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#1
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A week ago i placed my order for a Wellbrook ALA330S active antenna loop...
Well the ALA330S arrived today first impression of the antenna is packaging was spot on no problems.... i carefully un packed the antenna to inspect the parts included with the antenna. my first findings are as follows. the loop its self looks well made. but for the mounting bracket that is included anybody who has brought a wellbrook loop will agree this bracket fixes to the bottom of the antenna by use of two screws. the mounting plate only has a 1 inch tube coming from the mounting plate this is to allow it to be fitted inside a pole of the correct internal diameter and a hole drilled through and screwed together this mounting plate in my opinion needs to be re designed with a longer tube fitted to the mounting plate .....the interface box looks good and well set out... the power supply that is included. well i was surprised to find the supplied power supply is only one of the multe voltage type that you can pick up on any high street and is used to power kids toys and personal stereo,s... you can buy these power supply's for as little as £2.99 and a maximum of £4.99..... i have not tested the antenna as yet due to hospital visiting... i will be testing the antenna in doors tomorrow. as i don't intend to use the supplied mounting plate i am going to have a better plate fabricated. as i intend to mount the ALA330S high up on the gable end of my house so the supplied mounting plate is very inferior that is if like me you intend to mount the loop high up..... i paid a total of £169.99 for the antenna... and in my opinion i thought i would have received a better mounting plate and a dedicated power supply unit made for the antenna and not a cheap market type toy power supply unit... My first impression is i don't think the cost of this antenna at £169.99 is justified.. lets hope the antenna works well and justifies my £169.99 out lay.......lets hope... i will add updates on the performance of the ALA-330S antenna as soon as i can as my spare time is tight as i am in and out visiting a family member in hospital after cancer treatment...... if you own a Wellbrook loop antenna and agree with my findings so far what do you think. when i have had my new mounting bracket made up i will be forwarding my findings to wellbrook. John |
#2
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Hi John,
Living in the United States, I have the North American power supply for the Wellbrook ALA 330S which is perfectly adequate. Naturally I cannot comment on the English power supply, but I think that if Andy Ikins thinks it's adequate, it probably is. Why not give him a telephone call (or an e-mail) and ask him directly if you should stay with the supplied adapter or if he thinks you need something "better?" I suspect he will tell you that his power supply, though inexpensive, is all you need, but you should find out for yourself. I can't comment on the quality of the mounting plate for outdoor use. I have my antenna mounted to a Radio Shack rotator which is affixed to a rafter in my attic. You might want to discuss that with him also. I have to tell you that when I first opened my package, I too wasn't really impressed with what I saw, especially in view of the glowing reviews in PASSPORT and WRTH. It really didn't seem like much. (The Postal Service Lady who delivered it asked me if I had ordered an imported "Hula Hoop!") It wasn't until the Wellbrook antenna was connected to my new AOR AR7030 Plus receiver that I realized what a great piece of equipment it is. I don't know what Andy Ikins puts in his little boxes, and, frankly, I don't care. All I know is that it is the best antenna I have ever used. The summertime here is usually a "wasteland" of poor signal strength, interference, and atmospheric noise. No other antenna I have tried has worked satisfactorily. This past summer, with the Wellbrook, the listening was so good that it was easy to forget it was summer! Some people, mostly non-owners, have questioned the price charged. Even you yourself, not having yet used it, have questioned the value. Wait until you have the antenna operating. If you're like me, you'll know that you've in fact gotten a bargain! If the price were TWICE it would still be a bargain, at least at my location, in my opinion, where nothing else works! Let us all know your impressions after you've used it for a day or so. Best, Joe big boy now wrote: A week ago i placed my order for a Wellbrook ALA330S active antenna loop... Well the ALA330S arrived today first impression of the antenna is packaging was spot on no problems.... i carefully un packed the antenna to inspect the parts included with the antenna. my first findings are as follows. the loop its self looks well made. but for the mounting bracket that is included anybody who has brought a wellbrook loop will agree this bracket fixes to the bottom of the antenna by use of two screws. the mounting plate only has a 1 inch tube coming from the mounting plate this is to allow it to be fitted inside a pole of the correct internal diameter and a hole drilled through and screwed together this mounting plate in my opinion needs to be re designed with a longer tube fitted to the mounting plate .....the interface box looks good and well set out... the power supply that is included. well i was surprised to find the supplied power supply is only one of the multe voltage type that you can pick up on any high street and is used to power kids toys and personal stereo,s... you can buy these power supply's for as little as =A32.99 and a maximum of =A34.99..... i have not tested the antenna as yet due to hospital visiting... i will be testing the antenna in doors tomorrow. as i don't intend to use the supplied mounting plate i am going to have a better plate fabricated. as i intend to mount the ALA330S high up on the gable end of my house so the supplied mounting plate is very inferior that is if like me you intend to mount the loop high up..... i paid a total of =A3169.99 for the antenna... and in my opinion i thought i would have received a better mounting plate and a dedicated power supply unit made for the antenna and not a cheap market type toy power supply unit... My first impression is i don't think the cost of this antenna at =A3169.99 is justified.. lets hope the antenna works well and justifies my =A3169.99 out lay.......lets hope... i will add updates on the performance of the ALA-330S antenna as soon as i can as my spare time is tight as i am in and out visiting a family member in hospital after cancer treatment...... if you own a Wellbrook loop antenna and agree with my findings so far what do you think. when i have had my new mounting bracket made up i will be forwarding my=20 findings to wellbrook. =20 John |
#3
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![]() starman wrote: big boy now wrote: A week ago i placed my order for a Wellbrook ALA330S active antenna loop... Well the ALA330S arrived today first impression of the antenna is packaging was spot on no problems.... i carefully un packed the antenna to inspect the parts included with the antenna. my first findings are as follows. the loop its self looks well made. but for the mounting bracket that is included anybody who has brought a wellbrook loop will agree this bracket fixes to the bottom of the antenna by use of two screws. the mounting plate only has a 1 inch tube coming from the mounting plate this is to allow it to be fitted inside a pole of the correct internal diameter and a hole drilled through and screwed together this mounting plate in my opinion needs to be re designed with a longer tube fitted to the mounting plate ..... How well do you think it would stand up to some rough winter weather with icing and strong winds? The antenna should be pretty resilient once you have it mounted. As I recall, Wellbrook does recommend that, after attaching the base of the loop to a post, rotor, etc., you should add some improvised vertical supports to support the upper portion of the loop in the event of high winds. I doubt it would be hard to add this extra support. The way I have the antenna situated is unusual, I think. I have it on the end of a horizontal mast extending away from my building. The *top* of the loop is actually attached to the mast via some clamps and protective rubber inserts. The clamps hold the loop firmly, but not so tightly that the antenna can't 'give' in the face of strong winds. The base of the loop, with the coax attached, isn't mounted to anything, but the coax itself provides it with a bit of weight and added stability. I obviously could have mounted the loop differently, and could certainly have attached it via its base to the horizontal mast I'm using, provided I also gave it some vertical support for wind protection. However, I thought that attaching the upper portion of the loop to the mast while leaving the bottom free to shift a bit with the wind would provide better long term protection, and after a few months I feel pretty good about this arrangement. Because the loop is visible out my kitchen window, I've monitored its condition very carefully and everything's working out just fine. In fact, over the last couple of days we've had very strong winds and these have not stressed the loop *at all*. Steve |
#5
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![]() I have this vision of the loop snapping off at the base (standard mounting) when it's loaded with ice in a high wind. It's not clear to me how you would provide more vertical support at the top of the loop without interfering with it's ability to rotate (with a rotor). ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- Well, it isn't always mounted on a rotor. I didn't use a rotor because the antenna's performance seems pretty omnidirectional on the frequencies that interest me. However, I don't spend a lot of time on MW either, and anyone who does should definitely use a rotor. My sense is that the antenna is quite strong and there's nothing on it to really 'catch' the wind. If you didn't provide additional support, I doubt that the antenna would ever sustain wind damage. However, if you had it right in front of you and had an hour or two to think about it, I'm sure you could improvise some sort of additional support. You'd probably have fun doing it, too! Steve |
#6
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#7
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starman wrote:
One of the nice features of the Wellbrook is being able to mount it with a dual axis rotor so you can fine tune the reception angle. It's an expensive option but that's what I would do to get the most out of it. I wonder if anyone knows the circuit design for the loop's pre-amp? That's probably what makes it perform so well. The Wellbrook preamp is potted to make it tougher for someone to swipe the design. I think major reasons it performs so well include the fact loop antennas are less susceptible to noise, and they were able to design their antennas as complete systems. If you'd like to experiment with preamps, I suggest checking ebay or your local hamfests for preamps made by companies like Avantek, WJ, or the company known at various times as Norlin, Aiken, ACL, and Applied Communications. Typically, they'll be low noise designs with plenty of dynamic range. I often find these at the flea at MIT for anywhere between $10 and $40. I also tried an ARR brand preamp, (about $50 new) and it performed well, but it got taken out by the first lightning strike in the neighborhood. As for being able to rotate the Wellbrook loops, my understanding is you're not likely to notice a difference on HF bands. |
#8
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![]() "Mark S. Holden" wrote: starman wrote: One of the nice features of the Wellbrook is being able to mount it with a dual axis rotor so you can fine tune the reception angle. It's an expensive option but that's what I would do to get the most out of it. I wonder if anyone knows the circuit design for the loop's pre-amp? That's probably what makes it perform so well. The Wellbrook preamp is potted to make it tougher for someone to swipe the design. And any competent electronics outfit has already done so, if they were interested in the design. I've worked for numerous firms over the years and the number of competitor products coming through the door for study and evaluation was astounding. If it hasn't been mentioned already, there was a review in the 2002 Passport regarding this antenna and the dual axis rotor scheme by Chuck Rippel. It may have appeared in other additions as well. dxAce Michigan USA |
#9
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Hello Again John "Big Boy,"
By now (January 25) you may have tried your new antenna. Any comments? (I hope your family member is recovering well and I know everyone on this group is wishing you and yours well.) Best, Joe big boy now wrote: A week ago i placed my order for a Wellbrook ALA330S active antenna loop... Well the ALA330S arrived today i will be testing the antenna indoors tomorrow. i will add updates on the performance of the ALA-330S antenna as soon as i can as my spare time is tight as i am in and out visiting a family member in hospital after cancer treatment...... |
#10
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"Mark S. Holden" wrote:
starman wrote: One of the nice features of the Wellbrook is being able to mount it with a dual axis rotor so you can fine tune the reception angle. It's an expensive option but that's what I would do to get the most out of it. I wonder if anyone knows the circuit design for the loop's pre-amp? That's probably what makes it perform so well. The Wellbrook preamp is potted to make it tougher for someone to swipe the design. That's a challenge I would enjoy. Anyone want to donate their Wellbrook loop preamp for micro-disection? I think major reasons it performs so well include the fact loop antennas are less susceptible to noise, and they were able to design their antennas as complete systems. If you'd like to experiment with preamps, I suggest checking ebay or your local hamfests for preamps made by companies like Avantek, WJ, or the company known at various times as Norlin, Aiken, ACL, and Applied Communications. Typically, they'll be low noise designs with plenty of dynamic range. I often find these at the flea at MIT for anywhere between $10 and $40. I also tried an ARR brand preamp, (about $50 new) and it performed well, but it got taken out by the first lightning strike in the neighborhood. As for being able to rotate the Wellbrook loops, my understanding is you're not likely to notice a difference on HF bands. I thought so too but I've seen of reports to the contrary. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
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