K-180WLA Loop Antenna

I've been using this for several days and it is exceeding expectations. I am using it indoors. I live in a very high noise, city environment. This is now allowing me to receive stations I could not hear before. It has brought back joy to shortwave and mediumwave listening for me. I cannot recommend this antenna enough, especially for extremely noisy environments.

Best overall antenna for SDR 300 khz - 165 MHz in terms of cost vs. performance. Mounts easily on mic/light stand or other stable vertical support.

I had been using a passive dipole antenna on my SDR with very poor results. At the recommendation of some buddies, I tried the MLA-30+ active loop antenna. I simply taped the antenna to the window in my office, connected it to a dongle SDR and I am picking up stations o 10 MHz over much of the Eastern third of the US. Of course it is not as food as a full sized antenna, but for a quick indoor installation it is quite good!

We had low expectations but were pleasantly surprised. Our primary interest for the antenna is 100 kHz to 1700 kHz. We have physically larger antennas for comparison but this was our first use of a small loop antenna like this one. We needed something with a lower noise floor and this antenna provided it. Signals below 2 MHz were at least the same, and typically better, than our larger antennas and an AM band vehicle radio. We set the loop up outside in a temporary installation at about 7 feet above ground. The diameter of the support the mast is about about 1/16" (0.045") smaller in diameter than a 1/2" PVC pipe. We'd give it 5 stars but don't know about longevity of the product after a just a few days of use. Glad the battery was included, the ones shipping from overseas for a few dollars less don't. We've attached the manual we received. Thanks to the previous reviewers on their input which helped with our decision to try this product. We are definitely not disappointed with the performance under 2 MHz.

Easy to set up...Loop was made of a very firm steel that keeps its shape - not flimsy as others that sag. Receives well even though I am in a valley "fishbowl".

The Chinese to English manual definitely needs some love and is the only thing I find fault with. I am really enjoying the antenna and have it hooked up to a RWL-SDR dongle. Works very well. It did take a couple of days to figure it all out, so I thought my lessons learned tips might help fill in the gap with the supplied manual. There's no need for glue, just put the pvc pipes together and friction should hold it all together since the antenna doesn't weigh much. I did add a layer of tape on the top pipe to ensure the cap fits tighter to prevent it from coming apart if I hung it up by a string. If you don't glue it then you can take the whole thing apart in 30 sec. Pretty obvious how it goes together, just make sure the loop is a round circle and not an oval and at least 22 inches top to bottom. The antenna receives RF directionally, not omni. The antenna is a donut; turn the hole of the donut to face where you want to receive VHF/UHF signals or turn the edge of the donut towards where you want HF signals. Try turning the antenna a bit to tune in a weaker signal that might not be perfectly aligned. The antenna and yellow preamp box are weatherproof. Make sure to put some sag or a loop in the cable so that water drips off the cable and doesn't travel into the house. There's a yellow preamp box where the metal loop is attached that contains a selectable switch. If you primarily want to search and receive long distance FM stations then don't touch it. If you're close to powerful FM radio stations and getting overpowered or want to search and receive clearer 80m/40m/20m/etc HF signals then you'll need to open the preamp and move the switch from FMDX to HF. If you don't need FM radio stations there's a $16 Broadcast FM Block Filter (88-108 MHz Block) that you can purchase to shut out FM radio signals. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LE9LRPM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mount or hang the antenna 3ft from any walls and windows before you power it up. Put it where the kiddies/pets can't touch it while it's in use. You'll have to mount it outside if you want decent reception. There is a SDR# software setting to turn on the reception of AM and HF signals below 28MHz. Here's how: In SDR# stop the program. Then select "Sampling Mode" > "Direct sampling (Q branch)". Now hit play. If the "Sampling Mode" is greyed out it means you didn't stop the program. To resume going back to listening to VHF/UHF then hit stop again, select "Sampling Mode" > Quadrature sampling". Hooking up the SMA cables to the blue cable box (not waterproof) is fairly obvious. Long antenna cable goes to the ANT connector. Short SDR dongle cable goes to the RADIO connector. Don't power on the antenna unless everything is connected first. On the blue antenna cable box there is a power switch to turn on the antenna. What's not clear is the LED lights. Here's my findings: 1) Far right LED shows red while you're charging the lithium battery. **NOTE do not charge the battery while the antenna is powered on. Supposedly the battery lasts around 40 hours between charging so it's not something that needs to be done all the time. 2) Middle LED shows green when the lithium battery is fully charged. Make sure to pull out the USB charging cable before powering on the antenna. 3) Far left LED light shows red when you have the antenna powered on and active. A quick test to see if the antenna is working below 28MHz is to power it up and tune to the AM stations (540 - 1600 kHz). Make sure you first select "Sampling Mode" > "Direct sampling (Q branch)". Got AM, then everything is probably working fine. See if you can find the Ft Collins, CO UTC Signal at 10Mhz. You'll hear seconds ding off then a distinct signal at the minute mark. It'll also announce the UTC time in English. Pretty cool. Good luck!

I had always heard that magnetic antennas were quieter than verticals, but this is not the case. The signal is two S-units lower and the noise is 5 S-units higher than my vertical. And verticals are fairly noisy! So, it will not be my receiving antenna. Upper bands not so bad. Wonder if a longer loop would help?

Quick delivery. Great product for the price.

Great for use indoors. Not portable.