TechMinds: Testing the GA-450 Portable HF Active Loop Antenna

Over on the Techminds YouTube channel, Matt has uploaded his latest video which is a review of the GA-450 portable HF active loop antenna. The antenna costs between US$60-$80 + shipping and is available on Chinese market sites like Aliexpress and Banggood. It's advertised as covering 2.3 - 30 MHz, and uses a very portable and sturdy 20cm stainless steel loop. The active base amplifier is powered via a USB-C connector, and it even has a built in lithium battery for portable field use.

In his review Matt shows the antenna in action, noting that it's performance is quite a lot better than expected for it's small size, but it can't compare to his large half-wave end fed antenna. He notes that it appears to work best from 7 - 21 MHz, but not so well below 7 MHz. Overall he recommends it if you're looking for a small sized loop antenna.

GA-450 Portable Active Small Loop HF Antenna

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PAT BOLLARD

I BOUGHT THIS ANTENNA. .ARRIVED YESTERDAY AND TESTED STRAIGHT AWAY ON TWO DIFFERENT

RADIOS,I WAS SHOCKED AT HOW MUCH NOISE IT PRODUCED.THERE IS SOME KIND OF FAULT IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Petrov

Denna lilla loop antenn och för sitt pris är ett överraskande resultat hör stationer i Kina bra på kvälls tid ..lätt att använda ute med en SDR mottagare….Petrov in Sweden 👍

Mubarak nour

i was impressed by the video in techmind about this antenna but after waiting one month and a half i tested it with my sdrplay and rtl sdr it was performing fairly well but in fft in the water fall when i change the knob of the gain there a column of a very high gain or big flat spike like interferance from the circuity of the ga 450 which is moving right and left when adjusting the gain in the device ga 450 and it completely engulf the tuned signal in sd runo to my mind there seems to be a defective osilator inside the antenna giving rise to this spike
so please do not waste your time and money
when i compare with my mla 30 it is really bad

Ron

After waiting over a month and a half I finally received the antenna from Banggood. I paid $88.45 including shipping. I had a chance to test it out and I was NOT very impressed with its performance. Also, the battery does not last that long before charging it again. I tested it with a Sony ICF-7600D receiver, an ICOM R70 communications receiver, an RTL-SDR.Com dongle, a SDRPLay RSP1 and a Airspy + Discovery SDR’s. With the Sony unit the signal improvement was next to nil. With the SDR’s it hardly picked up a signal at all compared with other antennas I usually use. After seeing the video from TechMinds I was very hopeful that this antenna would perform better than antennas I have been using. I do not know their testing procedure, but I did not get what they presented. Do not waste your money on this antenna. My YouLoop passive magnetic antenna, my Archer reel shortwave antenna, my Sony reel AN-71 does a better job. Also, believe it or not my Sony AN-LP active antenna did a better job. I may have received a defective unit; I do not know. It does not pay to send it back to Banggood in China. I will just have to eat the price I paid for it. I should have investigated more thoroughly before I purchased it, but there were not any reviews to go by. Once again. please do not waste your money on this antenna.

HF Noob

is the On/Off Switch and Poti only for Gain ? Not for adjusting selectivity ?

Mubarak nour

ya it is just for gain but when you move it and observe the water fall it is not evenly ancreasing and decreasing the gain in another word one half will be high in small part of the band and this move right and left when you move the knob right and left and accompanied by a big flat sike like interferance