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.
Model BA-1-1500 is a 1:1 balun kit used to translate a 50 ohm unbalanced input to 50 ohms unbalanced at power levels up to 1500 watts PEP when used with a matched load. With a matched load the SWR will not exceed 1.5 over the frequency range 1.8 to 30 MHz. 1,500 PEP watt rating on a 25% duty cycle.
The kit consists of a F240 ferrite core, two colors of selected insulated wire, two SO-239 connectors (one for input and one for output connections) with stainless steel hardware, and an illustrated instruction manual with directions to assemble the kit as a 1 to 1 balun (unbalanced coax to balanced antenna/load) or unun (unbalanced to unbalanced). Leave one of the SO-239 connectors off on the output side and connect to your balanced antenna (dipole, beam driven elements, etc). To use as a line isolator/common mode choke, use both SO-239 connectors and insert in series with the coax feed line. For best results use one at the antenna and one for the rig side at the antenna tuner. The number of turns on the toroid can be changed to emphasize the low, mid or high portion of the 160-10 meter bands range as well as the choking impedance (see graph below). Assembly time is about 30 minutes. You can vary the number of turns to emphasize different frequency ranges.
BA-1-1500 Choking Z magnitude – 14 Turns and 10 Turns
Just add your custom enclosure, or optional enclosure box below, with the kit and you have a compete 1:1 current balun/unun.
