"Jim" wrote in message ...
You can build your own but it's actually not worth it.
--
Ron Hardin



I beg to differ about loops that you build are not worth it.
I designed and built many MW loops that are as good or better in some ways
that the Kiwa loop. The problems with homemade loops is poor construction.
This link has pictures of loops that I built.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~jadale/M...20Antennas.htm

Jim

I agree....My homemade loops are better for my uses than what you can
buy. I can design any feature I want, and generally they are bigger
and deliver more voltage than most storebought. I built two more loops
yesterday just farting around. "Both for longwave". Maintaining
balance is the secret to success. Also, I did an experiment on mine a
couple of days ago. I've been using a simple coupling loop on mine
lately, but do have a shielded coax coupling loop also. "IE: the coax
shield is cut in the middle at the top". One had mentioned an
advantage to using a shielded loop vs a non shielded. Well, I tried
both feeding my 12 turn 16 inch round loop. No difference whatsoever
in noise, or null depth. I had never noticed much difference with
single loops of each type either if you were careful to detail.
So far, I have not been able to see much of an advantage to a shielded
loop vs unshielded as long as you are careful with balance. They seem
to work about the same here.
I'll never buy any antenna. For the prices they charge for a loop, I
could build a house full of them, and do. I noticed the guy that makes
the little wooden ones, and sells on e-bay got like about $85 for the
one he listed recently. Good grief...Most of the money is for the
fancy woodwork I assume..But electrically, his loops are inferior to
my mine. Mine was free, except for the price of the wire. I know of
no storebought loop that provides the exact performance of my usual
"general use" 16 inch loop. IE: provides coverage from 500-2000 hz to
include 160m. The freq coverage of the one on e-bay was less as an
example.
But I do agree on one thing. Properly built, a loop is a loop is a
loop. If you have one that is working well on a certain freq, and has
good nulls and enough voltage, there is little to gain by trying
another one. My next project??? I wanna design a *small* terminated
loop if it's possible. Kind of a rotatable *baby* K9AY loop. I'm not
sure if it will work or not though. I'm wondering if it's feasable to
terminate a normal multi-turn loop, and make it unidirectional by
inserting a terminating resister on one side. I really need a ground
point to tie the terminating resister to...Maybe not, as so far I have
trouble making it work. If not, I'll try building a normal smaller
K9AY outside I guess...
Oh yea...A last comment...Long wires on MW are just great if you like
4 stations at one time...:/ A loop is much better if you want
directivity and the ability to null out unwanted stations or noise.
MK