Portable Operation RFI Kits

Magnetic Long Wire Antenna Matcher (9:1) for SWL, 100 KHz-30 MHz

SKU MLB-2
$79.95
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Magnetic Long Wire Antenna Matcher (9:1) for SWL, 100 KHz-30 MHz
Product Details
MPN: MLB-2

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 2 Installation Diagram - Portable Operation RFI Kits

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).

Portable operation is fun but also brings challenges to the radio operator concerning receiver “noise” levels, RF interference from adjacent sources including close by transmitting stations, and RFI from portable generators.  A typical scenario and some suggested Palomar product solutions are shown in the picture below:

Generator RFI testimonial:

Bob 

Received your order in a timely fashion. Tried the generator kit on Sunday & it drops the noise from S9 to S5 and 
took out all the electrical noise.  I may want some more toroids from you at some point for other interference problems
I have  here.
Ken VE3KCY

Using an amplifier?  Don’t forget our Linear Amplifier RFI Kits

Want to make up your own RFI kits for a particular operation? Here are links to some of  typical RFI solutions used in portable operations:

AC/DC common mode filters

Feed Line chokes

Coax Noise Filters

If you use a computer for logging in your portable operations, RFI getting into computers will often lock up your computer and/or radio and a computer RFI suppression kits may be helpful

Computer RFI Kits

Make your expedition or portable operation a pleasant and fun outing and remember to take along your RFI kits so you have more time to operate rather then to troubleshoot intermittent or noisy receiver conditions.

Portable Antenna Kits

If you need an effective portable antenna which folds up for transport yet is easy to deploy at your operating site, consider the BULLET series of end fed wire antennas.

BULLET Antennas (click on link or picture for more info)

Bullet Antenna Product 300x292 - Portable Operation RFI Kits