how did you do it..?
How much improvement did you get???? Nice Job.
I used a 3m length of heliax and fed it though a hole drilled in the top of the waste pipe. In the end it worked just the same as the original though. Btw you can buy black waste pipe now. Less conspicuous than the white.
I liked the methods used - just like everyone else - am just wondering how much improvement was made, if any.
Would it not change the impedance of the antenna, changing from wire to large copper tube? Impedance matching is important in any antenna setup.
Ill bet wifey wasnt impressed when she saw the scorched table!!!!!
Nice job ! Looks great. What components make up the ml-30 ? I saw what appears to be a small circular ferrite
Seems like the uploader of this video doesn't care much replying the comments....
It’s so annoying when they do that
Yes, he ignores everything. 😞
@Just a bloke. UA-cam ist also a kind of social media. When I don't want to interact with people, who react to my videos, I deactivate the comments!
Bonjour. Intéressant ce montage. Attention cependant au perçage du boitier de l'ampli. C'est extrêmement délicat et si le foret atterrit sur la self, c'est fichu. Pour éviter cela je préconise de mettre le boitier de l'ampli dans une boite un peu plus grands et de fixer la fiche antenne à cette même boite. On relie ensuite avec un morceau de câble le petit boitier MLA30 et le fiche fixée sur cette seconde boite. C'est sans risque.
Good work✅
Fabuluous howto. Thank you very much.
I made a 90cm hula hoop out of aluminum.
Outstanding work! I can't wait to see what you come up with for the satellite dish :)
What a butcher job.
Golden loop will be better!
Nice work. Well done looks really good. 👍 Greetings from New York, USA
Any actual benefit regarding signal strength?
Excellent job man! I bet it works pretty good 👍🏼
I have 2 MLA 30+ antennas. The Biasing Tee powers up fine on a USB plug in power adapter but when I try and power it through a portable power bank the power cuts off after a few minutes. This happens with both antenna Biasing Tees and with several different portable power banks different power cords. I would like to use the antenna for portable
use but cannot power it. Is this normal or do I have two defective antennas.
The current draw for the antenna is very low. Maybe your power bank is switching off automatically because it's such a low current? Might be worth trying another power bank.
Mine did this too and figured out what was going on. I believe if the biasing tee doesn't see a signal it will auto power off. In other words hook up all your kit and power up the box with your portable. It worked for me. Lmk if it helps you
The packs shut down because it's drawing too little power. Add a load to keep it alive.
All that work and nothing about how well it performs?
Mmm.😮😮😮
witaj. możesz podać info jak spisuje się ta antena po przerobieniu. czy jest różnica. możesz umieścić film jak odbiera ta ocena w pełnym zakresie
Zbiera Zbyszek wield Szumu z eteru, niepolecana powiększać średnicy kola
Complimenti 👍!!
Can someone explain exactly why a large copper tube gets better results from the original wire? That's really what this video is about.
Nuts! Very little, if any, ROI that I can see.
Do you only solder the center conductor not the braid?
Why go to all this trouble ? Why are you using hard copper tubing rather than the wire that the kit comes with? Do you get better reception with a copper pipe ? If you feel you must use copper tubing why not buy the flexible copper tubing that comes in rolls that can be stretched out by hand in about 2 minutes.
voila une bonne idée merci
Why was the pipe cut in half only to solder it back together??
It wasn't - it's not a continuous loop, that's what he was showing with the meter....He had two pieces of copper, I assume because he didn't have one continuous piece. He only joined one side copper to copper.
Seems a lot of work and expense for very little.
There's no need to go to all the trouble of building a copper loop when you can just use a longer piece of wire to make a larger loop.
Za ten fil masz suba
may i ask why MLA-30 cant be used to transmit? I can used this argument when i negotiate with Custom Officers
Because the circuitry inside can't handle transmitting power. It's made for receive only.
You would most certainly destroy the device used as a preamp. I suspect an LMH6550 Op Amp/line driver or similar device. To transmit, you would have to build a keying circuit that utilizes a relay to quickly switch the preamp out of the circuit during transmit, and bypass the radio's final output directly to the antenna. This would also require an impedance match or a tuner to set SWR to the loop. The copper tubing would indeed be able to handle most wattages but the tuning would be a factor and the circular shape might be a problem. Most antennas are linear, vertically, or horizontally polarized. A circularly polarized transmission would lose half of its power if received by a linear antenna, oriented vertically or horizontally. The benefits of the magnetic loop as a receive antenna would not apply to the outgoing signal.
Wouldn’t it be so much easier to just buy one that’s already made?
Hmm whats up with the spray painting? Is it just for the looks?
My understanding is the thicker the eliment the wider the bandwidth...
What a waste of time and material. He really had me laughing out loud when I saw the N to BNC adaptor at the connecting cable. Why not use N at the antenny side? That would at least have made the whole thing waterproof.
Bonjour , et alors , ça capte mieux ?
Excellent video.
Did it make an improvement?
Tell us in Polish ..
Что он там омметром меряет, Боже ты мой....
Bel lavoro complimenti! 👍👍
Next step, to be launched by the space shuttle.
😂😂😂😂😂
He prolly doesn’t know English.
Gaahh it got worse than original for me
I don't get how the sand can help
Stops the pipe from collapsing when you bend it.
@@dorsetdumpling5387 I guessed that was the thinking behind it, yes, but I don't see how it could work.
@@TonyLing It works. You can also fill PVC pipe with sand and use a heat gun to bend it into arcs. The sand supports the interior walls so they wont just collapse.
@@j.allenhood7429I had a pool installer show me a trick. He dug the trench to fit the system, then hit a length of one or two inch PVC with a brush torch to make the pipe plastic and then just dropped like a snake and it laid in just perfect!
Why not just use a metal hose band instead of going through the trouble of soldering?
Soldering the connections makes for a much more professional looking result.
@@tempest411 Huh?
@@jn1lfd What do you mean by "Huh"?
@@jn1lfdI can assure you, that soldering was not professional! Due to the heatsink effect of the large amount of copper, that was just a badly done blob. Basically, a dry solder joint.
i will do this 🤘
I would like to have or to hear a test of the mod and a stock side-by-side. I'm not sure that the copper pipe over the stainless loop will yield any difference at all.
It will add more noise to the antenna.
20 min of my life ill never get back lol
Well ! QSL
QRM
If you're not going to narrate your video why add such insipid music?
Czy ta antena sprawdzi się w mieście? próbowałeś czy nie? Dziękuję