Kaito KA-35 LW/MW/SW Active Antenna...is it any good?

[Tincap]

I've recently picked up a rather interesting receiver, which has no ferrite bar antenna, and I'm trying to get better MW DX performance out of it.

What makes this receiver so interesting? It's a Technics ST-Z55, the only rack component digital receiver I've ever come across, with a 9kHz/10kHz switch on the back (also tunes FM in 0.5 MHz steps, which is a bonus). Because it has no ferrite bar, an antenna such as the Terk Advantage would offer only limited performance (all the reviews state that the Advantage works best through inductive coupling) for this tuner. Which leads me to an antenna, with one...the Kaito KA-35.

Has/does any one use a KA-35 and is it worth my investment? Any insight would be appreciated!

~BG

 

[kinphoenix2]

I probably should not give two cents as I've not tested the KA35.. but I have read the great reviews it's gotten. Kaito makes a superior product, their radios are fantastic and I've owned and loved them. You would not be making a bad decision buying a Kaito anything- but do not buy the cheaper KA33 active loop! I have tested it and it did a fine job of amplifying images and EMI/RFI. Amplifiers amplify- garbage in garbage out. I do not care for amplified noise.

But why spend money on an antenna that you'd only be using a "third" of- unless you've got a SW and LW receiver. What about looking online for MW loop plans as you'd get as good if not better reception than some you'd buy unless you want one of those hi dollar Wellbrooks. MW loop plans galore online and if it were just for MW those 20 dollar Terks aren't terrible for the job just for MW.

Did the tuner come with an amp? I picked up a "vintage" receiver myself no amp but with powered speakers it can put sound out.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Funny, Tincap, as I read your post I had to double-check the confusion here. On one of the dining room chairs here it seems I have the same radio -- Technics ST Z-55. It's been sitting there for months. A buddy who got it at a yard sale for $5 didn't know what to do with it and gave it to me.

I didn't know what to do with it, either, vis-a-vis antennae, speakers, etc.
'Sure,' says my wife. 'Just what you need. Another nice radio so you can listen to static.'
I haven't even plugged it in yet!

Should be real interesting to see/read the performance of this rig.

 

[Icangelp]

Funny, Tincap, as I read your post I had to double-check the confusion here. On one of the dining room chairs here it seems I have the same radio -- Technics ST Z-55. It's been sitting there for months. A buddy who got it at a yard sale for $5 didn't know what to do with it and gave it to me.

I didn't know what to do with it, either, vis-a-vis antennae, speakers, etc.
'Sure,' says my wife. 'Just what you need. Another nice radio so you can listen to static.'
I haven't even plugged it in yet!

Should be real interesting to see/read the performance of this rig.

Wives say the darndest things.

I especially hate it when my wife says the darndest thing, and it happens to be the truth.

I hide, I mean store, most of my large collection of radios and electronics down in our basement. Mind you, it's for her well being that I do this.

 

[Tincap]

I probably should not give two cents as I've not tested the KA35.. but I have read the great reviews it's gotten. Kaito makes a superior product, their radios are fantastic and I've owned and loved them. You would not be making a bad decision buying a Kaito anything- but do not buy the cheaper KA33 active loop! I have tested it and it did a fine job of amplifying images and EMI/RFI. Amplifiers amplify- garbage in garbage out. I do not care for amplified noise.

But why spend money on an antenna that you'd only be using a "third" of- unless you've got a SW and LW receiver. What about looking online for MW loop plans as you'd get as good if not better reception than some you'd buy unless you want one of those hi dollar Wellbrooks. MW loop plans galore online and if it were just for MW those 20 dollar Terks aren't terrible for the job just for MW.

Did the tuner come with an amp? I picked up a "vintage" receiver myself no amp but with powered speakers it can put sound out.

I do actually have a receiver with LW/SW capability, so if I spring for the KA-35, it would be a multi-tasker. I've read up on the Terks, the Advantage in particular, and they do seem to do a decent job with MW. However, the reviewers note that better results are obtained through inductive coupling, which doesn't bode well for a tuner without a built in ferrite bar. Regarding a home made loop, you're correct about the on-line plans available...though it's been a while since I've soldered anything...I wonder what my wife would think of that smell .

The tuner did not come with an amp, but I do have it hooked up in my studio, to a Yamaha RX-V995 (I'm also running my Realistic DX-440 and Sangean PR-D5 through it).

Currently, I've got a real low tech, but acceptable solution going for an antenna. 120 FT of 22 gauge speaker wire wrapped around a milk crate and connected as a loop, to a piece of short insulted wire with RCA jack plugged into the back of the Z-55. I basically know nothing about antennas, but this is OK in some parts of the band and quite directional.

Hey, Steve, I've also heard that same song from my wife, but normally I don't leave my stuff sitting around, for months, on the dining room furniture ;D. But even if the MW section proves nothing brilliant for DX-ing, how many home systems have a digital FM tuner, which tunes in 0.5 MHz steps? This in itself, is very handy for out here where I live (eastern Ontario), with strong adjacent channels and numerous stations sharing frequencies.

~BG

 

[Tincap]

Should be real interesting to see/read the performance of this rig.

Hey Steve, if it's anything to go by, I'm picking up Winnipeg's CBW 990 quite well, with my Z-55 and McGyver milk crate combo, from here south of Ottawa ON. My D5 is picking up the signal, much better, but it's a start.

~BG

 

[Lewtheprof]

Why is it that wives seem to want to devote so much energy into bitching specifically about the things they know nothing about, don't want or would ever care to know anything about and couldn't learn even one single thing about, not even if their lives depended upon them being able to do so?

 

[Tincap]

Why is it that wives seem to want to devote so much energy into bitching specifically about the things they know nothing about, don't want or would ever care to know anything about and couldn't learn even one single thing about, not even if their lives depended upon them being able to do so?

IMHO, this is probably the wrong thread, if not the wrong forum, to ask such a question.

~BG

 

[Lewtheprof]

Based upon comment #3, a like sentiment and a confirmation given in comment #4, my personal experience of the same and as a personal witness to untold other men's "wife experiences," specifically about our radio hobby and additionally, any and all things mysterious to women,,, it seemed pretty relevant to me. I honestly expect the majority of us men with hobby interests could easily relate to having similarly experienced this,, and to it all being something of a common plight! When the beginning of her sentence starts with words "I don't know why," you know you're in for some kind of trouble, most likely about something you happen to enjoy. You know darn well it's true!

Anyway, it was only ever thrown in as a bit of levity on the matter of what is to some of us collecting radio treasures, and to others,, just so much wasted time, money and effort. Relevance, I guess, in the matter of radios and regarding my comment on which kind of people do or don't find a value in the hobby,,,is purely in the eye of the beholder...

 

[Tincap]

Based upon comment #3, a like sentiment and a confirmation given in comment #4, my personal experience of the same and as a personal witness to untold other men's "wife experiences," specifically about our radio hobby and additionally, any and all things mysterious to women,,, it seemed pretty relevant to me. I honestly expect the majority of us men with hobby interests could easily relate to having similarly experienced this,, and to it all being something of a common plight! When the beginning of her sentence starts with words "I don't know why," you know you're in for some kind of trouble, most likely about something you happen to enjoy. You know darn well it's true!

Anyway, it was only ever thrown in as a bit of levity on the matter of what is to some of us collecting radio treasures, and to others,, just so much wasted time, money and effort. Relevance, I guess, in the matter of radios and regarding my comment on which kind of people do or don't find a value in the hobby,,,is purely in the eye of the beholder...

Though I agree, that in many cases, our wives/girl friends/better halfs do not understand our interests or hobbies, focusing on that aspect in a thread about the Kaito KA-35, is out of place IMHO opinion. No offence, but it just struck me as slightly odd, to find a thread -resurrected after 7 months- rebooted in a manner which has nothing to do with the topic it self. However, if you'd like to start up such a discussion -in a dedicated thread in an 'off-topic' area- about our common plight, I'm sure we'll all find some shoulders to cry on, lol!

~BG

 

[richllewis]

If your interest is Tropical band the KA-35 is decent. With a KA-1103 which I got on the higher SW bands the KA-35 is really no improvement over the KA-1103's whip. I usually use the KA-35 to get local AM signals (the nearest AM station is 40-50 miles away) and the KA-35 in a quiet area will pull in the 1000 watts and lower as far away 50 or 60 miles away during daytime hours. The AM station we had in my town is dark now so the amplified loop is very helpful. There is a person on the Long Wave forum that has been experimenting with the KA-35 for Long Wave and he swears that you replace the Amplified AM module with a tuned loop antenna he can get a better signal on LW. The KA-35 may be a try if you need an indoor antenna.

 

[Tincap]

If your interest is Tropical band the KA-35 is decent. With a KA-1103 which I got on the higher SW bands the KA-35 is really no improvement over the KA-1103's whip. I usually use the KA-35 to get local AM signals (the nearest AM station is 40-50 miles away) and the KA-35 in a quiet area will pull in the 1000 watts and lower as far away 50 or 60 miles away during daytime hours. The AM station we had in my town is dark now so the amplified loop is very helpful. There is a person on the Long Wave forum that has been experimenting with the KA-35 for Long Wave and he swears that you replace the Amplified AM module with a tuned loop antenna he can get a better signal on LW. The KA-35 may be a try if you need an indoor antenna.

Actually, I've indeed sprang for the AN-100. The best results, so far, are with placing the G8 within the loop, during daylight hours. Quite impressive, actually. I've also been experimenting a bit, by suspending 'stock' MW loop antennas, with the AN-200's loop, with mixed results. I haven't expeienced much gain, when used with my PR-D5 or DX-400, though I can null out much of the noise generated by my computer equipment, as many of my radios are next to me, in my work space. The AN-200 does a decent job, on the higher end of the band, when plugged into the back of my Technics ST-Z55 (an interesting tuner, in that it is a rack component, with a 9kHz/10kHz MW step switch and tunes FM in 50 kHz steps). Since the ST-Z55 doesn't have a ferrite bar, yet offers 9kHz tuning steps, it may be the one which benefits most, from the AN-100...we'll see, come TADX season!

~BG