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He has actually built this antenna; it works; and he uses it often. Perhaps you might want to build one for yourself. As an added bonus, Bob is an excellent writer (in my not-so-humble opinion). What’s not to like?
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dale Parfitt, who writes:
I wanted to mention a receive only antenna that I am using at my home QTH. I do a lot of NDB logging during the winter below 500kHz, some AM band DXing and 160M. In the past I have had Beverages, homebrew Flag antennas, Shared Apex Loop Array and now last month I installed the new Quiet Radio AziLoop:
With the Array Solutions Model AS-SAL, I could electrically rotate in 45 degree increments and also flip the direction by 180 or make it bidirectional. Click here to download the manual (PDF).
You can read the features of the AziLoop on Dave’s site. But the outstanding feature is rotating electrically every 5 degrees and 2 modes- small RX loop and K9AY. In K9AY mode I can achieve up to 30dB F/B and the rear null is very sharp. If it did not rotate in 5 degree increments, you would not even see the rear nulls.
But here is where it really stands out. The K9AY design, like the flags and Ewes, has a terminating resistance. By varying the value of that resistance via the AziLoop App, one can achieve skywave nulls. The value of that terminating resistance changes from day to night etc. So using that feature, I can often reduce co-channel or adjacent channel QRM or thunderstorm QRN. Small loops (aka magnetic loops) cannot do that. They are omnidirectional to skywaves.
Anyway, I mention this as some of your site readers both ham and SWL might find it interesting.
I built mine from telescoping fiberglass poles and it is completely standalone- no loops on the ground stakes etc.
I have no commercial relationship with Quiet Radio- just a very satisfied client.
Thank you for sharing this, Dale. I was not aware of the Aziloop. Fascinating!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who shares the following antenna project:
Dear Thomas and Friends of the SWLing Post,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè from Formia, central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
After the DICA prototype I created another one called DICA 2 The Revenge!
This other minimal antenna works differently from the prototype. It is shorter, has 3, 12 cm ferrites inside and has the sensors soldered inside in reverse on the telephone cable strap. It works coupled to a metal surface because it uses magnetic induction unlike the prototype.
In the videos you can see the differences between the prototype and the DICA 2…
and the yield on the highest ranges.
This small minimal antenna can tune listening from 3.5 to 30 MHz.
Thanks to you and greetings to all the Friends of SWLing Post.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:
Dear Thomas and SWLingPost Friends,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw,
Many friends have asked for the DICA wiring diagram after my recent post and demonstration.
I’m not a technician but a simple passionate listener and qrp’er… I made this video with a drawing that I hope will be useful to understand the details and how it works…
[Please note that this video is in Italian, but you can use YouTube Closed Captioning; it can even translate the subtitles into English or any other language.]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who shares the following antenna project:
Dear Thomas and SWLing Post Friends ,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè, iz0gzw, from Central Italy, Formia on the Tyrrhenian Sea…
Some time ago I had drawn this minimal HF antenna on paper…
I took advantage of the New Year’s Eve rain to be able to build it with the usual leftover scraps…
The system consists of a 35 cm tube with two separate windings of telephone cable on it, 2.5 m on each side, green and white…in the center I connected the 4 ends to X…
The green lead with the white and the white with the green to the variable capacitor and the other two leads to the RG58 cable that goes to the receiver.
I started the test and noticed that the agreement was possible from 7 to 21 MHz…
I then placed a long ferrite inside the tube…
I noticed a strengthening of the signal and consequently of the noise picked up and the chord dropped to 3.2 MHz.
Tests inside my shack showed decent reception on all ranges…in the evening on the balcony on 80 m. I could perfectly listen to a QSO between Italian stations.
Everything is still in the experimental phase and I think I will try this minimal system also in QRP transmission.
In this first video I explain how this minimal antenna is made:
The second video concerns a 20 meter test by car. The antenna is placed on the dashboard of the car inside:
In the third video, I explain how it works without the ferrite and with the ferrite inside the tube:
In this video you can see the test on 40 m. outdoors on the roof of the house:
The tests are carried out at home in order to understand what can be achieved in an environment that is difficult to receive.
I will do more outdoor tests and I think this small minimal antenna will receive better. I will keep you informed.
Thank you all for your attention and I wish you all a new year full of satisfaction.
’73 de Giuseppe iz0gzw.
Fascinating, Giuseppe! I love all of these brilliant little antennas you design out of your “junk” drawer! We look forward to hearing more about this antenna and any modifications you make to it!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who writes:
Happy Holidays to Y’all!!! Thomas, I have bought about 5 antennas from the eBay seller”Lowbander” over the last few years. […]They are well constructed, strong and really bring in signals on the fringe. He has a small operation, I believe, but dedicated to making the best antennas he can. His antennas will last through storms and such but grab signals like a fly on honey, no kidding. Perhps other SWLing Post members don’t know of these excellent antennas at what I think is a good deal and worth the cost for years in the air. Thanks.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Martin Tobisch, who shares the following guest post and videos from his home in Malta:
New AM Signal Coupler
Many AM medium wave listeners are looking for solutions to improve the reception performance of their radios.
After many attempts, which I don’t want to entertain anyone with, a coupler was created that feeds the external antenna directly into the ferrite antenna. I use my 66 foot long wire antenna on 50 ohm RG-58 cable, but other antennas will have similar success.
The clips available on YouTube speak for themselves:
https://youtu.be/FIylJk3F9Xk?si=Kp7SowdUXI5i5QAV
https://youtu.be/RHAla9jPoi8?si=VoG3w274k08Ul8Q4
Experiments with smaller ferrites and antenna rods met with no success. It is important that the coupler still works even at a distance from the ferrite antenna and without precise alignment.
With tube radios it easily bridges the distance from the housing to the ferrite rod Antenna
The finished coupler consists of 6 NiZn ferrite cores, which are connected with glue to form a rod. 8 turns of wire are wound over this and soldered to an RG-58 cable. Some electrical isolation tape and ready. So far I’ve just put it in a box. Of course there are finer solutions and it should be protected against shock. Ferrite cores are notoriously brittle.
Advantages: Advantages to what? Nothing comparable exists.
So there are advantages to feeding via an antenna socket. The signal coupler is also good for radios without an antenna socket. But in case of using an antenna socket, common mode wave interference picked up in the house goes unlimited into the radio. Due to the magnetic coupling to the ferrite antenna, common mode waves are completely suppressed. They do not create a magnetic field in the coupler.
No changes are necessary in the radio
The biggest advantage is, that you can listen to distant stations loud and clear, which previously only produced a quiet scratching noise.
