On Dec 18, 1:02 pm, RHF wrote:
The Verdict {One Man's Opinion} : Magnetic Longwire Balun Is Too
Expensive

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../magbalun.html

-by- Alan Johnson

-source- Hard-Cord-DX website :http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
The Most Common Antenna Type
Randon Wire Antenna Problems
Enter the Balun
The Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)
In the Laboratory
After Four Rainy WeekEnds
I also did A-B Comparisons
* The Results
The "Resistance" Curve for the MLB
The N8KDV Transformer
A-B Testing was very Revealing.
* Recommenation
How Essential is a Perfect Match?
Based on Price and Performance
The MLB Definitely Wins

Originally Published in the NASWA Journal - July 1992
-by- Alan Johnson [N4LUS]

Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...nnas/mlbII.jpg
-by- RF Systems - MSRP Price ~ $60

Alternative "MLB" - MLB-1 Magnetic Longwire Balunhttp://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
-by- Palomar Engineers - MSRP Price ~ $50

NOTE - While the 'N8KDV Transformer' is presently Not Available.
WinRadio does offer the LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapterhttp://www.grove-ent.com/WR0130.htmlhttp://www.winradio.com/home/lwa.htmhttp://www.winradio.com/home/ax05e.htm
-by- WiNRADiO - - MSRP Price ~ $40
READ - Good Deal on 9:1 Matching Transformerhttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/27e40978fdc32ac0
-by- William Fieldstone
More WinRadio LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter Postingshttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/a77d380609eec592http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/230

iane ~ RHF
.

I've got a Palomar magnetic balun sitting on my desk. Once I got the
Wellbrook, the magnetic balun became a paperweight.

On Dec 18, 8:31 pm, wrote:
On Dec 18, 1:02 pm, RHF wrote:





The Verdict {One Man's Opinion} : Magnetic Longwire Balun Is Too
Expensive

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../magbalun.html

-by- Alan Johnson

-source- Hard-Cord-DX website :http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
The Most Common Antenna Type
Randon Wire Antenna Problems
Enter the Balun
The Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)
In the Laboratory
After Four Rainy WeekEnds
I also did A-B Comparisons
* The Results
The "Resistance" Curve for the MLB
The N8KDV Transformer
A-B Testing was very Revealing.
* Recommenation
How Essential is a Perfect Match?
Based on Price and Performance
The MLB Definitely Wins

Originally Published in the NASWA Journal - July 1992
-by- Alan Johnson [N4LUS]

Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...http://www.dol...
-by- RF Systems - MSRP Price ~ $60

Alternative "MLB" - MLB-1 Magnetic Longwire Balunhttp://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
-by- Palomar Engineers - MSRP Price ~ $50

NOTE - While the 'N8KDV Transformer' is presently Not Available.
WinRadio does offer the LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapterhttp://www.grove-ent.com/WR0130.htmlhttp://www.winradio.com/home/lwa....
-by- WiNRADiO - - MSRP Price ~ $40
READ - Good Deal on 9:1 Matching Transformerhttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/27e40978fdc32ac0
-by- William Fieldstone
More WinRadio LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter Postingshttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/a77d380609eec5...

iane ~ RHF
.
-
- I've got a Palomar magnetic balun sitting on my desk.
-
- Once I got the Wellbrook,

What specific Wellbrook Product ?
http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/products.html
- - - i want to know ~ RHF

- the magnetic balun became a paperweight.

On Dec 19, 4:08 am, RHF wrote:
On Dec 18, 8:31 pm, wrote:

On Dec 18, 1:02 pm, RHF wrote:

The Verdict {One Man's Opinion} : Magnetic Longwire Balun Is Too
Expensive

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../magbalun.html

-by- Alan Johnson

-source- Hard-Cord-DX website :http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
The Most Common Antenna Type
Randon Wire Antenna Problems
Enter the Balun
The Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)
In the Laboratory
After Four Rainy WeekEnds
I also did A-B Comparisons
* The Results
The "Resistance" Curve for the MLB
The N8KDV Transformer
A-B Testing was very Revealing.
* Recommenation
How Essential is a Perfect Match?
Based on Price and Performance
The MLB Definitely Wins

Originally Published in the NASWA Journal - July 1992
-by- Alan Johnson [N4LUS]

Magnetic Longwire Balun (MLB)http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...http://www.dol...
-by- RF Systems - MSRP Price ~ $60

Alternative "MLB" - MLB-1 Magnetic Longwire Balunhttp://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
-by- Palomar Engineers - MSRP Price ~ $50

NOTE - While the 'N8KDV Transformer' is presently Not Available.
WinRadio does offer the LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapterhttp://www.grove-ent.com/WR0130.htmlhttp://www.winradio.com/home/lwa....
-by- WiNRADiO - - MSRP Price ~ $40
READ - Good Deal on 9:1 Matching Transformerhttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/27e40978fdc32ac0
-by- William Fieldstone
More WinRadio LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter Postingshttp://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/a77d380609eec5...

iane ~ RHF
.

-
- I've got a Palomar magnetic balun sitting on my desk.
-
- Once I got the Wellbrook,

What specific Wellbrook Product ?http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/products.html
- - - i want to know ~ RHF

- the magnetic balun became a paperweight.

I'm using the old ALA 100 and various home made loops. You need about
8ft of loop to make the ALA100 useful, though as a NDB direction
finder 4ft seems to work better. For shortwave DXpeditions, I've used
as much as 40ft in portable applications.

The thing about the ALA100 is you get a good piece of electronics that
allows hacking. That is, you make the loop. The other thing you notice
once you use a wellbrook is that the S-meter really isn't that
significant. Once in a while you will get a higher reading on the s-
meter with a long wire than the wellbrook, especially if your loop is
short, but the quality of the signal on the wellbrook is superior.

One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

Wellbrook is pretty mysterious about what they put in their boxes. The
units themselves are potted, though that wouldn't stop anyone serious
about copying their gear.What you need to realize is how little
product they ship. Comparing serial numbers with my ala100 and a
friends, we figured they were shipping about one a month to North
America. In other words, If they had a Wellbrook users convention, I
don't think they would need to book it in Vegas. [There is a wellbrook
loop on the top of the Las Vegas convention center. ]

Anyway, most people think the ALA100 has a transformer on the front
end and a signle ended amp. The ALAM may be all active. I don't know
if that makes a difference in performance, but floating the antenna
seems like a good idea.

Unlike the KIWA, the Wellbrook is wideband. This is good in the sense
that you don't need to tune the antenna and the radio at the same
time, but it does require a decent radio since the antenna is not
doing any filtering.

wrote:

snip

One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael

On Dec 23, 4:07*pm, msg wrote:
wrote:

snip



One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael


M...Sushi,

Glad that you like the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna
so much and that it meets your Radio Listening needs.

I would Expect the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna to out
perform the Palomar MLB-1 with a 100 Foot Antenna.

For $230 more in Cost and at ~ Five Times (5X) the price.

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antenna
http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSU
http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
Price : $258.00 +S&H $30.00

Palomar Engineers - MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"
http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
Price : $50.00 +S&H $8.00

Plus for your Radio Listening interests and needs the
Welbrook is a whole lot more 'portable' then trying to
Erect a 100 Foot Wire Antenna on the Side of the Road.

~ RHF

On Dec 23, 6:09 pm, RHF wrote:
On Dec 23, 4:07 pm, msg wrote:



wrote:

snip

One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael

M...Sushi,

Glad that you like the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna
so much and that it meets your Radio Listening needs.

I would Expect the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna to out
perform the Palomar MLB-1 with a 100 Foot Antenna.

For $230 more in Cost and at ~ Five Times (5X) the price.

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antennahttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSUhttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
Price : $258.00 +S&H $30.00

Palomar Engineers - MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
Price : $50.00 +S&H $8.00

Plus for your Radio Listening interests and needs the
Welbrook is a whole lot more 'portable' then trying to
Erect a 100 Foot Wire Antenna on the Side of the Road.

~ RHF
.

I bought my Wellbrook before the Bush Crime Family devalued the
dollar. Sure, we pay more money for high quality goods from the UK and
EU, but just think about the bargains we now get for the "cough cough"
made in China imports.

If it wasn't for the weak dollar, gas would cost about 30% less. Every
time those morons at the Fed cut interest rates, gas gets more
expensive.

On Dec 23, 4:07 pm, msg wrote:
wrote:

snip



One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael

I didn't log the call. The dates on my server are no longer when I did
the upload, so I would have to do some research to get the date I
recorded it. I think it was at night. Of course, I realized later that
to find a local LF source you should do this in the day. Even so, I
could received NDBs from Canada during daylight hours when out in the
Central Nevada desert.

The setup for that recording:
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/radio/loop1.jpg
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/radio/loop2.jpg
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/radio/loop3.jpg
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/radio/loop4.jpg
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/radio/loop5.jpg

The black rods are tent poles. The plastic came from Tap Plastics. The
PVC is obvious. The base is an old patio umbrella stand. I have
another one twice as big, which is four time the aperture.

I suppose I should bring the gear out there again and see if I can
repeat the LAX TIS.

On Dec 23, 8:52*pm, wrote:
On Dec 23, 6:09 pm, RHF wrote:





On Dec 23, 4:07 pm, msg wrote:

wrote:

snip

One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael

M...Sushi,

Glad that you like the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna
so much and that it meets your Radio Listening needs.

I would Expect the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna to out
perform the Palomar MLB-1 with a 100 Foot Antenna.

For $230 more in Cost and at ~ Five Times (5X) the price.

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antennahttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSUhttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
Price : $258.00 +S&H $30.00

Palomar Engineers - MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
Price : $50.00 +S&H $8.00

Plus for your Radio Listening interests and needs the
Welbrook is a whole lot more 'portable' then trying to
Erect a 100 Foot Wire Antenna on the Side of the Road.

~ RHF
*.

I bought my Wellbrook before the Bush Crime Family devalued the
dollar. Sure, we pay more money for high quality goods from the UK and
EU, but just think about the bargains we now get for the "cough cough"
made in China imports.

If it wasn't for the weak dollar, gas would cost about 30% less. Every
time those morons at the Fed cut interest rates, gas gets more
expensive.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dang "M" - Must be a lot of Mercury in the 'Sushi' you
been Eating cause it seems to have affected your Brain.

Lets Do The NUMB3RS ! ~ RHF

Factoring in a 42.5% Drop* since the beginning of the
Administration of President George "W" Bush in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...administration

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antenna http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSU
http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
In 2001 US Dollars the would be
US Price : $181 +S&H $21 = Total $ 202 US

Oops the Made-in-America Palomar Engineers
MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"
http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
In 2001 US Dollars the would still
be - Price : $50 +S&H $8 = Total $ 58 US

Which means that the Wellbrook would still be $144
more in Cost about Two and a Half Times (2.5X) the
price in 2001 US Dollars.

Now that $144 can buy a lot of Quality "Made-in-the-USA" :
Matching Transformers; Pure Copper Wire; and Coax Cable;
to make All American Wire Antennas with . . .

* Foreign Exchange Rate - U.K Pound -v- US Dollar
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txt
http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=579
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_s...serve_currency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...Exchange_rates
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/..._collapse.html

On Dec 24, 12:30 pm, RHF wrote:
On Dec 24, 11:38 am, wrote:

On Dec 23, 11:57 pm, RHF wrote:

On Dec 23, 8:52 pm, wrote:

On Dec 23, 6:09 pm, RHF wrote:

On Dec 23, 4:07 pm, msg wrote:

wrote:

snip

One of the oddest DX catches I got with the 20ft loop is
http://www.lazygranch.com/sound/lax_530_etgravel.wav
I was parked on "the gravel"
N37.43225 W115.44496
near Area 51. I did a search for unknown NDBs, which I did find though
they are now turned off. The next search was to see if they had any
TIS. Now TIS is not all that odd at military installations, though I
doubted Groom Lake would have one. Searching the typical TIS
frequencies I picked up the TIS for LAX. That is about 280 miles away.
However, you need to realize how "quiet" Central Nevada is regarding
RF. Even in the middle of MOAs and next to the largest continental
military reservation, there is much less hash than even a mid-size
town puts out.

snip

Wow, that is an amazing clip considering the circumstances. What was
the time of day and the date? Was this anomalous propagation?

Regards,

Michael

M...Sushi,

Glad that you like the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna
so much and that it meets your Radio Listening needs.

I would Expect the Wellbrook ALA100 Loop Antenna to out
perform the Palomar MLB-1 with a 100 Foot Antenna.

For $230 more in Cost and at ~ Five Times (5X) the price.

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antennahttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSUhttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
Price : $258.00 +S&H $30.00

Palomar Engineers - MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
Price : $50.00 +S&H $8.00

Plus for your Radio Listening interests and needs the
Welbrook is a whole lot more 'portable' then trying to
Erect a 100 Foot Wire Antenna on the Side of the Road.

~ RHF
.

I bought my Wellbrook before the Bush Crime Family devalued the
dollar. Sure, we pay more money for high quality goods from the UK and
EU, but just think about the bargains we now get for the "cough cough"
made in China imports.

If it wasn't for the weak dollar, gas would cost about 30% less. Every
time those morons at the Fed cut interest rates, gas gets more
expensive.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dang "M" - Must be a lot of Mercury in the 'Sushi' you
been Eating cause it seems to have affected your Brain.

Lets Do The NUMB3RS ! ~ RHF

Factoring in a 42.5% Drop* since the beginning of the
Administration of President George "W" Bush in 2001.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...administration

Wellbrook - ALA100/M L/M Aperture Loop Antennahttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA100Ma.html
North American Version with PSUhttp://www.wellbrook.uk.com/buy.html
In 2001 US Dollars the would be
US Price : $181 +S&H $21 = Total $ 202 US

Oops the Made-in-America Palomar Engineers
MLB-1 "Magnetic Longwire Balun"http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
In 2001 US Dollars the would still
be - Price : $50 +S&H $8 = Total $ 58 US

Which means that the Wellbrook would still be $144
more in Cost about Two and a Half Times (2.5X) the
price in 2001 US Dollars.

Now that $144 can buy a lot of Quality "Made-in-the-USA" :
Matching Transformers; Pure Copper Wire; and Coax Cable;
to make All American Wire Antennas with . . .

* Foreign Exchange Rate - U.K Pound -v- US Dollarhttp://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txthttp://www.data36...
.

- The brain is just fine. The wellbrook is a combination of wideband
- transformer and low noise amp, so you would expect it to cost more
- than the magnetic balun, which is just the wideband transformer.
-
- The nice thing about the wellbrook gear is you don't feel the urge
to
- upgrade. Bigger loops are better, but there are diminishing returns.
- The other nice thing about wellbrook gear is it wprks well outside
of
- it's stated range. I've used it as low at about 24kHz. The bad thing
- about Wellbrook gear is the cost. However, like I said, it is a very
- low volume business. There are no cheap copies of their gear.
-
- Some of the UK items have remain flat in price for the US market.
- These guys took it in the shorts a bit. Wellbrook I guess isn't
- big enough to eat that kind of loss.

Spent almost as much and a lot more for the Quantum QX
Ferrite Rod Loop Antenna and the KIWA Air Core MW Loop
Antenna along with the RF Systems DX-One Professional
MkII Active Antenna; and Dressler ARA 60 Active Receiving
Antenna; and LF Engineering H-900 Gain Probe Antenna.

Gee I seem to be missing a Wellbrook of some type . . .

- The Bush Crime Family still has a year to screw up the
- dollar even more. Maybe you should get that Wellbrook
- sooner than later. It will take years to undo the damage
- caused by the Bush Crime Family.

Please shorten your Political Rhetoric in the future
by referring to the 'Bush Crime Family' as the "BCF".

And Rememeber -ABbH- AnyBody but Hillary* !
* Stay Out The Clintoons ! ~ RHF
.

I know some who has the kiwa, the older lower gain quantum, and one of
the wellbrook loops (1530 I think). The Quantum works quite well. I
thought it was better than the Kiwa loop, but I only tried it on a
Drake R8B. On a cheap radio, the Kiwa front end filtering may be
useful. The Quantum had a better null than the Wellbrook, but I think
that is because the size of the wellbrook makes it harder to keep away
from nearby objects. But the signal sounded quieter on the Wellbrook,
perhaps due to the amp or larger aperture. The Kiwa has it's fans, but
I just wasn't impressed.