[SOC] Horizontal Loop

[ng3o]

> P.S.  Okay... in hopes of generating a new thread... is anybody out there
> using a horizontal loop on 80 or 160?

I've been out of town for the last 10 days, so I'm just getting around to 
reading some of these posts. I've never had an 80 or 160 meter loop, but I 
did once put up a horizontal full-wave 40 meter loop. It was triangular in 
shape and was hung about 25 feet above the ground. I also constructed a 
reflector and buried it under the driven loop. I realize that 25 feet is 
awfully wide spaced for 40 meters, so I can't guarantee that the reflector 
was actually performing as a parasitic element, but here is what I do know: 
I had a neighbor, W3EI, who lived a block away from me. Frank (W3EI) used a 
double bazooka antenna configured as an inverted vee with the apex at the 
top of his 40-foot tower. He kept a weekly schedule on 40 meter SSB with a 
couple of guys up in New England, somewhere around 350 miles from us. One 
day, I joined their sked and asked the One-Land guys to compare Frank's and 
my sigs. We were running comparable power. I was delighted, and Frank was 
dismayed, to learn that I was 20 dB better than him. The next day, he built 
a horizontal 40 meter loop, which he used from then on to keep his sked.

I might add that the loop was quite good as a DX antenna on 20 and 15 with 
the help of a tuner. Its performance on 40 meters, however, deteriorated to 
practically zilch after about 800 or 900 milles, exactly as one would 
expect. I could barely work the West Coast or Europe with it.

73,
Bill NG3O