MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
My MLA-30 magnetic loop antenna arrived today. It isn't quite a Wellbrook, but as it costs about 10% of a Wellbrook, it is good value. It packs up very small, so is ideal for taking on Dxpeditions. I was unsure whether to put this here or under MW LW. I have tried it indoors and hanging out of a window. I have uploaded a few videos. Works well with the Airspy HF+ Discovery.
www.youtube.com/user/pe1etr
They all have MLA-30 in their title.
Peter
www.youtube.com/user/pe1etr
They all have MLA-30 in their title.
Peter
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Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
your noise floor sounds quiet
is the MLA rejecting everything?
is the MLA rejecting everything?
Rx: Burkhardt Reuter RDR54D1, Elad FDM-S2, Airspy HF+ w/ HS Publications 6 Element R3 -R5 Yagi on rooftop rotator V/H polarization options. Pira P275 RDS analyser
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
It rejects quite a lot up to about 6MHz. Higher than that the noise wins. A bigger loop is better than the provided loop. I need to experiment with it outside in a lower noise environment. SoonTim Bucknall wrote: ↑08 Dec 2019 13:51your noise floor sounds quiet
is the MLA rejecting everything?

Peter
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
Try to replace the PSU module using non-switching 12v adaptor!
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
Received mine yesterday. Also have the new Cross Country Wireless loop designed as a rival to the MLA-30, i.e cost effective with decent performance. Yet to set up the CCW. These are my most first loops so I don't know what to expect. The MLA-30 certainly boosts signal levels far beyond my reel antenna and in most cases more than my Degen active loop. Trouble is it seems to bring up the noise floor in equal measure. I found this really disappointing but it's born out by many others using this loop. Unless I can get rid of the noise I'll go back to my Degen loop until I get the CCW setup.
Seems decent on SW. MW seems a tad stronger than the ferrite in my Sangean ATS-909X (a beast on MW) but I struggled tuning in some stations when rotating the loop whereas I could get a perfect signal by orienting my Sangean. LW on the loop is useless.
Peter - I've heard many saying the source of the noise is the power unit supplied. It ups the voltage from 5v to 12v and creates all sorts of noise. I have no idea. This guy doesn't use it and instead powers via his SDR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXsywLbi9k I don't use an an SDR so I'm unsure how to supply power any differently. Currently I'm using a good quality Anker USB battery bank.
It would be good if folk could offer tips and suggestions on the MLA-30 in this thread.
Some good information on this loop over at https://groups.io/g/loopantennas Needless to say they rip it to shreds
But for the £25 delivered it will teach me a few things and a new learning experience.
Seems decent on SW. MW seems a tad stronger than the ferrite in my Sangean ATS-909X (a beast on MW) but I struggled tuning in some stations when rotating the loop whereas I could get a perfect signal by orienting my Sangean. LW on the loop is useless.
Peter - I've heard many saying the source of the noise is the power unit supplied. It ups the voltage from 5v to 12v and creates all sorts of noise. I have no idea. This guy doesn't use it and instead powers via his SDR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXsywLbi9k I don't use an an SDR so I'm unsure how to supply power any differently. Currently I'm using a good quality Anker USB battery bank.
It would be good if folk could offer tips and suggestions on the MLA-30 in this thread.
Some good information on this loop over at https://groups.io/g/loopantennas Needless to say they rip it to shreds

Belka DX, Sangean ATS-909X, Sangean ATS-803a, C. Crane 2E, Tecsun S-8800, Sangean PR-D5, Eton Elite Executive, Roberts R861, Degen DE1103 PLL
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
There is no power supply provided. There is a 'Biasing Tee' which converts a 5V input to a 12V output, and is a switch mode device, but it does something else as well, it is not just a voltage provider, so replacing it for a 12V linear power supply probably does help.chipbutty wrote: ↑10 Dec 2019 11:32Received mine yesterday. Also have the new Cross Country Wireless loop designed as a rival to the MLA-30, i.e cost effective with decent performance. Yet to set up the CCW. These are my most first loops so I don't know what to expect. The MLA-30 certainly boosts signal levels far beyond my reel antenna and in most cases more than my Degen active loop. Trouble is it seems to bring up the noise floor in equal measure.
Seems decent on SW. MW seems a tad stronger than the ferrite in my Sangean ATS-909X but I struggled tuning in some stations when rotating the loop whereas I could get a perfect signal by orienting my Sangean. LW on the loop is useless.
Peter - I've heard many saying the source of the noise is the power unit supplied. I have no idea. This guy doesn't use it and instead powers via his SDR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXsywLbi9k I don't use an an SDR so I'm unsure how to supply power any differently. Currently I'm using a good quality Anker USB battery bank.
It would be good if folk could offer tips and suggestions on the MLA-30 in this thread.
Some good information on this loop over at https://groups.io/g/loopantennas Needless to say they rip it to shreds![]()
I tried running mine direct from the bias-T of my Funcube Dongle Pro+ but the loop amplifier didn't work so probably the FCD Pro+ 4.5V bias-T is not powerful enough to drive the amp.
There is a lot of 'helpful' advice on the internet on how to improve a device that the writer doesn't have. Most reviews have Americans slagging it off because it is made in China. I'd like them to name American made, from American component devices
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
Yes sorry. It's not a power supply. My mistake. I need to get this CCW up at some point but waiting on cables and a suitable way of putting up the loop.
Belka DX, Sangean ATS-909X, Sangean ATS-803a, C. Crane 2E, Tecsun S-8800, Sangean PR-D5, Eton Elite Executive, Roberts R861, Degen DE1103 PLL
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
There is a comparison on YouTube which shows that the MLA-30 is better than the CCW device. I was considering the CCW loop as it is a lot cheaper and more portable than a Wellbrook, but the MLA-30 is less than half price of the CCW loop!
Re: MLA-30 a poor man's Wellbrook
Yes I must say I'm a bit disappointed at those findings. I have a feeling I'll regret getting the CCW.
Belka DX, Sangean ATS-909X, Sangean ATS-803a, C. Crane 2E, Tecsun S-8800, Sangean PR-D5, Eton Elite Executive, Roberts R861, Degen DE1103 PLL