SHORT & EASY MEDIUM WAVE LOOP ANTENNA

From: Ron Hardin 
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 1997 15:15:15 -0400
Organization: AT&T WorldNet Services
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave

Short and easy MW tuned loop construction, with Radio Shack parts:

Build an 18" square wooden frame, 2" wide, to wrap wire on; 
wrap 14 turns of thin insulated solid copper hookup wire around it 
(buy 100' of say #22 insulated wire, $5.00), spacing it out, and attach 
the ends to the leads of a variable capacitor.  (You can extract the variable 
capacitor from a Radio Shack crystal set kit $8.00)  Duct tape the capacitor 
to the wooden frame of the loop.

Done!

Place a radio inside the loop, tune to a station, and wiggle the capacitor 
knob for maximum; there's an amazing increase in signal strength DURING THE 
DAY.  There's not much effect seen at night because the signals are already 
too strong.

If the capacitor is too noisy when tuned (you have to wiggle for a sweet spot)?
You could get a real one from an old radio, or buy one also at Radio Shack. 
The variable capacitor should be 365 pf or higher value.

Removing a turn of wire raises the frequency range of the loop; adding
a turn lowers it.  The thing tunes slightly less than the whole band,

This at least gets you started and you can see what you'll get. 

You can also turn this into a crystal set by adding a high impedence 
earphone, and a diode.  Wire the earphone in series with the diode and 
place these in parallel across the capacitor/loop. 

--
Ron Hardin

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