A High VDT-Factor: The Reuter RLA4

We have featured Burkhard Reuter's receivers and antennas before./ Therefore, It was a privilege, once again, to have the new Reuter RLA4 here in the shack for a few days, before sending it out to the reviewer. The RLA4 from Germany is a broadband, non-tuned receiving antenna for the long wave to short wave bands, based on the magnetic loop principle. It looks quite futuristic: it has two loops, at 90-degree angle to one another. There is an external antenna control unit, which operators can use to electronically rotate the loop, for optimum reception. The lops are made from a special, multi-layered circuit board and coated. When I used the loop for weather fax and broadcast station reception in my shack, I achieved impressive levels of broadband noise suppression and excellent rejection (‘nulling-out’) of unwanted signals. This aerial is an experimenter’s dream, with a price tag to match, but the design, controls and build are of very professional quality.  The ‘VDT’ factor (Vorsprung durch Technik) in other words is high. A very serious, solid piece of kit that will last you forever.

The Reuter RLA4 will be reviewed in full in one of the next issues of RadioUser.

http://www.reuter-elektronik.com/html/rla4.html