Loop antennas may be constructed in many forms including horizontal full wave loops in square, rectangle or triangle (delta) shapes. They can also be in the vertical plane and are most often in the same shapes with the delta being very popular as it has both vertical and horizontal polarization. The impedance at the loop resonant frequency is approximately 100 ohms but will very slightly on harmonics. Loops are “quiet” antennas compared to verticals and dipoles and are omni-directional. The also exhibit gain on harmonic bands. Once you try a loop antenna you will know why they are so popular with old timers but still a secret to newcomers. Shown below are some typical designs:
Full Wave Horizontal Loop Antenna (a.k.a Skyloop)
This antenna is horizontally polarized and should be mounted as high as possible but works well at low heights of 10-30 feet. They are quieter than a dipole or a vertical, have a broader bandwidth and will usually out perform a dipole antenna.To determine the approximate circumference in feet of a full wave loop antenna use the formula:
1005/Freq in Mhz = length in feet.
The feed point impedance of a full wave loop antenna is theoretically in the vicinity of 120 ohms and requires a 2:1 impedance transformer (for single band loops or a 4:1 balun to match on multiple bands) with 50 ohm line. You will also need a feed line choke or better yet, just get the Hybrid 4:1+1:1 in a single box.
Vertical Delta Loops
Vertical delta loops can be oriented several way but the most popular is to have the “pointy” end at the top (usually a single support) and the lower horizontal ends just out of reach of humans and animals. Best feed point is 1/4 wavelength (246/f(mhz)) from the top point down one side. Vertical delta loops use the same 2:1 baluns as the horizontal loops or 4:1 for multi-band operation.
50:450 ohm (9:1) Balun or Unun Core Kit, 1.8-30 MHz, 250 watts PEP, end fed, T2FD antenna
Model BA-9-250 is a 9:1 balun/unun kit (assembly from parts supplied required) used to translate a 50 ohm input up to 450 ohms at RF power levels up to 250 watts PEP when used with a matched load. With a matched 450 ohm load the SWR over the frequency range 1.8 to 30 MHz is shown in the following table measured with an AIM 4170 network analyzer. Notice that the conversion from 450 to 50 ohms is very consistent from 1-31 MHz and SWR is less than 2:1 over most of the range allowing easy tuning by most radio internal antenna tuners or an external tuner. Graph is for a 9:1 unun often used with long wire or end fed antennas.
Radio Club idea:
Typical SWR curve for this project:
