Amplified AM Antennas

[timoteus]

There is the C. Crane Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna for about $100, a little less used.

http://www.ccrane.com/images/large/twin-coil-ferrite-am-antenna.jpg

Then there is the McKay Dymek DA 9 for $300.00, maybe $150.00 - $200.00 used if you can find one for sale.

http://esotericsound.com/photos/DA9.jpg

The reviewer at FMTunerinfo liked the Twin Coil better than the McKay.
http://fmtunerinfo.com/amtuners.html See AM Antennas at bottom of page.

I was initially going to ask for opinions and comparisons on the Quantum Loop models found here http://www.dxtools.com/ and the Twin Coil. But then I found this review http://www.radiointel.com/review-qloop.htm which also has better pics of the Quantum Loop.

http://www.radiointel.com/Radpic/qloop/qloop-full.jpg

Please feel free to post opinions or comments on these or other amplified AM Antennas you may have found.

[mhardy6647]

You forgot the KIWA, which is s'posed to be the sine qua non.
http://www.kiwa.com/kiwaloop.html

Guess they don't make them anymore.

[Sandy G]

I have a KIWA, and yes, they truly are "The Bee's Knees". W/my R-389 matched up to it, I think I was maybe pulling in MW stations from Venus or Saturn...One day, I took the KIWA over to a friend's house, we hooked it up to his 1937 GE tombstone 6 tuber, it was pulling up AM daytimer preacher stations out of Virginia & Kentucky by the bushel. I paid out-the-ass for it, but you get what you pay for. The 1st night I had it, I hooked it up to the R-389, listened to WHAS in Louisville & it was June or July, in other words, the summer thunderstorm season. WHAS sounded like local FM...

[Celt]

Oldest brother has both the Kiwa and the McKay units. Both are excellent antennas, but the nod has to be given to the Kiwa. However, quoted from their website: "Please Note: We have discontinued manufacturing the Kiwa MW Loop Antenna due to the unavailability of PVC pipe at our new location." :screwy:

[timoteus]

"Please Note: We have discontinued manufacturing the Kiwa MW Loop Antenna due to the unavailability of PVC pipe at our new location." :screwy:

Yeah, I saw that too and that notice has been on that page for a number of years. I don't see any PVC pipe on the Kiwa and even if they modify PVC pipe in the manufacture of the antenna it's not like it's a hard to procure part. I don't get it.:dunno:

[Sandy G]

All I know is, should a KIWA come up for sale, & you run across it, DON'T hesitate, the guy may come to his senses & change his mind..Having said that, though, they're REALLY more suited for the "Heavy-Metal" stuff like what I listen to-R-390s, EK-07s, etc than they are for hooking up to yr typical audio system tuna, they're physically HUGE units & are kind of unwieldy. And the WAF is pretty low, 'cause they DO have a "Mad Scientist" look to 'em. One other one I found that works VERY well w/"civilian" tunas is the RatShak Model #15-1853. It is NOT amplified, it is just a loop that is tunable. However, in typical RatShak fashion, they discontinued it a year or 2 back, but there COULD be some still floating around. The smiling 20 year old RatShak manager prolly doesn't know about it, as he tries to load you down w/batteries...

[mhardy6647]

I have a passive Select-a-tenna which I picked up inexpensively at the Westford antique radio fleamarket some years back. It works pretty well.

For a while, I had the bottom half of the McKay-Dymek AM antenna, but not the top part! :-(

[Sandy G]

IIRC, McKay/Dymek was one of those companies who made "stuff" for some of those nonexistant agencies in Northern Virginia & Maryland that the Gummint don't wanna talk about...Or maybe they didn't. We could tell you more, but we'd hafta kill you...

[Laemmle]

Sandy,

Would it be worth my purchase considering I live in NYC and will use it for my McIntosh MR-74?



I have a KIWA, and yes, they truly are "The Bee's Knees". W/my R-389 matched up to it, I think I was maybe pulling in MW stations from Venus or Saturn...One day, I took the KIWA over to a friend's house, we hooked it up to his 1937 GE tombstone 6 tuber, it was pulling up AM daytimer preacher stations out of Virginia & Kentucky by the bushel. I paid out-the-ass for it, but you get what you pay for. The 1st night I had it, I hooked it up to the R-389, listened to WHAS in Louisville & it was June or July, in other words, the summer thunderstorm season. WHAS sounded like local FM...

[Arkay]

Stop it, guys! :nono: That Kiwa is making me drool on my keyboard! :drool:

Just kidding, of course. :D One of the two good English-language stations here in Hong Kong broadcasts on AM, except between midnight and the early a.m. (pun intended :D). The local Chinese-language stations are mostly really stupid talking DJ heads and lousy Canto-pop, so I stick with the English stations most of the time. The FM one plays classical music, and I like it, but I often want something a bit livelier, so I listen a lot to the AM station which plays popular and classic rock/pop stuff. They actually broadcast in FM, but only for one small area of Hong Kong, and I don't live there. The mountain shapes block that signal, so like 90 percent of HongKongers, I can only listen to the AM broadcast of that station. So I really CARE about the quality of my AM reception, and eagerly learn about anything that improves AM reception!

So far, I got rid of my annoying ceiling fan noise (very audible on the AM band) by using a variac as a speed controller. I've also made a DIY version of "the ultimate AM antenna" - basically a square-loop design, but have been looking at/into other designs and improvements. I've been thinking my next attempt will be a round loop, with at least a multi-gang variable capacitor, but possibly also some electronic amplification and filtering (more like that KIWA). I don't really need amplification for that one signal, but it might be fun to try DXing AM stations further afield. Not sure about the best circuitry design, though.

The Terk AM advantage shows up around here occasionally, and a LOT of amplified TV/FM antennae things and antenna "booster" boxes show up. I don't think those things are tuned/suitable for AM reception, though: they boost noise along with signals, instead of filtering well.

Never even SEEN something like these amplified AM antennae on this thread, though. Now there is something to add to my "shopping/hunting list"! If I can find a KIWA, I guess I'd be "set for life" and check one more thing off the wish list. Thanks, guys! :thmbsp: ... :sigh: ... :D

[Paul C]

I picked up a Degen 31MS, also sold as Kaito KA-31. The 31's are superceded by Degen 33MS and Kaito KA-33.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3670.html

It is comprised of a small single turn loop that is hung from a suction cup hook on a wall or window. In the middle is a spreader that is actually a telescoping antenna that collapses down to about 6" long. It forms a diamond shaped loop that is 23" across by about 25" tall. At the bottom is a plastic bulge (smaller than a quarter) that contains an amplifier. It has a switch marked SW and MW (for AM). From the Universal-Radio dot com site:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3670dia.jpg

There is a 10' lead that plugs into the amplifier and goes to a "controller" (about the size of a pack of gum) that holds two AAA batteries, a thumbwheel for tuning, and LED power indicator.

For output it has three common connections. (1) It can plug directly into portable radios that have a 1/8" mono antenna jack (3.5 mm). (2) You can connect the 1/8" plug instead into a small ferrite bar coupler that can be placed against a portable radio that has a ferrite bar antenna. And (3) you can connect the 1/8" plug to a Y-cable that has two alligator clips to connect to antenna and ground terminals.

The AM reception is good, not quite as good as my MTM loop or outside dipole, but still very good for in inside antenna that is very portable. With the switch on the antenna in the MW position I can tune stations from 560 khz to 1700 khz with plenty of room on the thumbwheel to go down to the advertised 530 khz and up beyond 1710 khz on the top end.

The SW reception is VERY impressive!!! It advertises 3.9 mhz (80/75 meters) up to 22 mhz (15 meters). I could listen to the entire 80 meter band from 3.5 mhz to 4 mhz with the thumbwheel bottomed out on one end. In fact, I listened to nets more than 200 miles away in Texas (Galveston and Houston before Ike hit them), Kentucky, other points north (I am in Louisiana), and just yesterday listened to a guy in Colorado who said he was on the Colorado River right across from the California border. I also listened to 60 meter (5 mhz), 49 meters (6 mhz), 40 meters (7 mhz), and 20 meters (14 mhz). Good performance.

Tuning is very sharp, but no more difficult than with any of my tuned loops.

It all stores easily in a 1 quart Ziplock Freezer Bag with room to spare. This includes antenna, all cables, spare AAA's, and instructions. I highly recommend this for travelers, students in dormatories, people in nursing homes, or other places where a larger or outdoor antenna can't be used.