Topband: K6STI low noise receive loop

[Arthur Delibert]

Maybe I'm the only guy on the list that actually built one of these antennas.  I used it for 90-meter BC DX, and the results were spectacular.  Background noise dropped to a very low level, and I could get usable audio out of stations that were barely hets on my other antennas.  
 
A few notes:  I live in a densely populated suburban location, with lots of "casual" QRM all around -- i.e., not a few big noise sources, but a continual "fog" of computers, light dimmers, cars, power lines, etc., the cumulative effect of which we don't even realize until we have a chance to get rid of it.  In that situation, it worked really well.  And no reason to think it wouldn't also work with a few big noise sources around as well.
 
It's important that the antenna be as horizontal as you can make it.  (Not the 450-ohm line, just the 4 sides.) I had an old garage on the property that no longer had a roof and had no electricity running to it.  I used the tops of the remaining walls, which were still quite level, to make sure the sides of the antenna were horizontal.  (We moved from that house about 14 years ago.  My wife still can't quite believe that I miss that old, caved-in garage!)
 
Locate it as far as you can from the house and other possible noise sources.  I tried putting up a second one, but it picked up a noticeable amount of noise.  The only space I had for the second antenna was close to the house, and I think it degrades performance if one side of the square is much closer to a noise source than the other side.
 
I didn't have a Beverage for comparison, but I think it's probably true, as the article says, that your openings won't last as long using this antennas as they would with a Beverage.  
 
I now have two pennant antennas, one facing ESE and the other NNW.  They do a really nice job, but based on memory, I don't think they're as breathtakingly quiet as the horizontal square.  I don't have a location on my current property that would be as perfect as that old garage, but I'm thinking of building one in the best location that I do have, just to see what it'll do.
 
--Art Delibert, KB3FJO
 

 
> From: rodenkirch_llc at msn.com
> To: topband at contesting.com
> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 10:10:39 -0600
> Subject: Topband: K6STI low noise receive loop
> 
> 
> Has anyone employed that K6STI receive antenna?  It doesn't equal a Beverage, for sure, BUT - for a small footprint area it looks interesting.  I'd think it wouldn't matter if one used 450 ohm ladder line or 300 ohm twinlead for the connection between the opposite ends but...not sure if that's a good assumption. I need an alternate receive antenna as my vertical is, simply, too noisy but space is at a premium here.  I could put up a short BOG, maybe 200' long so think that K6STI loop might be a great idea. Thoughts?  72, Jim Rodenkirch K9JWV 		 	   		  
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