$1799. Really?

I was interested to learn from one of the very many ham radio sites about the Ciro Mazzoni Stealth Loop recently.

Although I don't need a stealth antenna, I understand many do, and it is anyway always a good idea to think of small, efficient antennas for portable work, no matter how much room one has.

The Mazzoni loops have a very high build quality, and a purpose-built remote tuning circuit.  So the professional construction is not in question.

A very militaristic-looking Stealth Antenna by Mazzoni.

What I do, very much have an issue with, is the price.  In the US, the Stealth loop, essentially a flattened loop of aluminium with a capacitor on top, is now selling for $1799. In the UK, it's more like £1100, i.e. a lot of money.

From lots of experience with loops, this squashed loop design will certainly work.  But practically all its radiation will be in the horizontal plane (note, there are essentially no vertical surfaces).   So the pattern will yield NVIS radiation.

OK, you may be happy talking to a thousand Italians from the UK of a weekend.  But most of us like some good DX.  Digital modes overcome some of the traditional antenna limitations, of course, and no doubt DX will roll in with this antenna.

If you are tempted by this loop, remember you could build something just as efficient and, if you make it less squashed, more so, for a tiny fraction of the $1799 Mazzoni is selling his for.   Whilst the proprietary remote tuning is nice, remember these things can break.  Repairing them is not cheap, and may not be possible in future as components become obsolete.  A simple PWM-driven motor and air spaced capacitor costs pennies and can be replaced without bursting into tears at the cost, and being off air for weeks whilst the circuit is off, being repaired.

Another thing I note in one of the videos about this loop is the matching.  I'm not impressed by a 1.4:1 SWR, and have never seen such a high value with any of my homebrew loops, which are a lot more roughly built than Mazzoni's fine efforts.

In the UK, a normal, non-squashed loop down to about 60m remains within planning control limits, and would anyway very rarely be considered something needing enforcement.  HOA properties in the US are a different case, of course, but I would think a thin wire loop around a balcony would more likely escape attention, and perhaps be more efficient, than a squashed black loop that looks like an automatic weapon!