Pete I have been using a coaxial receive loop on 160 meters since 2003.
Between 1998-2003 I lived on three acres in the country with no powerline or
any other local QRN. I was able to listen to DX on my transmit tee antenna
with no problem.
In 2003 I had to move and the location of the new QTH ended up being in a
noisy suburban subdivision on 1/4 acre. There I put up a 1/4 wave wire
inverted L and the local QRN on receive was S9+10 at times. So in
desperation I built one of the 8 foot diameter coaxial receive loops.
http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o14.htm .With the loop I could hear DX again!
In 2005 I bought my present house on 1/3 of an acre in a suburban
subdivision and there was no powerline or any other local QRN, simply
amazing. I put up a 1/4 wave inverted L with a 40 foot vertical section and
once again could hear DX on my transmit antenna. I did install the 8 foot
diameter coaxial receive loop again and found that it was never better on
receive than the transmit antenna and at times not as good.
However beginning in 2006 the local QRN level began creeping up and by 2008
was S9+5, so the receive loop became a lifesaver once again. Unfortunately
during the summer 2009 thunderstorm season a big oak tree branch came
crashing down on the receive loop and destroyed it.
In October 2009 I put up a 1/4 wave coaxial inverted L for transmit
http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o10.htm and that knocked the QRN on receive
down to about S7 but still not good enough to hear weak DX. I'm now
contemplating putting up a flag receive antenna.
So in my personal experience if you can hear DX on your transmit antenna the
receive loop will not outperform the transmit antenna. That's my story and
I'm sticking to it.
73 & GUD DX,
Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O
Lakeland, FL, USA
nz4o@arrl.net
NZ4O Amateur & SWL Radio Autobiography: http://www.nz4o.org
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160 meters is a serious band, it should be treated with respect. - TF4M
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