To get the numbers I came up with, all you need is the equation for the
radiation resistance of a small loop and the resistance of copper wire.
It shouldn't be hard to find the equation for the small loop, and it's
very simple. At those frequencies, the resistance of the wire should be
nearly the same as the DC resistance, so all you need is a copper wire
table(*). Both should be readily available on the web.

Of course, if you want to know about other kinds of antennas and more
detailed effects like the field intensity in the presence of ground, the
equations can get difficult indeed, and some are too difficult to solve
directly. That's what the modeling programs are for.

(*) At higher frequencies or with much larger diameter wires, you'll
need to account for skin effect. This requires calculation of a square
root and can be done on a pocket calculator as can the others.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Ceriel Nosforit wrote:
On Sun, 01 Oct 2006 13:12:54 -0700, Roy Lewallen wrote:

Paul Keinanen wrote:

snip

The OP wondered if anybody had ever thought of this before. The answer
is yes, the first time probably well over a hundred years ago. Anyone
doing the simple calculations sees immediately why it's not a great idea.

Yes, I'm beginnig to see that now. However, I am learning a great deal
in the process, and the equations I have found to explain the issue in
detail don't seem simple at all. But if it was simple it wouldn't be
interesting, now would it?

Right now I'm looking at;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-field
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pattern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_zone

Lucky for me I'm trying to build up an interest in math. Cos here's plenty
of it...

Again, thank you all for your replies. It'll be a while until I really
have an intuitive understanding of the subject like you all do, but I am
patient.