Magnetic Loop Antenna Icom AL-705 In Action

The Icom AL-705 Antenna is made for ICOM by Alpha Antennas in the USA. We take a look at the design and test it out.

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[punishedexistence]

This was very informative! I've always loved listening to shortwave and ham in general but yet to get my license, though I would like to get one soon. This pairing of radio and antenna would be perfect for me, and as you said, the thrill of making even one QSO with a low power radio indoors is much more satisfying than doing so with a huge antenna and lots of power for me anyways.
Back in the early 2000's I had a small handheld radio on LSB in the CB band and would try for hours just to make a few contacts with that small setup...it gave me every bit as much joy as making long distance contacts around the world on my bigger radio and antenna. Whenever I can save up enough money I want to get this setup you have, get my license and work some QRP.
:)

[walteredwards]

The mag loop is just the thing for me. It fits perfectly into my concept of a fast, light, compact and efficient kit, that can be deployed almost anywhere, with stealth.

[scottbelcher]

That’s the best I’ve ever heard it explained! Thank you!

[hallofieldday]

Magnetic antennas are an interesting and good solution. I have been using them for several years. You have to remember about their direction. An interesting solution for testing can be the antenna tuner MFJ-936B

[vetham]

I enjoyed your video (one of many) and i have tried a mag loop, an mfj-1899t portable hf antenna and an mfj QRP loop tuner. All indoors and i get the same results. Zero contacts.
I am in a seniors apartment complex on the ground floor. There must be a lot of metal in the concrete. Two elements which would block a signal.
Once the weather warms up, i will be outside trying something new.
The new lease says, "no antennas" and i have to stay within the confines of my balcony.
Thank you for the encouraging words, enjoy your day.
73 Lewis VE3QJ

[Jeeptalkshow]

Very interesting. What a great idea for an emergency antenna. I live on the gulf coast and you never know when a tropical storm, or hurricane is going to wipe away all your external antennas.

[PavelLarsson]

Thank you for this review and the very clear information about the magnetic loop antennas. This made me decide to buy this antenna as it serves my circumstances really well, meaning limited space, operating QRP indoors, hiking and camping, and so on and so forth.

[phildurall]

Love the video! I like the fishing illustration as well. When you get to struggle and develop skill, enjoyment goes up!

[forthy]

Great video again! I am doing QRP all the time and your fishing comparison was just great :-) I'll keep that in mind :-) 73, Stephan, DF6PA

[michaeltyborski]

Bluetooth headphones would allow the dial to be adjusted while listening to the receive frequency. Thanks for a nice tutorial.

[NLRB]

With most magnetic loop antennas, you WANT the coupling loop to hug up against the main (outer) loop. The Outer loop is just too small given the size of the coupling loop. The coupling loop should be 20% the size of the outer loop. So in this case, the outer loop should be at least twice the size that you show. I make my own and own a few commercial magnetic loops and NONE are the dimensions of the loop in your video. The Couplin Loop needs to be 1/5 the size of the Outer Loop. 73 de N2LRB

[glendoski]

Might be something to look in to. Been thinking about a loop for a Xiegu G90

[AaronDe]

Well done! Thank you for the excellent walk through.

[radiorob]

Informative video however I am curious about the connection to the primary (small) loop. It appears to be a standard SO-239 type tee connector. Most of the designs that I have seen for the primary loop have the feedline from the radio connecting to one side of the primary loop and the opposite end of the primary loop is connected to the shield of this same feedline. With a tee connector this would not happen. Perhaps this is not a standard tee connector?

[speter]

The design seems to have a number of compromises, especially considering it’s marketed for a field radio. Rather it seems to be minimalist desktop implementation. Linking this to the IC705 is nothing more than a marketing ploy. I’ve seen a number of different mag loops with better implementations. I highly suggest looking at others on the market before making any purchasing decisions. Some features to look for include a reducer on the tuning capacitor for easier fine tuning and a standard tripod mount.

[bubbly]

It's clearly a good product and thanks for an interesting & informative video. I'm tempted with my 703. One improvement perhaps would be a remote actuator and perhaps provide a rig interface with a firmware update to control it. I'm sure the 705 has more than enough spare processor cycles to control mag loop tuning. Yes QRP is the best fun! 73

[rowdyron]

Excellent presentation. I don't quite have my General yet, however this is the basic setup I was considering. Perhaps with a larger loop. I live in one of the "HAM restrictive" environments you spoke of. Indoors you were operating 10 watts, correct? Great video, thanks.

[TheNoCodeTech]

If I ever make it back to the land of crumble & lemon curd, I'll look forward to visiting.
Great video man. Thanks.

[ONEI]

Nice video, lovely to hear myself twice hi, 00:19 and 18:38 John de ON8EI, thanks to Mark EI3IBB for the heads up. Thanks Peter. 73's

[christophersteer]

Good fishing analogy, wish a lot of the tech talk could be made as easy to us non p h d boffs, thankyou, all the best RS London boy.