RX and comparing the Youloop clone

 

Less than one month after I have received the clone and left tit for the bet time to  test it. 

First notice about my other experiments with a home-made and the original received  from the rtl-sdr-blog in this link https://zachs-radiopage.blogspot.com/search/label/youloop

A short notice: I asked the seller to include two more sets of boxes but his messages shown rather unwilling to help me by no replying the  cost and possible additional shipping . I then immediately made the order after 4 days of waiting After receiving the parcel in 15 days i kept it in  a dedicated box for the Original antenna and left them for a later check. Finally this check has been made on the end of may!

Just a comparison between the boxes As you can see the black boxes are quite bigger than the originals but i also suspect that they are more stiffer and resistant in case other cables will be used. My idea is to replace all cables with TV and use longer reception cable to receive better the lower frequencies Even the  sockets are a bit  longer than the other's!

The tow antennas waiting for the test . as with the previous test . i preferred to keep them handing into a suitcase hanger. The clone's cable is possibly the same but it has a bad winding tat kept it quite irregular.The clone antenna used a 6 m cable  tested a few times for the report here but later it was left back to the common box

MY first time i used them together  hung into the door so i could test them with nearly no external signal. Instead of checking with their cables   separately I preferred toi use the original's cable for testing I already posted two videos in YouTube :

https://youtu.be/euplMxob8Xo    is the video testing reception on GCN 

https://youtu.be/eAbVYf29eCo  a video with step increasing and decreasing the frequency of SDRC in order to do comparison with the local noise. 

https://i.postimg.cc/rmjbN1tf/IMG-20220528-131841.jpg

For unknown reason SDRC video recording stopped abruptly after 2-3 mouse rotations. Debut - paid option- was the only solution to grab video. It required  nearly half minute to stabilize the PC system after opened. Sometimes the CPU gets hot because of it.

 

Fast review of a toy radio

This is a radio that i use long ago around 3 years. A technician from the gas company used it used it the time he installed the  main hub for the building .It was a relatively small radio with many features. it included a torch  a LED light and MP3 and standard radio

I didnt find the same but something very similar and quite bulkier

This is something  similar to Waxiba or related radios but now is designed with DSP technology. I have not opened its rear but know from the relatively poor audio in FM

Now what makes  this radio so  interesting that i post it here? AS you see this radio has a a player as it can be seen with these 3 buttons on the bottom of he tuning screen
And yes this is a interesting mp3 player with clear audio  !

For unknown reason the photo has been  shut in inverse You  can see :
- A t3 stop switch : OFF , MP3 player, Radio . If  switches to mp3 it can be use aslo as Bluetooth speaker! Thogh the older times it worked OK in the most recent times it went off
-Volume level. it is a standard potbut in quite low levels the volume raises very high
-Tuning - very typical =
-DC9 V using the miniD  plug the standard plug 4 years ago

-6+2 radio bands (FM/ MW ), The shortwave bands cover quite broader than the standard radio band . MW can be used for roughly 520-1700
-micro Sd memory or USB plug for external memory
-5 V from PV systems !!
-two positions for torch or LED light !!

This is the LED lighter and the torch !

...and finally 

 

This is the inner side of the battery compartment .Now what is the funny?
This radio except of using 3 AA batteries includes also a standard Nokia BL5 C battery!!
Its price?  Just 11 eu that time that is  ridiculous for its rich features!

Sound ? ts sounds sharp for FM and mp3 . Unfortunately the sound in AM mode is limited by the inner DSP filter keeps of ca  3kHz. 
Second mistake : 4-6 , 8-11.14-17 MHZ bands are missing 
Third mistake : there is not a earphone output

Sensitivity? It seems good
Overloads? really this is the only radio so far I have tested not no suffer from overloads!
Band accuracy? Rather no Once i was listening a station on 71xx but after checking with the PL330 the station was located on 7220...
FM band is the standard 88-108 plus 2.5MHz in each end
MW starts from 531 to about 1700

Battery life: I can assume around 60 or more hours if used at jut above threshold levels ! This i my favorite radio for sleeping or waking up in the moms house and listening news from local or  national FM stations 

Here you can listen to samples from the radio 

https://app.box.com/s/v7cf9si1cblhjp5abp8ia83r8mo8dhu3  and 
https://app.box.com/s/h45ld79o3hiipcx3rnucdayeowx6wt0n

The one shows reception on shortwaves and the other is a FM scanning

-.-.-.

Hope you liked this review ! If yes please post below your comments !

Short review for the Youloop antenna

The Youloop antenna has been bought via the official site of RTL SDR in ebay.It has been received  without any problems in the standard Speedpack time of ca 15 days. I waited a few days more when i returned in Thessaloniki two weeks after. 

It has been tested with the Airspy HF+Discovery   and its 2 m cable. 

interesting to see is their dimansions !

Reception on the bands above the 15MHZ is quite very poor: System   threshold is ca -150dbm  with signals shown in the band with n more than 20 db SNR These stations re usually heard strong with standard radios as PL330 or PL550 fron Tecsun

The above copy  is made with my SDRConsole, my most prefered program  for making SDR reception. S units and  dbm levels are the standard method to evaluate signals . Notice also the spurious nd self generated  signals that recur in the band

 

Airspy in contrast 'zooms' the signal ie tunes better with its counterpart antenna (Youloop),   I cant prefer using Youssef's program (SDR#) as it is not well normalized as the SDRConsole. This program that suits much better for scientific research. As far as I remember it has all the whistles and bells to so  a more serious  and scientific signal analysis work (signal history analysis, 3D , multiple audio recordings etc just look at )

a few interesting hints by using it

(1)The door nearby the mini PC  (laptop) has the highest signal indoors! It is one f the few points where the noise is very low with levels of 15+ db as shown in the radio signal level readout . Antenna hung in the door with a 'cloth hanger'. Turning this door cold remove most of the local noise and offer also cleaner reception :

https://youtu.be/qdCYASiJWck  my mom helped me to turn the door!

(2) Outdoor reception offers higher signals and SNR . Correctly rotated antenna can also remove nose to the 20db level except router noise. More than 12 routers can be detected with my smartphone in this building .The range  effected is 150-1200kHz - partially-  , 3-6.5 and  8-11MHz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pycoPZ6Aquo

detailed info with photograph Just click on the photo to see beter:

(3) HF+D can also be overloaded with this antenna . N Greece is flooded with more than 15 signals [er band of S9+20-40db on the 49, 41 and sometimes 31mb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZWj0Is6beU

What i didnt like  with the antenna's  metalic hardware : this  antenna will be used for Dxpeditions with some temporary use per event These connectors require very careful usage and for sure they can easily break. If  the box could be could be a bit bigger/sturdier  ass their  competitor I wold feel more safe for more everlasting usage 

I would also like if there would be a more permanent system design.

IN the VHF band the signals are better that  i could expect ....I found this video useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TbWOPP-cQ&t=1s

I m generally quite impressed with this antenna  in the lower parts of the HF scrotum.
I now think to use it outdoors that is adding modifications on the support , extending the cable and possibly add an LNA near to the loop.. 

 ========

Update: testing with standard radios

I added  a SMA-3.9mm mini jumper after the antenna lead  and used: One  analog PL550  and the DSP PL330 radio. Both are from Tecsun.  Results are as follows:

-PL550 good and deep nulls
-PL330 not so deep nulls 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCv0m6mzghU

..with PL550 only.  Antenna's shadow  in shown in the chair the time i turned it back and forth . Notice that most of the noise is automatically removed thanks to the ANC - auto noise cancelling - a feature that is built in on my smartphone

The new loop experiment

 Much long after designing an experimenting with wire antennas i decided to experiment with a Moebius antenna  design similar to the the home made youloop design as shown in the swling page 

Instead of the R58  types of cable I used RG6  the standard cable used for TV and satellite antenna lead that was very  handful together with some wire benders zip ties and cable terminals I used also the soldering probe and solder for any required joints but proved unnecessary as  the zip tie was quite tight over the cabe for all the time i was experimenting

d

I made a mini change in the design :  I cut the cable in the middle, changed the poles in the middle of the wire while for the remain end i turned the cable so that the middle core could be in parallel and connected with a terminal block

 

and here is on how the mid points were connected:  It was much easier to jeep that quite safe and steady instead to use the solder. Its more than 15 years since i stopped using solder for making some basic electrical engineering . I also know a few technicians nearby my house who stopped soldering as most work  is just plug and play with mother boards!

 

this si the inversion part ..

Together with  joining the antenna parts I added a 'cloth hanger' . an idea seen in a antenna building This retains the shape of the cable.  Face-group Some short self bent wire tights the cable  soflty over the hanger

For more experimenting i used two different  lead cables to connect in the SDR or in the radio:
- a twin wire as used for electricity connections of 0.75 m2
-a 1.5  meter RG6 cable as in the photo 

The results were poor : Using the PL330 radio seen no  significant change in terms of noise caneling as far as i tested.

Putting the antenna over the railings (ie the metallic fence) raised the SNR to more than 10 db  Seen also a minimal level noise deletion as the antenna was turned

Testing with the spectrum analyzer as above shows many ghost carriers across the bands As you can see there are some relatively strong signals in the lower two bands there is also a huge noise level 

Instead of the band to be in the clear the SDR shown highly numerous unwanted carriers .someone called that close proximity but i think that most of them are unwanted spurs coming from the SDR or PC

step 2 

Something was  wrong for sure . Testing once again all connections i understood that the cables shields ends were  not connected each other . I removed  the plastic cover of shield ends by 1.5 cm and again used a new zip tie to keep them connected

the shielded part is shown in black

Results were quite better in terns of noise canceling. Signals were again the same with better reception above the railings but the spurious signals insisted  to exist 

step3

Finally days after , I have found a  toroid that is around 1,5 cm in diameter.This is the only available in the city. the balun designed was 1:1 using appliance twin cable . This was my fist time making a balun. Really a relatively easy job!

Again the problem with  the unwanted carriers existed  in  the SDR.  Tested not only with the RSP1a but also with the Aisrpy Discovery which made both SDR and program getting mad from the unwanted carriers

I was strikingly disappointed and dismantled the antenna and  immediately ordered the Youloop from RTLSDR blog via ebay ata cost of 40Eu . I was quite hurried to end these tests with this antenna but no sellers in Europe have been found in ebay or any other platform  for faster delivery

In the mean time :this is the  spectrum analysis of the 10 m antenna when is connected via the cable to BNC connector to the SDR (any SDR )

hmm it was a mistake: the  antenna wire was connected in the ground wire if he wire to BNC adaptor. the fault ws made by the person who soldered all the ends and connected the ground wire on the positive

 

By using connecting the ground cable in the BNC adaptor it adds many spurious . if using the ground to the the SDR case the curve is quite different and reduces the noise level! 

This is what happens when using a VHF whip , in the HF bands ...

update : the original antenna  has been received much earlier than i could expect that is in just two weeks . the report is the next in my blog and works very well

https://zachs-radiopage.blogspot.com/2022/03/short-review-for-youloop-antenna.html

update2: I m also expecting a clone model for test for testing their boxes that seems bigger and possible harder than their youloop counterparts at least by view This is 10 euros cheaper than the youloop

Difference between Airpsy and RSP1a

The time i tested the loop antenna  i was also listening with the standard existing 10 m antenna was was above the balcony fence

Below are two screenshots with my two SDRs . To which receiver you think these  screenshots correspond?

(A) receiver

 

 

(B) receiver

 

 

 

DX Ideas for 2022

..... after reading an article a email based DX forum  under the title
'What is/are your personal DX'ing challenge(s) for 2022?'
i posted a  minimal text in the email group hat was the v1 This is the v2 with some more analysis

For MW /SW ( I m mostly a SW listener )
Try to listen to some hard to listen stations as possible .As I know most stations on the band  I prefer also to listen  via remote SDRs in Europe and the SEA. Sounth east asia  is my main music  interest very long ago with interest in Thai Malay Indo and Taiwan. I  prefer  older Chinese pops before 90s whid for the remain three countries my interest is since the 80s and then
My holy grail on MW  is listening to Lyca Radio on 1458 , In my area in Thessaloniki the signal is very low ,even if checked  with the Tescun mini loop or the invert 16 m antenna. It is too bad that the remain country can receive it much better . See also below 

Listening to Greek pirate radio stations on MW is ranked 3-4  in my intereest  Many times I call them for some mini report via telephone The most interesting station is a 'friends’  CQAM  transmitter  that airs music in much better ‘quality’  than the local FM!
Many times i report in a related Facebook group with SDR screenshots from my RSP1a or the PL330

Semi-pirate or pirate  radio from Europe on SW is a different question The last two years was my only source of QSLs

There was a poor interest of enhancing  my basketenna. It is a  55x35 cm a former vegie plastic frame that was used 10 yeas ago and then stopped to use it abruptly after 2019. The idea  was simply  to tripled the turns so that the antenna can tune also on LW. As a MW Loop  it has more than 25 db higher signal than the Tecsun antenna. Its a design by a ham radio fan.

Living in Litohoron nearby the mountain Olympus (the  Gods home per Greek mythology)   the MW situation is much  better  but I have to be outdoors. I many times do my jogging and take my PL330 in a nearby jogging/spazieren  alley where many people do the same as I. I keep this radio  at hands while use mini  earbuds  to listen to several favorites radio stions in shortwaves while walking One of them is the infamous CNR13 /Xinjiang with funny program on 12-14 at includes music At 15 there is a Chinese subprogram. tested once Lyca with very good signal while on 17z and after and also Sawa from Djibuti. 

Instead of older times around  the 2000 period when there was  no noise inside the city, the last 3-4  years were very different even outside the city. In a power outage in the end of January 22  and using a installed 32 m wire fir shortwaves , reception was still noisy even if there is no electricity.  readout indicator shown a 30/00 signal form unknown noise that is possibly from the nearby mobile telecoms tower.  Its distance is around 100 m long. This noise was tested also in a few more points far from the village

For FM – using Tecsun PL radios is as like DXing .  its bandwidth is very narrow
The aim is only one: to update the FM listing in both areas  : Thessaloniki and Mount Olymp There are standard cases to listen several to stations from the Skopje borders (we in N.Grece or Macedonia call the country as Skopje,  you others call them N Macedonia) and also Blagoevgrad Bulgaria.  

My aim for this year is to test a few more antennas  starting with a home made Youloop , first without balun. Finding these accessories is quite difficult in this city 

 

Unrelated: last year i have ordered a few things from China via ebay with a total cost of around 15 Eu. the local post was quite slow to deliver the things:the
The first parcel was posted on Oct18 and delivered in around 120  days
The second parcel delivered via Athens then stopped updating the system and finally was  received after 110 days
The third parcel has been ...landed to the local distribution service on Jan 8. After that the parcel is possibly lost or stolen.