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Reviews For: MFJ-1786 Super Hi-Q Loop

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1786 Super Hi-Q Loop
Reviews: 68MSRP: 379.95
Description:
High Efficiency 10-30 MHz Continuous Coverage Magnetic Loop
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1786
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00684.3
N1YWB Rating: 2007-11-26
Excellent compact HF antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In the 2005 IARU HF Championship, I operated this antenna. I placed 6th in the Single Op Low Power W/VE category. So there's your pudding. You might not win the contest but you can place top 10. This antenna doesn't suck.

Read my full review at: http://n1ywb.blogspot.com/2007/11/mfj-1786-super-hi-q-loop-antenna.html
WA2DTW Rating: 2007-04-04
No problem with mine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine was indoors, using it QRP with the FT817 several years ago. Made many CW contacts on 17, 20 and 30 meters, with good signal reports.

It does tune quite sharply. But there is not much of a learning curve.
KL7RWS Rating: 2007-01-29
Better than expected Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am quite new to HF, so take the review for what it is worth. I live in a first floor condo. The antenna was my attempt to communicate without an attic or roof. I have made contacts in Idaho and Texas from my NJ home. I was using a TS-2000 at 100 watts. I am sure that I can improve performance as I build experience.

The SWR is positional (when the antenna is next to a wall or ceiling). Sometimes I find it difficult to tune below 4:1. Other times the needle drops down to almost 1:1. Tuning is relatively easy, though I still struggle with the auto tune features.

I am not a fan of MFJ when it comes to support and service. That said, I am still getting decent performance from the antenna.

Lou
W0RWS
N5EAT Rating: 2006-11-22
Very Happy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this antenna a bit over a week. In that time I've used it in both the horizontal and vertical modes. Each mode produces startingly different results. The good news is that it works very well and is easy to tune once you get into the habit. The loop is fairly directional in vertical mode. I have it presently mounted in the center of a spare upstairs bedroom and have no trouble tuning it in either polarization on any band. The bandwidth is extremely narrow (plus and minus 10 to 15 kc on 20 meters). However, the antenna provides adequate receive up and down the whole band. If you tune from the cw portion of the band up into the ssb portion all one needs to do is apply a bit of power and depress the "up" slow tune button until the swr drops. Same for going down the band. It only takes a few seconds to find the new match on the same band.
Signal reports are good and as others have reported - the noise level on receive is much less than with some of my other antennas. I have not opened mine up to see if there are "production" problems yet. This antenna works a bit better than I expected, and it's actually easier to use than I had thought based upon some reviews.
W7WJ Rating: 2006-04-07
Xlnt limited space antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have used this antenna in two locations, one in Washington and the other in Southern CA. The WA QTH usually has an rf floor of S-9 with a lot of locally generated rf interference using a Cushcraft vertical. The vertical was replaced with the mag loop which was vertically mounted on a mast at 25'.

The CA QTH is an antenna restricted community. The loop is vertically mounted on top of the garage roof about 12' high. Across the street to the north about .2 miles away is a power plant. Distribution lines run just west of our complex. I routinely had noise levels 10-30 db over S-9 using a random wire antenna in the attic. Operating at this location was out of the question.

The loop antenna was situated in both locations for the lowest noise level using the null point off the side of the antenna. In WA I was able to get the typical noise floor down to S3-4. In CA I was able to get it down to S5-6. At both locations the improvement was significant. My subjective impression is that on 20 meters the antenna performs favorably with a dipole at 30'. From So. California I was 577 in Siberia running 5 watts on 20 meters. For the antenna restricted or noise impacted amateur, this antenna is an excellent solution.

If the antenna had not performed so well, I would have given a lower score for the quality control. When I receive the loop, the mounting holes were not lined up properly between the loop and protective cover. I had to partially remove the cover and enlarge one of the holes. Took less than 1/2 hour, but should not be necessary for a antenna costing almost $400. Overall, an excellent antenna, and although expensive, worth the price.
VR2LH Rating: 2004-12-30
What I Expected (so far....) Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought from local supplier three weeks ago. Immediately returned to shop with non working control panel. Supplier fixed the problem (minor internal power connection issue) so I can't complain about the supplier BUT where was the factory QA checking?
Very easy to erect, just bolt on & fix the PL259.
I'm new to HF in Asia & so far I found the biggest issue is hearing any activity to evaluate its performance! ie at 8pm last night I heard only 4 QSOs on 14mhz, 2 on 21 & zero on 28(I listened both with the loop & a random bit of wire 20m long & 5m high) so I'm still trying to learn how effective it is.
Its vertically mounted at 10m above the ground just above a concrete roof & I'm still working out the best 'beam' direction ie E-W? I will try horizontal later but would welcome any comments as to whether the horizontal fixing results in any nulls/blind spots.
I am curious how the Hong Kong sun will age it & how it fares in any typhoons next year.
In summary it SEEMS to work about the same as a dipole & is lightweight.
Incidentally from experience any antenna I put up at a new QTH I use for receive only for a few weeks; let the neighbours get used to it & me before any potential TVI arises! (I once put an antenna up in the UK & used it only for receiving for a while during which time I STILL had two complaints! I was accused of 'sucking up' all the TV signals...)
K5PAX Rating: 2004-10-29
Works well Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this antenna on the air for over a year, and it has worked very well for me. I've worked DXCC, WAS (with a few endorsements) and am closing in on WAS-QRP. I've worked it successfully on all bands 30 meters thru 10 meters. I run barefoot, and stay well within the power limits of the loop.

I purchased a (barely) used MFJ-1782, the bare-bones version of the antenna. I have it mounted vertically on a short mast from a chimney mount, about 25 feet above the ground. I use an inexpensive TV rotator. For me the vertical mounting and the rotator make all the difference. I tried the horizontal mount, but found some dead spots in the anticipated omnidirectional pattern. I've tested the rotation, and can get at least a 2-3 dB difference on a signal with rotation. This is an advantage over a fixed wire dipole with the same bi-directional pattern.

Tuning is second nature for me -- I tune it by ear using the fast controls until I hear the noise generated by the tuning motors come up loudest. I then use the slow controls to peak the noise -- watching it also on the S-meter. I also use the auto-tuner on my rig to tune up. I've found that, in-spite of a theoretical 1:1 SWR, tuning can leave the resonant frequency a bit off. I use it with Yaesu rigs (FT-890, FT-840, and FT-920) and find that the auto-tuners have different tolerances for the tuned frequency. I need to tune most closely for the FT-920 to be able to tune it successfully.

While I work all modes (CW, phone, RTTY...) I am primarily a digital operator, and the loop works fabulously for these modes. PSK sub-bands fit well within the narrow passband, so once I tune the antenna, I can work the entire sub-band with my software without any additional tuning. Only signals on the very edge of the spectrum display will require me to make any adjustments.

The price for a new loop is a bit high -- I am glad that I was able to get a lightly used one for substantially less. Nevertheless, the loop does what it is supposed to do, and for small sites and low impact installations, there are few other antennas that are as effective.
G0KYA Rating: 2004-10-18
Great Antenna - very small Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had a Capco AMA loop for HF for some time so I was keen to compare the two. The MFJ 1786 works very well indeed. Fitted just ten feet above the ground it compared very favourably with a full sized loft-mounted indoor dipole system on all of its bands. It is always equal to or never more than one S-point down on the dipoles, although it performs better on 21MHz and higher. Compared with a two element MQ1 TGM minibeam mounted at 20 feet it is never more than two S points worse and is sometimes its equal. For something this small that is incredible. The loop is not cheap, but if you have very little space and only room for one HF antenna it comes highly recommended. It is better than the Capco as it has a welded low-loss butterfly capacitor. Don't expect it to outperform a 3 element tri-bander at 100ft though!
PH1L Rating: 2004-06-19
Another satisfied (dutch) customer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Great antenna: easy to use, clear signals, low interference and a good price.
Does everthing I need it to do. Keep up the good work.
KA2SHU Rating: 2003-09-06
Where there is a will, there is a way Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this loop for over 3 years now. Initially, when I installed in my attic, I did not get good results. It laid there for almost a year. I finally decided not to give up so I relocated it to a different area in the attic closer to the center of the house at a height of about 13 feet.. In that position, the SWR dropped and the radiated signal really increased! On the 20M band. it consistantly beats my 20M attic dipole by 2-3db. I have received terrific signal reports with it from over 40 states on 20M, 17M, and 15M. It works very well on 10M as well. You better get in the habit of calling CQ with it instead of trying for a quick tune up to make a contact. When properly tuned, this antenna is effective and you will get out. It could be one of MFJ's better products.
W4SHU