Wellbrook-ALA1530

[Turbo]

Hello does anyone have any experience using thE Wellbrook-ALA1530 to monitor hf aero & utilities i am thinking about buying one and i have used other hf antennas that cost as much with no good results.

Regards Lino.

ALINCO-DJX2000
AOR-3000/AOR-3000A/AOR-8200MK3
GRE-PSR500
ICOM-R3/ICOM-R20/ICOM-RX7/ICOM-PCR1000/ICOM-PCR1500/ICOM-PCR2500
ICOM-R9500
JRC NRD-545
REALISTIC-PRO2035
UNIDEN-245/UNIDEN-396/UNIDEN-780
YAESU-VX7R/YAESU-FT8800R/YAESU-VR500

[Andy]

I've been using the 1530 for several years on a rotator outdoors. Without this antenna I would be unable to hear anything on the lower bands due to local noise. I've done a review on my website:

http://www.freewebs.com/g1hbe/

Go to the menu on the left and click on 'The Wellbrook Loop'.

There are loads of other reviews on the net, including a sound file of a listener switching between the loop and a long wire.

[FOX TANGO 950]

I have owned my ALA-1530 for approximately 5 years.
I have used it with many receivers including my ICOM IC-R70, ICR-7500, AOR 7030, JRC NRD-535D and now a new Yaesu FT-950 6m Transceiver.
I have monitored all the HF AERO frequencies and many mil frequencies also.
I have Shanwick 5616 USB coming in on a S-9+20db.
This is by far the best receive antenna I have owned and I would definately purchase another.

Best 73s

Gerry
MI3 XOI / GI-21128

[dean_aberdare]

Just put up as much wire as you can and get a simple ATU and it will do as well as that loop except maybe down around 2-3Mhz but for 5-9MhZ just try a long wire if u have the space that is.Shanwick on 5616 is also as strong but my wire cost me about £5

[Kev]

Dean,

You are right in that a wire antenna will work well. However if you have a noise problem it may be that the loop is better.There is a link on the Wellbrook site that shows the difference when an amateur in a noisy location switches between hire wire antenna and the loop. Its amazing. I have some severe noise problems here at times and have been thinking of the loop for that reason.

[Andy]

Indeed, in a quiet location a wire antenna will work just as well as the Wellbrook (in fact the sigs from the wire will probably be stronger, especially at the higher frequencies), but when there's local noise the loop will be a huge help, especially if you can make it rotatable. It's the signal to noise ratio that matters and when you suffer from local noise like I do, the loop wins every time.

[crusty]

Random/longwires suffer from quite severe and frequent response troughs across the HF spectrum. Even with an ATU and LWB at many points along the bands efficiency drops significantly. The wellbrook loops use an active amplification sytem which compensates for these drop-offs in self resonance making the response much more linear, this is also a major advantage of the wellbrooks over a randomwire as well as their low noise characteristics.

[tomed]

Hello does anyone have any experience using thE Wellbrook-ALA1530 to monitor hf aero & utilities i am thinking about buying one and i have used other hf antennas that cost as much with no good results.

Regards Lino.

ALINCO-DJX2000
AOR-3000/AOR-3000A/AOR-8200MK3
GRE-PSR500
ICOM-R3/ICOM-R20/ICOM-RX7/ICOM-PCR1000/ICOM-PCR1500/ICOM-PCR2500
ICOM-R9500
JRC NRD-545
REALISTIC-PRO2035
UNIDEN-245/UNIDEN-396/UNIDEN-780
YAESU-VX7R/YAESU-FT8800R/YAESU-VR500

I know i'm a few months late with my reply and more than likley you have already bought one! bUt here goes anyway. I can't comment on the ALA 1530 but i have myself been using a ALA 330S with a JRC NRD-545 for the past few months and i'm extremly pleased with the preformance of the antenna. I have mine mounted on a 10 foot pole about 20 feet from my house. I also had a longwire (Aprox 35 foot) but it just diden't pick up the contacts that the loop was picking up! so i took it down! As you can see i live in the uk one of my most recent contacts was Santa Maria working Airforce 1 on 3016 and on 5598. I was quite excited and this hobby never ceases to amaze me. With the loop on the 20mtr band i often hear contacts from the usa, europe ect. So all in all i would recommend the ALA 330S for general hf listening.

[Hertz]

Just put up as much wire as you can and get a simple ATU and it will do as well as that loop except maybe down around 2-3Mhz but for 5-9MhZ just try a long wire if u have the space that is.Shanwick on 5616 is also as strong but my wire cost me about £5

I know what you are saying Dean & I do agree with the sentiment.
But the simple fact is that a lot of serious amateur DX'ers use a cheap homemade loop on RX, because the noise levels are so much lower, so in general loops do work better...
But I would say a cheap air spaced capacitor from a rally etc plus some other bits & you have a good QRP tabletop HF loop for well under £15.