N7OQ
08-22-2009, 01:35 PM
I have been looking for a replacement for my Buddipole antenna while camping. The Buddipole is a good antenna but I'm tired of taking it down to change bands and finding enough room in the campsite to set it up.
So I came across the Magnetic loop antenna. It is a small loop that comes close to the same efficiency of a full size dipole. Because it works on the magnetic part of the wave it does not pick up electrical noise so it is very quite. A 3 foot dia loop can tune 14 to 30 mhz.
There are some down falls since it has a very high Q it need to be re-tuned every few khz of freq change. But can be tuned remotely also it can produce some very high voltages so it need to be away from people.
Anyway I plan on building a 3 foot one out of 3/4" copper pipe and can be remote tuned and broken down to 1.5' x 3' for storing in the trailer. So if anyone is interested in this project I will keep the forum posted on my progress and how well it works. If you have used one let me know what you think.
So I came across the Magnetic loop antenna. It is a small loop that comes close to the same efficiency of a full size dipole. Because it works on the magnetic part of the wave it does not pick up electrical noise so it is very quite. A 3 foot dia loop can tune 14 to 30 mhz.
There are some down falls since it has a very high Q it need to be re-tuned every few khz of freq change. But can be tuned remotely also it can produce some very high voltages so it need to be away from people.
Anyway I plan on building a 3 foot one out of 3/4" copper pipe and can be remote tuned and broken down to 1.5' x 3' for storing in the trailer. So if anyone is interested in this project I will keep the forum posted on my progress and how well it works. If you have used one let me know what you think.