{"id":51178,"date":"2021-12-14T08:04:19","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T12:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=51178"},"modified":"2021-12-14T08:04:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T12:04:19","slug":"airspy-hf-discovery-shortwave-portables-having-fun-with-the-airspy-youloop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/airspy-hf-discovery-shortwave-portables-having-fun-with-the-airspy-youloop\/","title":{"rendered":"Airspy HF+ Discovery & Shortwave Portables: Having Fun with the Airspy YouLoop!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill<\/a>, who shares the following guest post:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>YouLoop Antenna Fun<\/b><\/h1>\n

by Billy Hemphill WD9EQD<\/b><\/p>\n

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 much better than just using the telescoping antenna with maybe a length of wire attached.\u00a0 The biggest problem (whether indoor or outdoor antenna) has been the high noise floor.<\/p>\n

A few months ago I bought an AirSpy HF+ Discovery SDR receiver.\u00a0 I had already owned a couple of SDRPlay SDR receivers, but the high noise floor limited their performance.\u00a0 I had read good reviews about the AirSpy, especially its performance on the AM Broadcast band and the lower shortwave bands.<\/p>\n

I have about 80 feet of speaker wire strung from the second floor and across the high windows in the living room.\u00a0 This does perform fairly well, but the high noise floor still exists.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the YouLoop Magnetic Loop antenna from AirSpy<\/a>.\u00a0 I gave it a try and am amazed at the lower noise floor compared to the indoor wire antenna.<\/p>\n

Wire Antenna vs. YouLoop–some examples:<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with Wire Antenna<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with YouLoop<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with Wire Antenna<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with YouLoop<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with Wire Antenna<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirSpy with YouLoop<\/p><\/div>\n

Dramatic reduction in the noise floor.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done a lot of playing around with it and find that the YouLoop picks up just about the same stations as the indoor wire antenna does.\u00a0 But with the lower noise level, the YouLoop makes it more enjoyable to listen.\u00a0 Overall, the YouLoop is now my main antenna.<\/p>\n

YouLoop with a Portable Radio<\/b><\/h1>\n

It works so well with the AirSpy, I started wondering if I could use it with a portable radio, like the Tecsun PL-880.\u00a0 But the AirSpy website has the following note:<\/p>\n

Note: <\/strong><\/em>It is very likely your third party radio will not be sensitive enough to operate with the YouLoop properly. We have even seen self-documented failed attempts to build pre-amplifiers to compensate for the lack of sensitivity and\/or the required dynamic range in third party radios. Use your brain, and eventually an Airspy HF+ Discovery.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t sound like it will work with portable radios.\u00a0 BUT, I\u2019m always one to try anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tecsun PL-880<\/p><\/div>\n

Since the YouLoop has a SMA connector, I bought a SMA to 1\/8\u201d phone jack cable.\u00a0 Plugged it into the PL-880 antenna jack and found I had almost a dead radio.\u00a0 Very few stations heard.\u00a0 But in playing around, I accidentally touched the phone plug to the telescoping antenna and instantly got strong signals.<\/p>\n

I did some very unscientific tests.\u00a0 I attached the YouLoop through the side antenna jack, did an ATS scan, then did the same with the YouLoop clipped to the telescoping antenna.\u00a0 Also did a scan with just the telescoping antenna fully extended..\u00a0 I got some very interesting results.\u00a0 These were done one after the other, so there can be differences in signal fading, etc.<\/p>\n

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

I have repeated the above test several times at different hours.\u00a0 While the actual number of ATS stations varied, the ratio between them remained fairly consistent to the above numbers.<\/p>\n

From the above, it appears that the telescoping antenna circuit is more sensitive than the 1\/8\u201d antenna jack circuit.\u00a0 Maybe some attenuation is being added to the 1\/8\u201d jack since it\u2019s more likely a higher gain antenna would be used there.\u00a0 Can anyone confirm that the circuit indeed attenuates thru the antenna jack?<\/p>\n

The YouLoop seems to be a decent performer when directly clipped to the telescoping antenna.\u00a0 While not as good as a high gain outdoor antenna would be, it definitely is usable for indoor uses.<\/p>\n

I also tested it clipped to the antennas of some other portable receivers. Tecsun S-8800, PL-330, Panasonic RF-2200 and Philco T-9 Trans-World receivers.\u00a0 All showed an increase over just using the telescoping antenna.<\/p>\n

Some interesting notes:<\/p>\n

The Tecsun PL-330 saw the same reduction in signal when directly plugged into the antenna jack as opposed to clipping on the telescoping antenna.<\/p>\n

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

The Tecsun S-8800 did not show that much of a drop.\u00a0 I basically got the same number of stations when clipped to antenna as when I connected to the BNC jack:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In conclusion, I find that I can use the YouLoop with my portable radios to increase the signals on strong stations when used indoors.\u00a0 And it is quite the performer when used with the AirSpy HF+ Discovery SDR receiver.\u00a0 It easily portable and I find that I move it around the house as I need to.\u00a0 I just hang it off a window curtain rod.\u00a0 I may just order a second one so that my family room radio has one permanently attached to it.<\/p>\n

Click here to check out the Youloop at Airspy.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 much better than just using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3607,3194,3,26,129,43,158],"tags":[7791,8353,8403,6954,4342,4357,3417,8413,8412,2066,4396,8584],"class_list":["post-51178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-guest-posts","category-news","category-radios","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","category-software-defined-radio","tag-airspy-hf-discovery","tag-airspy-youloop","tag-airspy-youloop-review","tag-bill-hemphill-wd9eqd","tag-guest-posts","tag-mag-loop-antennas","tag-magnetic-loop-antennas","tag-ncpl-antenna","tag-noise-cancelling-passive-loop-antenna","tag-tecsun-pl-880","tag-tecsun-s-8800","tag-youloop"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-djs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42582,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/the-airspy-youloop-is-a-freaking-brilliant-passive-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":0},"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":44073,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/rob-reviews-the-airspy-youloop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":1},"title":"Rob reviews the AirSpy YouLoop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"June 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rob, who writes: Thank you for your informative blog. As a longtime SWLer I enjoy reading up on your posts. A few months ago I was considering the purchase of a magnetic loop antenna. Based on your \"YouLoop is a freaking brilliant passive loop\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-Coax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44834,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/bruce-compares-two-homebrew-ncpl-antennas-to-the-airspy-youloop\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":2},"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":42174,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/airspy-youloop-and-homebrew-passive-loop-antenna-designs\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":3},"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":42416,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/airspy-youloop-passive-magnetic-loop-antenna-now-shipping\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":4},"title":"AirSpy YouLoop passive magnetic loop antenna now shipping","author":"Thomas","date":"March 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Agner (KA3JJZ), who notes that AirSpy\u00a0 now has the YouLoop passive mag loop antenna posted on their retail websites.\u00a0 You can grab one for $30 - $35 US, depending on your location. That's a fantastic deal in my book. Click here to check\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/YouLoop-Coax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45532,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/majority-of-youloops-listed-on-ebay-are-not-an-airspy-product\/","url_meta":{"origin":51178,"position":5},"title":"Majority of YouLoops listed on eBay are not an Airspy product","author":"Thomas","date":"September 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Smolinski, who shared the screen shot above of a \"YouLoop\" being sold by a vendor on eBay. While the Airspy YouLoop is based on a public domain noise-cancelling passive loop design that dates back decades (a.k.a. the Moebius loop antenna) buyers should note\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\/09\/imposter-youloops.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51178","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=51178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}