Topband: K6STI Loop

[Tom Rauch]

> I tried one several years ago and consider it a total waste of time.

I think this goes back to the fact the antenna is very difficult, if not
nearly impossible, to build as in theory. That means it may not always be
reproducible, except through luck.

Balance-critical systems with almost no sensitivity are not the most
repeatable designs. The very low sensitivity comes from the phasing and
polarization of close-spaced elements, and to make matters worse it is a
balanced antenna. Everything, even the earth, is trying to make the antenna
NOT work.

In a model, the earth is a perfect flat homogeneous media. The feed system
is perfectly balanced, and so is the antenna. There is absolutely no common
mode problem, the feed system is perfect.

You have no chance at all for that in the real world.

That does not mean it isn't worth trying, just that it isn't a preferred
type of design. After all, some people get excellent result using a 40 meter
dipole to receive on 160! Even if it improves reception, it still may not
have a pattern anything remotely like the model predicts.

73 Tom