Random Loop Antenna. Post #1328.

If you can't view this video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KyjSzw31I.

For those of you who have some space in your backyard, a random loop antenna can offer some interesting possibilities.  When I was upgrading my new home in the Puna District of Hawaii Island a few years ago, I erected a 540-ft/164.53 meters horizontal loop on my property's spacious backyard, thanks to some 30-ft/9.146 meters Norfolk Pine Trees around the lot. The antenna generally followed the guidelines outlined in this video from Stan Gibilisco (W1GV).

The key components of this experimental antenna were a balanced "tuner" (or a 4:1 balun/"tuner" combination), balanced feed line, and a good ground system for your station.  In my case, I used some speaker wire left over from a radio station news room renovation (I was working as a news announcer at the time for KHLO-AM 850/KKBG-FM (97.9 MHz), a roll of 300-ohm television twin lead, a 4:1 current balun, and my trusty Drake MN-4 antenna transmatch (i.e. "tuner").
Performance on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter amateur radio bands was excellent, especially on local nets where low-level loops become good NVIS antennas.

If you follow Stan's guidelines, you can design, build, and use a random loop antenna with minimum expense and maximum pleasure.  If you do a lot of local or regional HF contacts, this antenna can deliver solid performance at a modest investment of time and effort.

For the latest Amateur Radio news and information, please visit these websites:

http://www.HawaiiARRL.info.
https://oahuarrlnews.wordpress.com.
https://bigislandarrlnews.com.
http://www.arrl.org.
http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news (a weekly podcast which is updated each Friday).
http://amateurradionewsinformation.com (Amateur Radio News & Information).

Other sites of interest:

Hawaii Science Digest (http://hawaiisciencedigest.com).
Hawaii Intelligence Digest (https://hawaiiintelligencedigest.com).
Hawaii Intelligence Daily (https://paper.li/f-1482109921).
Hawaii News Digest (https://prgnewshawaii.wordpress.com).

Be sure to check the blog sidebars for more antenna and propagation articles.

Opinions expressed in this blog are mine unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for joining us today.

Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).