[Skimmertalk] Active Antenna

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

FWIW, I have been very satisfied with the Clifton whip.  Jack Smith, 
K8ZOA, who *is* Clifton Labs, is an excellent RF engineer, and is 
particularly attentive to low frequency performance by all of his stuff, 
far beyond anything we need for 160.  His Norton preamps are 
specifically designed for excellent IMD performance with moderate gain.  
That said, an 8-foot active whip, with its omni pattern, will never be a 
good 160M antenna.

In my experience the QS1R is definitely lacking in front-end gain at 21 
MHz and above, so the preamp is a useful addition.  In my setup, I run 
the preamp all the time, with a Clifton high-pass filter to take care of 
a whoppingly strong local AM broadcast station at 1550 KHz.  That 
combination is noticeably better than my K3 in rejecting an image from 
that station on 1825.

73, Pete N4ZR
The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
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On 3/18/2012 12:52 AM, Martin Rath wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm considering the aquisition of an active antenna. From the benchmark I
> made there are a few options out there :
>
> - Clifton Laboratories Z1501 Active Antenna :
> http://www.cliftonlaboratories.com/z1501_active_antenna.htm . I have
> business with them before and it was a pleasant experience. I would
> consider adding the Z10042A pre-amp.
> - DX-Enginering
> DXE-ARAH3-1PE<http://www.dxengineering.com/Parts.asp?ID=2189&PLID=220&SecID=79&DeptID={95EA549F-3210-474F-84E0-5BE0B267BC4C}&PartNo=DXE%2DARAH3%2D1PE>
> :
> I have also done business with them in the past and it was also a pleasant
> experience. I saw this is what the boys at PJ2T are using. They added the
> pre-amp for Clifton Lab. I saw somewhere that they were not that happy with
> the performance on low-bands.
> - I also found the PA0RDT mini-whip but that seems more oriented towards
> VLF 160/80/40 and 30m ...
> http://www.radiopassioni.it/pdf/pa0rdt-Mini-Whip.PDF the price can't be
> beaten ...
>
> As of today most of the time it's an 15m moxon or a 15m dipole that is
> attached to the QS1R. Performance on 15m is good, other bands and OK to bad
> ...
>
> Any advise would be welcome.
>
> Best 73's Martin 9V1RM
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