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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
KG2DWS Rating: 2018-05-09
Alpha Mag Loop Use Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the Alpha Mag Loop for about q and 1/2 years. I have used it both inside a first floor bedroom and have used it out in the field. It has been used for both SSB and Digital communication on all bands (80 - 10 meters). It does talk a little time and care to get it tuned correctly. It is easy to setup and very portable.
LB0NH Rating: 2018-04-16
not for beginners Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
although many give this antenna favorable review, I have not been able to get any qso's with it. It is extremely difficult and cumbersome to tune. You need a antenna analyzer to tune efficiently, each time you make a small frequency change you must disconnect the radio and use the analyzer again and reconnect the radio. Magloop antennas are also very expensive. In addition I have buddistick and aerial-51 dipole.wtih those two I have qso' at +2000 km within few minutes at 5watts with my ft-817.
KN4IDS Rating: 2018-04-08
Great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Fabulous antenna. I wanted something that didn't need a lot of outdoor major installation and could be used as inside antenna. Only problem is that my balcony has a large over-hang which will bounce he signal back and disrupt the SWR. Moved away from the overhang and from South Florida you can contact New England to South America. Most important, the customer service is SPECTACULAR!
KJ6MSG Rating: 2017-12-11
Love it! My go-to travel antenna. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I love this antenna! I have a couple portable antennas: Buddipole, Buddistick, MFJ-1899T, and now the Alpha Loop. This product is well worth the money. The quality of engineering is outstanding and it couldn't be easier to setup and use VERY quickly. It has quickly become my travel antenna. I throw my FT-817ND, MFJ-259C, and SignaLink USB in the bag and take them with with me when I travel for business. I've had success working it indoor in hotel rooms and great success working at parks. Tuning is simple and I've had no problem achieving a VSWR of 1.5 or better on 10-80m. In fact, one thing I love about it is how rapid you can tune to another band. Over a period of a couple minutes I was receiving FT-8 on three different bands and also receiving WEFAX on the NOAA HF freqs. If you need a portable, small form factor, easy to use antenna... definitely take a look at the Alpha Loop!
NE1CW Rating: 2017-10-28
Love it, super convenient and effective for portable use Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
One of the best things about this antenna is that it's super easy to set up if you want to go out to the park and set up portable. Having said that, I use it for my regular station use because of the limitations of our rental arrangement.

Normally I keep it outside on our back porch, but have also found it very effective for indoor use, working FT8 contacts even on 80 meters!

One thing to note with mag loop antennas and this one is no exception -- tuning is critical for effectiveness and the very high Q tuning sometimes takes some patience to get right. That means in practice you'll tend to park on one band for a while unless you like to spend lots of time tuning.

I should also add that Alpha support is TERRIFIC, communication is superb and they are more than happy to answer random questions after the sale. A++

73,

Chuck
W1CEW
AE7YD Rating: 2017-09-16
works Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought it used at a very good price a few months ago. Bought the 80/40m extension directly from the manufacturer.
It works very well even inside the house.
The negatives would be the stability of the top loop and the tuning
knob on the top of the box forcing your hand inside the loop. It
should have been on the bottom to avoid tuning impact.
Overall I am very happy with it.
K2RMA Rating: 2017-06-19
QRP Loop Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was the lucky winner of a donated 10-40 Meter Alpha QRP Loop with Field Bag antenna at the QRP ARCI Four-Days-In-May 2017 Convention.

I have been using the antenna, set up in my shack/office on a tripod these past few weeks. I have been very happy with the performance it is giving me from my Jacksonville FL QTH. So far, I’ve mainly been QSOing on 20 meters. With WSPR, yesterday I was heard in Wales, Southhampton England, Belgium, Germany and Austria using approximately 2 watts. With JT65, running 10 watts, I’ve worked all around the country as well as Slovenia, Guatemala and Brazil.

I am using an ICOM IC-756 Pro3 with a Signalink USB interface to my Windows computer. I am running WSPR-X and FLDIGI. I plan on soon trying the antenna on RTTY, PSK31 and CW.

Attached are some photos of my setup. I found the knob very coarse to use to adjust on the Alpha Match Box, and have modified it with a Philmore Precision Tuning Vernier knob. This has made tuning a lot easier. I recorded the settings on a card I attach to the antenna so that I do not constantly have to connect my antenna analyzer when switching frequencies.

We are planning to use the Loop antenna on Field Day, probably with a Midnight Design Solutions SDR Cube Transceiver that my friends bought also at the QRP FDIM Convention. Mainly for demo purposes at Field Day, I added a small fluorescent tube with lights up during the transmit cycle (seems to need 10 watts to light).
WB9OTX Rating: 2017-05-28
A fun antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have tried all sorts of antennas in my 45 plus years, Some good some not so good. I had never tried a loop until now. No its not a 4 element yagi but it is a really great portable or just for fun antenna. Set it up on the picnic table in the back yard. You will be amaysed that such a little footprint antenna can work so well. I have a lot full of yagis and verticals but I find myself just having fun on a Sunday afternoon setting with the QRP rig and the Alpha loop on the picnic table. I get a real kick running JT-65 receiving a better report than I gave out. I broke a small piece on the antenna when a gust of wind toppled it over. I emailed Steve on a Sunday and in minutes a reply came telling me the broken part would be replaced. Now that is service. Have some fun, try an Alpha Magnetic Loop Antenna ..... WB9OTX
N6KIN Rating: 2017-05-12
Good performance and fun for portable operations Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the Alpha Loop in early March 2017, and gave it a try before leaving for a two-month trip to Australia. I set it up in my living room, and made quite a few contacts on CW from Nevada to the South Pacific (e.g., S. Cook Is, Austral Is, Hawaii, Chile) and Mexico on 40m through 12m using my 5 watt FT-817 rig. The only improvement that I could suggest is a more precise vernier adjustment on the capacitor for tuning to resonance on a high-Q circuit. The tuning can be extremely touchy, even while using an AA-54 RigExpert analyzer to assist - but I expect this for a resonant-loop antenna.

I noted in my NV indoor operations that matching to a 50-ohm load resistance is best if the loop is shaped into an ellipse about 40" wide by 30" high, and making the inner (small) loop "loosely" coupled to the large loop (by placing the large loop at the top of the selfie stick) for 30m through 10m. On 40m and 80M, I obtained the best results by tightly coupling the inner and outer loops (i.e., by velcro-tying the coax from the outer loop(s) directly to the inner loop at the top).

All in all, much better performance than I expected, and this supplement (May 2017) is a report of my experiences in VK6-land - operating near the ocean rather than at 7000 ft elevation in the mountains. I was on the air for quite few hours from the Perth area of Western Australia (WA), mostly from low-elevation beach areas on the Indian Ocean. It took some effort, but I made contacts from WA to Mauritius (3B8), Sri Lanka (4S7), and Japan on 15m; Rotuma Island (3D2), Taiwan (BU2), and Okinawa (JS6) on 17m; and various eastern Australia, Timor Leste (4W), and Maldives (8Q7) on 20m. QSOs of distances between 2000 km and 8600 km were achieved with 5W output. (I did not take the extra loop for 40/80m with me, so I did not try these bands.)

The only comparison I can make for my prior Western Australia QRP operations 2014-2016 was with a 20m vertical ground plane elevated about 3 m above ground, which did have better performance than the Alpha Loop. Granted, band conditions were pretty poor when I was visiting Australia during March and April 2017 and using the loop.

Again, can recommend the Alpha Loop for good portable operations. Would give it a 4.5, if I could enter this rating.

73, Paul (N6KIN / VK6VT)

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N6KIN on 2017-03-06

I received the Alpha Loop a week ago, and have been giving it a try before leaving for trip to Australia later this week. I set it up in my living room (much to my wife’s chagrin!), and have made quite a few contacts on CW from Nevada to the South Pacific (e.g., S. Cook Is, Austral Is, Hawaii, Chile) and Mexico on 40m through 12m using my 5 watt FT-817 rig. The only improvement that I could suggest is a more precise vernier adjustment on the capacitor for tuning to resonance on a high-Q circuit. The tuning can be extremely touchy, even while using an AA-54 RigExpert analyzer to assist - but I expect this for a resonant-loop antenna.

I noted in my indoor operations that matching to a 50-ohm load resistance is best if the loop is shaped into an ellipse about 40" wide by 30" high, and making the inner (small) loop "loosely" coupled to the large loop (by placing the large loop at the top of the selfie stick) for 30m through 10m. On 40m and 80M, I obtained the best results by tightly coupling the inner and outer loops (i.e., by velcro-tying the coax from the outer loop(s) directly to the inner loop at the top).

All in all, much better performance than I expected, and I will report back in early May on my experiences in VK6-land - operating near the ocean rather than at 7000 ft elevation in the mountains!

73, Paul (N6KIN / VK6VT)
W4JRQ Rating: 2017-05-06
The absolute best portable antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have tried some of the other portable antennas for portable QRP work and when I finally got the courage and money up to try this antenna out, just wow! This is by far the best in my opinion. In 7 minutes, at my own slow pace I can have the loop, tripod, radio and all ready to go. I highly recommend this antenna!! no trees needed, no rope, no stakes, no long poles non of that nonsense. It fits in my bag with my radio and battery and can be deployed anywhere anytime. No wasting time when I have limited time because I need to get back to the family soon and talk about an antenna that gets you out. I have made Canada and Mexico and the West coast with ease from South Central AL. I am confident that DX will be not much of a problem when I can set up more, Don't have much time to operate /P right now.