Palomar Engineers Magnetic long wire antenna matche has been redesigned for shortwave listeners who listen to a broad frequency range from VLF to HF and others needing to match a long wire antenna to 50/75 ohm coax feed line cable. Specifications: Frequency: 100 KHz – 30 MHz. Input: 50/75 ohms for coaxial cable. Output: High impedance. Connector: SO-239 (for cable), wingnut/solder lug wire lead (for antenna). Mounting: Stainless steel eyebolt. Size: 2.5” diameter. Case: White PVC sealed weatherproof. External ground bolt with wing nut for external counterpoise or separate ground. The long wire antenna often has a high impedance in the 500-1000 ohm range and the MLB-2 transforms this high impedance close to efficiently couple the received signal to the receiver. A long wire antenna with a matching balun such as the MLB-2 often has a 12 db (2 “S” units) better signal than a long wire without a matching balun. Typical Installation Diagram MLB-1/MLB-2 Typical installation diagram For best results we recommend that the coax feed line be at least 1/4 wavelength on the lowest operating frequency since the coax braid is used as a counterpoise if you don’t use the external counterpoise terminal on the matching unit. We also recommend a feed line choke at the end of the coax feed line near the radio to prevent RFI common mode current (from neighbor noise sources) from interfering with the radio – check out the info below on feed line chokes. Also available as a complete ready to hang SWL antenna. (see related products).
Iron powder cores are more stable than ferrites and do not saturate as easily so they are best for tuned circuits, filters, and high power inductors. They come in different “Mixes” for use at different frequencies. For best “Q” use the Mix specified for your frequency.To find the number of turns to give the desired inductance for your coil use the formula below:
Turns = 100 x 
Toroid Dimensions
To order specify core size and mix (e.g. T200A-2). Available in sizes that have µH per 100 turns shown in table.
All iron powder cores are special orders. Please allow one week for shipment after order received.
The iron powder cores shown in the above tables are primarily used for either high power feed line chokes for common mode current reduction or for 4:1 and 9;1 very high power transmission line transformers.
For high power feed line chokes, choose the inside diameter of the iron powder core closest to the transmission line outside diameter and use 6-20 cores at the junction with the antenna feed.
For 4:1 (50/200 or 75/300 ohm) transmission line transformers in the range of 1.8-30 Mhz, select the size appropriate for the power level as follows:
T200A x 2 = 1.5KW
T300A x 2 = 2.5KW
T400A x 2 = 5KW
Use Mix 2 for all the above transmission line transformers. Fully assembled and enclosed units are available for each of the power levels. Click HERE for information.
4:1 transmission line transformers using iron powder cores are typically used for ladder line to 50 ohm coax connections
For .1 – 2 Mhz wide band transformers use Mix 26 which has a higher permeability and requires less turns to achieve a given inductance. Mix 2 has almost constant permeability from 1-30 Mhz. Mix 26 has an initial permeability of 75 at .1 Mhz and gradually decreases to about 10 at 30 Mhz. For high power AM broadcast range (.5-1.7 Mhz) transformer, use Mix 26 to reduce the turn count.
Minimum order for iron powder cores is $50
Shipping on larger cores in quantity may be more than $10 – email/call for quote.