Hi all: I took another storage crate and wrapped a whole bunch of wire around it today to see how it might fare on the LW band. The results were downright amazing!
Passively coupled to a Sony 7600GR, the Crate Loop absolutely blows the doors off of my trusty Quantum Stick, and is noticeably better than a 28x42 inch air-core loop with 350 feet of wire on it. Pre-sunset beacons up in Canada were used for the testing. It works great with the receiver either inside the crate or butted up against the windings on the outside. I also have a Quantum Loop with the LW head, and when mating it passively to the Crate Loop, the signal level is head and shoulders above my roof-mounted H-900 whip: a faint signal on the whip is loud and clear with the Quantum/Crate Loop combo. Again, it works great with the Quantum Loop sitting inside the crate. Heres the specs: 61 turns of wire (about 280 feet of wire) spaced ~1/8 apart Winding area: 13 by 15 inches, 8-inch coil depth 14-390 pf varicap tuning range: 198 khz - 750 khz 23-870 pf varicap tuning range: 150 khz - 620 khz With 58 turns, range was about 203 khz -770 khz with the 14-390 varicap I actually ran out of wire, and probably could have gotten up to 70 turns or more on before starting to lose the upper part of the band at 530 khz. Therefore, I may be able to get closer to 150 khz with just the 14-390 varicap. Tuning is incredibly sharp, so much so that I need a varicap with a reduction gear or a small-value fine-tuning capacitor. 73 Kevin Schanilec Bainbridge Island, WA _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
