Mike wrote:

Hi John,
If you are handy with a soldering iron and hacksaw you might look into this:
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0109031.pdf
It cost about $75US for the parts and will outperform just about
anything on the market. I built one and it was easy to assemble and
works very well compared to a 100ft long wire. I am feeding a Harris
RF-590A.
Mike


An alternative to the Amrad antenna is you can connect a high quality rf preamplifier to a whip.

That's what I do for the antenna on my 7030+ "portable".

The one I chose is an avantek 30db preamp that I picked up at the flea at MIT for $5 or $10. (I expect a new one with similar specs would sell for a few hundred) The whip is connected to the input of the amplifier with a 9:1 impedance matching
transformer.

I often dial in some attenuation when I'm listening below about 5mhz. Other makes for milspec RF preamps include Aiken/Norlin/ACL/Applied Communications (same company, different names) and Watkins Johnson. I'm sure there are others too - I'm just not
familiar with them.

I'm not knocking the Amrad - if I had the time to build one, I probably would.

As for the Dressler, and the Wellbrook, I think between the two, I'd go for the Wellbrook. IIRC, the Wellbrook has more dynamic range. Loops are less likely to pick up RFI. I've also noticed numerous favorable comments about it, and relatively few
comments (positive or negative) about the Dressler.

big boy now wrote:
I am looking to buy a good active antenna..
i have looked at a few Antennas on the net.
but you can look all you like there is nothing better than advice of current
users.. the main two antennas i have been looking at are.
dressler Active antennas and also wellbrook Active antennas
the wellbrook is an active loop antenna for HF use.
the dressler is a short active vertical...
what is the better antenna users comments only please.
if i buy the wellbrook active loop would i need to mount this on a rotor.
or can anybody recommend a better Active antenna to buy.
i have about £250.00 to spend on the antennas and any cabling and connectors
i may need to buy.....
i am living very close to Heathrow airport in the uk .
i am using an AR5000 receiver ....
any advice would be more than welcome...
Thanks: john