ferrite antennas for MW bands?

[N5RWJ]

Does any one have opinions on FSL antennas.as designed by Gary De Bock?Some say its the best MW antenna you can get.

[K0OD]

FSL antenna=Ferrite Sleeve Antenna
http://www.dxer.ca/articles/92-gary-debock

There are videos on YT of these in action. Is anyone selling them? I understand all that ferrite rod is very expensive. Quite heavy too. 

[RENTON481]

I've never used one, but from looking at some of Mr. De Bock's loggings, it's obvious that they work well. 

[K5TED]

Been building pocket versions of these for years out of plastic project cases, old AM radio loopsticks and transistor radio tuning capacitors. I always pack one on the road for use with a VR-120D in hotels. You can use it to boost signals or null adjacent strong signals, and rotate to target specific stations.

Will be building the FSL for sure.

[N7EKX]

Hi Guys,  This is Gary (N7EKX), designer of these new Ferrite Sleeve Loop (FSL) antennas. The original concept of the cylindrical ferrite sleeve was introduced by U.K. experimenter Graham Maynard in February of 2011, and there has been intense refinement of the antennas since that time. Essentially the new FSL antennas provide an all-new reception option for Longwave, Medium Wave, 160 Meter and Tropical Band listeners-- extremely high gain, low noise reception from a size of about one cubic foot. Because the FSL antennas can be set up on extremely narrow spaces like ocean side cliffs, they have already provided breakthrough reception of Transoceanic DX on the MW band. Unfortunately they also come with the "side effects" of serious cost and weight, related to the use of multiple ferrite rods (and acquiring them the nickname of "Financial Sinkhole Loops" :-)  I've posted various FSL videos on YouTube demonstrating their performance, including that of an 8" diameter model (which has compared favorably in performance to a full-sized 4' diameter MW box loop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqYZcRXCGxM&feature=youtu.be   73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (N7EKX)   

[K0OD]

Welcome Gary.

Aside from being more compact, do FSL antennas offer other advantages over that traditional wire loop which is much lighter, cheaper and easier to build?

[W8BYA]

I would like to know if the antenna can be directly coupled to the receiver, and if so, would there be any performance issues?

Gedas, W8BYA

[N7EKX]

Hello Guys,  Besides providing high gain in a much more compact size, the new FSL antennas are also less susceptible to noise pickup than the larger air core loops, thereby providing a superior S/N ratio on weak DX signals. In addition, the convenience of driving up to an isolated ocean view spot and being able to enjoy high-gain DXing immediately (without the need to set up any lengthy wires, poles or other antenna components) is a major attraction for MW Transoceanic DXers. But assuming that adequate real estate is available for antenna setup, most DXers would probably choose to go with the much cheaper air core (wire) loops than with the relatively expensive FSL antennas. A thorough discussion on the tradeoff between the two types of antennas is contained in the detailed FSL antenna article posted at http://www.dxer.ca/articles/92-gary-debock  The FSL antennas can be directly connected to the front ends of receivers like the Tecsun DSP Ultralights (PL-310, PL-380, PL-606 etc.) with very good results on MW, although since the larger FSL antennas can weigh quite a few pounds, most DXers prefer to inductively couple the FSL's to their portable radios and keep the advantage of maximum portability for both the radio and antenna. 73-Gary