Hi Mark
Apologies for late reply, I've only just found your reply, and the video is of course now dead 💀. Sorry I missed it. 

Drifter

That was a very effective, helpful video.
Thanks, Harold

Hey Drifter!

I'm sorry you're not too happy with your an 200. As previously mentioned by others, I'm certain that if (it's not faulty) and you play around with it some more, you'll be more than pleased with the results. I've just been tuning around the AM band on my 'Super UL' Sony SRF-59 during the daylight hours and, thought I'd take a second to record a short video to show the effectiveness of the loop in cleaning up the signal..

All the best, 
Mark 

Yes the tuning on the loop  needs to be very precise. A touch either way and you loose the peak. It is also pretty critical where you place the radio relative to the loop. With some of my small radios I actually put the radio inside of the loop. Perpendicular sitting right at the bottom. But playing with the distance and orientation of the radio relative to the antenna will make a huge difference. I also bought a Lazy Susan (rotating disk/platter on bearings) to be able to aim the radio and antenna at the same time. Remember the antenna is directional along the plane of the loop. So the edge (the direction the wire is wound) is what needs to be pointed at the signal and the radio.
From Wikipedia "The radiation pattern of a  loop antenna peaks at right angles to the plane of the loop".
I have several of these small loops. When used correctly, and depending on conditions they can make the difference between a copy and none. They are also good for nulling noise and adjacent channels. I have a couple connected to fixed radios (AM/FM tuner connected to a surround receiver) just to null  noise even if just for some local stations. They can definitely be very useful when used correctly. 
Play with it some more, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Okay all!
I bought another one! This time it was called Hwydo AN200, but they’re all the same. This time I’ve learned some very valuable beginners lessons. If you’re reading this having never used one of these before, don’t expect miracles! Secondly, the point of tuning enhancement is very small, you only have to virtually touch the knob to get it right, that is one you’ve found the maximum noise point it will be to one side of that. I found all this out this morning when I had the bright idea of trying it with my Panasonic RF-2200. This has needle type signal strength meter which was key to all! Having found a usable station (none were very good this morning, appalling conditions) I tuned the rotating ferrite antenna to optimum position, and then having positioned the antenna closely at ninety degrees to one of it’s ends, I went ahead and tuned it. I should say that the needle position was approximately mid point, so any deflection would be quickly obvious. Doing this made it clear that the maximum gain point was very small, much smaller than I had imagined it would be. If I’d known how very small this gain point was, I wouldn’t have been so quick to return the other one. I sa an interesting video on YouTube where somebody compared the small ferrite antenna supplied with the (I think) PL-368 with an AN-200 and there was no difference, this surprised both him and me, but of course the loop isn’t restricted to one or two radios. I hope this might be of help to someone. 

Drifter

Ah! I sent mine back! Oh well, many thanks for that anyway David, more knowledge to digest 😊.

Drifter

Hi Jay
Many thanks for taking the time to look at yours, it’s appreciated! No, I didn’t get two, and I now don’t have one, it’s been returned to Amazon 🙂. My decision now is whether or not to get a replacement 🤔. I think I will, purely to satisfy my curiosity. 

Once again many thanks 
Drifter

Yes. The less sensitive the radio the more dramatic the improvement and this Panasonic is not vey sensitive on AM. Good video.

Jay

I just looked at mine under a bright light and don 't see anything like these lines so it is possible it is broken...this is the first time I've seen anything like this. Two ways to check would be to try it with another radio...preferably an analog radio which is less tricky to use with a loop so see if it works at all. Otherwise you would have to disassemble it and check for continuity. Did you say you got two of these with your order? Can you get a replacement?

This is strange to be sure.

Jay

Hi Zacharias
Many thanks for info and links. I had a good look at the close-up shots of your antenna, and I could not see any marks similar to the ones in my two photos above, do you think mine is damaged please?
Drifter

You could better turn the antenna to the maximum possibly signal by first finding the zero point in your radio Then turn by 90degs and doing the same on the loop

Hello
Here is my channel with tests of the AN200
Hope it helps ☺️☺️☺️
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL12803A0C1E2082A4

Thanks for that Kevin, all grist to the mill! I particularly liked the screwdriver idea, simple but easy, great!
Drifter

Hi Peter
Yes, that is impressive. I found this one: https://youtu.be/1VZAkDVPj_w
which shows a direct connection into a PL-330 having disconnected the internal ferrite rod. I tried this and was definitely able to tune a better signal, so maybe the two photos I posted earlier don’t show damage? I have to admit that I’d be a lot more confident about the whole affair if those ‘broken’ areas weren’t there! I’m toying withe idea of requesting a replacement. 

Drifter

Here's a video with an impressive signal boost using a Tecsun AN200!
https://youtu.be/NHSuJ9zcvJ8
Peter

I have similar experience to Jay Allen with the AN200. I wasn't impressed when I used it with a Tecsun DSP radio.
As Jay said there is an improvement but not spectacular. On the other hand, using an AN200 loop with an analogue portable or a PLL portable gave good results. It can certainly null noise and boost a weak signal. I had some good results with analogue pocket radios with the AN200. Unfortunately my AN200 and most of my portable radios are in the UK and I'm in Botswana so I can't make a comparison video. I have several videos on my YouTube channel showing use of the AN200 but I can't remember the titles. I'll try and find some. I have hundreds of videos!

Peter Wilson

Hi again Jay
Very many thanks for your input on this, it’s definitely appreciated. Not only your take, but additional info I wasn’t aware of. I do wonder if mine is damaged, as there appear to be two breaks (?) on opposite sides of the loop inside. I’m going to attach a couple of pics, and would very much like to know if they’re all like this or whether it is actually damaged. 

Thanks again 
Drifter

Yours is not an uncommon experience but it would help to understand some things about how these tuned passive loops work, and this will hep to explain why they seem not to work in some circumstances.

Except in the extremely unlikely event there is a broken connection in your loop, again, highly unlikely, they will indeed provide give a noticeable gain in signal strength, several db. So why does it seem it is not working for you?

The most common reason is that signal strength is not the limiting factor in your reception, but rather, signal to noise ratio. This is significant because in the later case the antenna will amplify the noise along with the signal, so the net result is no observable change. In the old days when radios had analog signal meters it was easier to see the signal meter jump when the antenna was peaked but with many radios with no meters or less obvious metering the gain may go unnoticed. But it is still there.

One other thing that happens with some DSP tuned radios like the PL-330 is that the DSP chip tunes the radios input to the ferrite rod and introducing an external antenna inductively may upset this tuning. I have experimented with my AN-200 and PL-330 and it is indeed trickier to see the improvement but it is there. You might try aiming the radio improperly to minimize the signal strength to peak the AN-200 more precisely, then re-orient the radio and you should see a higher signal level on the meter. Also try varying the distance between the radio and the antenna as you peak the antennas tuning ...you should hear a blip as you cross the proper tuning spot.

Jay