On 11/8/2015 5:14 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
You were asking about using a better dielectric than air. I found
this article:
http://www.qrpbuilder.com/downloads/loop%20antenna%20110310.pdf
which includes construction details for a piston capacitor arrangement
using various dielectrics. On Pg 8 is a chart of various plastics,
with dielectric constant, dielectric strength, and dissipation factor.
For cheap, the author recommends UHMW (polypropylene), which is one
tenth the cost of PTFE (Teflon).

Yeah, but he doesn't address the issue of temperature dependance of Er.
I don't even see it in his table.

The text says he used PEX (cross linked polyethylene) for the capacitor,
but I can't find much info on the electrical characteristics. The one
that is hardest to find is the temperature dependence of Er. I don't
see PEX in his table at all. Very odd.

The info on PEX that I can find on the web indicates it may have
problems with use outdoors, but maybe this antenna isn't intended to be
used outdoors.

--

Rick