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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:
Dear Thomas,
This is Giuseppe Morlè again. First of all, Happy New Year to you and to the whole SWLing Post community! I’ve been continuing the tests on my “T Ferrite” antenna for medium wave and the 160 meters ham meter band.
I tried the antenna inside my shack listening to Rai Radio 1 from Milan Siziano, about 800 km from me, on 900 kHz in the early morning after sunrise. The antenna, despite being inside, proved to be perfect for the cancellation of the electrical noise that I had around me.
Disconnecting the antenna from the receiver–a Sangean ATS-909–the noise occupied everything without being able to listen to anything. Putting the antenna back, the noise disappeared completely making the modulation re-emerge, with a weak signal, it was already day, but with good understandability.
The antenna, as I described in another article, is composed of 2 ferrites 12 cm long each, bought at ham fests, tied together with insulating tape.
For the two windings, I used a small section of cable used for telephone systems that is rigid enough to model perfectly on the ferrites–43 turns for the primary and 3 turns for the coupling link to the receiver. The variable capacitor is 850 pf.
I should mention that the magnificent W1VLF channel was my original source of inspiration for this antenna.
That is amazing, Giuseppe! We often think of magnetic loops as the only choice for coping with urban noise and RFI, but ferrite bars–especially configured like yours–are a brilliant tool for indoor low-band listening. Thank you for sharing! We love your experiments.
I’m Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW) from Formia, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Italy .
I built this simple rotating directive ferrite antenna for medium waves and the 160 meters ham band.
Inside the tube there are 2 ferrites with 43 cable windings and 3 for the coupling link that goes to the receiver.
In this video the test as soon as I assembled everything …
In broad daylight, it was 12.00 local time, you could hear well over 2000 km.
The antenna is very directive and perfectly manages to separate several stations on a single frequency.
The pipes are in plastic for plumbing use (PVC), I bought only that one, 5 Euros, the rest is all recycled.
I wanted to share this simple and very functional project of mine with the SWLing Post community.
Thanks and I wish everyone a better year.
Greetings from Italy.
Giuseppe iz0gzw.
Thank you, Giuseppe! What a simple, effective antenna project. I like how you’ve invested so little and recycled parts from other projects. I also love your view there looking south over the Tyrrhenian Sea! What a great place for radio.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:
I’m Giuseppe Morlè from Formia, central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
I wanted to share with you and friends of the SWLing Post community this antenna project of mine dedicated to those who do not have enough space on the roof or in the garden to install antennas.
These are two separate loops, with two different diameters, one 60 cm, the other 90 cm, each with two variables for tuning … the system is able to receive from 3 to 30 MHz.
I joined these two loops in an opposing way, better to say crossed that can communicate with each other due to the induction effect that is created between the two small coupling loops that are placed one under the other at the top.
In the videos you will be able to see how the antenna system receives. I can use one loop at a time, to detect the direction of the signal or I can use them together for a more robust signal and in an omnidirectional way.
I really like experimenting with the induction effect and you can see that even when closed at home the two loops do a great job.
From my YouTube channel:
I’m not a technician but I really want to experiment to try to listen as well as possible.
Thanks to you and CIAO to all the listeners of the SWLing Post community.
Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.
Very cool, Giuseppe! I must say I’ve never tried dual loop experiments like this where one can experiment with the induction interplay. I imagine this could give you some interesting nulling capabilities if you have an unwanted station interfering with a target low-band signal. Thank you again for sharing!
Photo from the Argentine Antarctic Base (LRA36) – Source: RAE
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:
Dear Thomas
Here is the link of to video regarding the transmission of LRA 36 in USB mode Saturday July 25, 2020 from 17.00 UTC on 15.476 MHz.
A good result if I think it was almost impossible to listen to it with the sun still high … the place where I listen, in Formia, Italy, is really excellent.
73. Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.
Thank you for sharing this, Giuseppe! I’m always impressed with the DX you catch there at your location in Formia! Grazie e ciao!
I think this passive loop antenna project has been so appealing because (1.) most of us around the world are sheltering at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and (2.) this project is simple and you likely have all of the components in your tool shed or junk box at this very moment.
A number you have written to tell me about your antenna builds and some of you have agreed to allow me to share your projects with the SWLing Post community.
Below, you’ll find three fine homebrew examples of the NCPL antenna–all of which were made with what these fine radio enthusiasts had on-hand:
Jerome van der Linden
Jerome’s NCPL antenna
Jerome writes:
Hello Thomas,
Well, I took up the challenge and built a NCPL antenna pretty close to your instructions.
Unfortunately, the coax I had available used (had aluminium shielding, and too late into the project I discovered solder would not take to it. My solution was to cannibalize a coax cable joiner (see photos attached), where – normally – the centre conductors are joined / held by a plastic centre piece and screw fittings.
The braid / shield for the two bits of coax is clamped / squeezed by an outer metal piece. My cannibalising effort involved removing the plastic centre bit which joins the two centre cores, and keeping just the outer metal component which I used (after completely cutting through the coax) to clamp the two metal braid sections, while the two centre copper bits were far enough apart for me to solder the leads for the ferrite balun.
Of course, I could not do the same at the top of the loop where the internal and external conductors need to swap over. I soldered some quite thick copper wire (perhaps 2mm in diameter) to each center core, pushed the center core into the opposing coax and coiled the 2mm thick copper tightly around each end of the coax.
Once it was all taped up it looks no worse than yours, and it does indeed WORK! [see photo above]
Here in Oz, I could not source the identical ferrite, but I think it’s pretty close. Best performance for me is on 11MHz, where the Radio New Zealand signal on 11725 is markedly better using the loop than the internal whip on my Tecsun PL-880. Other bands not quite so significant, but the Noise level is definitely lower.
As you say, Jerome, once all packaged up, it looks great! Sure, the mixture of materials you had on hand wasn’t ideal (aluminium shielding, etc.) but you found a way to make it work from the resources you had in your home. And I love the fact it’s lowed your RFI level! Thanks for sharing!
Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW)
Dear Thomas,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), from Formia, central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
I wanted to build your noise canceling loop seen on SWLing Post …
seems to work well especially from 40 meters. upward…
the diameter is 50 cm.
I will do other tests soon.
You can see the initial test on my YouTube channel via this link:
Thanks for the nice idea and a greetings from Italy.
73. Giuseppe IZ0GZW
Thank you, Giuseppe! What an amazing view you have there from your balcony! I’m quite impressed your PL-660 can take advantage of this design so well. We look forward to your other tests! Grazie mille!
John Mills
Hi Thomas,
My idea was to use a fitness hoop 75cm diameter bought off eBay. I removed the flashy striping to reveal a plastic like hoop that was joined in one spot with a plastic insert.
I have wrapped the whole hoop in tin-clad copper foil tape that has a conductive adhesive backing, but to be sure I have soldered all the overlapping seams. I drilled two holes opposite each other for the upper foil connections and the lower exit to the Balun.
Hopefully the three pictures will be helpful, I did the 4 turn design on Airspys website and it works really well connected to my RSPdx.
73
John
Thank you, John. What a fantastic way to build the NCPL antenna without using a coax for the loop. Indeed, since your plastic hoop has a small insert in the middle, you’ve an ideal spot to make the shield to center conductor cross-over. Very clever! I also like how you mounted the 1:1 Balun (or Unun) on a small board. Thanks for sharing this.
Got Loops?
Post readers: If you have your own unique NCPL antenna design, please consider sharing it with us! Contact me with details and photos. I’ll plan to publish at least one more post with examples here in the near future.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:
Ciao Thomas,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè, iz0gzw, from Formia, central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea … this is what I managed to hear about the 40 years of transmission of LRA 36 from the Antarctic Argentina to 15,476 …
I took two receivers and two different antennas to the sea … the Kenwood R1000 was connected to my tested “Simil beverage on salt Ground” with salt water tip and the Tecsun PL-660 to my Loop Mea Casali self-built …
Both antennas are directed to SSW where we find the LRA36 station …
The main problem was the boring and tragic Chinese Jammer that strongly raged on 15.470 until 15.00 UTC and then calmed down a bit so I could hear the last part of the transmission with fading and spoken female and male in Spanish …
On the Tecsun and the loop I have not found the station …but on my Kenwood R1000 and my similar beverage on salt grond I listened to about 13 minutes of final transmission.
You can watch the video on my YouTube channel at the link:
Thanks to you and a warm greeting from Italy.
Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.
Wow! Great catch, Giuseppe! I understand the Chinese jammer made it difficult, but obviously your antennas did the trick. I tried to catch the same broadcast from home, but only received a very faint signal. Most of the audio was lost in the noise.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who writes:
Giuseppe Morlè
I’m Giuseppe Morlè from Formia, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea … I had the pleasure of listening to the transmission of LRA36 Base Esperanza Antartida Argentina on 15,476 MHz on 21 September 2019 at 14.01 UTC.
I used a 25 meter wire, on the ground, with salt water resistance in a SSW direction that I have been using for years … similar to a “beverage on salt ground”.
I made the following video of the broadcast on my YouTube channel:
Wow! Giuseppe I am most impressed with your reception of the elusive LRA36. No doubt, this is testament to the power of combining a low noise environment, a capable shortwave receiver, and a longwire on a salt ground.
