{"id":40778,"date":"2019-11-25T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T13:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=40778"},"modified":"2019-11-25T13:58:55","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T17:58:55","slug":"coastal-dxing-with-the-airspy-hf-discovery-and-a-homebrew-passive-loop-antenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/coastal-dxing-with-the-airspy-hf-discovery-and-a-homebrew-passive-loop-antenna\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal DXing with the AirSpy HF+ Discovery and a homebrew passive loop antenna"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, we packed the car and headed to coast of South Carolina.<\/p>\n

The trip was a bit impromptu but through the creative use of hotel points, we scored a two bedroom ocean front unit with a fantastic little balcony.<\/p>\n

The vacation gave me an excuse to test the new passive loop antenna my buddy Vlado (N3CZ)<\/a> helped me build recently.<\/p>\n

The loop design came from AirSpy’s<\/a> engineer and president, Youssef Touil.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This passive mag loop takes advantage of the new AirSpy HF+ Discovery<\/a>‘s exceptionally high dynamic range. Youssef<\/a> had reported impressive results, so I had to build one.<\/p>\n

Vlado had a length of Wireman Flexi 4XL that was ideal for this project. The only tricky part was penetrating the shielding and dielectric core at the bottom of the loop, then tapping into both sides of the center conductor for the balun connections.\u00a0 Being Vlado, he used several lengths of heat shrink tubing to make a nice, clean and snag-free design.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The results were truly exceptional. I spent most of my time on mediumwave from the hotel balcony because I was determined to catch a transatlantic signal.<\/p>\n

Check out the spectrum display from my Microsoft Surface Go tablet:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our ocean front hotel was inundated<\/em> with noise, but I still managed to null out most of it and maximize reception using the passive loop. I simply suspended the loop on the balcony rocking chair–not ideal, but effective and low-profile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to take a test drive?<\/h1>\n

If you’d like to experience this portable SDR setup, why not tune through one of the spectrum recordings I made?<\/p>\n

Click here to download the spectrum file [1.7GB .wav]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The recording was made on November 17, 2019 starting around 01:55 UTC–I chose it at random and have yet to listen to it myself. You’ll need to open this file in AirSpy’s application SDR#<\/a> or a third party SDR app that can read AirSpy .wav files.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned…<\/h1>\n

I’m writing an in-depth report of the HF+ Discovery, my experiments with this setup and AirSpy’s soon-to-be-released passive loop antenna for the January 2020 issue The Spectrum Monitor magazine<\/a>. Spoiler alert: I am truly impressed with the wee little AirSpy HF+ Discovery. It’s a powerhouse!<\/p>\n

\n

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Please consider supporting us via\u00a0Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0Coffee<\/span>\u00a0Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, we packed the car and headed to coast of South Carolina. The trip was a bit impromptu but through the creative use of hotel points, we scored a two bedroom ocean front unit with a fantastic little balcony. The vacation gave me an excuse to test the new passive loop antenna my buddy […]<\/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":[373,3607,433,3,43,158],"tags":[3724,7791,4339,4359,4667,4357,3417,3195,157,4115],"class_list":["post-40778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-antennas","category-mediumwave","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","category-software-defined-radio","tag-airspy","tag-airspy-hf-discovery","tag-am-passive-loop-antenna","tag-homebrew-mag-loop-antenna","tag-loop-antennas","tag-mag-loop-antennas","tag-magnetic-loop-antennas","tag-portable-sdr","tag-sdr","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-aBI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42174,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/airspy-youloop-and-homebrew-passive-loop-antenna-designs\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":0},"title":"Airspy Youloop and Homebrew Passive Loop Antenna designs","author":"Thomas","date":"March 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost two weeks ago, at the 2020 Winter SWL Fest, I gave a presentation called \"A New Era in Portable SDR DXing.\" The presentation was essentially an in-depth version of an article I published in the January 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine (see cover above). I devoted a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Youloop-prototype-e1583854322268.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Youloop-prototype-e1583854322268.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Youloop-prototype-e1583854322268.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42582,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/the-airspy-youloop-is-a-freaking-brilliant-passive-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":1},"title":"The Airspy Youloop is a freaking brilliant passive loop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"March 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Before I start talking Youloop, I have a little confession to make up front: At the Winter SWL Fest when I gave a presentation about Portable SDR DXing, not only did I give attendees the wrong name of the Airspy Youloop antenna, but I also configured it incorrectly, hence the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","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\/03\/Red-Oxx-Lil-Roy.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Red-Oxx-Lil-Roy.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Red-Oxx-Lil-Roy.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Red-Oxx-Lil-Roy.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42856,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/hack-a-broken-vga-cable-to-make-a-binocular-ferrite-cores-for-your-ncpl-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":2},"title":"Hack a broken VGA cable to make a binocular ferrite cores for your NCPL antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"April 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Oscar (EA3IBC) who shares this simple hack. I've gotten quite a few emails from Post readers telling me that the only thing holding them back from building a NCPL antenna is the BN-73-302 binocular ferrite core needed for the 1:1 Balun. While so much of the world\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","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\/NCPL-Noise-Cancelling-Passive-Loop-Antenna-970x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/NCPL-Noise-Cancelling-Passive-Loop-Antenna-970x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/NCPL-Noise-Cancelling-Passive-Loop-Antenna-970x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44834,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/bruce-compares-two-homebrew-ncpl-antennas-to-the-airspy-youloop\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":3},"title":"Bruce compares two homebrew NCPL antennas to the Airspy Youloop","author":"Thomas","date":"August 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce (VE3EAR), who writes: I decided that more testing of the Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (YouLoop) antenna was needed, but I wanted to start with a clean page. I built two identical loops using some 3\/8 inch heliax scraps I had on hand. Both are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","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\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42595,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/diy-how-to-build-a-noise-cancelling-passive-loop-ncpl-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":4},"title":"DIY: How to build a Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (NCPL) antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I've gotten an number of inquiries from SWLing Post readers asking for a step-by-step guide to building the passive loop antenna I've mentioned in a number of previous posts. This antenna is the homebrew version of the commercially-available\u00a0 Airspy Youloop. It works a treat. And, yes, folks...it's fun to build.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Inked-SpyTenna3-e1585933710848.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Inked-SpyTenna3-e1585933710848.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Inked-SpyTenna3-e1585933710848.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Inked-SpyTenna3-e1585933710848.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51178,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/airspy-hf-discovery-shortwave-portables-having-fun-with-the-airspy-youloop\/","url_meta":{"origin":40778,"position":5},"title":"Airspy HF+ Discovery & Shortwave Portables: Having Fun with the Airspy YouLoop!","author":"Thomas","date":"December 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill, who shares the following guest post: YouLoop Antenna Fun by Billy Hemphill WD9EQD Like many listeners, I live in an antenna restricted community.\u00a0 While I have strung up some hidden outdoor wire antennas, I have found that they didn\u2019t really perform that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","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\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-14-at-06.15.01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-14-at-06.15.01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-14-at-06.15.01.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40778","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=40778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}