G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance? All three have been quite positively
reviewed, I'm just wondering which one out of the three might work
best with my receiver...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Daxiuyi
Sydney, Australia

PS: Have searched this group on this issue and while people have
recommended the Sony, it's always been in comparison to other window
loop antennae. I can't find any comparison between it and the Kiwa and/
or AOR. Also some of the comments on this have been a few years old,
and was looking for a fresh perspective

On Jun 13, 8:53 pm, wrote:
On Jun 12, 10:20 pm, Daxiuyi wrote:



G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance? All three have been quite positively
reviewed, I'm just wondering which one out of the three might work
best with my receiver...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Daxiuyi
Sydney, Australia

PS: Have searched this group on this issue and while people have
recommended the Sony, it's always been in comparison to other window
loop antennae. I can't find any comparison between it and the Kiwa and/
or AOR. Also some of the comments on this have been a few years old,
and was looking for a fresh perspective

You can probably glue ~30 feet of wire on the outside of your
windows..

and if you are nimble, you should be able to toss some wire from one
window to the next;

that should help

Ok, my apartment is more than 30 storeys up, so tossing a wire is not
really possible. Plus my landlord's "a bit" fussy and so I can't leave
a wire glued to the outside.

So far I've been relying on stringing my supplied wire antenna around
my balcony. Besides, I feel it's time to give a more active antenna a
go

Any other suggestions?

On 13 Jun, 14:41, Daxiuyi wrote:
On Jun 13, 8:53 pm, wrote:



On Jun 12, 10:20 pm, Daxiuyi wrote:

G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance? All three have been quite positively
reviewed, I'm just wondering which one out of the three might work
best with my receiver...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Daxiuyi
Sydney, Australia

PS: Have searched this group on this issue and while people have
recommended the Sony, it's always been in comparison to other window
loop antennae. I can't find any comparison between it and the Kiwa and/
or AOR. Also some of the comments on this have been a few years old,
and was looking for a fresh perspective

You can probably glue ~30 feet of wire on the outside of your
windows..

and if you are nimble, you should be able to toss some wire from one
window to the next;

that should help

Ok, my apartment is more than 30 storeys up, so tossing a wire is not
really possible. Plus my landlord's "a bit" fussy and so I can't leave
a wire glued to the outside.

So far I've been relying on stringing my supplied wire antenna around
my balcony. Besides, I feel it's time to give a more active antenna a
go

Any other suggestions?

I once made a connector that let me use the 'braid' of the TV aerial
cable as an aerial; it conveniently ran up the side of the house and
onto the roof and pulled in a great signal.

I have to agree with active aerials though, I use a DE31 when I'm in
hotels and they are a great solution.

On Jun 17, 11:15 am, Stephan Grossklass
wrote:
Daxiuyi schrieb:

G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I fail to see how one could damage a radio electrically with something
like a homebrew passive SW loop, but it's you choice. (Some skills and
experience are recommended in any case, and you'd need to hunt down some
kind of tuning capacitor, preferably oldschool air core although
standard ones also work decently. Suggestions for tuned loop antenna
designs can be found on the web.)

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance?

I'm not sure whether an antenna costing more than the rx itself (which
applies to the latter two options) would be such an economical solution.
Thus probably the lack of comparisons between your candidates - for a
receiver like the 7600GR, one would normally be looking at the AN-LP1 (a
well-performing ready-to-go concept for 75 through 16/13 meters) or one
of the DE31 variations (cheaper and generally decent).

The Pocket Loop would have the advantage of tuning MW as well, although
one would prefer something with more area there (I have a homebrew about
93 cm x 93 cm air cap tuned square loop that I've nicknamed the "AM
loupe" because of the large boost provided; BTW this is a classic DIY
field). Ah, I see the PRM enables regeneration, which can be quite
useful indeed - this might compensate for the lower area. Overall, a
fairly versatile portable antenna (much more so than the AN-LP1), but
quite expensive already. It is to be hoped that it's able to drive the
several-hundred-ohms external antenna input of the 7600GR (should be).

The LA380 is a slightly different beast again, covering a broader
frequency range from LW all the way to VHF but not having peaking for
MW. It seems geared more towards use with tabletops and might match a
relatively compact set like a HF150, AR-7030 or IC-R75. I would consider
it a bit over the top in terms of price.

Overall, the Pocket Loop may be worth a try if you don't mind the cost,
otherwise the much cheaper AN-LP1 is far from the worst option.

Stephan
--
Home:http://stephan.win31.de/
You don't need science for everything - but sometimes it does help to
have a rough idea of what you're doing...

Thanks very much for that Stephan, your advice has been really
helpful

I think I will go for the Pocket Loop, provided I can get Kiwa
Electronics to reply to my emails!!! Failing that, I'll just bite the
bullet and get the Sony SN-LP1.

Many thanks again,

On Jun 16, 6:15 pm, Stephan Grossklass
wrote:
Daxiuyi schrieb:

G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I fail to see how one could damage a radio electrically with something
like a homebrew passive SW loop, but it's you choice. (Some skills and
experience are recommended in any case, and you'd need to hunt down some
kind of tuning capacitor, preferably oldschool air core although
standard ones also work decently. Suggestions for tuned loop antenna
designs can be found on the web.)

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance?

I'm not sure whether an antenna costing more than the rx itself (which
applies to the latter two options) would be such an economical solution.
Thus probably the lack of comparisons between your candidates - for a
receiver like the 7600GR, one would normally be looking at the AN-LP1 (a
well-performing ready-to-go concept for 75 through 16/13 meters) or one
of the DE31 variations (cheaper and generally decent).

The Pocket Loop would have the advantage of tuning MW as well, although
one would prefer something with more area there (I have a homebrew about
93 cm x 93 cm air cap tuned square loop that I've nicknamed the "AM
loupe" because of the large boost provided; BTW this is a classic DIY
field). Ah, I see the PRM enables regeneration, which can be quite
useful indeed - this might compensate for the lower area. Overall, a
fairly versatile portable antenna (much more so than the AN-LP1), but
quite expensive already. It is to be hoped that it's able to drive the
several-hundred-ohms external antenna input of the 7600GR (should be).

The LA380 is a slightly different beast again, covering a broader
frequency range from LW all the way to VHF but not having peaking for
MW. It seems geared more towards use with tabletops and might match a
relatively compact set like a HF150, AR-7030 or IC-R75. I would consider
it a bit over the top in terms of price.

Overall, the Pocket Loop may be worth a try if you don't mind the cost,
otherwise the much cheaper AN-LP1 is far from the worst option.

Stephan
--
Home:http://stephan.win31.de/
You don't need science for everything - but sometimes it does help to
have a rough idea of what you're doing...

Last time I looked, you could get one of the Wellbrook loops for less
than the LA380 costs. 'Nuff said.

Steve

On Jun 17, 5:23 pm, Daxiuyi wrote:
On Jun 17, 11:15 am, Stephan Grossklass
wrote:





Daxiuyi schrieb:

G'day everyone,

I've got a Sony SW7600GR, and it's been going great guns for me for
the past 4 years or so. I now feel that I'm ready to take a step up
and try using a more powerful antenna (atm I'm just using the supplied
wire loop antenna that couples onto the whip antenna). Unfortunately I
live in an apartment complex, so that rules out outdoor antennae
*sigh* I also don't feel I have the necessary confidence to build my
own antenna at the risk of frying my radio (which would be very
difficult to replace - can't seem to find anywhere in Australia that
sells them anywhere).

I fail to see how one could damage a radio electrically with something
like a homebrew passive SW loop, but it's you choice. (Some skills and
experience are recommended in any case, and you'd need to hunt down some
kind of tuning capacitor, preferably oldschool air core although
standard ones also work decently. Suggestions for tuned loop antenna
designs can be found on the web.)

I'm thus looking at the Sony AN-LP1, Kiwa Pocket Loop (with PRM) or
the AOR LA380. Now all are quite pricey, so I want to make sure I get
the right thing! Does anyone have any recommendations as to which ones
might offer the best performance?

I'm not sure whether an antenna costing more than the rx itself (which
applies to the latter two options) would be such an economical solution.
Thus probably the lack of comparisons between your candidates - for a
receiver like the 7600GR, one would normally be looking at the AN-LP1 (a
well-performing ready-to-go concept for 75 through 16/13 meters) or one
of the DE31 variations (cheaper and generally decent).

The Pocket Loop would have the advantage of tuning MW as well, although
one would prefer something with more area there (I have a homebrew about
93 cm x 93 cm air cap tuned square loop that I've nicknamed the "AM
loupe" because of the large boost provided; BTW this is a classic DIY
field). Ah, I see the PRM enables regeneration, which can be quite
useful indeed - this might compensate for the lower area. Overall, a
fairly versatile portable antenna (much more so than the AN-LP1), but
quite expensive already. It is to be hoped that it's able to drive the
several-hundred-ohms external antenna input of the 7600GR (should be).

The LA380 is a slightly different beast again, covering a broader
frequency range from LW all the way to VHF but not having peaking for
MW. It seems geared more towards use with tabletops and might match a
relatively compact set like a HF150, AR-7030 or IC-R75. I would consider
it a bit over the top in terms of price.

Overall, the Pocket Loop may be worth a try if you don't mind the cost,
otherwise the much cheaper AN-LP1 is far from the worst option.

Stephan
--
Home:http://stephan.win31.de/
You don't need science for everything - but sometimes it does help to
have a rough idea of what you're doing...

Thanks very much for that Stephan, your advice has been really
helpful

I think I will go for the Pocket Loop, provided I can get Kiwa
Electronics to reply to my emails!!! Failing that, I'll just bite the
bullet and get the Sony SN-LP1.

Many thanks again,- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

DAXIUYI,

Kiwa Pocket Loop Antenna @ $196 + $8 S&H
http://kiwa.com/pktloop.html
Covers 530 kHz to 23 MHz

Kiwa Pocket Regeneration Module @ $48 + $4 S&H
http://kiwa.com/pktloop.html

IMHO - The Sony AN-LP1 Shortwave Active Loop Antenna
and a Select-A-Tenna 541-M AM/MW Loop Antenna will
give about the same level of performance and cost a lot less.
And both are eaiser to use then the Kiwa. - iane ~ RHF

Sony AN-LP1 Shortwave Active Loop Antenna
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3676.html
Coverage : 3.85 to 21.95 MHz

Select-A-Tenna (SAT) 541-M AM/MW Loop Antenna
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/mwant/4316.html
Coverage : 530 to 1710 kHz
Use the SAT 541-M with a Lazy Susan especially
if you want to do some AM/MW DXing with the
Sony ICF-SW7600GR Radio.
- - - Tune + Position & Listen