[Elecraft] Loop antenna's

[Stan]

Well said, Bill.  I used to sign /QRP but stopped doing that routinely and increased my CQ return rate.  Nowadays I do not mention my attic doublet unless the subject comes up.  Why shoot myself in the foot...

I have nothing against small loops.  I built a simple 40 meter STL from about 8 feet of hardline and used inductive coupling and it was very, very impressive.  Then I built the mother of all loops from Home Depot 2 inch copper tubing, an Edmunds Scientific 1 rpm motor, and a Jennings vacuum variable.  Cost me over $500 !  It was for 20 meters only.  It worked amazingly well, including a QRPp contact with UA1CE not once, but twice.

The reason I abandoned small loops was a practical one -- frequency agility.  Because I had the option, I installed my remotely coupled multiband attic doublet.  My advice to those dealing with antenna restrictions is to consider small loops along with other solutions if the opportunity is there but not to view a small loop as something magical and mystical.  

My QRPp QSO with Gene could have occurred with a wet noodle if the conditions were right.

73, Stan WB2LQF

Sent from Samsung tabletBill - K6IH <k6ih at arrl.net> wrote:Howdy to all,

I don't think anyone will question the fact that a good antenna system 
is one of the most important factors in a ham station being able to 
communicate efficiently particularly when using qrp power levels.

While I would agree that a full length dipole antenna, or beam antenna 
would be preferable to a smaller 3' loop antenna, in my case that is not 
only impractical but impossible at my home qth since I live in a high 
rise building that has steel supports throughout the building instead of 
wooden studs. This effectively makes the interior of my high rise 
apartment inside of a faraday rf shield and prevents most radio signals 
from radiating or receiving when using an antenna inside of my 
apartment. This means an antenna has to be mounted outside of the 
apartment, and the balcony is the only area available to install an 
antenna.  With such a limited area to install an amateur antenna, I find 
the MFJ 3' loop to be one of the better alternatives to be able to 
operate my ham station on the hf bands, and still be able to change 
bands and tune the antenna remotely with the MFJ Remote Control Unit.

With the myriad of various CC&R's and antenna restrictions around the 
USA, many hams are forced to utilize compromise antenna systems to 
operate from their home qth, and finding the best alternative antenna 
configuration for an individual ham's location can be challenging. 
Therefore, I am very pleased with the various Loop antennas available 
from various ham vendor sources, since it allows many hams the 
capability to get on the air, when they might not be able to do so 
without the smaller loop antennas. Before deciding that hf ham radio 
operation is not feasible from an antenna restricted location, I would 
encourage a person facing such restrictions to seriously consider trying 
a loop antenna.

73,

--Bill - K6IH-
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