I had a Wellbrook ALA1530LNP-2 delivered a while back so I thought I'd do a comparison of it versus the Pixel/InLogis RF Pro-1B and my short answer is … no significant advantage to either one over the other. There are differences, but they appear to me to be minor.
For my HF listening, which is primarily from 3mHz to 18mHz, I could find no situation where either one was better or worse than the other. The differences that I noted are in their operation. I have a known noise source in the neighborhood and both antenna systems were equally able to reject that noise. However, they did that at differing compass settings. The Pixel at 170° and the Wellbrook at 150° according to my antenna rotator. Not exactly a reason to claim victory of one over the other. If conditions ever improve in the upper HF frequencies, my plan ts to compare them both again but for now that is pointless.
Personally, I prefer the construction of the Pixel over the Wellbrook for 2 reasons. The coax connector for the Pixel, which hangs from the bottom of the antenna mounted preamplifier, does not appear to be as stressed as the connector for the Wellbrook, which sticks out of the side of its amplifier module. Secondly, I prefer the support the Pixel adds to the loop with the vertical support that is not standard with the Wellbrook. Note that the Wellbrook Antenna interface requires 12v DC while the Pixel requires 24v AC. Powering the Wellbrook will be much easier from a single car battery on any DX-expedition.
The Wellbrook is the one currently up and running, so I’ll continue with it for a while. If it looks like we’ll get several days of no rain, I may swap them in and out for some more comparisons.
Hopefully I be able to run some more testing shortly.
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Mike
For my HF listening, which is primarily from 3mHz to 18mHz, I could find no situation where either one was better or worse than the other. The differences that I noted are in their operation. I have a known noise source in the neighborhood and both antenna systems were equally able to reject that noise. However, they did that at differing compass settings. The Pixel at 170° and the Wellbrook at 150° according to my antenna rotator. Not exactly a reason to claim victory of one over the other. If conditions ever improve in the upper HF frequencies, my plan ts to compare them both again but for now that is pointless.
Personally, I prefer the construction of the Pixel over the Wellbrook for 2 reasons. The coax connector for the Pixel, which hangs from the bottom of the antenna mounted preamplifier, does not appear to be as stressed as the connector for the Wellbrook, which sticks out of the side of its amplifier module. Secondly, I prefer the support the Pixel adds to the loop with the vertical support that is not standard with the Wellbrook. Note that the Wellbrook Antenna interface requires 12v DC while the Pixel requires 24v AC. Powering the Wellbrook will be much easier from a single car battery on any DX-expedition.
The Wellbrook is the one currently up and running, so I’ll continue with it for a while. If it looks like we’ll get several days of no rain, I may swap them in and out for some more comparisons.
Hopefully I be able to run some more testing shortly.
--
Mike