The Youloop is available at an affordable $20-40 US. In a world of +$200 small loop antennas that use thick and beefy aluminum or copper tubing, the thin coax that makes up the actual loop seems to be a strategic compromise that results in lowering the price and making it easier to transport. Can the Youloop give satisfactory performance for multi-band reception?
The moment I learned about the Youloop and its price point, I ordered one. It arrived as pieces of intensely blue coaxial cable terminated in male SMA connectors and two small boxes with SMA female connectors. One box has two connectors. The other has two with an output. Two equal length coaxial cables form the left and right sections of the loop at just over 2 feet in diameter.
The coax is a stiff variety that holds its shape somewhat. However, when formed into the loop, it will sag under its own weight. I found their choice of coax prudent, but noticed its stiffness can put quite a bit of stress on the connections if things aren’t just right. My solution was to measure and cut a piece of string that I tied onto the top box and the bottom box, and that keeps the correct spacing and appearance of a loop and reducing stress on the connections. I also made this string longer on the top so it extends out enough for me to tie a loop, to hang the Youloop on doorknobs, Dressers, curtain rods, a tree branch or anything I decide is my mast for the day.
All in all it’s a bit underwhelming at first glance, but a close look at the innards of the crossover and feed transformer components revealed the Youloop feed point was a 1:1 transformer. After hooking up this antenna (and placing it indoors in a non ideal location) I was surprised to see the waterfall full of signals. Of course this is not the best antenna out there but it does work, and it works quite good considering the price point. I have spent hours using this antenna to listen to SW stations and other services like HAM, GMRS, MURS, Military, Marine, NOAA, Aviation and even FM broadcast stations.
Conclusion
The Youloop is truly the travel antenna I’ve always wanted for portable SDR DXing.
- It’s incredibly portable and can be rolled up to fit in a small travel pouch.
- It has all of the low-noise characteristics of other magnetic loop antennas
- It’s wideband unlike many passive loop designs
- It requires no variable capacitor or tuner
- It’s made of quality components
- It requires no external amplifier nor power source
- It takes one minute to assemble
- It’s affordable
The only downside? To take full advantage of the Youloop, you must use a high range receiver that can receive the broad spectrum that this antenna offers.
