[SECC] The week at AA4LR - K9AY loops

[Bill Coleman]

I had a few days off around Thanksgiving, so I got to work on some projects….

Wednesday, I put up some half-sized K9AY loops. 

Back in September 2007, I put up some small-sized K9AY loops with 33 feet of wire. They worked pretty well for a few years, but I took them down in January 2011 because they stopped working. Back then, I used a knob to change directions. I decided I wanted a pushbutton controller.

Just before the ARRL 160m in 2015, I developed a new controller, and put up a couple of 70 foot loops. The larger loops should be more effective on 160m. I had trouble getting the longer loops strung high enough in the tree. Some RF feedback problems surfaced, and the controller was entirely unreliable, so I took them down.

Third time is the charm. I developed a new controller using a PIC16F1503 micro-controller in 2017. It had wiring problems with the prototype, so I figured I had to develop a PC board. Never got that far. I fixed the wiring issues a week ago.

So, back up with the loops. I used 42 feet of wire this time, which is a good compromise length for 160, 80 and 40m. 

A little testing shows the loops to be as effective as I remember from 2007, on 80m and 160m, and no RF feedback problems. 

I hooked the loops to both the RX IN and AUX inputs, so I can use them both as RX antennas and for diversity reception against the transmit antenna.

I think I’m ready for the ARRL 160m.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901