In message , Allodoxaphobia
writes
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'.

I think that you underestimate my constructional abilities!
I'm not sure how many turns would be needed. 4, 5 or 6 at the most
(depending on frequency)? I'd certainly study the available information
before I started. Of course, before I started, any superfluous wires
would be stripped from the ribbon - it's just that the ribbon I've got
has a lot wires.

I really can't see any problem with cutting the ribbon, and then
re-joining it with the end of each wire being connected to its neighbour
This technique MUST have been used before by someone.
--
Ian