I had to take my new MFJ mag loop apart, re-align & tighten the capacitor plates, and adjust the end stop switch so that the motor would turn the cap all the way. After that it worked well as an indoor antenna hung behind a large window in high-rise condo. Retuning after changing freq is tiresome, but less of an issue if one is staying on the same freq (FT8, etc) and only needing to retune when changing bands. I received good signal reports and worked all states on FT8, but sold it after moving back to a house and needing a proper outside antenna.
Phil AB7WE ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Morgan Bailey <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2021 3:38 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [Elecraft] Mag Loop from MFJ They are unreliable pieces of junk. The housing does not protect the capacitors that are in house made and bugs can crawl into the housing and short them out. Secondly, the plastic housing in Kansas will be destroyed by the sun. The best thing about the loop is the loop itself. It is built well. The caps are cheap. Tuning the bastard is not consistent, not fast, and highly touchy. The only loop worth purchasing is the Ciro Mazzoni loop from Italy sold by DX engineering. It will take abuse and has an excellent tuning feature that will follow your radio. Each time you change freq with the MFJ it is a task to get it to tune again. A friend of mine bought one and it was soon offered to me for $100. Then he became so frustrated with it that he wanted me to take it for free if I would dig the post out of the ground he mounted it on. I Passed knowing that any dipole would blow it away. Even an end fed random wire will beat it in performance if put up right. In the end there are many cheaper options that work far better than the MFJ mag loop. 73, Morgan NJ8M BS + MS + $2.98 = COFFEE Real Life Experience = Priceless, says the man who set his back yard on fire with a breadboard tuner loading a 160 meter inverted L with 1000 watts. LOL ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailman.qth.net%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Felecraft&data=04%7C01%7C%7C676361a75e514dd66cac08d8bc0ad2b9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637466101953688654%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2Fs30HQs8pMPH6NYTr49YyXC%2ByX%2FfpM8aRla9zsqLSFo%3D&reserved=0 Help: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailman.qth.net%2Fmmfaq.htm&data=04%7C01%7C%7C676361a75e514dd66cac08d8bc0ad2b9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637466101953698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2mXQabNnxw9fqAEJiLKRbC8PzizjQin9CCCgM6W6DqY%3D&reserved=0 Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qsl.net%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C676361a75e514dd66cac08d8bc0ad2b9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637466101953698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=vldKoRgkLcR7W7iRFPyRUgGX8%2BrJaxtzN0bgC1HLB%2FE%3D&reserved=0 Please help support this email list: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qsl.net%2Fdonate.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C676361a75e514dd66cac08d8bc0ad2b9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637466101953698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8%2BMVnVCKp%2FDIZSai6XjLJ8dai8uBd0dNvl%2ByAL6PVK4%3D&reserved=0 Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
