Topband: Full wave Loop on 160

[W9UCW@aol.com]

<What is consensus of opinion re:  full wave loop on 160. Cloud burner? 
Advantages ?  <Disadvantages  ?  
<Would only be 50' above ground.  

<Thanks for the  input..  Robert  WA3GGM
<
<And Tom said:  " Loops are a  good
<example of  "feel good" antennas that are surrounded  by
<exaggeration and love."
 
<Then Earl said:  " It might be useful for short  skip (straight up,
<straight down) propagation"
 
Dear Robert,  
 
I'm afraid you may be misled by some  "over stated" gloomy pronouncements 
concerning the lack of effectiveness of  big horizontal loops on 160, and other 
bands for that matter. Rather than argue  theory, or make any "feel good" 
statements, I would like to give you some  results of loops I have used. I should 
say first that 15 years ago I would have  predicted different results than 
these. Perhaps that was in part due to the fact  that I had used quarter wave 
verticals with great success for 25 years previous  to that time. Maybe that's the 
"feel good" syndrome mentioned by  W8JI.
 
In 1990 I put up a 160 full wave  square horizontal loop on 50' wood poles 
surrounding our newly purchased home in  south Texas. It was fed with open wire 
line at a corner. My intent was for it to  be a receiving antenna for 160 and 
a utility antenna for the other bands. Being  a loop it had even less vertical 
field than a dipole, I surmised, and would  be relatively quieter. I planned 
to put up a 70 ft. tower with my  XYL's beam on top and use it as a top loaded 
vertical for transmitting on 160  and 80. I didn't believe that anything 
other than a vertical would get the job  done.
 
I was pleased to find that the  loop was very quiet and that I could hear DX 
with no problem. What  surprised me was that once my wife  prodded me to call 
the DX, I had no  trouble being heard, also. That was a shocker! 
 
I was not real active in the  90's and in fact in several of those years I 
only spent an  hour  or two on the air. I'm a rather "casual" DXer anyway. 
Nevertheless, in 12  years, using that loop, I  worked 91 countries on all 
continents on 160. I  never ran over 500 watts. I found, when I compared them, that 
beverages and  pennants, which worked well, didn't hear the DX any better than 
the loop at that  location.
 
Finally, about 2000 I put up that  tower as a vertical. My wife had sold her 
beam, because the loop worked so much  better for her activity on 40, 20, and 
15. So I used other methods to top load.  It only beat out the loop 10% of the 
time, and that was mostly for Carribean  stations.
 
These results were not flash in the  pan stuff. For example, over that period 
I had about 250 JA QSO's, logging 168  different JA callsigns. Europe was 
similar.
 
A year ago we moved to a new place a  little further away from town. Late 
last August I put up a new horizontal loop.  It is a little over two wavelengths 
around on 160--about 1150', and it's 60' up  on wood poles over farmland.  
Here are the results for 160, using 500 watts  and the same antenna for receiving 
and transmitting. I started out a bit slowly  'cuz I was still busy with the 
new home, but I've been able to spend a few more  hours a week as the season 
has progressed.
 
In August, KH6, LA3, &  DF2.
 
In September, UA0, DF2 IV3, VK (6  stns) FK, KH6, V63 (twice), & JA. 
 
In October, JA (5 stns). HA (2), SM  (4), PA, DL (2), SP, F, G (3), PJ2, CO, 
FP, TI (2), HC8, KH7, &  ZL.
 
In November, KH6, ZK1, UT7 (2 stns),  HA (4 stns). YL2, IV3, RA0, VP2E, JA (7 
stns), DL (2), UX, SP, OK (2), F, G (2),  5T5, 3E1, PJ2, P40, RA6, VK, KV4, 
UA6, YU, RU1, ON4, YV1, &  HC8.
 
In December, RA6, JA (6 stns), I (6  stns), 9H1, DL (8 stns), SV (twice), G 
(5 stns), 9A (3 stns), HL3, KL7, UA6, KH6  (2 stns), SM (3 stns), LA0, EA3, OM 
(2 stns), HB9, FO, RK1, UA2, SN7Q, LY, OK,  OH0R, SO2R, YV5, & HR.
 
In January, YU, ON (2 stns), GW3, LU,  RK3, G (2), LY, OZ, SP (2), OH, SM, 
LA, I, VK (5), HA, OM, KL7, OE, DL, XE, KH6,  EA8, RA6, PJ, JA (3), RA3, KP2, 
9A, UU, C6, & CT.
 
In February, and so far in March, JA  (34 stns), OM, HB, CT, SV, 4X4, HR, 
KP2, 4N7, AL7, VK, 9V1, OK, PJ, I, 3D2, G,  & DL.
 
My friend, Allan, W9YYG, came down in  January and operated the CQ160CW test. 
He made 525 contacts and worked 27  countries. I thought that was pretty good 
for a modest station and one antenna  made of #18 wire. (Sorry, that sounds 
like a "feel good" comment if I ever heard  one.)
 
Robert, I suggest that you decide for  yourself. Don't be deterred by the 
crepe hangers.......nor should you be overly  expectant based on my results. 
Maybe it won't work that way for you. Or, on the  other hand, you may want much 
better results than these.
 
Some learned folks I have talked to,  say the success of the horizontal loop 
may be related to certain locations and  the magnetic flux patterns of the 
earth. Could be, but I have helped put them up  for friends accross the country 
and so far, all those locations seem  similar.....but that's rather subjective.
 
Good luck, Robert, and BTW, don't  forget to use a good balanced tuner on the 
loop, if you put it up. 
 
73, Barry,  W9UCW