I've built many MW loops over the years and have found that 9 turns on a 1m per side frame covers all of the band (you may need to lose a turn to cover the X band stations though). i used all wood for mine but with a similar method of cutting slots into the ends of the wood and winding. One thing you didn't mention was the use of a coupling loop so you can use the loop with radios that don't have a ferrite rod antenna (I think they are called 'loopsticks' over in your part of the world). I found that a 1m square was about the biggest I could comfortably use without it becoming unsteady or the loops beginning to sag. However, that may have been down to me being in my very early teens and not having great woodworking skills. Having tried a 5 foot per side loop, the signal pickup was incredible but it was unwieldy and needed a lot of free space to manoeuvre. I wouldn't attempt another that big for indoor use. a 1 foot per side worked well and required about 15-18 turns. The best loops are the spiral loops with all the turns wound in a single plane, with Litz wire. Difficult to do a good job on those. initially, they look easy, but to get them to work as intended takes time and practice. Keep up the good work. I found your common mode choke videos of particular interest. 73 de G4UCJ
Beautifully done Paul. The idea for using the angle aluminum cross-piece assembly and hose clamps to fasten the pvc arms makes putting this together really easy. Very clear demonstration of removing turns to move up the tuning range. Hey, I think I saw a few picofarads running loose on the floor so watch where you step! 73, Rob
Thank you Rob.. I value your opinion. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable in front of the camera. This is a experimental platform upon which one can build, tear down., and rebuild again. Or undo the hose clamps and pack it away till the next time the loop bug bites. 73 OM W1VLF
Thanks so much for this hard work and iterative method. I built a milk crate loop setup for commercial broadcast AM a few years back and am still amazed that it actually works. Your videos have made it possible for me to analyze and tune the system to not only optimize the commercial AM band, but also use the same crate for Long Wave with my Shortwave sets. Keep up the good work, and thanks again for Elmering! 73, KF5FHO
I am new to your channel,and I find your productions interesting,informative and a good practical solid demonstration of the fascination of this fine hobby!
Now thats a serious loop 😃! I do imagine building this and add a relaybox to select the # of vindings by taps to change frequency (-band) and a tuning capacitor with a little motor. 😁 Im glad I found your channel recently, its awesome. Sad the USA do not use LW for broadcast, its an amazing band. I dont remember to have ever experienced phasing and distortion like on MW and can receive stations 1000km away even at daytime with a build in standard stick. I will one day build a loop an play with it, for sure. Thank you and have a nice weekend.
What a fine visit to your lab! What a great demo for the would be loop builder. Nothing that you did here is beyond the skills of a good homebrewer. I have a broadcast loop that I built years ago, it works well. I’m interested in exploring this approach at higher frequencies. I guess I know where to start. Thanks, 73 de KE5TJ
You don't have to take turns off. You could just put taping in points on every or every other turn. The taps can be easily connected to a switching system for higher and lower frequency bands.
Hi, Paul thanks for this informative video. Having built lots of loops over the years I never really paid much attention to the capacitor layout, which wire went where. I see you added capacitance to the jig, maybe in a future video you could show us how you add the extra capacitance and how it's wired in on the jig, I think this is sometimes confusing to newbies. Thanks again keep the videos coming, Brian 2e0tcu, UK.
Could you successfully place a bunch of ferrite sticks at the center of a commercial loop antenna using cardboard or wood? On videos with very large supplementing ferrite antennas built from PVC piping and wire, I see ferrite sticks placed at the border of the ring, not the center. I believe that is an expensive layout compared to the purchase of a commercial loop antenna with an added ferrite core.
HI W1VLF, great video-thank you I am subscribed. What do you think about adding taps to that coil? It would be neat to sand off enamel at at various windings and clip on to it. Dave in Phx
Thank you David. I have tried using the loop that way. If your goal is a very sharp hi Q loop then I would not go that way. The extra turns seem to dampen the loops Q. But if you just want the extended tuning range , I say go for it.!! W1VLF
Well sort of..... I did gag video a while back, but in that video I have used flat ribbon cable to make a loop. You can check it out at ua-cam.com/video/gfWkIRzI2uw/v-deo.html
if the variable capacitor was 720 pF at most, then the antenna had 1795 uH at 30 turns, 1374 uH at 26 turns, 1086 uH at 22 turns, 880 uH at 18 turns, 563 uH at 14 turns, 287 uH at 12 turns. 250 or so is very normal.
gdm I've been watching ur videos ND I am looking for a short wave radio to buy do u have any around I can purchase? Just fit me up on here ND thank u in advance
Hi David.. That should work. It may be a little difficult to work with as that is very thin. You can always use the platform to adjust the frequency you want it to resonate as shown in the video. "Q" may suffer a little, but I say try it and experiment.. that's what its all about
Thanks for your advice Paul. I ended up trying some 24AWG stranded on a cross style wooden frame. One loop equals about 68", and I put 12 loops on so far. Its definitely working in the broadcast band. with my 3 -365 uf variable cap. Hope to get my scope tomorrow to help tune it. You opened up a new world of loops for me. Is this design what was called a "wave magnet" years ago?
I've built many MW loops over the years and have found that 9 turns on a 1m per side frame covers all of the band (you may need to lose a turn to cover the X band stations though). i used all wood for mine but with a similar method of cutting slots into the ends of the wood and winding. One thing you didn't mention was the use of a coupling loop so you can use the loop with radios that don't have a ferrite rod antenna (I think they are called 'loopsticks' over in your part of the world). I found that a 1m square was about the biggest I could comfortably use without it becoming unsteady or the loops beginning to sag. However, that may have been down to me being in my very early teens and not having great woodworking skills. Having tried a 5 foot per side loop, the signal pickup was incredible but it was unwieldy and needed a lot of free space to manoeuvre. I wouldn't attempt another that big for indoor use. a 1 foot per side worked well and required about 15-18 turns. The best loops are the spiral loops with all the turns wound in a single plane, with Litz wire. Difficult to do a good job on those. initially, they look easy, but to get them to work as intended takes time and practice. Keep up the good work. I found your common mode choke videos of particular interest. 73 de G4UCJ
Beautifully done Paul. The idea for using the angle aluminum cross-piece assembly and hose clamps to fasten the pvc arms makes putting this together really easy. Very clear demonstration of removing turns to move up the tuning range. Hey, I think I saw a few picofarads running loose on the floor so watch where you step! 73, Rob
Thank you Rob.. I value your opinion. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable in front of the camera. This is a experimental platform upon which one can build, tear down., and rebuild again. Or undo the hose clamps and pack it away till the next time the loop bug bites. 73 OM W1VLF
Thanks so much for this hard work and iterative method. I built a milk crate loop setup for commercial broadcast AM a few years back and am still amazed that it actually works. Your videos have made it possible for me to analyze and tune the system to not only optimize the commercial AM band, but also use the same crate for Long Wave with my Shortwave sets.
Keep up the good work, and thanks again for Elmering!
73,
KF5FHO
I am new to your channel,and I find your productions interesting,informative and a good practical solid demonstration of the fascination of this fine hobby!
Thank you Colin... I am not a spoke person or fancy salesman.. Just practical stuff.. your comments hits home with me..W1VLF
Great video, as always, Paul. Job well done. Keep up the great work.
Thanks Ken... Part 2 is coming up soon
Now thats a serious loop 😃!
I do imagine building this and add a relaybox to select the # of vindings by taps to change frequency (-band) and a tuning capacitor with a little motor. 😁
Im glad I found your channel recently, its awesome.
Sad the USA do not use LW for broadcast, its an amazing band. I dont remember to have ever experienced phasing and distortion like on MW and can receive stations 1000km away even at daytime with a build in standard stick. I will one day build a loop an play with it, for sure.
Thank you and have a nice weekend.
Before gluing PVC, dry-fit the two pieces and place a line-up mark on each piece.
What a fine visit to your lab! What a great demo for the would be loop builder. Nothing that you did here is beyond the skills of a good homebrewer. I have a broadcast loop that I built years ago, it works well. I’m interested in exploring this approach at higher frequencies. I guess I know where to start. Thanks, 73 de KE5TJ
Thank you Paul, I appreciate the comment.. Start experimenting!!! W1VLF
You don't have to take turns off. You could just put taping in points on every or every other turn. The taps can be easily connected to a switching system for higher and lower frequency bands.
Hi, Paul thanks for this informative video. Having built lots of loops over the years I never really paid much attention to the capacitor layout, which wire went where. I see you added capacitance to the jig, maybe in a future video you could show us how you add the extra capacitance and how it's wired in on the jig, I think this is sometimes confusing to newbies. Thanks again keep the videos coming, Brian 2e0tcu, UK.
Thank you for sharing your experiment Paul !
my best 73 !
Thank you Sir...!! W1VLF There is a part 2 coming soon. Thank you for taking the time to comment
Great job my friend ...
I used plastic fruit crates as a frame ...
Compliments.
73. Giuseppe iz0gzw.
Congrats on 1000+ subs!!!
Hi Ray.. Thank you !!!
Hello Paul. Could you share image on how do you solder (connect) wires to two section capacitor with a switch, please?
Hi Paul, excellent video!
Thank you Sir...!! W1VLF
73, Francesco - IN3XZP
Great video, thanks for making this. Have you experimented with transmitting with the new low bands using a set-up like this ?
Could you successfully place a bunch of ferrite sticks at the center of a commercial loop antenna using cardboard or wood? On videos with very large supplementing ferrite antennas built from PVC piping and wire, I see ferrite sticks placed at the border of the ring, not the center. I believe that is an expensive layout compared to the purchase of a commercial loop antenna with an added ferrite core.
HI W1VLF, great video-thank you I am subscribed. What do you think about adding taps to that coil? It would be neat to sand off enamel at at various windings and clip on to it. Dave in Phx
Thank you David. I have tried using the loop that way. If your goal is a very sharp hi Q loop then I would not go that way. The extra turns seem to dampen the loops Q. But if you just want the extended tuning range , I say go for it.!! W1VLF
Have you tried using 40 way computer ribbon cable, staggered in a loop and tapped every couple of turns?
Well sort of..... I did gag video a while back, but in that video I have used flat ribbon cable to make a loop. You can check it out at ua-cam.com/video/gfWkIRzI2uw/v-deo.html
Very Very thank you Sir ji 😊👌👆🙏
if the variable capacitor was 720 pF at most, then the antenna had 1795 uH at 30 turns, 1374 uH at 26 turns, 1086 uH at 22 turns, 880 uH at 18 turns, 563 uH at 14 turns, 287 uH at 12 turns. 250 or so is very normal.
Hola muy buen video. Are una antena. Para mi radio gracias por compartir los conocimientos
Thank you Sergio ! W1VLF
Putting stress on the ol' 'Group W' bench today!!! : )
LOL.. Yes.. pressing the Group W bench back into service!! Look for part 2 soon....
73 beaux montage mais dommage pour les serflex a voir pour du tube thermos rétractable serais plus joli
gdm I've been watching ur videos ND I am looking for a short wave radio to buy do u have any around I can purchase? Just fit me up on here ND thank u in advance
Very helpful experiment Thank you
de 4S6MNJ, 73
Hi Paul, I've got a roll of 32AWG magnet wire...that should be fine I'm guessing for receiving?
Hi David.. That should work. It may be a little difficult to work with as that is very thin. You can always use the platform to adjust the frequency you want it to resonate as shown in the video. "Q" may suffer a little, but I say try it and experiment.. that's what its all about
Thanks for your advice Paul. I ended up trying some 24AWG stranded on a cross style wooden frame. One loop equals about 68", and I put 12 loops on so far. Its definitely working in the broadcast band. with my 3 -365 uf variable cap. Hope to get my scope tomorrow to help tune it. You opened up a new world of loops for me. Is this design what was called a "wave magnet" years ago?
Great video keep them coming and you’ve got your 1k 👍VE6KDX
Thank You Sir... I just hit the 1 K mark... Keep looking I think there will be part 2 coming today ot tomorrow
LOL.. Yes.. pressing the Group W bench back into service!! Look for part 2 soon....