OT mfj 1786 loop antenna

[Stephen Selberg]

Greetings,

In my quest to find a low profile antenna, I've looked at a lot of
possibilities. I was curious if anyone has and experience with the MFJ 1786
loop antenna. It looks like it has decent reviews on eham. I can deal with
tuning it whenever I move the dial. I realize it's only rated to 150 so an
amp is out of the question. My other option is going with the zero five
flag pole which was mentioned in a previous thread. It looks like there's
been great success with the AlexLoop. So I'm assuming the mfj loop would
work well. But you know what they say about when one ASsumes hihi.


Thanks and 73,

Steve KS6PD
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[k6dgw]

I have an AlexLoop, I use it with my K2 and KX1 on field events and
SOTA.  It replaced a Buddipole.  So far as I can tell, it works about as
good as the BP did in any of its various configurations.  It's a small
magnetic loop, it performs pretty much as the theory says.  It's not
real effective on 40m [too small], and the tuning on 40m and 30m is
pretty critical.  Much better on 20m and up.

Verticals tend to be noisier than horizontal antennas or magnetic loops,
and the loop has the advantage that you can sometimes null a
concentrated noise source.

AlexLoop is QRP only.  I've never used the MFJ but I would imagine it
would perform similary.  One caution:  Even at QRP powers, some serious
voltages show up in small loops.  I sit below my AL so I can tune it and
be somewhat out of its field.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2013 Cal QSO Party 5-6 Oct 2013
- www.cqp.org

On 8/11/2013 9:39 AM, Stephen Selberg wrote:

> In my quest to find a low profile antenna, I've looked at a lot of
> possibilities. I was curious if anyone has and experience with the MFJ 1786
> loop antenna. It looks like it has decent reviews on eham. I can deal with
> tuning it whenever I move the dial. I realize it's only rated to 150 so an
> amp is out of the question. My other option is going with the zero five
> flag pole which was mentioned in a previous thread. It looks like there's
> been great success with the AlexLoop. So I'm assuming the mfj loop would
> work well. But you know what they say about when one ASsumes hihi.


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[Bill - K6IH]

Howdy,

I have an MFJ-1788 Loop (40M - 15M Version of the MFJ-1786 Loop) that I
use from the high rise apartment where we live in San Antonio, Texas. I
have a South facing second story apartment balcony where my antennas are
mounted. I use the MFJ loop on both my Elecraft KX3 and my Yaesu
FT-817ND, and I have worked over 30 countries in less than 3 weeks
running qrp powers of 1 watt to 2.5 watts after initially installing the
loop on our apartment balcony. Two nights ago, I worked Amateur Radio
Station IT9PKO in Italy (6135 miles from my QTH at San Antonio, Texas)  
using my Elecraft KX3 running 1 Watt output power using BPSK-31 mode on
20 Meters. I love the antenna, and it works flawlessly. I have mine
horizontally mounted since the antenna is mounted more than 20 feet
height above ground level. While I am sure the AlexLoop works well, I
really like the MFJ Loop because of its Remote Control Tuning System,
the power and swr meter on the remote control unit, and the capability
to tune the antenna from within our residence. If you want to use your
ham station in an apartment or on an apartment balcony with limited
antenna options available to you, and want a remote control tuning
capability,  I don't think either model of the MFJ 3' loops can be beat.
If you would like to see pictures of how I have my antenna mounted, you
can view my setup on my web site http://www.roti.net/index.html . If you
have any specific questions that might not be of interest to the mailing
list, you are most welcome to contact me off list.

73,

--Bill - K6IH-
[hidden email]
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[Hisashi T Fujinaka]

I have an MFJ-1788 Loop as well. I liked it pretty well. Got very close
to the end of my WAS with it, though I started that in 1977. I also had
my first ever JA contact on 40M with it. I put it on my garage roof with
a Radio Shack rotator and it worked pretty darn well.

I only replaced it because I missed 10M.

--
Hisashi T Fujinaka - [hidden email]
BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte
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