Some questions on mounting an HF loop antenna outside my home.

[racin06]

I've had some success constructing my own indoor loop antennas. I'm now ready to experiment with mounting one outside of my home. I have a few questions:

1. How far away from my house should I install the loop to avoid electrical interference? My back yard is
60 feet in length from my house to my property line.

2. How high should I install the loop? Keep in mind that my homeowners association may not like my loop; therefore, the more lower to the ground and stealthier the better.

3. I need to make the loop installation portable and able to be broken down and removed quickly. Any ideas on how this can be accomplished?

Also, I'd rather not install the loop on my roof or in my attic. I would rather install the loop in my backyard.

All replies will be highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[racin06]

Also, my loop antenna I plan to install outside is 4 feet in diameter.

 

[specman]

It sounds like you have a plan you're working from already. Is this one of the wire-wrapped cross-brace type varieties you're going to make? I had one of those once, it worked quite well inside actually but would have been hard to implement outdoors due to the tuning capacitor being used.

I also used an AEA Isoloop once for reception - worked extremely well even at a low 4' above ground level. Although it could be mounted horizontal or vertical, I found better reception with it mounted horizontal. These units look like a single band of metal bent into a loop with a tuning module in the centre.

Be aware that all loops exibit extremely Hi-Q, meaning that the bandwidth at a given resonant frequency will be very narrow. This is why most loops will have a means to "tune" it. If you put your loop outside, you will have to think of this aspect. Most of the HAM type ones use a remote controller to do the adjustments.

 

[kb2vxa]

1. How far away from my house should I install the loop to avoid electrical interference? My back yard is
60 feet in length from my house to my property line.

2. How high should I install the loop? Keep in mind that my homeowners association may not like my loop; therefore, the more lower to the ground and stealthier the better.

Considering it's for receive only, running it around the back yard property line a foot or two off the ground should keep it out of sight (if you have a privacy fence all the better) and keep the noise down, hams do it all the time. I would experiment with it's height above ground a bit since rearranging it is easy in the experimental stage to find the best signal to noise ratio. BTW, I always do my antenna work in the wee hours of the morning to avoid stares, incidental lighting and good night vision is a great combination and I work quietly.

Take note of what our visitor from outer space wrote, if you notice any "holes" in it's frequency coverage even with a tuner (you must use the balanced terminal configuration) you can always snip an end and use it as a random wire. That sort is a bit easier to tune and you may not even need a tuner but it does help. Oh, that Isoloop is expensive and you need one for each Amateur band, it's not good for SWLing. I wouldn't toss that much cash around just for listening but it has one neat advantage, your neighbors will mistake it for a bird feeder.

 

[specman]

Take note of what our visitor from outer space wrote, if you notice any "holes" in it's frequency coverage even with a tuner (you must use the balanced terminal configuration) you can always snip an end and use it as a random wire. That sort is a bit easier to tune and you may not even need a tuner but it does help. Oh, that Isoloop is expensive and you need one for each Amateur band, it's not good for SWLing. I wouldn't toss that much cash around just for listening but it has one neat advantage, your neighbors will mistake it for a bird feeder.

Nice commentary.

It sounded to me like he was interested in building a compact loop design, not a wire loop around the yard.

Agreed that the Isoloop is too expensive for SWL, however I offered it as an example. Besides, the design itself is interesting and not that hard to replicate based on plans on the internet or other sources.... and for various frequencies. Based on my experience a compact loop can make a fairly decent SWL antenna.

 

[leftystrat]

loops

I've had some success constructing my own indoor loop antennas. I'm now ready to experiment with mounting one outside of my home. I have a few questions:

1. How far away from my house should I install the loop to avoid electrical interference? My back

Can't specifically answer the questions, but I can tell you I've had some decent luck with indoor coaxial loops. I have an approx 24' square one against a wall that does really well. There's a short hop to a tuner or preamp, and that's it.

I tried taking one up one floor with a portable, but didn't do too much better.