[Antennas] BCB Loop Antennas

[Tom Bates]

>>When I was a kid, we had a large bakelite circle wound internally with
>>literally hundreds of feet of enameled wire.  Dark brown and about 3 feet in
>>diameter, with gold foil labels.  The bottom had four legs on its outside
>>and a flat shelf within the very bottom of the loop for the radio itself to
>>sit on. The entire contraption occupied a medium sized table in the living
>>room.  The bottom shelf contained  a pair of tuner controls (cap & inductor)

Is this an example of a "passive" antenna ?  I am looking to build something
like this to improve cell phone performance since my newer generation cell phone
doesn't allow connection to an external antenna like my older one did.

Any ideas ??  Thanks, es 73,   Tom  AA1NZ