Indoor Active Antenna Question

[freyhaus1]

...I have a question concerning indoor active antenna choices: does anyone own, or is familiar with, or has seen reviews of MFJ-1022 or MFJ-1020c active indoor antennas?...are they any good or worth the $$$??..or are there better options for a better price?...this is strictly for SWL and will be used with a Tecsun PL-880...

thanks!

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Got the 1020C here. If you are limited to an indoor antenna, then yes, it is a useful option.
In my experience, the 1020C may overload a portable RX. Be careful not to set the gain too high.

 

[freyhaus1]

...I have a question concerning indoor active antenna choices: does anyone own, or is familiar with, or has seen reviews of MFJ-1022 or MFJ-1020c active indoor antennas?...are they any good or worth the $$$??..or are there better options for a better price?...this is strictly for SWL and will be used with a Tecsun PL-880...

thanks!

...thank you for the response and info👍..
73!!

 

[ka3jjz]

To further tweak your potential you might want to remove the whip and use a YouLoop as the input. The advantage here is the receiving element will not be so prone to picking up noise. You can buy it (cheap) or build your own as shown in the links below. I've had 1 or 2 people tell me that this works decently....

YouLoop HF loop antenna – Airspy.US

v3.airspy.us

Loops - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Beware of the Chinese knock offs you might see on fleaBay and elsewhere. They use an inferior transformer which degrades the performance

MIke

 

[freyhaus1]

To further tweak your potential you might want to remove the whip and use a YouLoop as the input. The advantage here is the receiving element will not be so prone to picking up noise. You can buy it (cheap) or build your own as shown in the links below. I've had 1 or 2 people tell me that this works decently....

YouLoop HF loop antenna – Airspy.US

v3.airspy.us

Loops - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Beware of the Chinese knock offs you might see on fleaBay and elsewhere. They use an inferior transformer which degrades the performance

MIke

...thanks mike, that's good info! (fleabay! hahahahaha!)

 

[TAC4]

Did you have to move ? Your radio and outside dipole antenna
in your signature line are perfect why change ? I have had
MFJ active antennas in the past and they were garbage. Sorry MFJ fan folks.

The issue is they have no shielding in the case. Which relates
to them being noise makers not gain makers. Don't waste your
your money on these. Also most active antennas will benefit
with a 20-50' wire antenna placed outside, the built in telescope
antenna provides dismal performance .

If you have no choice to use an active antenna get a vintage
USA made one like the one I have an ARCOMM or get a PALSTAR
these ones have great shielding and put out very low noise.

Still these active antennas need an outdoor wire of 20-50'
to get maximum performance. My Sangean ATS-909X2 does
not overload at all with this set up. Also batteries only in the radio
and active antenna are a must no wall adapters that induce even more RFI.

You will get about 20 db gain which relates to a some added
S units and won't be a game changer but it can truly help in
pulling some weak signals out of the noise floor. I use my
preamp all the time. Also if you use an outside wire antenna
with an active antenna box use a disconnect ouside for the feed in line so you can disconnect in a lightening storm.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

To further tweak your potential you might want to remove the whip and use a YouLoop as the input. The advantage here is the receiving element will not be so prone to picking up noise. You can buy it (cheap) or build your own as shown in the links below. I've had 1 or 2 people tell me that this works decently....

Have used a AN200 loop as well as a homebuilt box loop with the 1020C in lieu of the whip antenna and performance was improved
with the ability to null unwanted signals.

 

[freyhaus1]

Did you have to move ? Your radio and outside dipole antenna
in your signature line are perfect why change ? I have had
MFJ active antennas in the past and they were garbage. Sorry MFJ fan folks.

The issue is they have no shielding in the case. Which relates
to them being noise makers not gain makers. Don't waste your
your money on these. Also most active antennas will benefit
with a 20-50' wire antenna placed outside, the built in telescope
antenna provides dismal performance .

If you have no choice to use an active antenna get a vintage
USA made one like the one I have an ARCOMM or get a PALSTAR
these ones have great shielding and put out very low noise.

Still these active antennas need an outdoor wire of 20-50'
to get maximum performance. My Sangean ATS-909X2 does
not overload at all with this set up. Also batteries only in the radio
and active antenna are a must no wall adapters that induce even more RFI.

You will get about 20 db gain which relates to a some added
S units and won't be a game changer but it can truly help in
pulling some weak signals out of the noise floor. I use my
preamp all the time. Also if you use an outside wire antenna
with an active antenna box use a disconnect ouside for the feed in line so you can disconnect in a lightening storm.

...Wow, thanks for the detailed response!...you answered my question perfectly, especially about MFJ...i have MFJ products going back to the mid-90's that i use everyday and they are superior quality to todays...i have read (independent)reviews that pretty much frown on MFJ products... my current set up really works well, i also use a terk passive loop for MW that is terrific, so i guess I'll save the time, aggravation and expense and forget the active antenna...thanks for your time and knowledge, much appreciated👍

 

[merlin]

I have a horrendous amount of noise indoors, something like the MLA30 plus will do some justice.
The small E wave whips fail, way too noisy.

 

[prcguy]

I gotta say the best indoor reception I've had was with a W6LVP active loop, the loop allowed me to null out RFI from sources within the house. I've tried an active whip, passive whip with matching transformer and a 9:1 transformer with random length wire and the loop was far superior. I suspect an MLA30 would work well, I have one but never tried it indoors.

 

[ka3jjz]

The small E whips in many cases must be properly grounded for them to work well, and are certainly not for indoor use anyway. The W6LVP loops are well supported, and Larry can turn the gain down for portable use. Certainly the MLA30+ is the cheapest by far, and there have been many experimenters who are tinkering with this antenna to improve its performance. On the other end of the scale the PK Loop models have garnered some very positive reviews, although they are very pricey.

So there you have it, a number of possibilities....Mike

 

[freyhaus1]

I have a horrendous amount of noise indoors, something like the MLA30 plus will do some justice.
The small E wave whips fail, way too noisy.

...thank you for the reply...i have experimented with whips as well over the years and have to agree, they tend to help generate a whole lot of unnecessary noise...

 

[dlwtrunked]

...I have a question concerning indoor active antenna choices: does anyone own, or is familiar with, or has seen reviews of MFJ-1022 or MFJ-1020c active indoor antennas?...are they any good or worth the $$$??..or are there better options for a better price?...this is strictly for SWL and will be used with a Tecsun PL-880...

thanks!

It will very very much depend on the specific interference present in an indoor installation. Another person's experience is not going to tell you much about that.