[Lowfer] LEK and the Fat Lady

[Bill Ashlock]

Hi Dave

>What good would a superconducting wire do for a tx antenna?

Reducing the conductor loss toward 0 ohms would make he efficiency level out 
at a value totally controlled by the soil loss. This loss runs from .22 to 
.44 ohms at my location for a 50' by 50' loop, depending on the amount of 
rain we have had over a period of a week. A conductor like a #8 AWG wire has 
a Rac of approximately .92 ohms including the soil loss (dry), so you can 
figure a .92/.22 = 4.2X overall improvement in efficiency for that 0 ohm 
conductor. That would be a 6.25db signal improvement. My Litz conductor has 
a .38 ohm Rac and this equates to a 3.84db improvement over the #8. One 
might question if this is a worthwhile improvement for all the time, and 
money it took to build the Litz cable. The answer is I needed it to help 
establish the soil loss values for my next loop article.

By coincidence I just happen to be working on the Litz loop conductor (now 
on the floor in the garage) tonight. I'm adding some protection at the 
points of contact with the trees which had just about worn all the way 
though the tape and the silk covering in two weeks of use.

>I imagine that if it was so great, the military would already be using 
> >them for VLF/ELF work and I've never heard of them doing so.

This is a big question on my mind after having so much success with my 
Lowfer TX loops. Lowfer beacons VD, and TAG, have also done well. Apparently 
there has been a military installation that was covered in one of the 
Lowdown issues but I have yet to find it. Anyone know which one?

>Cheers,
>Daivd N0YMV

Regards,
Bill A




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