开云体育

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
  1. Loopantennas
  2. Topics

Improving my shortwave loop

 

Mostly by dumb luck I've managed to build a SW loop that seems to work well.? It's made of 1/2" OD copper tubing, about 34" across, with a 10" x 7 1/2" coupling loop made from 8 AWG copper wire about 1/16" (the thickness of a ty-wrap) from the main loop.? The coupling loop is connected to a dual banana female socket with banana connectors.? On the other end a 15' length of RG-58 goes from the BNC to the back of my radio.? The antenna has prominent nulls and is very directional.? Combining that with an old 3-section variable capacitor allows me to tune from ~4500 kHz to ~18000 kHz.
?
The only reason I went into the above is that I'm always looking for suggestions to make it even better.? If anyone sees anything I'm missing here I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it... thanks!
?
Earl
 

You've done about the best you can.? It's nearly a copy of my tuned loop I use only occasionally during lightning season.? The 450-foot long doublet has in the past supported a big thick blue spark up to and including 4 to 5 inches.? It is always disconnected when not in use.

Dave - W?LEV

Virus-free.


On Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 9:57?PM Earl Parker II via <eparkerii=carolina.rr.com@groups.io> wrote:
Mostly by dumb luck I've managed to build a SW loop that seems to work well.? It's made of 1/2" OD copper tubing, about 34" across, with a 10" x 7 1/2" coupling loop made from 8 AWG copper wire about 1/16" (the thickness of a ty-wrap) from the main loop.? The coupling loop is connected to a dual banana female socket with banana connectors.? On the other end a 15' length of RG-58 goes from the BNC to the back of my radio.? The antenna has prominent nulls and is very directional.? Combining that with an old 3-section variable capacitor allows me to tune from ~4500 kHz to ~18000 kHz.
?
The only reason I went into the above is that I'm always looking for suggestions to make it even better.? If anyone sees anything I'm missing here I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it... thanks!
?
Earl



--
Dave - W?LEV
 

Sounds like a good build. Good luck signal hunting.

John

On Monday, September 9, 2024 at 06:25:38 PM EDT, W0LEV <davearea51a@...> wrote:


You've done about the best you can.? It's nearly a copy of my tuned loop I use only occasionally during lightning season.? The 450-foot long doublet has in the past supported a big thick blue spark up to and including 4 to 5 inches.? It is always disconnected when not in use.

Dave - W?LEV

Virus-free.


On Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 9:57?PM Earl Parker II via <eparkerii=carolina.rr.com@groups.io> wrote:
Mostly by dumb luck I've managed to build a SW loop that seems to work well.? It's made of 1/2" OD copper tubing, about 34" across, with a 10" x 7 1/2" coupling loop made from 8 AWG copper wire about 1/16" (the thickness of a ty-wrap) from the main loop.? The coupling loop is connected to a dual banana female socket with banana connectors.? On the other end a 15' length of RG-58 goes from the BNC to the back of my radio.? The antenna has prominent nulls and is very directional.? Combining that with an old 3-section variable capacitor allows me to tune from ~4500 kHz to ~18000 kHz.
?
The only reason I went into the above is that I'm always looking for suggestions to make it even better.? If anyone sees anything I'm missing here I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it... thanks!
?
Earl



--
Dave - W?LEV
 

开云体育

Thanks guys... if I stumble upon anything better I'll definitely pass it along.

Earl

On 9/9/24 19:17, John Spicer via groups.io wrote:

Sounds like a good build. Good luck signal hunting.

John

On Monday, September 9, 2024 at 06:25:38 PM EDT, W0LEV <davearea51a@...> wrote:


You've done about the best you can.? It's nearly a copy of my tuned loop I use only occasionally during lightning season.? The 450-foot long doublet has in the past supported a big thick blue spark up to and including 4 to 5 inches.? It is always disconnected when not in use.

Dave - W?LEV

Virus-free.

On Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 9:57?PM Earl Parker II via <eparkerii=carolina.rr.com@groups.io> wrote:
Mostly by dumb luck I've managed to build a SW loop that seems to work well.? It's made of 1/2" OD copper tubing, about 34" across, with a 10" x 7 1/2" coupling loop made from 8 AWG copper wire about 1/16" (the thickness of a ty-wrap) from the main loop.? The coupling loop is connected to a dual banana female socket with banana connectors.? On the other end a 15' length of RG-58 goes from the BNC to the back of my radio.? The antenna has prominent nulls and is very directional.? Combining that with an old 3-section variable capacitor allows me to tune from ~4500 kHz to ~18000 kHz.
?
The only reason I went into the above is that I'm always looking for suggestions to make it even better.? If anyone sees anything I'm missing here I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it... thanks!
?
Earl


--
Dave - W?LEV

1 - 4 of 4