[Elecraft] Non-resonant attic loop

[Gene Worth]

Good points, Bob. And ... errrrrrrrrrr ... no, not exactly .... I know 
it is 20+ feet above the ground, so far so good. We are moving 500 miles 
from our present QTH, and I didn't have a ladder to get to the attic 
opening when we were shopping for a house. I do know that outside, I'll 
have a flagpole antenna ... maybe a short wire, but it will have to be 
modest.

The attic length less than 44 feet, that I do know, so the non-resonant 
dipole isn't a great choice, unless I let the ends droop a bit. I do 
have a "slinky" dipole that may find its way into the house attic or the 
garage attic (12-15 feet AGL).

I know that part of the house has cathedral ceilings on the upper floor, 
so I'll just have to have a look and see if I can snake some wire over 
that area and keep it clear of electrical stuff.

I just wondered if there was a magic number for a non-resonant loop. My 
thinking is that I could get enough wire up there for a 40-meter loop. 
And, even if I had to double back in places, it would still work 
reasonably well. I'll probably feed it with ladderline b/c it will be 
non-resonant at a number of the frequencies I plan to work. Then, let 
the tuner take care of the rest.

73, gene KC0RXY

Robert Tellefsen wrote:

> Gene
> Can you tell us what linear dimensions your attic would have
> for potential dipoles?
> They also work at nonresonant lengths, and work quite well.
> 
> At frequencies above their resonant length they can actually
> contribute some gain.  Height above ground will be a bigger
> factor, in that for freqs below the resonant freq, you will
> find your major lobe pretty much straight up.  But it will
> be a fat lob, and work out to a distance as well, just not
> as well as a dipole up over a quarterwavelength on the band
> in use.
> 
> 73, Bob N6WG