Magnetic Loop vs. EndFed antenna - RX comparison

[@albert7ii]

Paul, thank you for taking the time and effort to make this video. It is much appreciated and so few people know the huge amount of effort needed to make a good video. Am a diehard end fed user here, but I have space so I can run a 40 meter long one. with my 180 milliwatts it has been all over the world.... Hawaii. Antartica, greenland, China, Japan , New Zealand and so on. Thanks again for this interesting video. Albert. EI7II.

[@albert7ii]

Paul.... I have had fast replies, but this is unbelievable !15 minutes or less. OUTSTANDING. Yes, I have subscribed to your channel.. I run a WELLBROOK RECEIVE loop here on my KIWISDR.... usually decoding the Hamburg transmission weather faxes. Can tell you were the drift ice is but that won't do you much good !

[@KX4UL]

Very interesting and surprising comparison. The 1-meter loop held its own against the 17-meter EndFed. Now subbed!

[@Keith_WB2VUO]

Over the last couple weeks, I have built 4 magnetic loops, and converted one to a 2-turn loop for 80 - 40 meters. The 2-turn loop is 130 cm (51.5") in diameter and is made from RG-11 coax. I have a single-turn 91 cm (36") loop made from RG-11 coax and a 56cm (22") loop made from a bicycle tire rim. The 91 cm loop covers 7 - 30 MHz and the 56 cm loop covers 17 - 60 MHz. I have taken the 91 cm loop out for the Winter FD and made contacts on 40 meters out to 600 km easily. The WX has been too snowy to get out more, but I have run them from inside the house since 15 February on all bands with digital modes (FT4 & FT8) with very good results. I viewed the reported results with some doubts, but I am hooked on loops! I will be out after the snow &cold goes away and activate Parks On The Air with the loops. Thanks for your inspirational posts, and hope to CU on theair soon! 73, Keith, WB2VUO here near Buffalo, NY

[@sudarmantoclg6140]

Good job Mr. Paul, very good comparison Magnetic loop with endfed antenna, both are sensitive recipients, 73 from YD1WDL Sudarmanto from Indonesia.

[@OM0ET]

Thank you! But would be better if I had the antenna switch 😊 Greetings to Indonesia from Europe 🙋‍♂️ 73, Paul

[@DrHWO]

Thanks Paul. I use a 40m end fed at home and now exclusively use your MagLoop Version 4 when portable QRP. It works a treat and is so fast and easy to set up. I have tried tuning for maximum sound but my SWR meter seems quicker and better. Steer clear of corona virus and stay well. Howard, 73. 2E0HWO

[@OM0ET]

Hello my friend! Great to hear that your loop is working great! I wish you have many many good contacts with it ;-) Summer is comming... 73, Paul.

[@angelodepalma538]

The real test is at home, with RFI around you. The loop allows you oftentimes to eliminate the noise by rotating it, while the endfed is fixed. Also, the loop will allow you to pick out very weak stations, also (if you're lucky) noise free. With an endfed you're stuck with its orientation. BTW I use a loop for receive and an end-fed for Xmit.

[@TheMariepi3]

try placing the loop antenna horizontally, to pick up signals that arrive "just above the horizon" from all directions.

[@michaelfuchs1467]

Who the H* is thumbing down this guys videos?? Got to be some 'competitor'... not liking to be outperformed..? Not only does Paul show ingenuity and joy in experimenting, he generously shares his designs and experiences for others to copy - for free. He actually sells his designs for a VERY reasonable, not to mention competitive, price. If I had some money to spare I would have bought this magnetic loop in a heartbeat! Beautifully yet simply designed with great attention to detail and craftsmanship! Sadly I can't though after getting severe health issues - where 'HAM' radio actually became a substitute hobby for more physically challenging activities... However - it's not cheap and food plus medications comes first. 🙄 Maybe later...! 🤔☺️

[@OM0ET]

Hello Michael, thank you for the nice comment and your support! :) Yes, unfortunately the haters are everywhere and they just don't see the other side of this videos, hours of work on recording and editing in postproduction... I am so sorry for your current situation! Do you practice a HAM radio hobby this time? Do you have some antenna and transceiver now? I wish you have better times and better health! 73 and stay safe! Paul.

[@michaelfuchs1467]

@@OM0ET Hello Paul! I couldn't keep my fingers away from commenting. It makes me both sad and mad watching unconstructive negativism towards someone that obviously spends a lot of time and effort to provide useful and well made content - just to generously share experiences. I've been working within the R&D sector after being a military diver in the mid 80's to mid 90's, so I know a bit both about the research & development part AND making informational videos - but we obviously used an external partner for that part. Nevertheless, I've been involved in filming instructional videos and I've attended post-production so I know how much time and effort it takes just to make a 10-min instructional video enjoyable - like just making a simple drive-by scene... (In my case it was more 'dive-by') 😏 To answer your question: Yes finally, after a very long time, I actually got a radio again last week! I got a little Xiegu G90 as a gift from a group of friends! I really like the little thing but it needs some bugs and idiosyncrasies straightened out! I see that you also use a Xiegu and I hope that you are satisfied with it. I actually had a hard time choosing between the X5105 and the G90 where the X5105 portability first caught my interest but the 20 Watt capability and the display of the G90 finally won since I'm mainly interested in EMCOMM using data modes and CW. (and the price point - since I knew this gift was coming). Some background information: Some years ago I bought a 6-wheel military Volvo truck (TGB-13) from the Swedish defense forces to use for diving expeditions, shooting sports and as a 'ground control station' when developing auto pilots for scientific drones - fixed wing drones with a wing span of between 3 - 5 meters but also for sounding rockets for aurora research. In this truck I had some radio gear - YAESU FT-897D, FT-817ND, two VX-7R and my very hard to aquire military Hughes PRC-104 with full vehicle kit (in Sweden called 'Ra 195'). A very collectible military HF including vehicle mounted 400 Watt external PA. This truck was naturally burglarized while I was admitted to hospital in February 2016 when I was finally diagnosed with 'Myalgic Encephalomyelitis' - simplified, a chronic inflammation of the nervous system. Everything was stolen including some very expensive electronic shooting targets (for long range rifle practice using 5 km capable radio modems). This was a very hard blow and naturally no insurance in the world covered this loss. The diagnosis that I got made it twice as difficult since I then realized that my chances of getting back my health and back to productive work is close to non-existing. This illness is 'recently ' discovered and very little is known about it - except it's totally handicapping in some cases. It's also known as 'GWI' / 'GWS ' or 'Gulf War Illness' / 'Gulf War Syndrome' since soldiers participating in this war are over-represented in the statistics. I had been using the radio gear for work related tasks but also started to get a real interest in radio communications - especially antenna construction, since my line of work in the high arctic sometimes came with challenging communications demands. When I had periods where my condition demanded full rest - I studied antenna construction and electromagnetic propagation which I find fascinating. This naturally came to a hard stop when all my gear disappeared... Now I again have a small radio! 😀 The 'antenna' is a piece of telephone wire hanging to the lamp in the ceiling..! 🤣 Not very efficient but that's all I found - and pskreporter.info confirms I'm reaching most of Central Europe on 40m when conditions allow it. At the moment I can't even afford a toroid for an EFHW or adjustable capacitor for a mag-loop so I just have to use what's laying around... So my iambic CW key is made from a small block of wood, screws and an old hack saw blade. (I have a better design in mind!) 🤓 The reason I found your channel is that I have focused hard on maybe building a magnetic loop, but I now live far from 'home' while participating in a study in 'ME' (my health condition). This means an awful lot of time in a hotel room and no means to rig something even close to permanently. That's why I'm so interested in the 'mag-loop' type of antenna but also EFHW. Easy to transport and deploy - and with NVIS capability - which is a very important property I seek. My ability to build something is also very limited due to my situation. I have been living in the Arctic part of Scandinavia for the last 23 years but now I'm temporarily residing in Central Norway. The 'Corona crisis' have made me step-up my seeking for EMCOMM capability since I have a daughter living around 500 km away. She wanted me to teach her Morse code and digital modes - and build a kit-radio next time she comes to visit me! 😍 (I think we're going to do the 'Phaser' from midnightsolutions.com). Thank you for your channel, content and kind words! I'm following your developments with great interest and hopefully I'll catch you on the air sometime - hopefully with a 'loop' I've bought from you! ☺️ Best regards and 73!

[@mrgajeep]

73, thank you for the interesting compare of the two antenna. All the best to you de WB0RSZ in Texas

[@OM0ET]

Thank you for watching! All the best to you too ;-) 73, Paul.

[@thaddeusdombrowski2241]

Good comparison. I am considering your end-fed design for myself. I have watched some of your other videos on the topic. Very helpful.

[@OM0ET]

Thank you! I hope you will be happy with your home made antenna! Good luck and 73. Paul

[@zeferpp1rd572]

Congratulations for the impressive tests and also the good rig. 73 from PP1RD Fernando - Brazil

[@OM0ET]

Thank you Fernando! Have a good day there in Brazil! ;-) 73, Paul

[@ae1tpa92gwtom2]

nice video n experiment on both homebrew antenna, the mag loop never stops to amaze its performance, cheers n 73, keep well

[@OM0ET]

Thanks Tom! ;-) Yes. Best regards from Slovakia! 73, Paul.

[@pda49184]

Great test Paul... There is a gap in the market for a portable mag-loop that will cover 80 through 10 meters , handle 100 watts PEP and will auto tune ..The price would also have to be realistic.. (under 500 Euro). Mag loops are the way forward for those of us who can erect outside antenna and have limited loft space. Keep well ..73, Pete (G4RYO)

[@OM0ET]

Yes I know Pete. But that's not easy to made it commercially for all this bands and for that price. You need a good controlling system, capacitor with big gaps between plates and still with huge capacity or use more pricy vacuum capacitor and for good efficiency also large and much heavier main loop which needs more massive antenna boom. There are things which are increasing the price high, unfortunately. 73 ;-) Paul

[@pda49184]

@@OM0ET I agree Paul.. MFJ have achieved this sort of mag loop , but it's not very portable of course.. It seems a shame that over the last 30 years, radios have got much smaller and lighter, with more facilities built-in, but antennas still don't seem to have caught up ..Perhaps one day ! 😀

[@enigmarbs2886]

Nice comparison, Paul. I made a SOTA Activation of two mountain tops yesterday, because wheather was so nice ( and it,'s boring sitting at home due the Corona shutdown 😷 ). Your V3 doing a good job for me 👍🏻 Stay healty Paul and family ! 73's de Stefan DG4RBS

[@OM0ET]

That's a great news for me Stefan! 😊 I am so happy that you like your loop! I wish you have many good QRP contacts with this loop! Stay healthy and take care my friend! 👍 73, Paul.

[@jozefbezan2501]

Danke für das tolle Video.73, von Jozef,Wien.😊😊😊

[@tony.k5480]

Thanks for the interesting Tests, i know the Magnetic Loop is a very good Antenna. Hope we hear us soon on Frequenz. Best Greetings Tony OE6AKE

[@kazkam3567]

The magnetic loop antenna you made is a good antenna. Very good job. GL 73.

[@OM0ET]

Thank you very much! 😊

[@Carterofmars]

Stay well. 73. Joe

[@TMFOK7]

Good video! Nice to see the bands are active. It was nice that you could get out and enjoy nature a little and play radio in this time of Corona virus! 73 to you and your daughter (camera operator) Stay safe... de Kilo7TooMuchFun

[@OM0ET]

Yes , at least we have a nice chance to sit in front of the radio this days and see how the propagations look like during the day when we are usually at work :-D Thaks for watching and 73! Paul

[@istvanszabo8698]

Impressive. Next time you may compare it to a dipole. I have the 5W watt but not (yet) a magnetic loop.

[@edwardlee4032]

Keep up the good work in your designing antennas. sometime we need to go back to the bench. California, USA. Stay Safe

[@OM0ET]

Thank you! 😊 Stay safe Edward! 73

[@Robmarbz]

Nice job as usual Paul.

[@OM0ET]

Thank you! ;-) 73

[@zorka4098]

Hi Paul, thanks for the video. Always look forward to your work. Good job on the comparison and glad to see you have a helper! Take care as we here in the US are just beginning to ramp up on increasing cases of the virus. Scary times right now - it was good to see you able to get out into the woods as I like to do, but am currently confined to staying indoors or nearby.

[@OM0ET]

Hello zorka! Thanks for your comment :) Situation here is not good. Our government closed all small shops and small companies to prevent us of the virus. We stay home in quarantine so was nice to go to the nature to breath the fresh air :-) Stay safe and healthy! 73, Paul.

[@peterlaird6034]

Hi Paul ,another good video ,nice wx with you aswell ,lots of wind here ,keep up the good work.73de mm0aup

[@OM0ET]

Hello Peter! Thanks for watching! ;-) I wish you have many good contacts with your loop too! 73

[@AlteSchutze]

Experiments with aerials require application of the antenna switch for the quick switching between antennas.73

[@PatAutrey]

intrested in buying the mag loop antenna - all I would like to purchase if the variable capacitor box, how much is that?

[@victorb22622]

On what depend on diameter of loop? What is the calculation. I have thick cable having copper corrugated shield 254 cm long.its diameter would be 80 cm .on which band it can be used to make loop? This cable has inner is copper coated aluminium rod. It is used in mobile signal enhance networking .i got from scrap

[@bluesdude758]

Another nice video. Were you up on a hill? Also, which way were the antennas oriented? North-south? East-west?

[@OM0ET]

I was near the place " Herlianske sedlo " about 600m asl and the wire was north-south, magloop direction west-east. 73, Paul.

[@johnroberts9771]

Great Video. I was looking for your 9:1 endfed in this video. Are you still selling this and where can I go to purchase? Thanks

[@m.a3957]

Hi Paul Very nice video in the middle of the countryside. Very surprised by the strong signals received on end fed and mag. The x5150 is a good little rig. 73 Med CN8YR

[@OM0ET]

The X5105 is best portable rig I ever had. I just wish it had more power at least 10 or 20W, but not possible with so small body ... 73! Paul.

[@steadfast666]

great one - 73 de HB9GNK and KB9GNK - stay healthy

[@OM0ET]

Thank you! 😉👍 73, take care!

[@allyburg7145]

Interesting I find the end feed slightly better but with a loop I can filter out noise

[@TheRiddleNL]

Nice video. How abouth coppling effekt from the loop to the endfet antenna??

[@OM0ET]

Magloop was placed at 1m away from the feed point of the EndFed antenna so I don't think there was any markable coupling between them :) 73, Paul.

[@wolframwalther3889]

Danke für den guten Vergleichstest. vy 55 73 de DL2YDX

[@victorb22622]

Wow the lady is also helping you

[@drnv150]

It does matter what direction off the ends on the mag. loop, especially when transmitting.

[@SuburbanDXing]

Hi Paul...thank you for posting this; your daughter is lovely! If you make another similar video, I suggest implementing an A/B coax switch. That would allow rapid switching between the two antenna sources, and is, of course, way easier than disconnecting each one. :-) Thanks again for the video...love your work. Stay safe and healthy....73! de WX0V

[@OM0ET]

Hello Scott, thank you very much. Yes I know that the switch would be great to have. Maybe I should to made one by my self ;-) Thanks for wishes and all the best to you too! 73

[@SuburbanDXing]

@@OM0ET Paul, given your skills, I think you could make one yourself...probably better-made than the store-bought versions! 73! de WX0V

[@OM0ET]

@@SuburbanDXing maybe my next project?? 😉

[@yb8aoandiyauri]

Hi Paul, it's a great comparison. I enjoy much your video. Greeting from Indonesia. I'd like to make a correction on minute 08:30 a station of my friend YB0AR in Jakarta, Indonesia. It's not from Malaysia. 73 YC8AO

[@OM0ET]

Hello Yauri! 😊 yes yes I realized that after this video. I have mentioned it somwhere in the comments already 👍 But thanks! 😉 73, Paul.

[@alejandrotabares9412]

Felicitaciones por el desempeño de tus antenas ,lindo desafío hacer qrp ,equipo liviano y práctico , estoy en Córdoba Argentina , soy JANO Lu5hmq qrv 73' cordiales

[@PaulOfford]

Hi Paul, Great video - very interesting. How was wire set up? Was it vertical, horizontal or sloper?

[@OM0ET]

The wire was set horizontally with enfed 9:1 UnUn

[@yoki9743]

Hi Paul, Nice work with the Mag Loop.... stay safe... and keep up the excellent work with your channel... kind regards Don G7imo

[@OM0ET]

Thank you Don! All the best from Slovakia! 73, Paul

[@victorb22622]

Nice transceiver

[@marcmongango]

Thanks nice video experience !! 73.

[@arainadiaz9219]

Which one fits better in a pocket?

[@m0dad]

Hi Paul, many thanks for the video. Your magnetic loop is doing an excellent job, I`ll have to try my homebrew magnetic loop some time on the Xiegu X5105. God bless you and your daughter and stay safe from this Corona virus. 73 from M0DAD

[@OM0ET]

Thank you my friend! Thanks for watching this video ;-) Take care and 73! Paul

[@ianharling9569]

Hello Paul. Great test between the two aerials.I do quite a lot of mobile and portable operation when I have the time and I normally use the end fed with an L match tuner and a counterpoise.Next time I will try the 9:1 transformer and see how it works.Great video Paul.Keep safe and 73.Ian G7HFS/PA3IKH

[@OM0ET]

Hello Ian, thanks for your comment! I wish you good luck with your new project! ;-) I hope it will work good for you! 73, Paul.

[@prestonshute7243]

Paul Always enjoy your videos and your project builds. Stay safe and I hope you and your family continue to be well. Maybe in the future you might consider doing a video on connecting the X5105 to a computer and software to run FT8 or PSK. Stay well 73 wd4dda

[@OM0ET]

That's a good idea Preston! 😉👍 Thanks to wishes and good health to you too! 😊 73, Paul

[@drziv4999]

There is interaction between two antenna...they are very close....

[@ilantsameret3927]

The comparison is not complete, you should compare the transmission signal in the receiving end, every random wire receives signals, but not every antena has good transmission efficiency. why didn't you ask for reports with both antennas???

[@arainadiaz9219]

Loop is a preselector too.

[@OM0ET]

Yes, it is

[@d.shortwave4280]

subbed great work.. thank u 73.

[@OM0ET]

Thank you!! ;) 73

[@hpvspeedmachine4183]

What is the function ofthe small loop at the top?

[@OM0ET]

It's called a coupling loop. It transforms EM energy from TRX to the main loop or vice versa. 😉😁

[@hobbyrob313]

Sorry! I don't think you can compare the two antennas like this! the two antennas are too close to each other so that the signal from one antenna can be picked up by the other antenna. (I even had one time when my LOOP made the standing wave bad from my inverted V antenna, the distance from each other was about 3 meters. I was able to tune the standing wave of the V with the tuning capacitor of the LOOP) I also think that the EndFed antenna should be better when broadcasting.(TX) Healthy and Friendly Greetings from the Netherlands! Rob

[@W1ZY]

MagLoop has lower noise on receive.

[@PhantomWoIf]

the mag loop is about as good as the 17m long antenna, not bad for such a small antenna i would say.

[@nikivanov2935]

Malaysia YB0AR?

[@rv9ct186]

For the test it is more convenient to use a mechanical antenna switch.

[@OM0ET]

Yes I know. I dont have such a switch right now. Maybe I will made one in the future ;-) 73, Paul

[@o00scorpion00o]

Congrats on the loop Paul, I'm tempted to get it :-) I see it can handle 20 Watts, it would be a good match for my Xiegu G90 ! I use resonant EFHW with 49:1 UNUN which makes it resonant on multiple bands, you should make one they work great no tuner needed for the resonant bands, no radials either. Core materials of the UNUN are ultra important in this antenna design. You should try one or build one. :-) I use the hyendfed.nl 4 band mini 100 watt and it gets out great with x5105. The Loop is a lot easier to setup then 20 meter long EFHW but EFHW probably a lot more efficient on 40 + 20m.

[@joeredd3867]

Thanks again and take care... //... Joe WA8SIE

[@OM0ET]

Thank you Joe!

[@aj2isotadxing]

Good video. Be safe and we'll. Hope to work you someday AJ2I

[@MauriatOttolink]

Make life easier for yourself. Knock up a simple antenna change-over switch. Even if it's lossy, it will be lossy on both antennae so you'll still get a comparison but instantly! 73 de G3NBY

[@ur5scopcopter626]

👍😉

[@pakde2511]

YB0AR from Jakarta Indonesia not malaysia

[@OM0ET]

Thanks! Sorry for my mistake. 😉👍

[@binhminh5304]

This ant can run 100 watt

[@vladimirdmitriyev5287]

A man without the slightest idea. Comparing LW at 2 meters and Loop, which is called magnetic by ignorance, is a big foolishness. de KM6Z

[@odvernon2357]

Very interesting video +++. I want really try our UltraLight Magnetic loop. So I send you an email today. 73 F4JRA