RadioBanter - REVIEW: AOR LA-350 ACTIVE LOOP ANTENNA

I've recommended the AOR LA-350 on a number of occasions and now offer
the following detailed review. I want to give a first hand account of
what it's like to use this antenna without a lot of technical
information. (I don't have a lot of technical expertise…sorry.)

I've owned the LA350 for several months. It's for indoor use and it's
the best antenna I've used. It is an active, magnetic loop consisting
of a box or pedestal into which various receiving loop elements can be
inserted. The base pedestal is connected to the receiver via a short
run of RG58 coax with BNC connectors. For photos of the whole setup,
just go to http://www.aoruk.com/direct/la350.htm. Having both the
receiver and the antenna right in front of you will seem like an odd
scenario to many people. I admit I find it a little odd, though there
is something satisfying about having the whole antenna/receiver
‘system' at your fingertips.

The stock LA350 receives between 3 and 30 mhz only, using two
different loop elements (one for 3-9 mhz and one for 9-30 mhz). There
are optional LW and MW bar elements. However, since I don't have these
elements, I can't comment on how the LA350 would perform on LW or MW.

Each loop element has a preselector, which AOR describes as "a High-Q
poly-variable capacitor so that each element may be 'tuned' to peak
the wanted frequency while achieving maximum rejection of unwanted out
of band signals". This preselector is so sensitive that someone
casually using the antenna for the first time could entirely ‘miss the
boat'. That is, they might adjust the preselector to get a ‘pretty
good' signal and assume that what they're hearing is the best possible
reception to be had. However, if you're patient and careful, you
really can ‘peak up' on the frequency you're listening to….with
dramatic results. Signals that are barely audible become clear and
strong. It's very satisfying, but it involves very minute adjustments
of the preselector.

I know that some people hate to fiddle with preselectors, and the
LA350's preselector demands a lot of attention. You have to adjust the
preselector for best reception even when receiving stations on
frequencies that are very close together. Personally, I don't mind
preselectors and even find the LA-350's preselector strangely
satisfying—-simply because it does what it's supposed to do, and does
it well.

(Note to AOR: Making very slight adjustments to the preselector would
be easier if it had a larger knob.)

Somewhat less endearing is the need to change loop elements all the
time. I don't like having to do this and doubt that many people will.

The LA-350 is extremely quiet and isn't too picky about where it's
situated. Even if it's located near a noise source, you can simply
rotate the loop to null interference. It is to your advantage, though,
to put it near a window, and this may or may not be easy depending on
where your receiver is. The coax attaching the antenna base to the
receiver is only four or five feet in length. AOR kept it short, no
doubt, because you need to adjust the preselector as you tune your
receiver--consequently those two objects need to stay within arm's
length of each other. However, I'm told by AOR that you can extend the
coaxial cable (within reason) if you want the option of resituating
the antenna after you've settled upon a signal or broadcast that you
want to listen to for awhile. In the end, I opted to rearrange some
furniture so that the antenna would remain near a window.

When it comes to performance, the LA-350 is outstanding. It
outperforms the wire antennas I experiment with, including one outdoor
random wire that's over 100 feet long, located on the top of a five
story apartment building in Brooklyn and connected to coax via a
matching transformer. I've found many signals using the ramdom wire
that were strong enough to be detectable but too weak to be
intelligible. The LA350 resolved them to a point at which they could
be clearly understood. On the other hand, I've not resolved any signal
using the wire antenna that could not be resolved on the LA350. I'm
not sure the LA350 delivers "more" signal….in fact, I think it
delivers a bit less signal but also less noise. Whatever the case,
it's more effective than the wire at digging out tough signals. And I
should mention that when I made these comparisons I had not yet moved
the LA350 to a location near a window.

Perhaps I've achieved these results because I live in a relatively
noisy environment where the wire can't perform up to its full
potential. I don't know. I'm just glad the LA-350 is around when I
need it. I still set for myself the challenge of building an antenna
that outperforms the LA-350, so wish me luck!

The downside to the LA-350 is its price. A new LA-350 from Universal
Radio currently costs $339.95. This makes it just a shade less
expensive than the Dressler ARA-60S active whip and, if I'm not
mistaken, somewhat more expensive than the popular indoor/outdoor
Wellbrook loops. And this is for the stock LA-350, which does not
include the LW or MW receiving elements. If you purchase both of these
elements as well, you're looking at an overall pricetag of around
$485. This is a lot of money and, for this reason, I can't say that
the LA350, purchased new, is the best value out there for the money.
But of course, what qualifies as the ‘best value' depends not only on
the size of one's wallet but also on one's goals and circumstances.
And the LA-350 is an excellent antenna. For quite a few people, I
think it will be "the antenna they've been looking for".

The LA-350 is big brother to the AOR WL-500 and successor to the
LA-320. For some reason, in transitioning from the LA-320 to the
LA-350, one loses the ability to run the antenna off battery power.
I'm not sure why this is the case, but suspect it might be because it
was hard to achieve optimum results using batteries? (Just a guess,
but I've heard this complaint made about some other actives.)

I normally use the LA-350 in conjunction with a tabletop receiver, but
I've also used it successfully with a Sony ICF-SW77. I fear it would
overload portables lacking attenuation, though. I also wouldn't call
the LA-350 a ‘travel' antenna. It would be easy enough to take it
along on a road trip, but I wouldn't want to carry the base pedestal,
loop elements, power supply and so on in a suitcase. They'd take up
too much space and you'd probably end up bending the loop elements.
The WL-500 would make a better travel antenna, and I'm told it is a
good performer.

There is some chance that I will pick up one or both of the optional
receiving elements for this antenna at a future date. If I do, I will
report back. Someone (I think it was John Wilson) reviewed the LA-350
for Short Wave Magazine a couple of years ago. I've not seen that
review, but it's there for anyone who has old issues around the house.