{"id":40055,"date":"2019-10-06T07:05:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T11:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=40055"},"modified":"2019-10-06T07:05:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T11:05:46","slug":"g8jnj-reverse-engineers-and-reviews-the-mla-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/g8jnj-reverse-engineers-and-reviews-the-mla-30\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;G8JNJ Reverse Engineers and Reviews the MLA-30&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39726\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"389\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Paul, who shares the following story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtl-sdr.com\/g8jnj-reverse-engineers-and-reviews-the-mla-30-hf-loop-antenna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">from the RTL-SDR.com blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Last month\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtl-sdr.com\/reviews-of-the-low-cost-mla-30-wide-band-hf-magnetic-loop-antenna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">we posted a collection of reviews<\/a>\u00a0about the MLA-30 which is a budget magnetic loop antenna designed for receiving HF signals. The overall consensus from the reviews was that it worked decently for the price, but of course could never live up to the high end loops that cost hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.g8jnj.net\/activeantennas.htm#MLA30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Martin (G8JNJ) reverse engineered the active circuit used on the loop<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.m0lmk.co.uk\/2019\/09\/12\/inside-the-mla-30-active-loop-antenna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">photos<\/a>\u00a0taken by M0LMK and has made some observations on it&#8217;s performance, noting that it&#8217;s design isn&#8217;t very good. First he notes that the amplifier chip is a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ti.com\/lit\/ds\/symlink\/tl592b.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Texas TL592B<\/a>\u00a0two stage video amplifier which isn&#8217;t that great for this application. His measurements show an OIP3 of 20dBm, a P1 saturation of -3dBm and a noise figure of 12dB.<\/p>\n<p>Of interest, he explains that the creator of this loop has designed it poorly as the impedance match of the loop to low pass filter is very wrong, resulting in a very poor amplitude\/frequency response. He shows how the response can be improved with a few termination resistors, but is still not great.[&#8230;]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtl-sdr.com\/g8jnj-reverse-engineers-and-reviews-the-mla-30-hf-loop-antenna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to read the full article at RTL-SDR.com.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who shares the following story from the RTL-SDR.com blog: Last month\u00a0we posted a collection of reviews\u00a0about the MLA-30 which is a budget magnetic loop antenna designed for receiving HF signals. The overall consensus from the reviews was that it worked decently for the price, but of course could [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3607,3],"tags":[4357,3417,7893,6238],"class_list":["post-40055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-news","tag-mag-loop-antennas","tag-magnetic-loop-antennas","tag-mla-30","tag-rtl-sdr-com"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-aq3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39725,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/david-reviews-and-compares-the-mla-30-magnetic-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":0},"title":"David reviews and compares the MLA-30 magnetic loop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"September 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Day (N1DAY), who has completed a thorough review of the MLA-30 loop antenna. In this review, he compares the MLA to the Wellbrook ALA1530-LF and a 30 foot square ground loop antenna. In short, he finds that the MLA-30 performs fairly well on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mla30_3-e1568805326349.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39708,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/john-reviews-the-mla-30-mag-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":1},"title":"John reviews the MLA-30 mag loop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"September 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who notes that John\u2019s Tech Blog recently posted a review\/preview of the $47 MLA-30 loop antenna. Click here to read. Click here to view the MLA-30 on eBay.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.54-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.54-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.54-AM.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38506,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/mla-30-loop-antenna-unboxing-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":2},"title":"MLA-30 loop antenna unboxing video","author":"Thomas","date":"July 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who notes: This video is in Chinese, but at least we can see what's inside the box: https:\/\/youtu.be\/mM09pT1YbjU Click here to view on YouTube. Thanks for sharing, Paul. If you've ordered the MLA-30, please let us know your thoughts about the construction and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.26-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.26-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.26-AM.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-26-at-7.52.26-AM.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64962,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/don-pushes-portable-antennas-further-loop-size-performance-and-real-world-limits-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":3},"title":"Don Pushes Portable Antennas Further: Loop Size, Performance, and Real-World Limits (Part 2)","author":"Thomas","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor\u00a0Don Moore\u2013noted\u00a0author, traveler, and DXer\u2013who shares the following post: Two Portable Antennas for Remote DXing (Part Two) By Don Moore Don\u2019s traveling DX stories can be found in his book\u00a0Tales of a Vagabond DXer\u00a0[SWLing Post affiliate link].\u00a0If you\u2019ve already read his book and enjoyed it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/60_MegaLoopDelta.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/60_MegaLoopDelta.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/60_MegaLoopDelta.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/60_MegaLoopDelta.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/60_MegaLoopDelta.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40648,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/rick-compares-the-bonito-ml200-cross-country-wireless-and-wellbrook-1530ln\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":4},"title":"Rick compares the Bonito ML200, Cross Country Wireless, MLA-30 and Wellbrook 1530LN","author":"Thomas","date":"November 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd, who shares the following video by Rick King who compares four mag loop antennas: the MLA-30, Cross Country Wireless, Bonito ML200, and the Wellbrook 1530LN. https:\/\/youtu.be\/FRhDHHpLoaM Click here to view on YouTube. Excellent comparison, Rick! Although we've previously posted reviews and comments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Mag-Loop-Comparison.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Mag-Loop-Comparison.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Mag-Loop-Comparison.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Mag-Loop-Comparison.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42689,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/new-product-k-180wla-active-loop-antenna-with-rechargeable-battery\/","url_meta":{"origin":40055,"position":5},"title":"New Product: K-180WLA Active Loop Antenna with rechargeable battery","author":"Thomas","date":"April 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, crvee8, who shares a link to the K-180WLA, a new active mag loop antenna. Based on the product description, the K-180WLA sounds a lot like a typical magnetic loop antenna (and resembles the popular MLA-30), but what makes it unique is the fact that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Active-Loop-Antenna-K-180WLA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Active-Loop-Antenna-K-180WLA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Active-Loop-Antenna-K-180WLA.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Active-Loop-Antenna-K-180WLA.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}