| KC9CS |
Rating:  |
2020-02-11 | |
| Experimenters Kit works FB! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've only had my W6LVP experimenters kit for about a week, but in the week I can tell it is amazing. First, I ordered it after talking on the phone with Larry on a Saturday and he said he'd ship the kit on the coming Tuesday. On Wednesday, it arrived having come overnight from California to Florida. Amazing! I already had a 5' diameter loop made up and had been using it with another pre-amp, but that pre-amp created quite a bit of noise and was way more amplification than I needed. When I put the W6LVP amp box at the antenna and put the antenna in the air just a few feet off the ground, installed the bias-T in the shack and began to pick up European Long Wave broadcast stations far better than ever before, I knew I now had a real loop antenna that could do what the much more expensive loops could do, at about 1/3rd the price. I am now picking up long wave stations with fidelity like the short wave bands, not always, but far more often than before the W6LVP components. On the MW bands it is also amazing. I've tried it up to 80 and 40 meters as well and will vouch for great capabilities on the ham bands. Fast shipping, well packaged, and a superior kit of components perfect for receiving those once-elusive long wave signals. It's opened up a whole new segment to investigate. de KC9CS |
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| M1CHDX |
Rating: |
2020-02-02 | |
| Huge Improvement with W6LVP Loop |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Every few years the MW DX bug strikes. It happened again in January of this year, so I hauled out my very nice indoor Kiwa MW loop antenna, which I had purchased in the 1990s. It works as great as ever, but the noise level inside my house has gotten worse over the years and I realized how many stations I was missing. Plus I no longer have a functioning outdoor SW antenna.
After checking around and reading a lot of reviews, I decided to try the W6LVP loop. My first notion was to use it inside the house like the Kiwa, but it is so much larger than my tabletop Kiwa, that this wasn’t practical in my small upstairs rooms in a 100-plus-year-old farmhouse. I made the attempt indoors nonetheless and found that performance was similar to the Kiwa, but a bit quieter.
Taking advantage of uncharacteristic warm winter weather in Michigan, I enlisted a friend to help me set up the W6LVP loop outdoors on top of an old, unused duck pen about eight feet off the ground. W6LVP’s Larry Plummer suggested a Channel Master antenna rotor, so I added that, too.
I couldn’t be happier with the improvement this new antenna has made to my MW listening. I’m not sure it pulls in signals any better than the very nice Kiwa loop antenna, but with the outside mounting, it is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter. From my West Michigan location, I am now hearing MW stations in the daytime that I had previously only heard at night, like CFZM, Toronto, 740 kHz. Several Chicago and Ohio stations sound like locals. Last night using my Drake R8 receiver, underneath 830 kHz, WCCO, Minneapolis, I was able to pull out KGLA in Norco, Louisiana, supposedly running only 750 watts. It’s a station I’ve never logged before.
A really nice bonus is that, thanks to the broadband preamp, I don't have to retune the W6LVP whenever I change frequencies, as I do with the Kiwa. I haven’t spent much time exploring SW yet, but results are encouraging so far. This is a superb antenna for the money, and Larry Plummer provides customer service second to none. He answered every question I had about performance and set up, and in fact erred on the conservative side when describing improvements I could expect compared to the Kiwa. I appreciate his honesty and overall integrity.
If you are considering a magnetic loop antenna for MW DX, this is the very definition of a no-brainer. Price to performance ratio is outstanding. |
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| N8RG |
Rating: |
2020-01-29 | |
| W6LVP Amplified HF Loop Antenna |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have three remote switched HF dipoles in my attic in our Prescott, Arizona home. These attic dipoles were installed as a result of a hostile neighbor creating problems with the HOA and other neighbors over an inconspicuous #22 wire HF dipole installed 1 ft. above my roof. This neighbor has nothing to do but cause problems with other neighbors and the HOA. Rather than endlessly deal with him, I installed 'stealth' HF dipoles which transmit quite well but I have an S9 RX noise level on 40M and 60M that isn't resolvable because attic access is difficult due to blown insulation recently installed. I bought W6LVP loop kit components and made my own 3 ft. dia. loop from RG8A/U cable, mounted on a black painted PVC frame. The loop antenna is mounted around 5 ft. off the ground on our patio which has a unobstructed view to the west. Several tests were conducted with this loop and confirm that the loop antenna receives quite well from the BC Band through 20M. At the BC band, signals with the loop are only down three (3) S units. At 75M, the dipole NF was S9+5db and reduced to S1, with an loop signal reduction of six (6) S units. At 60M, the loop was five (5) S units below the dipole, with the NF reduced from S9+20db to S6. At 40M the loop was six (6) S units below the dipole, with the NF reduced from S9+10dB to S2. On 20M, the loop receives three (3) S units below the dipole, with the NF reduced from S5 to S1. On moderate to strong signals, the W6LVP amplified RX loop antenna makes it possible to hear stations that otherwise would have been lost in the noise. |
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| K3QNT |
Rating: |
2020-01-22 | |
| Loop Performance is Excellent |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
My W6LVP Receive-only Loop has made a tremendous difference here in a high noise environment at K3QNT. The Loop is rotatable and has been up for about a year. It is particularly useful for my recent work on 630 meters.
I am running an old Marine Reserve Transmitter at 40 watts on 475 kcs and receiving with an Alinco DX-R8 connected to my loop. The ability to null out noise is very important. On these lower frequencies, the W6LVP loop is superior to any wire antenna that I have erected to date. I have been able to copy several VLF stations easily with this antenna.
If you're going to get on 630 meters, I would recommend this antenna strongly. Incidentally, the customer service from W6LVP providing technical advice is exceptional.
Lloyd - K3QNT |
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| UTESWL |
Rating: |
2019-10-19 | |
| Incredible performance, Impeccable service! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Back in July/August I wrote to Larry about his W6LVP Recieve Only loop. I live on a small lot, am not a ham but a shortwave listener interested in DXing HF utility stations. Before contacting Larry I spent about 6 months researching different types of magnetic loop antennas and surveying the marketplace as well as reading and watching reviews. I had narrowed my choices down to a Wellbrook ALA1530LN, Pixel Pro 1B and Larry's W6LVP Loop. After comparing the Wellbrook and W6LVP performance by listening to different online KiwiSDRs I went with with Larry's antenna as I couldn't hear much difference on the weak signals I seek.
Larry was fast in responding to my inquiry (within the hour if I recall) and did a site survey of my local RF environment. I had told him I have two MW stations in my town booming on 1420 and 1470 khz and initially he recommended a filter to drop everything below 2 Mhz, I explained I was also interested in LF and VLF and wondered if he could just install a notch filter for the two stations and he did it. He also recommended a filter to cut stuff above 45 Mhz which I also had installed.
Once he received payment, I received the loop promptly and it arrived securely packed. Setup was a breeze and I went with the speaker tripod he suggested to do my initial tests. I have the loop mounted outside on the tripod and RCA antenna rotator 7 feet above ground. I was BLOWN AWAY by this antenna's performance. Though I knew it would be an upgrade from the long wire I had been using, it was more than an upgrade, it was a REVELATION.
I spend a lot of time listening to USB voice comms from things such as airline, government and military stations as well as monitoring ALE and other data modes.
The area I am in is semi-suburban/semi-rural in a valley halfway between Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. I have a lot of neighbors with noisy electronics around me but I have been able to effectively null out interference by rotating the antenna. My longwire has a noise floor of S5. The W6LVP knocked my noise floor down to between an S1 and S3!
I am now picking up stations I didn't even know existed. For instance, I can reliably monitor Bangkok's Meteorological Radio most mornings on 8743 khz and and Australia's VMC marine weather station just after midnight on 6507khz from my Washington State location. This is astounding as I had previously only been able to pick this up via KPH's KiwiSDR which is connected to a massive TCI-530 log periodic!
In fact I found I am able to pick up many of the same things that I hear on KPH's SDR with my W6LVP connected to an SDRPlay RSP1a!
Whether it be the Civil Air Patrol nets, US Coast Guard, COTHEN, Canadian Coast Guard stations on Canada's East Coast, Canadian Forces, USAF HFGCS, US Navy TACAMO or more distant signals from Sydney, Auckland, Guangzhou, Beijing or the RAF Military One VOLMETs, Bangkok Meteo, airlines communicating with New York, Gander, Manila, San Francisco, Auckland, Nadi, Santa Maria and Magadan air traffic control, Cuban spy numbers stations, Japanese and Russian Navy signals it's all happening! I think I even picked up some pagers near the 10 meter band during a Sporadic-E band opening. And this is during a low sunspot cycle! I can only IMAGINE what this amazing antenna will bring in during more active solar activity.
In summation, there are more expensive loop antennas, but I highly doubt their performance would exceed what I get at my location to the point of justifying the additional expense when including cost + shipping from overseas. There are also cheaper loop antennas but none come close to the quality and workmanship of Larry's product.
Communication was another factor in my decision to go with the W6LVP loop. I had sent Wellbrook a question when still considering their ALA1530 and they never responded. Larry however has been there with answers every step of the way during my purchase and I have no doubts that if I ever needed anything beyond this purchase he'd be there to assist me. That's likely the difference with dealing with a person versus a company but I also feel good knowing my dollars went to a good person who takes care of his customers.
73s |
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| W3QT |
Rating: |
2019-10-17 | |
| Excellent solution - solar panel array noise |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I had a CW QSO with a Minnesota station last evening. What's the big deal, right? Pennsylvania to Minnesota on 40M doesn't sound like a whole lot to get excited about. What makes it a big deal is before using the W6LVP receiving loop I was unable to make ANY contacts before it was completely dark because of the noise from our solar panel array. Using Larry's loop I can completely null out the array and actually hear other stations! Of course they aren't as loud as they would be on the transmitting antenna, but then they aren't supposed to be. It's the signal to noise ratio that we're interested in, and this loop performs as I had hoped it would. Mounted about 10 feet above ground with a small TV rotator the loop now opens up the bands for me that previously had been closed until after dark. Larry also is a real pleasure to work with as he quickly answers your emails, offers suggestions, and keeps you informed concerning production/shipping. While everyone's experience is different, I can confidently rate this antenna as a "must have" if you're stuck in a noisy environemnt. |
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| VA7REW |
Rating: |
2019-10-01 | |
| W6LVP AS A PORTABLE |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Further to my initial review from the end of July, I just got back last night from the west coast of Vancouver Island.
What can I say - the loop performed wonderfully. I tried it out at a small B&B I was staying at and noticed a fair amount of RF. Not sure of the source, but a quick ‘turn’ of the loop and ‘poof’… gone!
I took the loop, the mast, all the cabling and my portable power source out to the edge of the Pacific and ran it on my SDR (SDR Console). That was fun, because aside from the wealth of signals (at dusk), I was able to see on the display how turning the loop this way and that truly affected the signal and the noise floor.
Using a ‘rat tail’ with an alligator clip attached I tried the loop on my CountyComm GP-5/SSB, an older Eton portable, and a very MUCH older Sanyo RP8700 (great sound and terrific sensitivity - all rebuilt). All performed excellently with the loop.
I ran about 80 feet of wire between two pine trees (end fed in this instance). The comparison was interesting. I could grab some broadcasts with the wire that I couldn’t with the loop, but the noise floor made the ‘catches’ practically negligible.
All in all a very productive (and very enjoyable) trip. |
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| W6ACT |
Rating: |
2019-08-18 | |
| Not bad but? |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had bad RF noise for many years. Power pole is in my backyard with the transformer on it. I have an S7 to S9 noise level all day long. I sometimes don't get on air because the noise is unbearable. My antenna is the 80ft G5RV. Another ham turned me on to the W6LVP receive only magnetic loop. I was very skeptical about spending $300 on a antenna that is very small for receive only. He said that it eliminated all noise in his receiver, so I gave it a chance. Well it does do a good job in eliminating the noise floor, but it also degrades the signals that I'm trying to pick up. Strong signals are ok, but not weak signals. The G5RV does a much better job at weak reception. I do tend to use the G5RV much more because of that. Given the size of the antenna it's probably not fare to compare it to any long wire HF antenna because of it's size. I will say that it does a good job at reducing background noise, but at the expense of received signals. I think I just need to change my QTH to get out from all the noise. |
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| K6TLA |
Rating: |
2019-07-14 | |
| Excellent |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I purchased the W6LVP loop as the answer to an all band receiving antenna that did not require switching or adjustment while covering large ranges of MW and HF frequencies. My installation consists of the loop installed about 12 feet off the ground with a rotator to take advantage of the peak and null characteristics of the loop. It is fed with about 120 feet of high quality RG-6. Performance of the antenna can only be described as excellent. It has the ability to capture MW signals I didn't know existed before. As to signal strength it is slightly lower on bands where I have higher, resonant antennas to compare it to but the noise level is also correspondingly reduced over a resonant antenna so signals sound about the same with either antenna type. In my case the loop is connected to the receive only antenna input of one of my ham rigs. This makes for quick and easy switching between it and various resonant antennas. The loop is installed in close proximity to various transmitting antennas. High power operation has caused no damage to the preamp in the loop. This is a very robust product and is a good solution for wide band MW and HF reception. |
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| W1CLD |
Rating: |
2019-05-28 | |
| Where did the noise go? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I am using the W6LVP Magnetic Loop Antenna Experimenter's Kit, which includes the pre-amp, power, power inserter and supply. I supplemented this with my own loop comprised of 6' of copper tubing and mounted this all on 3/4" PVC pipe. It sits about 4' above the ground (wife friendly.) It greatly improved reception, especially on the more active frequencies (HF above 10 mHz has been flaccid recently) from MW BCB up through 40 m over the 40' of random length wire I was using. This is a rx only SWL set up. The receiver is an SDRPlay RSP1A fed with 25' of RG-8X. The difference in noise level was pretty noticable and I was able to null out some being generated within the house with positioning. No tuner needed. Just find your frequency, set your filters and go. Aside from your radio you may need to adjust the direction of the loop- it seems a bit more tight in beamwidth in the 160m and MW frequencies. Thus far I haven't had to do much with that. I'm really enjoying the loop as with the noise reduction it has opened up a lot of spectrum for me to play with. And with its small size it can be moved and optimized simply. Larry penned a nice instruction manual that has many construction and operation tips and his follow through with questions is second to none. As the kids say- "no regerts" here! |
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