{"id":43017,"date":"2020-04-26T09:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T13:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=43017"},"modified":"2020-04-26T09:52:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T13:52:55","slug":"john-adds-a-pre-amp-and-rotatable-stand-to-his-homebrew-ncpl-antenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/john-adds-a-pre-amp-and-rotatable-stand-to-his-homebrew-ncpl-antenna\/","title":{"rendered":"John adds a pre-amp and rotatable stand to his homebrew NCPL antenna"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42827\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1-271x300.jpeg 271w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1-768x849.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20200406_080632-1-624x690.jpeg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a>A couple weeks ago, we featured John Mills&#8217; homebrew <strong>Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (NCPL)<\/strong> antenna (see photo above) <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/beating-the-quarantine-blues-readers-build-homebrew-ncpl-antennas\/\">in a post with two other <em>Post<\/em> community designs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>John recently shared an update to his project:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As promised, some more pictures of my antenna mounted on a rotatable stand. I have used standard (in the UK) 20mm electrical plastic conduit and fittings to make the frame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43021\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1003\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up-239x300.jpeg 239w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up-768x963.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Close-up-624x782.jpeg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Fitted a small plastic box to house the balun and have put a BNC socket on the underside of it for connection the coax cable to my Rx.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-LNA.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43019\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-LNA.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"413\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-LNA.jpeg 413w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-LNA-300x267.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I have also been experimenting with cheap low cost amplifiers (LNA) found on eBay (see picture) which do seem to improve the general strength of signals by 10-15db, but the baseline noise also rises.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-43020\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand-724x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand-724x1024.jpeg 724w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand-212x300.jpeg 212w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand-768x1086.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand-624x882.jpeg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/John-Mills-NCPL-Antenna-Completed-stand.jpeg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I did manage to hear a QSO on 160M using one of these which was inaudible without the LNA but I cannot say for sure yet if they are worth the extra noise introduced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thank you for sharing your update, John! The plastic conduit support is simple and effective! Indeed, it looks very professional. What I love about your NCPL build (loop, stand, and LNA) is it that it&#8217;s all incredibly affordable as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/beating-the-quarantine-blues-readers-build-homebrew-ncpl-antennas\/\">Read more about John&#8217;s NCPL build in this post.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Post Readers<\/em>: Has anyone else experimented with implementing a pre-amp in their NCPL antenna design? Please comment!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><em>Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Please consider supporting us via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=7466002&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fswling.com%2Fblog%2F&amp;utm_medium=widget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u%3D7466002%26redirect_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fswling.com%252Fblog%252F%26utm_medium%3Dwidget&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1534765144986000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEe7C7aRTKqwuFkU5YIo8XEqPqthw\"><span class=\"il\">Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=TGGFP2XVZDPP2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd%3D_s-xclick%26hosted_button_id%3DTGGFP2XVZDPP2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1534765144986000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH45maBgVLGpqLmQQvviVKBNMEGUw\"><span class=\"il\">Coffee<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"il\">Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=7466002&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fswling.com%2Fblog%2F&amp;utm_medium=widget\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-33932 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"434\" height=\"102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x.png 434w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x-300x71.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A couple weeks ago, we featured John Mills&#8217; homebrew Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (NCPL) antenna (see photo above) in a post with two other Post community designs. John recently shared an update to his project: As promised, some more pictures of my antenna mounted on a rotatable stand. I have used standard (in the UK) 20mm [&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":[3607,3,43],"tags":[4358,8414,8437,4357,8413,8412,8402],"class_list":["post-43017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-homebrew","tag-how-to-build-a-ncpl-antenna","tag-john-mills","tag-mag-loop-antennas","tag-ncpl-antenna","tag-noise-cancelling-passive-loop-antenna","tag-passive-loop-antennas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-bbP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44834,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/bruce-compares-two-homebrew-ncpl-antennas-to-the-airspy-youloop\/","url_meta":{"origin":43017,"position":0},"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 &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\/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":42815,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/beating-the-quarantine-blues-readers-build-homebrew-ncpl-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":43017,"position":1},"title":"Beating the Quarantine Blues: Readers build homebrew NCPL antennas","author":"Thomas","date":"April 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I published a step-by-step guide on building a Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (NCPL) antenna. Evidently, this antenna project really resonated with readers! [See what I did there? If so, my apologies!] I think this passive loop antenna project has been so appealing because (1.) most of us around the world\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\/IMG20200408142726-197x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG20200408142726-197x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG20200408142726-197x300.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG20200408142726-197x300.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49992,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/grayhats-ncpl-noise-cancelling-passive-loop-antenna-tweak\/","url_meta":{"origin":43017,"position":2},"title":"Grayhat&#8217;s NCPL (Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop) antenna &#8220;tweak&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"August 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Grayhat, who shares the following modification he made to a Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop antenna last year. He's kindly allowed me to share his notes here, but apologized that at the time, he didn't take photos of the project along the way and recycled many\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\/2021\/08\/moebius.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/moebius.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/moebius.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48622,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/giuseppe-is-impressed-with-the-performance-of-his-homebrew-passive-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":43017,"position":3},"title":"Giuseppe is impressed with the performance of his homebrew passive loop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"April 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor, Giuseppe Morl\u00e8 (IZ0GZW), who shares the following: Dear Thomas, I'm Giuseppe Morl\u00e8 from central Italy, the Tyrrhenian Sea, Formia. Today I tested my noise canceling loop inside the radio station by comparing it to the crossed loops. Again, like my medium wave T Ferrite, this loop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessories&quot;","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\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Giuseppe.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"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":43017,"position":4},"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 &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\/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":43158,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/patrizios-simple-homebrew-ncpl-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":43017,"position":5},"title":"Patrizio&#8217;s simple homebrew NCPL antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"May 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Patrizio Cardelli, who writes: I'm Patrizio (SWL I - 5184 \/AN) from Riva del Garda, Italy. A few days ago, I built a Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (NCPL) antenna. I built the 1:1 balun with a couple of ferrite 175 - 285. I got a\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\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-7.35.59-AM-e1588851426131.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-7.35.59-AM-e1588851426131.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-7.35.59-AM-e1588851426131.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-7.35.59-AM-e1588851426131.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43017","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=43017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}