Well, I was very unhappy with the non performance of a commercial AM antenna I purchased. The one I had bought claimed to be a "loop" but opening up the sealed black plastic case show it was not. And it didn't work. At all.
I made a quicky trash can parts loop antenna that is working great. Simply wrapped 5 turns of magnet wire around a rectangular piece of plastic cut from the bottom of a detergent jug.
I found this article (link below) about "The Ultimate AM Loop Antenna". As I was about to gather parts for it I found both a kit version and assembled version on eBay.
These "Ultimate Loop Antennas" are made by Jeff Burns. He has them on eBay quite often. They sell for $22 plus $7 shipping for the kit, and $33 plus $20 shipping for the assembled version. This antenna is 17" wide x 21" tall.
There is also a smaller assembled version for $26 plus $12.50 shipping. These prices are US Dollars. 9" wide x 11" tall. These are assembled.
I ordered the kit version. It just arrived today. All the wood was cut to size, edge of the base attractively routed, all holes drilled, and the wood nicely sanded. Screws and other hardware have an attractive bright brass or gold colored finish. Also included is wire for the loop, a terminal strip for connecting wiring, and a piece of 300 ohm twinlead to connect to your tuner or receiver. There are some clear plastic feet to go on the bottom of the base. There is even an instructional DVD.
All you need for the kit version is to stain and varnish. I checked the fit of the parts, and they fit perfectly. Right now the stain is drying overnight (I used Minwax stain). In the morning I will use a spraycan type poly acrylic varnish to seal it. This stuff dries in 30 minutes between coats.
After the poly coating dries it won't take 15 minutes to assemble. I'll be listening to AM by the time I finish my second cup of coffee. If it works as well (and should work better) than my "Jug-tenna" I will be a VERY happy camper!
Have the Ultimate AM Loop kit assembled, hooked up to my tuner and... SUCCESS! Pulling in daytime AM stations I have not heard before. Will see what happens tonight... but with what I am pulling in now, am very optimistic.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Yeah, I have the C Crane Select-A-Tenna which is a tuned loop. It pulls in radio from several hundred miles away. On many of my tube radios, I hand wound a loop similar to yours and placed it on a cardboard form. Works great! Most of my radios have a loop built-in, but a couple of them have a connector for an external antenna. I always put a loop on them. Best deal for the AM band.
Mainly wanting to hear some FM stations in the 45-60 mile range, but also wanted to get more than 2 AM stations. I couldn't understand why I had a dial full of AM stations in my car, but could only pick up two, and very poorly, in the house. The Godar Model 10 AM just did not work.
But the "Ultimate AM Loop Antenna" works like a charm. At night I am pulling in stations from all over... Atlanta, Georgia, Houston and Dallas area, even San Antonio, Tx. St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, and more.
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