Sound like your discribing my station setup. I also use a Delta loop in the
shape of a diamond with the highest point at approximately 70 feet and the
lowest opposite corner is about 40 feet, both above ground. Now it gets
interesting as this set up is likely about 5 feet lower than the closest
neighbouring amateur's basement floor is and I still out perform his
inverted V. But the my loop is a full wave on 80 meters and I have a rather
uneak piece of property. My soil is very good conductively and my ground
happens to be a creek bed with a 8 inch water pipe submerged in the creek
which runs all year round with about a foot of water over the pipe.
Also when I was looking for property I drove my van in to the property as
far as I could and call CQ on my mobile hf. Made a contact in Glasglow,
Moscow and Japan. I bought the property that afternoon. And I haven't
stopped enjoying the bands even when we are at the low side of a cycle. I've
also played with a number of antennas and always came back to the delta loop
or a four square. I'm planning on putting up a full wave delta loop for 160
meters this spring. My present loop is hooted up to a homebrew 4:1 balun
with 300 ohm foam then a 10 foot piece of 9913 coax to a At-180 Icom tuner
to a IC-706MKIIG. On a bad night I can make contacts about the Mississippe
to Hawai, on a good night Europe and the Globe. If you have the room they
are one of the best antennas for the money invested. But you still have to
have a good location and a good ground, if your missing either there isn't
an antenna in the world that will help you. By the way I'm 147 feet above
sea level and my closest neighbouring amateur is 177 feet and his antenna is
30 feet above that, but I still out preform him hands down on any and all
bands.

Anyway this is what it's all about, haveing fun and making new friends.
73...de ve7agw, Al
Vancovuer Island, BC


"Michael" wrote in message
...
I get a lot of noise from my random wire antenna. It transmits very well
but is very noisy in receive. My neighbor put up a 280 foot loop antenna
which he feeds with ladder line. He feeds the ladder line from a 4 to 1
balun to coax. The coax comes from a tuner. His setup performs very well on
all bands down to 75 meters. I went over to his shack last night and
listened to his receiver on 75. I was really impressed with the lack of
noise. I can safely say the difference in noise was profound. He has this
loop surrounding his house at a 30 ft. height. It is arranged in a square.

Has anybody else had this experience with loops? It looks like I have room
to put up a triangular loop. Will this work as well?

Can I use the same tuner I have now and just feed a coax into a balun. Or,
should I put the balun in the tuner and come straight out with ladder
line? There is a lot of room in this tuner. It is an old remote controlled
tuner surplused from a ship.

Now that we have heard all the benefits of various loop antennas, I
have a question about the physical part of the antenna. I am planning
on erecting an 80 meter or perhaps 160 meter square loop antenna. The
question is how have you fixed the corners of your loop antenna? Can
the antenna wire move in the insulator so as to equalize the force on
each side? Or is the insulator in the corner fastened tightly to the
antenna wire? Also, what type of insulators are your using in the
corners? Ceramic compression? Glass, Other type ceramic? Anyone using
plastic insulators?

TIA
Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

wrote:
Now that we have heard all the benefits of various loop antennas, I
have a question about the physical part of the antenna. I am planning
on erecting an 80 meter or perhaps 160 meter square loop antenna. The
question is how have you fixed the corners of your loop antenna? Can
the antenna wire move in the insulator so as to equalize the force on
each side? Or is the insulator in the corner fastened tightly to the
antenna wire? Also, what type of insulators are your using in the
corners? Ceramic compression? Glass, Other type ceramic? Anyone using
plastic insulators?

TIA
Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

Hi Paul, Make the loop out of insulated stranded #14 wire from Home
Depot, Lowes ect.. The corners can be of UV resistant rope with a loop
in it. The wire will slide in the rope loop. Should handle a KW and
stay up a long time. Don't need glass, ceramic or any other type
insulator.
Gary N4AST

wrote:
Also, what type of insulators are your using in the
corners? Ceramic compression? Glass, Other type ceramic? Anyone using
plastic insulators?

Ceramic electric fence insulators are ideal for loop corners.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

Paul,
It really doesn't matter to much how you prepare or fix the corners. I
have used free floating and fastened down tight. If they are in the trees
sooner of later the wire will snap regardless of how you have the corners
prepared. The alpha-delta cin insulator from Radio Works $1.50 are very good
one to consider using.
Larry/W4LM
wrote in message
oups.com...
Now that we have heard all the benefits of various loop antennas, I
have a question about the physical part of the antenna. I am planning
on erecting an 80 meter or perhaps 160 meter square loop antenna. The
question is how have you fixed the corners of your loop antenna? Can
the antenna wire move in the insulator so as to equalize the force on
each side? Or is the insulator in the corner fastened tightly to the
antenna wire? Also, what type of insulators are your using in the
corners? Ceramic compression? Glass, Other type ceramic? Anyone using
plastic insulators?

TIA
Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

wrote in message
oups.com...
Now that we have heard all the benefits of various loop antennas, I
have a question about the physical part of the antenna. I am planning
on erecting an 80 meter or perhaps 160 meter square loop antenna. The
question is how have you fixed the corners of your loop antenna? Can
the antenna wire move in the insulator so as to equalize the force on
each side? Or is the insulator in the corner fastened tightly to the
antenna wire? Also, what type of insulators are your using in the
corners? Ceramic compression? Glass, Other type ceramic? Anyone using
plastic insulators?

TIA
Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

Hi Paul and the group,

I let my corners float and all I use are pvc 1/2 or 3/4 pipe 90 deg. elbows
with dacron rope tied to around them then flug over a tree. Been using this
method for years. No pulleys or extra fancy methods just rope and a elbow,
this way I can move the antenna around if I choose to change my feed point
at any time. Also allows for the stresses to even themselves out between the
trees depending on how the wind blows. Although one tree is a very small
sapling that stands about 40 feet high and the other three trees can pull it
via the antenna wire with no great effort at all. Also have enough slack in
the antenna to allow for rapid wind changes.
Everyone has a different method and most are very good and serve the purpose
they were intended to, one persons idea may not work in another area, but to
each his own method works otherwise there would be a lot of trial and error
going on, hi hi. Been there done that and got the hat to show for it to.
I'm fortunate in my area as I don't get much wind at all, although I have
used a similar method on the west coast of Vancouver Island with weighted
milk jugs instead of tying off the support line for two of the four support
lines.

73...de ve7agw, Al
Port Alberni, BC

Al, VE7AGW wrote:
"I have used a similar method on the west coast of Vancouver Island with
weighted milk jugs, instead of tying off the support line for two of the
four support lines."

I just heard Ray Price sing "For the Good Times" on KKYX, San Antonio,
680 KHz. The station is 200 miles from here. The sntenna is the built-in
loopstick in the radio. I listen 24 hours, all country msic, all the
time for more thann 32 years.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI