"Allodoxaphobia" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:57:40 +0000, dave wrote:
Ian Jackson wrote:

What about ribbon cable? I've got a fair length of ribbon cable
(something like 25 wires - the sort used in PCs to connect hard drives
and the like) put away for a rainy-day loop antenna project. While I
could make one large loop using all 25 wires for the really low
frequencies, I'll almost certainly cut it up and make several smaller
loops with fewer wires for the higher frequencies.

Stick with a single wire and relatively few loops. More wire won't make
the loop bigger, just harder to tune.

I don't think he meant to connect all those wires in parallel.
But, it would be a little tedious to connect each wire at one end to its
neighbor at the other end (of the loop), and _not_ create an ugly bird's
nest at the 'joint'.

Jonesy


Hi Jonesy

For what Its Worth, I tried making a big AM reception loop using some big
ribbon cable, and it didnt work. The cable was/is color coded so it was
easy to connect the ends so the input to output is a series connection of
the wires. The antenna didnt work. I assummed it was due to excessive
'distributed capacity' between windings. I had no interest in researching
the reason for ribbon cable use for AM loop antennas. Besides, it got Very
difficult to assemble the loop onto the mounting frame and have it look
presentable.


" Stick with a single wire and relatively few loops. More wire won't
make
the loop bigger, just harder to tune."

Jerry KD6JDJ