[Lowfer] Antenna questions

[John Andrews]

Ed,

Some receiving loop antenna links:

http://www.computerpro.com/~lyle/
http://www.imagenisp.ca/jsm/Loop.html (has a bunch of links, as well)
http://www.w4dex.com/lf.htm
http://technology.fanshawec.on.ca/tele410/loop.htm
http://webpages.charter.net/w1tag/rxloop.htm

The collective wisdom is that for LF work with receiving loops:
1. Size matters. 1 or 2 foot diameter loops are rarely excellent performers.
2. Shielding is less useful than keeping the loop electrically balanced to
ground. Shielding is absolutely necessary for aircraft-mounted loops that
are subjected to precipitation static. It doesn't seem to help the noise
performance of our typical ground-mounted loops.
3. Height above ground is not a big issue.
4. Location can be important. Try to keep the thing away from local noise
sources. Some experimenting can be useful, as some of the sources may not be
visually obvious.
5. Wide spacing between turns helps broaden the tuning range. This may be
useful if you chase aero beacons as well as listen to the 136 and 160-190
kHz bands.

John Andrews