Topband: "Magnetic Receiving Loop / small loop , brief summary.

[Brian Mattson]

>I recommend K1ZM's book for the historical background.

>I use an inverted-L transmitting antenna with not enough radials, but I was
able to work 87 countries in one night in the CQWW.

I also recommend K1ZM's book for beginners, not only for it's excellent
historical synopsis, but for its' coverage of multiple inverted L arrays.

Before the "complexity critics" start up, let me point out that a second
piece of wire is much cheaper than a bigger amplifier for transmitting, and
adds useful nulls for receiving purposes. I first read Jeffs' book in
Winter, but just couldn't wait to try out a pair of inverted L's until
Spring. So, I strapped on my snowshoes, dug out my EZ-Hang slingshot, and
put up my dual L array in the trees in a very short time. I made it wide
spaced for maximum gain & pointed it at Europe. As the ground was frozen, I
used the single elevated radial ( as described in John's book ), under each
L. Results were amazing!! Since then, I have decreased the spacing and added
an in/out of phase feature, so I have approximately equal gain with both
patterns. During warmer weather I added 16 short radials under each L. While
far from an optimum array, it yielded WAC that first Season & DXCC after the
second. Thanks for the ideas Jeff & John!

My advice to a newbie would be to forget about the "beginners' dipole" and
use that same amount of copper to construct an Inverted L with a single
elevated radial in the preferred direction. Have fun & add more later......

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year,

73,  Brian  K8BHZ