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Reviews For: Alpha Magnetic Loop Antenna 10-40 Meters & 40-80 Meters

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Alpha Magnetic Loop Antenna 10-40 Meters & 40-80 Meters
Reviews: 64MSRP: $549
Description:
The Alpha Loop offers you a light 10-40 Meter transmit/receive magnetic loop antenna that is quick to deploy. An optional 40-80 Booster Cable makes the Alpha Loop into a two-turn loop, enabling TX/RX on 40-80 meters, which also improves efficiency on 40 meters over the standard 10-40 meter configuration. To use the 10-40 meter configuration, simply remove the booster cable and revert to a single turn loop.
Product is in production
More Info: http://AlphaAntenna.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15644.9
KK4ATT Rating: 2021-02-09
Great antenna for QRP or Stealth home antenna. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased an ICOM IC-705 radio for QRP but also wanted to use it in my home. I have a strict HOA and needed the antenna to be inside so I purchased the Alpha Magnetic Loop antenna and the enhancement kit for 80 meters. I mounted the antenna just inside my 2nd story office window. I connected it to the radio, set the frequency, and rotated the antenna knob until I got the highest level of noise from the radio. I then hit PTT and adjusted the knob until I got a minimum SWR, maybe 20 seconds. I did this for 80m, 40, 20m, and 17m. No tuner needed. I got great reception and was able to make contacts on each of these bands. This is a a very efficient antenna for QRP and it will disassemble and stow away in a backpack for SOTA or POTA applications. I will be purchasing the Alpha mag loop antenna that can output 100 watts in the near future for use with my portable 100 watt radio. Great design, great quality!! The best thing is the quick setup by the window. No neighbors to worry about. Works on my Yaesu 817 as well.

Rich
KK4ATT
N5LYJ Rating: 2020-12-21
Mag loop antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this for quite a while with various transmitters with excellent results...tuning is touchy but tuning to the noise level in receiving mode works fine...I lost the spacers for adding the 80-meter loop but as usual, the great service they are known for had them on my way within hours...over the years with many different Alpha products always great communications with quick responses and solutions....Steve is GREAT with an excellent product working as described...no surprise when your unit arrives...wish them the best as they have made my Hamming more enjoyable...Ken N5LYJ
KA0USE Rating: 2020-05-09
my 10-40 meter loop. very nice! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
i bought the 25 watt model several years ago.
it does it's job (when conditions are usable, snort!).
simple to assemble, lightweight. i have mine on a camera tripod.

as for the tuning, i use a 2 position co-ax switch (tune/operate) and an analyser. the analyser works better for tuning than my ancient ears. i use it with a yaesu ft-817nd. i could use the radio's internal swr display, but it isn't really precise.

note the knob can be re-positioned so it is outside the loop while tuning. your hand inside the loop will de-tune while trying to tune.
the illustration at the top of this page doesn't show the tuning box, but the video will, and the yl assembles it so the knob is outside the loop.

i'm still debating whether to get the accessory 80m loop.

for me, the major plus is the ease of assembly and the portability. i have no trees in the yard. the long cable rolls up small (do watch the short video).
steve at alpha antenna kindly answered some questions for me.

update:
i recently dis-assembled it and lost a small adapter insert. i don't suppose you saw it rolling around on your floor, did you?
i called alpha and steve deines sent me a replacement very quickly- with a spare.
kudos to steve and alpha antenna!

update: i bought the 40/60/80m booster cable. much happy!
K6SDW Rating: 2020-05-07
I'm impressed 40-10m Jr+ model Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought a while back the Alpha Loop Jr+ 40-10 meter 20 watt version loop and I'm really impressed with its performance. I run WSPR for testing and compare it to my 23' long endfed dipole up 20' in the air and the loop is almost as good and very very quiet on receive compared to the dipole. I live in a highly restricted area (RV Park) so the loop attracts very little attention since its on a tripod 2' up.....construction is very simple and solid. Mine came with a backpack to store Loop in. I'm looking forward to using it for SOTA weather permitting.

Alpha Loop is so easy to setup, maybe 5 minutes or less compared to my Buddipole vertical - you don't need trees or anything else, just some good quality coax to your rig. The tuning cap knocks the SWR down to almost 1:1 and the KX3 ATU finishes the job.

73
K7RKO Rating: 2020-05-07
Patience With The Mag Loop Pays Off Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am a brand new ham. I want to work HF on the 40, 20, and 17.

We live in a master planned community with rugged antenna restrictions. Our corner lot makes backyard antenna stealth virtually impossible.

So I bought the Alpha Magnetic Loop. My rig is a 7300. Here are a few observations and experiences so far.

I had a tough time at first. Steve at Alpha was accessible, understanding, and helpful. He schooled me in the performance of the loop.

The key breakthrough… it wasn’t until I connected a RigExpert Zoom that I could tune the Alpha to achieve sufficiently good SWR. SWR in the 1-1.5 range is commonplace. This analyzer makes using the mag loop a breeze.

The Alpha is out in the backyard. I’m still in the early going. I’ve stuck to the 40 and in a few days, with 100 watts, have made contacts in seven western states. I have a lot to learn about the capabilities of the antenna and look forward to future adventures.
W6JIM Rating: 2019-08-15
Just grab the bag and Go! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I did way too much research before I bought the Alpha Coaxial Mag Loop. I was looking for the best performance for the money and Alpha came out on top.

Got mine with a bag and a small tripod. It fit in the bag so very easy to take on the go.

I have had success using it indoors and outdoors.

There is a bit of a learning curve with mag-loops, but once you practice tuning it in, no problems.

I would recommend this antenna for Portable ops , as part of a go-kit, or for those with antenna restrictions. You can use it from your hotel room when you are traveling!

Sets up in just a few minutes.
N0YSQ Rating: 2019-08-15
Quiet, Almost Pixel loop quiet. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I procured the 100 W version 10-40M, 100W PEP SSB MAGNETIC BASE LOOP ANTENNA Everyone at the factory was extremely helpful. I have texted Steve back and forth and David is super nice. The product really works as Manufactured.
To be quite frank, It "hears" better than my Stealth loop. and that antenna is more than double the price. Tunes up as specified with no issues. Would be nice someday if they could show a "Value" or number that you could pre-tune a bit,
EA4HET Rating: 2019-08-13
Best Magnetic Loop, ever Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I receive my new Alpha Antenna 10-40m ( 25W ), here in Spain, two weeks ago.
The first test was this week. And was big my surprise with the performance of my Magnetic Loop.
Receive strong stations of all Spain and Europe.

Simply, best of the antenna brands.
And always, with support of Owner from Alpha, Steve.
WX4TV Rating: 2019-03-05
The Old One was Good and the New One is Fantastic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
We have owned the 10-40 meter Alpha Loop antenna for a few years and have experienced great results with it. Our daughter Hope (KM4IPF) broke through a pileup with a station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba while running 5 watts into the original Alpha Loop with an Elecraft KX3 radio.

Just prior to Hurricane Irma, we received the 40/80 meter add on for the original Alpha Loop and our daughter Grace (KM4TXT) used the antenna to check into the Hurricane Watch Net as the storm raged outside the house. The antenna was sitting on the kitchen counter. The results were quite good under those conditions.

Even though the antenna was a good performer, we were only able to use 25 watts PEP with the antenna and we wished that there were a way to run 100 watts. Fast forward to Hamcation 2019...

We picked up the new 100 watt Alpha Loop antenna at Hamcation and ran it through its paces this weekend in the ARRL International DX Contest. Conditions were not great and there was a LOT of QRM. As Hope and Grace started trying to work some stations in the contest, I questioned whether or not the antenna would perform well enough to use in the contest. Grace started making contact after contact and my skepticism was quickly erased.

This antenna PERFORMS! I wouldn't have expected that a mere increase from 25 watts to 100 watts would have given us the increase in performance that we experienced, but it did. The girls made contact after contact–breaking through pileups and squeezing through the heavy QRM. We shot a couple of videos of them using the antenna in the contest and put them on our Ham Radio (Dot) World YouTube channel.

The videos show how quiet the antenna is on receive as well.

If you are looking for a ultra-portable performer that doesn't compromise your ability to run 100 watts, consider the 100 watt Alpha Loop Antenna. We will be using this one extensively in our field operations.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by WX4TV on 2016-11-20

Our kids are all hams and they received one of these antennas to try out just before Hurricane Matthew made his presence known in Central Florida. The kids have a YouTube channel and made several videos with the antenna as they put it together and tried it out. The videos can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlJMLH_7dSc&t=5s

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBvoWTZ-u4g&t=339s

Keeping in mind that magnetic loop antennas are compromise antennas, this one works surprisingly well. It is easy to set up (as can be seen in the videos) and the kids have made many contacts on it. Even more surprisingly, the antenna performs very well on 40m.

The antenna had a couple of issues when it arrived–namely the hook and loop fasteners were broken–and the company remedied the problem. The instructions were a bit confusing for the kids and the company was receptive to their suggestions for improvements.

Are you going to get DXCC with this antenna? Possibly not. But, you will make contacts and have fun in situations where a full size antenna can not be used. It's a good buy.
KX7N Rating: 2018-06-03
Great Apartment Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna with the 40M/80M booster cable at SEAPAC. I rushed home and put it together (10 minutes maximum) and once I spent a few minutes troubleshooting a bad coax cable with the help of the Alpha Antenna crew, and replaced the offending cable, I was tuning all the bands in just to verify, and sure enough 1:1 all over the place.
The customer service is awesome. One of the guys even volunteered his time to come to my QTH and help me troubleshoot it as it was on his way home from SEAPAC.