[Lowfer] Loading Coil Former ?

[John Andrews]

Peter,

Just a further reflection on your original question about the coil form.

I think that Bill is correct in saying that you should avoid steel or iron
in the immediate vicinity of the coil. While a closed loop would be the
greatest concern, there may be some loss even if the loop is broken.

Metal enclosures for commercial AM broadcast antenna networks are now
generally made from aluminum. An older practice was to use copper-plated
steel. Actually, the preference is to have the components mounted on an
aluminum sheet with no enclosure, relying on the owner to build an outhouse
to hold the thing.

When you look at the way they make their coils, as well as how they mount
and interconnect them, the only metals close to the coils are paramagnetic,
i.e., copper, brass and aluminum.

So if you want the **best** performance, you should follow Bill's advice and
lose the steel.

John A.