HF RX SWL Antenna For Small Spaces And Apartments RTL SDR
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- čas přidán 12. 03. 2020
- Here we take a look at the X1-HF 1 - 50 MHz Trapped Coil Receiving antenna from Moonraker.eu
More information on this can be found here: www.moonraker.eu/x1-hf-vertic...
SDR Used in this video: RSPdx (www.sdrplay.com)
SDR Software used in this video: SDRuno (www.sdrplay.com)
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#TechMinds #HFVertical #Moonraker - Věda a technologie
What a great professional review, no waffle straight into it. Nice to see results across the bands. Well done.
Just to confirm - it works. works fantastically with a SDRplay RSP1B. There were no instructions in the packet, but easy enough to work out.
After a month of use with the X1-HF and SDRplay1B using SDR Connect. The X1 is 10 m away at a base height of 2.5m attached to the stench pipe - at some point will put the X1 up to 5m which will be level roof top-ish. House Front faces west, house rear east. Garden slopes upwards at top of garden the X1 is only 1.5m above ground.
Quick review - these are all based on the initial OOB settings on the SDR UNO using an iMac in an urban location of terraced houses in the centre of the UK.
LW & MW are clear, SW depends on propagation really. Some long distance can be heard - like the Chinese beaming around the world and also Vietnam - from the West Cuba was heard.
Other Bands - pretty much dead - CB NFM is just noise, maybe no CB'ers in the locality? No marine in the middle of the UK!, PMR noise, VORILS also silent.
Ham Bands are ok, heard on 70cm as well as 20, 40 & 60m.
Air Band is ok, 35 miles nearest airport so don't hear that, but the Central Control bands are clear as close to a transmitter and the plane line of sight is pretty good.
It is just a shame to "Other bands" is pretty much useless for me. BTW signals up it DTV land appear to be picked up.
All in all not a bad antenna, with holes. Question is? is it better than the Wideband Desktop Discone 25-2000Mhz table top/outside? at the higher bands?
Thanks for this - I always like how nicely pronounced airband comms are - very civilised, like everyone is drinking tea in between overs :-)
Thanks & 73's from Florida, USA!
Thanks for this video. Will probably try to order the antenna from Holland
Thanks for very informative video. I like SWL and Moonraker product for limited space antenna.
Thanks for watching 🙏
wow you are blessed with a low noise floor indeed!
It’s not always the case and I live in the middle of no where 😩
Theres also active mini whips and active/passive magnetic loop antennas for hf that take up even less space than this thing.
This antenna works a treat with a Tecsun PL-398MP shortwave radio.
pulls in plenty of stations on HF
That said, this antenna can't compete with a MLA - 30+ Loop antenna
so do you mean that MLA is better? direct experience?
@@robertos.6150 Yes. I have both. The MLA-30 is a better antenna from 1Mhz up to about 15Mhz. sensitivity drops off above these frequencies.
Provided the loop antenna is placed correctly (not nulling out stations from europe) then it picks up so many stations.
For me the local noise can be a problem at times and the HF antenna will also pick that up as well, where as the MLA-30 will just null the noise out.
On the flip side, the Antenna in the video has a wider frequency range coverage and still works well right up into the airband and will pick up the stronger DAB radio stations at 200Mhz (even though its not rated for that)
Pulls in quite well, be even better above the roof level. Thanks
That’s what I thought considering it’s size, and quite good on most ham bands too. I might set this up with a WebSDR in The near future! Cheers
Great video, thank you
Oh... I think you answered my question in the video. But... nice RX indeed. 73's!.
Hahaha... You said strap-on! Great video dude!
Haha thanks dude!! 👌
Cross Country Wireless LAA+, job done
I want this one.
The big issue with verticals always comes down to noise pickup; If you are in an urban area, this is likely to be an issue. Loops are a much better choice in such areas. Some are very pricey, but there are lots of plans on the web
mla30 better
@@solutionentertainment547 this. Upgraded mine to an 8ft loop recently. Performance is beastly..
Was searching for antenna
Here comes tech minds to rescue
do yourself a favor and buy something else...
Martin Rath Reasoning?
@@christiancampbell466
Simple; a loop, like MLA-30+
Excellent video, thank you. How about following this up with a compact transmit antenna over the same bands or a similar rangetoo? If such a thing exists?
Great Vid been looking at types for recieve only
Any issues wud u think if secured it to a pole that has a fibre glass Ant on allready
Cool reciever too what make is it ?
Just to look into this antenna aft thinking to replace a wire of 26m long cos the neighbors are annoyed by the wire over the pillar . Possibly to add a mini tube as mst to raiser the antenna en higher though I m not so sure if they will accept it
Do you think that this can compare with the wire antenna in performance for the HF and VHF band?
good review
hmm. this antenna or a Moonraker 11-554 Scanking HF Discone Antenna ?
I am not sure what mountings come with a discone though and what I would need to buy extra to mount onto a pole.
This things tend to get overlooked by radio ham guys.
A very informative video, thank you. I am interested in receiving HF Airband frequencies, such as the North Atlantic ATC stations for transatlantic flights. You said that one could chuck a piece of wire out of the window, but what sort of wire would be best, and how long should it be? Also, would you need to add a connector to the wire to go straight into the receiver's antenna input, or would it work by simply wrapping one end of the wire around an indoor telescopic antenna that's connected to the receiver? I look forward to your advice. :-)
I cant seem to find the antenna on your US store,what does it normally cost?
That's a bloody good antenna. Think I'll pick one up!
Try an MLA instead, like MLA-30+ 👍
would have been nice to see the comparaison against your transceiver reception with your efhw...
Unfortunately I don’t have this antenna any more, but I can guarantee the EFHW would of been better.
@@TechMindsOfficial ok thank you, I am on the lookout for a good receive antenna so I guess that ain't the one !
Hi, nice video ! Could you advice for a cheaper SDR compatible with your software & that kind of antenna ? 😢 Just want to give a first try to these technology before invest much ! Thanks
Will this work for cb?
i know that there is not much to compare to . but u have worked with the miniwhip also.. how would u compare them regarding reception.. i have the miniwhip for some time but if this works better i go with the moonraker..
Unfortunately I do not own or have ever used a mini whip but if I ever get one I’d gladly review it and do a comparison.
Does this have to be clear of buildings? I have brick buildings on both sides, and I can only put this up about 20 ft
I see you using your mouse to move / shift the frequency. Looks like your doing a click and drag. I can not get my program to do this, is it an option?
73
wd4dda
I have a Scanking HF Discone, it looks the same but has radials. Do I need the radials? what do they do?
Hi, Is the Scan King HF Discone good please? I was looking at that one before I saw this video. Appreciate your feedback , please.
Hey tech minds..
please uploading working & testing sss mk2 super scan stick 25-2000mhz moonraker on the channel 🎉
Lol, I was searching the same in The day,
I need this in Pakistan
Thanks for video. I am a SWL and have just bough an SDR Play SP1A. Was the antenna at the height it was in the garden for what we were listening to or was it higher. Another question what sort of length coax would still be OK, I have an awkward shaped house. I use RG8X, would that interfere with the signal if the coax went through the loft down to my shack. Sorry if the questions seem daft.
No question is daft so you’re more than welcome to ask anything. Yes, the height shown in the video was the height used when showing the reception. Would of been better higher up. RG8X would be fine for < 30Mhz. Interference would depend on what other electronics that are nearby, solar panels, noisy psu, led lights all seen to cause havoc. But I would suggest just to try and see how you get on. Thanks for watching 🙏
@@TechMindsOfficial Thanks for answering.
Is this available in the US from a supplier over here? Thanks for the video Matt! Passed my final Amateur exam the Extra back in February. I have the RSPdx SDRplay unit that this would play well with.
Well done on passing your Extra! That’s awesome! I don’t think there is a US specific supplier but I’m pretty sure Moonraker would ship to the US, drop them an email for a price. :)
DX Engineering
A comparison with a 2 metre vertical wire would compare ? I bet you would hear just the same ? Sigs might be down but then so would the noise ?
I’m not so sure just 2m of wire would be better as this has loading coils to help match multiple bands. Only one to know I guess :-) 👍
@@TechMindsOfficial i know signal will be up as will noise. I am not saying 2 metre vert wire will be better but much of a much ness sig to noise . But a test would show if i am right or talking rubbish? As a new ham in mid 90s i had a variety of ant (quite location)and was a keen listener to 136 khz cw this was a very weak band as 1 watt erp . I had 720 feet v wire and 140 feet doublet a very long wire 360 metre low wire and a 21foot vert which was ok on most bands but was the only ant that was any good on 136khz (2.2km band) . So my take was sometimes the ant you think is best is not always so ! As a keen mobile ham a 80m or 40m whip works well on that bands , but belive it or not a simple 9 foot whip with no loading will hear everything the proper ant can hear ! Only a test will show this or not . But my comment was only a suggestion. 73 MM0UDI .
What's the software name?
Hello first of thank you for your very informative video as always. I’m in process of purchasing a sdr to hook up to my long wire antenna and I see that they are as cheap as $25. My question is that sdrplay cost over $120 here in California. Is it worth it to pay more and purchase the sdrplay or are they pretty much the same and I could just buy one from Amazon got $25 and get the same results?
Yes
You will receive much more using the SDRPlay. They have built-in filtering and amplification that the $25 SDR's don't. They also better bandwidth so you can see more spectrum at the same time.
I wonder how this does compared to the pa0rdt mini whip. Also, did you try as low as 200hz for something like catching NDBs?
I have been asked this and I think I will try and get a mini whip so I can do a comparison.
@@TechMindsOfficial I have one but haven't put it up yet. The thing with the mini whip is you have to power it. HF RX doesn't need power right?
Have you tried any HF Volmet stations?
Yes I did, I could receive Shannon ATC on 5MHz quite well.
Very interested, just out of curiosity, have you tried out a mini-whip?
KK4PYN I havn’t no, are they any good?
czcams.com/video/hHugDWR5Mvc/video.html
Performance for its size is amazing..better than my g5rv on receive
Would I need an antenna tuner as well?
No, on receive only radios which an SDR radio is, no antenna tuner is needed.
Now, if you are just going to use a random length of wire, MFJ makes a tuner that helps on SW/MW/LW bands.
MFJ Model MFJ-956. Hope that helps! Jake KC8BQN
What connector on coax do you need
Based on the online ad, the Moonraker X1-HF has an SO-239 connector and comes with a PL259 to SMA adaptor and 10m of RG58 coax, presumably with SMA connectors on each end. For those in the US, depending on shipping costs, a direct order from Moonraker in the UK may be cheaper than ordering from DX Engineering, but you also have to consider customer service. The one posted review at DX Engineering prefers the MLA-30+ over the Moonraker X1 HF Vertical. Note: A random wire antenna is about as good as the MLA-30+ on HF: czcams.com/video/nPTTbTuv0QE/video.html Similarly, a random wire is as good as an MLA-30: czcams.com/video/6aytwdDM88w/video.html See also czcams.com/video/KpBkRrjjph4/video.html
if you can put a antenna outside as this is designed for I would hazard a guess that a wire ran to a pole (which you would mount this on) would work just as well and be a lot less expensive
Absolutely, I mentioned in the video that there are many ways to achieve the same thing, this is for people that want a ready built solution. Personally I like building my own antennas, but some people are not interested in that. Thanks for watching 🙏
@@TechMindsOfficial great vids by the way keep up the good work
How does this compare to the Scanking HF Discone 0.05 To 2000 MHz antenna from Moonraker on the HF bands? The reason I ask is because I have an SDR with only one antenna input, and the idea of an antenna like the Discone being this broadband is attractive as it basically covers everything. But I know in life everything has it's tradeoffs, particularly I find it curious that almost all discones are 25-2000 MHz, so why is this ONE discone from Moonraker 0.05-2000? What makes it different and why isn't it more common? It makes me a bit suspicious and maybe this X1-HF might be better for Sub 25 MHz... reviews are hard to find.
Hello, Aisen Lopez, WP4RDO from Puerto Rico. Is this antenna only for RX or is it for transmitting also?. It it is capable of transmitting....How much power can it handle?. Thanks.
It’s only for RX, I put on analyser and not resonant where needed.
would this antenna have any problem working with a normal radio that has a internal antenna socket i believe a 3.5
Ummm 3.5mm jacks are normally audio jacks, but if it is an antenna jack then yeh sure, it should work.
@@TechMindsOfficial I beleive its a 3.5 mono needed thanks
Ahhh yes, that’s also quite popular 🙏
Hello. Does it perform better than the MLA-30?
I’m not sure as I don’t own a MLA-30, sorry.
Definitely! 👍
Vertical antennas can be noise magnets, especially in urban areas. You completely ignored a loop which doesn't need to take up a lot of space and is resistant to noise. If you are out in a rural area you *might* get away with a vertical, but my money is on a loop hands down.,
The loop is an antenna I’m going to be exploring soon :) thanks for comment and thanks for watching 🙏
Should you not tape that PL whit some adhesive tape professor?
If it was a permanent install then yes, it would be advisable to stop water ingress.
@@TechMindsOfficial haha oke, did missed that part ;-) it was temp setup. People in the Helium mining/LoRa community collectively forget the adhesive tape by the way, interesting to see that sometimes turn out/gardenhose
Great to see the coronavirus has also infected RF as well
That’s QRM loo
I would want a send and receive Antenna myself. Maybe a 1- 300 MHz if this is possible.
There’s quite a lot of SWL’ers that don’t need to transmit. I put this antenna on a vector analyser and it’s not suitable for transmit, only receive.
@@TechMindsOfficial What type of antenna would someone need to do what I just mentioned?
To be honest I would have a dedicated antenna for 0 to 50mhz and then a vhf/uhf colinear for the upper bands. Comet antennas do a 8 band vertical that covers HF up to 400 MHz, I’ve never tried one so no idea how well it works or how much they are.
@@TechMindsOfficial Thank you mate.
Take a look at the Tram 1411, although it goes from 25 MHz
How about an HF antenna in a loft space say with a length of 12 feet? what if any antenna can be recommended?
In a loft space I would recommend a wire antenna tacked to the beams horizontal. What bands are you looking to receive and is it RX only?
@@TechMindsOfficial RX only long wave and medium wave
You could get much better use out of your equipment if you actually use the settings correctly in Uno... Gain, NB, NR, AGC, etc...
I had this Aerial its a load of crap.
is not a antenna... is just a vertical wire... nothing more
Had me until, " good ol' boris johnson". Shame. I was enjoying the video until that point.
Dude, I don’t do politics, it was sarcasm 👌
March Rich - geesh