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Reviews For: MFJ-1780 Box Fan Portable Loop

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1780 Box Fan Portable Loop
Reviews: 4MSRP: 249.95
Description:
High Efficiency Portable Loop Antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1780
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044.8
VA7VX Rating: 2015-03-29
Unexpected excellence Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
During this weekend's CQ WPX contest I had a few hours to kill so took my MFJ-1780 loop and my Elecraft KX3 to a local park. I live near Vancouver, BC.
While I started off with contacts out a couple of thousand kilometres to Alaska, Texas etc. on 15m, skip started to go very long and I got several contacts into the east coast USA out about 4,000 km. In my experience, these are very long contacts for a magnetic loop antenna. At the same time I made a couple of local contacts of no more than 20 miles and each operator there mentioned that I was very faint for such a close-in station. Again, this seems quite normal behaviour for a magnetic loop.
Then I hit the mother load and nailed the west coast of Russia at over 5,000 km and finally several contacts into Japan at almost 8,000 km. These are exceptional distances for a magnetic loop antenna, especially using a 10w radio. I am amazed at how well such a small antenna works. It has fantastic "ears" as I heard calls from Germany, Estonia, central Russia and Morocco but couldn't reach them.
VA2PBJ Rating: 2014-09-03
Simple Mag Loop Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I live in a metal can with a small back yard bordering with close hydro lines. Can't put anything inside and hard to put anything outside. This unit fixed many of my antenna problems.

It took me a year to make my decision to buy one, as I exhausted every attempt to get a workable wire configuration. One of the delays was not finding a picture of the construction. The catalogue picture is about as obscure as you can get. This is mine.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3913/15120224561_23596a70d0_d.jpg

One of the surprises is how much bandwidth it has. I can work the 20m band in thirds without needing to retune. Looking at the picture, the frame is wider than the pipe most use.

While it's not magic, it is a worthwhile solution for people in my situation. I don't miss the extra meters on the big brothers, as even my TT 525D has a swr meter in it. Just tune for the smallest reflection, and away you go.

An annoyance is the push-click function on the "fast tune" buttons. I would have prefered monetary types like on the fast tune. I'll live.

I really pondered making my own. It's the ability to be tuned remotely that always got in my way.

The unit does perform a few inches above the ground, considering it is a few inches above the ground. It works much better on my deck, 5 ft off the ground. It works wonderfully horizontal on my roof, about 25ft above ground.

I fully plan to keep this unit outside. It is easy to caulk and a couple drain holes is all it needs. We shall see how well it survives the Canadian winter.

I originally tried to order this through Raidioworld.ca with an online order was like going into a time warp to 15 years ago. Won't do that anymore. MFJ online store was quick and easy. It did take 2 months to mine the aluminum and order the other components. It did arrive in perfect condition, as advertised.

This product has removed much frustration from this hobby. I would recommend one in a heart beat.
N0YXE Rating: 2012-05-23
SO FAR, GREAT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My MFJ 1780 just arrived. It was very nicely packed. The quality appeared to be excellent and I am getting the unit prepared for placement in the attic, not too far from my Alpha Delta DX-EE inverted dipole. I have not used this model yet, and will furnish reports as soon as it is placed. Based upon my prior experience with the MFJ 1786, I was very eager to try a smaller loop in my attic.

If you would like a few pictures of the antenna and my set-up, I will be glad to send them: terryspacehip@yahoo.com
NV7E Rating: 2000-05-01
Innovative and works well Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought the MFJ-1780 Box Fan at the same time as I got the MFJ-1788 40-15 Meter Loop Antenna. Both use a similar tuning mechanism which tunes the antenna from a box connected between the antenna and the transceiver. The tuning box that comes with the Box Fan comes without an SWR meter while the box with Loop Antenna comes with an SWR meter. The box sends a current through the coax to the antenna to tune the antenna higher or lower in frequency by activating a motor moving a variable capacitor. You can tune the Box Fan Antenna to the desired fequency by listening to "hash" sound created by the antenna and by tuning for maximum level using the transceiver's S-meter or SWR meter. I have been using the tuning box supplied with the 40-15 Meter Loop (which has an SWR meter) with the Box Fan. It seems to work better than the one (without the SWR meter) supplied with the Box Fan.

I place the Box Fan Antenna on a table on the balcony of my apartment. I have worked about 30 countries without trying too hard even under less-than-ideal conditions. I am not allowed to have an antenna permanently mounted on the balcony, so I just place it there when actually in use. The nice thing about the antenna is that it is light and easy to move around. For apartment use it is ideal.

The Box Fan Antenna is made of pasteboard which is screwed into the antenna's box frame. When the antenna arrived from the dealer most of the screws had fallen out and had to be screwed back in. It is not made for rough handling and could not survive a trip checked in as airline luggage. It would be nice to see the construction upgraded for travel.