mag loop

[jon666]

anyone use a mag loop antenna. how does it perform. im thinking of getting one.
if its worth the high price. im talking the mfj mag loop not the qrp loops. its 10-30 meters

 

[2RT307]

Moleculo did a write up on one here that you might want to take a look at. I believe it was a Chameleon.

73,
Brett

 

[jon666]

Moleculo did a write up on one here that you might want to take a look at. I believe it was a Chameleon.

73,
Brett

the Chameleon. is a qrp loop. im talking about th

Moleculo did a write up on one here that you might want to take a look at. I believe it was a Chameleon.

73,
Brett

do you have the link i searched the site. could not find it
thanks

 

[2RT307]

http://worldwidedx.com/threads/review-of-the-chameleon-cha-f-loop-portable-antenna.192105/

I know there are some home brew ones that you can make for higher power, too.


73,
Brett

 

[jon666]

http://worldwidedx.com/threads/review-of-the-chameleon-cha-f-loop-portable-antenna.192105/

I know there are some home brew ones that you can make for higher power, too.


73,
Brett

thank you

 

[jon666]

thank you

ok got a question. i can mount it horz. or vertically. what is the better way.
im thinking vertically. am i wrong?

 

[VE3TMT]

ok got a question. i can mount it horz. or vertically. what is the better way.
im thinking vertically. am i wrong?

You can mount it either way.


Mag loops are very efficient if properly designed. The only downside is they are very very narrow banded. Great if you tend to park on one frequency, but if you are jumping around a band, say in a contest, you will be constantly retuning the antenna. I built one years ago out of 3/4" copper tube and a 10KV vacuum variable cap. It worked very well.

 

[jon666]

You can mount it either way.


Mag loops are very efficient if properly designed. The only downside is they are very very narrow banded. Great if you tend to park on one frequency, but if you are jumping around a band, say in a contest, you will be constantly retuning the antenna. I built one years ago out of 3/4" copper tube and a 10KV vacuum variable cap. It worked very well.

ok thanks

 

[Moleculo]

I have mixed feelings about the mag loop antenna, but I'll be up front and admit that my opinion is highly influenced by the Chameleon version.

First, the positives:

• The non-coax loop varieties are pretty damn efficient for their size.
• The components are simple, which means that they're pretty easy to home-brew
• They can be used in very limited space situations, such as inside or on a balcony.

Now the negatives:

• The coax-loop varieties are more portable, but are fairly inefficient. In my experience, they don't work that great as compared to other options.
• Commercial versions are pretty expensive and there are better options available for the cost.
• They can't handle very much power unless the capacitors used are quite large.
• Unless you use the coax-loop variety, they aren't very portable
• You can't mount them out of reach because you have to tune them at every frequency change

Often antenna reviews focus on efficiency, gain, radiation pattern, etc. These are all important considerations, but sometimes we lose sight of all of the other criteria we need to consider. With regard to the magnetic loop antenna, most of the other criteria outweighs the performance factors for my use-case.

 

[2RT307]

This one puts a big, goofy grin on my face. I just love radio stuff like this!



73,
Brett

 

[DainBramage]

... yeah, but,...... those multi Kv caps make GREAT bug zappers in the summer evenings