Re: [Elecraft] Loop antenna's
Howdy to all, I don't think anyone will question the fact that a good antenna system is one of the most important factors in a ham station being able to communicate efficiently particularly when using qrp power levels. While I would agree that a full length dipole antenna, or beam antenna would be preferable to a smaller 3' loop antenna, in my case that is not only impractical but impossible at my home qth since I live in a high rise building that has steel supports throughout the building instead of wooden studs. This effectively makes the interior of my high rise apartment inside of a faraday rf shield and prevents most radio signals from radiating or receiving when using an antenna inside of my apartment. This means an antenna has to be mounted outside of the apartment, and the balcony is the only area available to install an antenna. With such a limited area to install an amateur antenna, I find the MFJ 3' loop to be one of the better alternatives to be able to operate my ham station on the hf bands, and still be able to change bands and tune the antenna remotely with the MFJ Remote Control Unit. With the myriad of various CCR's and antenna restrictions around the USA, many hams are forced to utilize compromise antenna systems to operate from their home qth, and finding the best alternative antenna configuration for an individual ham's location can be challenging. Therefore, I am very pleased with the various Loop antennas available from various ham vendor sources, since it allows many hams the capability to get on the air, when they might not be able to do so without the smaller loop antennas. Before deciding that hf ham radio operation is not feasible from an antenna restricted location, I would encourage a person facing such restrictions to seriously consider trying a loop antenna. 73, --Bill - K6IH- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] OT mfj 1786 loop antenna
Howdy, I have an MFJ-1788 Loop (40M - 15M Version of the MFJ-1786 Loop) that I use from the high rise apartment where we live in San Antonio, Texas. I have a South facing second story apartment balcony where my antennas are mounted. I use the MFJ loop on both my Elecraft KX3 and my Yaesu FT-817ND, and I have worked over 30 countries in less than 3 weeks running qrp powers of 1 watt to 2.5 watts after initially installing the loop on our apartment balcony. Two nights ago, I worked Amateur Radio Station IT9PKO in Italy (6135 miles from my QTH at San Antonio, Texas) using my Elecraft KX3 running 1 Watt output power using BPSK-31 mode on 20 Meters. I love the antenna, and it works flawlessly. I have mine horizontally mounted since the antenna is mounted more than 20 feet height above ground level. While I am sure the AlexLoop works well, I really like the MFJ Loop because of its Remote Control Tuning System, the power and swr meter on the remote control unit, and the capability to tune the antenna from within our residence. If you want to use your ham station in an apartment or on an apartment balcony with limited antenna options available to you, and want a remote control tuning capability, I don't think either model of the MFJ 3' loops can be beat. If you would like to see pictures of how I have my antenna mounted, you can view my setup on my web site http://www.roti.net/index.html . If you have any specific questions that might not be of interest to the mailing list, you are most welcome to contact me off list. 73, --Bill - K6IH- k...@arrl.net __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
