• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Chameleon P-LOOP MAGNETIC LOOP Antenna REVIEW

Woody-202

Sr. Member
Sep 5, 2018
680
1,106
153
68
www.cbdaze.blogspot.com
Living in an HOA stronghold I've tried several ways to have clandestine outdoor antennas :sneaky:, but they were spotted by HOA observers with binoculars so I tried some indoor wire antennas. Last year I took the plunge and bought the P-Loop 2.0.

In about 6 weeks I will have been using this MLA for 1 year, and these are my comments:

Price: Expensive. When comparing full price to home grown, home grown wins. I signed up for their newsletter, which would give me a 10% discount and then hunkered down waiting for a sale which came shortly thereafter (30%), so I was able to take 40% off the top and it arrived at my door for around $250.
In the box: a canvas carrying bag with a loop of coax for the main loop, a sturdy aluminum coupling loop, telescopic mast, weather resistant tuning box, collapsible tripod, 12’ of RG-58 with an RFI choke feed-line, and instructions. The instructions are just copies or laser prints on regular paper.
Assembly: Well, the 1st time was daunting (it took about 10-15min.) but after that I was comfortable setting it up indoors or at the park in under 5 minutes.
Tuning: Easy. The large knob connected the the capacitor shaft and the 6:1 reducer make both small and large adjustments easy. I can easily ballpark my frequency by listening to the receiver while I turn the knob, and use a antenna analyzer to get the best SWR (usually 1.5:1 or less, but if I'm in a hurry I'll settle for 2:1).
Performance: I've never had an indoor antenna that would really work well due to electrical noise issues so there isn't much to compare it to, but I think it's done a great job! I've had no problems making contacts on 40, 20, and 15 meters (I would expect it would be the same on the other bands, I just haven't used them).

The antenna usually sits in my 2nd floor shack and using it vertically I've been able to successfully use the null spots in eliminating most of the electrical noise I have around here (from S5/6 to only a murmur). The first few weeks gave me time to get more familiar with fast tuning, as well as to experiment with different locations - Indoors on the second floor and outdoors on the lawn had little to no difference (as well, it's been to the park along with my FT-817 for a little fun in the shade).

Final comments:

Chameleon says it should handle 25 watts SSB but I've only used it with my TS-2000 @ 20 watts or the 817 @5w.

The entire package is well made and it's easy to see me using it for many years.

After using it for month it was clear that I could have made something myself for less money but it would probably not have been quite as portable or easy to take down.

As a way to get some middle ground between homemade and mfg. they sell a basic kit with the same tuning capacitor for $99. It was not available when I purchased my P-loop otherwise I may have gone that route.

It's not a miracle antenna per se (obviously a dipole or enfed could do better), except to operators like me who are heavily restricted when it comes to an outdoor antenna. So in my instance it is a "miracle" antenna.
 

I’ve had the Alexloop. Liked it a lot. Magnetic loops are amazing.
Waiting on one with bluetooth remote control. :D
 
I’ve had the Alexloop. Liked it a lot. Magnetic loops are amazing.
Waiting on one with bluetooth remote control. :D

I found a shot of the Chameleon and here's one of the Alpha as well ;)
 

Attachments

  • alpha1a-sm.jpg
    alpha1a-sm.jpg
    76 KB · Views: 239
  • cham1a-sm.jpg
    cham1a-sm.jpg
    113.5 KB · Views: 212
I found a shot of the Chameleon and here's one of the Alpha as well ;)

Did those work good indoors next to your station? I wanted to do that but was always afraid the strong magnetic field would harm the hard drive in my PC or the monitor :eek:, screw up my wifi router :mad:, or ruin my TV :(. LOL. :ROFLMAO:
 
Did those work good indoors next to your station? I wanted to do that but was always afraid the strong magnetic field would harm the hard drive in my PC or the monitor :eek:, screw up my wifi router :mad:, or ruin my TV :(. LOL. :ROFLMAO:

Yes, works good (y) My wifi router in mounted to the wall 5' from the loop (as well as my pc) what I've been able to do is slowly rotate the antenna until the null reduces the noise. As pictured, one null is pointed in the direction of the rig, while on the side, the null points to my pc/router.

Because you have to re-tune quite a bit having it in the same room is necessary, albeit dangerous. With only 4-5 watts there is several thousand volts on the skin of the loop:eek:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riverman
Yes, works good (y) My wifi router in mounted to the wall 5' from the loop (as well as my pc) what I've been able to do is slowly rotate the antenna until the null reduces the noise. As pictured, one null is pointed in the direction of the rig, while on the side, the null points to my pc/router.

Because you have to re-tune quite a bit having it in the same room is necessary, albeit dangerous. With only 4-5 watts there is several thousand volts on the skin of the loop:eek:
Careful backing up! o_O
 
Yes, works good (y) My wifi router in mounted to the wall 5' from the loop (as well as my pc) what I've been able to do is slowly rotate the antenna until the null reduces the noise. As pictured, one null is pointed in the direction of the rig, while on the side, the null points to my pc/router.

Because you have to re-tune quite a bit having it in the same room is necessary, albeit dangerous. With only 4-5 watts there is several thousand volts on the skin of the loop:eek:

Good to know.

Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Woody-202
Quick follow-up: Here is a small example of how well the MLA works indoors, as well as being able to negate the electrical noise I face. Without the MLA I would get a s7-s9 noise level consistently. I'm able to work around it thanks to this antenna.



Great demonstration, Woody!
Nice radio, too. (y)

It appears Chameleon is no longer offering the P loop. Just the F loop now. Not sure what the difference between them is.

I’ve spoken with the fella from Mexico (on 20 meters) a few times. Seems he is always booming into Texas.
 
I always thought it was weird for them to have two different models, although the P-loop was a bit smaller/portable plus resistant to moisture. The F-Loop will go down to 60m, and with the second parallel loop (supplied), down to 80m while the P-Loop was strictly 40-10. As well, the price for the P-Loop and standard model F-Loop were the same @ $399

The F-loop Plus is identical except it has a solid 36" aluminum loop (F-Loop Plus) along with the coaxial loop.

Both models had identical power ratings (under 25w SSB)

... and whichever loop you use, the noise vs less-noise results would be the same....;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riverman

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated