MFJ 1788 loop contacts

I had some spare time today to put the MFJ 1788 loop to the balcony test once again. Up to this point I have not been able to make any CW contacts with the antenna. I was able to pull in some State side WSPR spots but that was it. I was coming to the conclusion that my DX was going to be Canada to U.S contacts. Today I set the Loop antenna for 15m and the SWR was great at 1.1:1. and up and down the band I went. I heard KP2/AG2J calling CQ at 21.025 and he was booming in here. I called out to him and low and behold he came back to me with a fast report! Fast report or not my 5 watts signal from the balcony just made it to the Virgin islands!! I then heard KH6LC from Hawaii..........but I was not able to make contact BUT for the first time I was hearing some DX stations. I then was able to contact PJ4LS with some repeats on my part but I still had my 1788 loop signal down to the Antilles off the coast of Venezuela!! The other station I heard but was not able to contact was ZZ80MT in Brazil. This was a good afternoon on the radio of me I was able to hear and make some DX contacts.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

11 Responses to “MFJ 1788 loop contacts”

  • GB KC5GB:

    Glad to hear ur hearing, Mike…don’t be afraid to experiment by reorienting the loop.

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Good evening GB, yes it sure was nice to hear DX as well as make contact as well. I had the loop in the center of the balcony, a place it never has been. I will take your advice and change things up I hope to find the sweet spot.
    Mike

  • Harry K7ZOV:

    I have the MFJ-1786. It is mounted in the Horizontal position for three reason. One too cold to put up another pole+TV rotator, and wiring. Secondly being Omnidirectional is a plus when you don’t know where the signals my come from. Most ham have beams or dipoles. Horizontal to horizontal has to work better I figure. I also have a A/B switch with B being my 5BTV old faithful antenna. I am running PSK31 not CW at this time, although I have been listening to CW with both the loop and vertical. What I have observed with the PSK waterfall is not what I expected. The signal are far, far stronger and more numerous with the Horiz mag loop, then my trusty Vertical. On CW on a strong signal..say S-7 to S-9 on the mag loop, will net me S-4 to S-6 on the vertical. So question is have you tried going horizontal. I am assuming you, like many others are using it vertical and turning the antenna into the signal. I am other like to know. My only beef is I have to constantly do minor tuning. Not sure if it is then antenna not holding the cap in place or the cold and wind. Not a problem just something else to keep my eye on.

    73
    Harry K7ZOV

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Good morning Harry, I have the loop in the horizontal position for the very reasons that you listed. I did try it in the vertical position but the null it offered has me believe the band was dead. I also have the Elecraft P3 and that allows me when the antenna is in the horizontal position to see the state of the band and to turn to strong signals. As for the retuning of the loop it is one of the things I am going to have to get used to.
    Mike

  • Harry K7ZOV:

    Good Morning Mike.

    I decided before I bought the loop to use it for a dedicated digital antenna. I had one many years ago and found the tuning to be a pain when chasing up and down the band for DX. Also the null was deep and easy to miss a weak station. Since digital portion of the band are pretty well fixed and we are just using a slice with FlDigi, DM780 or such tuning once is all that is needed…with slight touch ups for the PS or cap inside the loop drifting a bit. Something I saw before and see with this new one. No big deal.. The main thing is this tiny antenna just flat out works, and that is all that matters
    73 and happy dxing
    Harry

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Hello again Harry, using it for the Digi modes can be great as you said you really don’t have to re-tune the antenna as you would with going up and down the bands. I am going to try the up and down band thing and see how it goes. I do have the P3 as I said and it does help to some point.
    Thanks for the extra feedback and have fun on the digi modes.
    Mike

  • Bill K7BRR:

    Don’t quit now I am learning. I have had a MFJ-1786 for two years and have it in the vertical with a rotator. I may try the horizontal and use it for digi. It was my main antenna until I put up a 40 & 20 fan vee.
    Has anyone gone in and slowed the tuning rate as suggested in the manual?

  • Harry K7ZOV:

    Bill

    I have had no issue with the tuning rate. I use the loop at about 20 ft (30 would be best) in a horizontal setup. Mostly on 30 and 20 meter. Fast tune to get in the neighborhood and the slow buttons to toggle up/down for a 1:1 SWR. Works FB. Nice part about this being a antenna for digital, is the digital portion of each band is pretty much fixed. So pick a band. Tune and your done…well sort of. Keep your eye on the SWR meter. This is my second antenna with 15 yrs between them, no not much has changed. There is some drift do to temperature it seems. Not much, but enough to mean do some fine tuning once in a while. I found that leaving the PS on all the time seems to make it more stable. I need to figure out why. Have not had time.

    Hope my comments helped.
    73
    Harry K7ZOV

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Hello Bill, I did not know you could make the tuning rate any slower! I will have to get a hot cup of tea going on the weekend and have a read of the manual again.
    Mike

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Harry thanks for the input.
    Mike

  • Harry K7ZOV:

    Glad I was able to share my experiences. Always glad to help another ham or for that matter anyone…Just me… LOL

    73
    Harry K7ZOV

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