K7ITM wrote:
Dave,

Assuming the 100uH is a standard ferrite rod type antenna, you can
likely give it a boost by winding just a couple turns (experiment: try
from one to five turns, for example) of wire around it, grounding one
end of that wire and extending the other end into a wire antenna
several feet long, up in the air as best you can. I'd suggest ten feet
minimum length, on up to maybe a hundred feet, but just do what you
can. You can connect the circuit common to a "ground" made up of a
ground rod driven into the earth, or just a wire on or close to the
earth. Experiment! You're not likely to hurt anything, so long as you
keep it away from power lines.


Tom,
Thanks again for the advice. I originally attached a 10ft wire
directly to the L-C loop, and that helped a lot. But I've read
somewhere that it's best to magnetically couple it instead of directly
attach. Why is that?

I figured out the background noise... I had a TV, 3 lights, and a fan
motor going within about 15 ft of me. The background noise dropped off
a lot once I cut them off.

Dave