This article uses a report of an experimental small transmitting loop (STL) for 20m to demonstrate application of the calculator Calculate small transmitting loop gain from bandwidth measurement to predict efficiency and gain of the circular STL from the loop radius, conductor radius and measured half power bandwidth. Continue reading Efficiency / gain of a Small Transmitting Loop – a worked example
Category: Small Transmitting Loops
Efficiency and gain of Small Transmitting Loops (STL)
Small Transmitting Loops (STL) are loops of less than about 0.1λ in diameter or about 0.3λ in circumference. Below these limits, the current around the loop is almost uniform and this permits a simplified analysis.
STL are commonly known by Hams as “magnetic loops”, but that term is rarely used in recognised antenna text books.
The efficiency and free space gain of a circular STL can be easily estimated by calculation from simple measurements. Continue reading Efficiency and gain of Small Transmitting Loops (STL)
Mag loop or radiating dummy load?
There is a seemingly endless series of articles on small transmitting loops on the cheap.
(eHam 2014) is another, it describes a so-called magnetic loop for transmitting on 14.2Mhz using 4.57m of 2.6mm copper wire for the main loop. The author reports the bandwidth of the finished antenna as 100kHz. One of the claimed benefits is that with such wide bandwidth, a variable tuning capacitor is not required.
Small transmitting loop review
I saw a recent ‘maker’ video describing a small transmitting loop for 40m.
The loop used a 3m length of 19mm copper pipe formed into a circle, and at the gap where the ends almost meet, a tuning capacitance is synthesised using coaxial cable.
Above is a screen shot from Reg Edwards loop design program. It calculates the radiation resistance at 0.005Ω, loss resistance of the loop at 0.035Ω, capacitance to resonate it of 206pF (Xc=108Ω), and a bandwidth of 3.2kHz.