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write your own review of the Grundig AN200 from Radio Shack.
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NZ4O
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 7, 2012 06:44
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A Helpful addition
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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2-3 years ago I bought my Tecsun AN 200 loop straight from the manufacturer in China. It was packed and shipped very poorly but survived the trip with no damage. The manufacture of my unit was fairly poor and I had to make a couple of physical repairs to it.
As far as performance it significantly improves reception on the MF AM band compared to the stock internal loop stick antennas in my Sangean ATS-818 and Tecsun PL-600.
I use it mainly at night time beside the bed as I like to listen to WSM 650 and KOA 850.
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N4DBC
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 1, 2012 10:33
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Good for a small loop
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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My local Rat Shack was having a clearance, so I picked this up to try on my Sony XDR-F1HD tuner.
That tuner came with one of those rectangular (small) plastic loop antennas, so I figured that this would be an improvement without having a "hula hoop" or larger antenna.
Right away I noticed a stronger signal on all stations. The HD even locked (for a limited time) on night time stations as far away as St. Louis (KMOX - 1120) and Boston (WBZ - 1030) [My grid is EM-97 in SW Va). Anyone who has an HD radio knows that skywave (night time) will rarely lock into the digital signal.
The tuning knob (variable capacitor/trimmer?) does make a slight difference if you use it correctly. I can tell more of a difference in daytime use, where distant stations (groundwave) are consistently weak but not subject to fading like skywave signals.
There does appear to be a correlation between the 'trimmer' position and frequency. For instance, if you are tuning in the 540 to 850 KHz range, the trimmer knob is usually best to the left of center (7 - 11 o'clock). The middle of the am band will be best with the trimmer somewhere near the middle (between 10 - 2 o'clock). The higher part of am seems better between the middle and right (12 - 5 o'clock). However, sometimes stations at the band edges like the trimmer all the way opposite of what you might expect.
One example of improvement, WFIR 960 from Roanoke, Va mainly produced a 'carrier squeal' (daytime) on the original am loop. But with the AN200, I can adjust the position of the loop and the 'trimmer' to recover a readable signal.
I'm also able to receive considerably more daytime am stations. The key is to set your radio to the frequency that you wish to receive, and then rotate the antenna and trimmer for best reception.
Don't expect miracles. But if you have a tuner or portable with a am antenna input, and the OEM small am loop doesn't work well for you, this could be an improvement. Just don't pay over $25 or so for it, because there are probably better ones (if you pay more or can use a physically larger loop).
I'll rate it a 4 for comparably sized (passive) loop antennas, but a 3 or less if compared to a larger wire or active (amplified) loop antenna.
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WY3X
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Rating: 2/5
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Aug 28, 2009 21:28
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Looks aren't everything
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I enjoy broadcast band DXing late at night. I use various receivers, and purchased this to go with my DAK MR-101, which has an internal ferrite bar antenna. I felt it could use a little help to stabilize AM broadcast band fading. The antenna comes with a 3 foot patch cord (pretty short) that has a 1/8" stereo phono jack on one end which mates with the antenna, and a bare wire tinned pigtail at the other end. My DAK already has a 1/8" phono jack, so I substituted a double-male patch cord for speed in connecting the two together. I picked WBT at 1110, and the signal was already fairly strong. Rotating the control knob throughout it's range on the AN200 produced no discernible difference. I thought that there perhaps may be an impedance mis-match, and wanting to give the antenna every chance to prove it's worth, I added a balun I normally use with a balanced wire antenna, and used the Grundig pigtail adapter. Again, no difference. Then I read a review by an owner of a Grundig radio on this website that mentioned merely placing the antenna near their radio and that it worked well just putting it in proximity of the radio. So- I disconnected the physical connection, and placed my radio near the loop. I found that I could weaken the signal strength of the station I was listening to by placing the radio in the center of the loop and rotating the control on the antenna, but I could not increase signal strength no matter what I did! I tried using the antenna horizontally, vertically, placing the radio inside the loop, slightly outside the loop, laying it next to the side of the loop, in front of the loop, etc., but when comparing the signal strength of my radio's internal factory ferrite bar antenna, I found absolutely no improvement in signal strength using the AN200.
So, I thought, perhaps I should try the antenna out on a radio that has NO internal antenna, just for comparative measurements. After all, Grundig wouldn't put a piece of junk on the market, would they?
So- I walked across the room and connected the antenna to my Ten Tec Orion II through the balanced line connection on my Ten Tec 238 manual antenna tuner. I found a semi-weak station, WPHD on 1210. (It's in Philadelphia, PA and I'm in Myrtle Beach, SC.) I wish I could say that the station popped up out of the noise when tuning the antenna, but I can't. The signal strength did show a peak when tuning, so the antenna was doing something. I listened until fading occurred, and reception went down into the static a few times. The station became unlistenable on my Orion II with the AN200, while my DAK radio on the other side of the room with only the internal ferrite bar antenna only faded slightly and remained much clearer and completely understandable throughout the fading.
In a totally unfair comparison, I also tried my 75M dipole strictly for comparison, and neither antenna could touch it!
My personal opinion is, bottom line, that if you have a radio with NO antenna, it's better than nothing, but not by much. If you have an internal ferrite bar antenna, this is not going to help you get better reception and you'll be wasting your money. It might benefit from some type of internal powered amplifier, but for $40.00, it's all you're going to get! $40.00 worth of wire would be a much better investment if you have the means and room to hang it. It's one redeeming quality is it's looks. It looks COOL!
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