Tag Archives: Tommy Cholakov (N1SPY)

Video: Homebrew AM Loop Antenna Project by Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY), who shares his latest video explaining the operation of a simple homebrew AM loop antenna:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Brilliant video, Thomas! I love the fact you included a demonstration with your SDRplay RSP1A as well. Via the spectrum display, it’s easy to see the the loop’s bandwidth and also the gain it provides when tuned to a station.

I love your AM loop antenna as well–such a simple design and ideal for demonstrating the mechanics of a passive loop antenna since all of the components are visible. I’m willing to bet you built this antenna for less than $10. Smart design as it’s both portable and effective! Keep up the excellent work, Thomas! We look forward to all of your future videos.

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Video: HF tests from Arecibo observatory

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The Arecibo Radio Telescope, at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. At 1000 feet (305 m) across, it is the second largest dish antenna in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov, who writes:

Thomas, I did not see a story on the blog about the HF atmospheric heating experiments conducted by the Arecibo observatory a couple of weeks ago.

Thomas Cholakov N1SPY made a video about it but I am also sure a bunch of other listeners were able to tune to the super-strong signal on 5125 and 5095 kHz.

Great video, Thomas!

Indeed, I did miss posting this item. The event timing conflicted with my travel schedule in a bad way. Sadly, I only had one opportunity to tune in and I did too late (by just a couple of minutes!) that day.

Did anyone else catch the on-air experiments from Arecibo?

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Video: Lightbulb vs Radio Beacon by Thomas Cholakov (N1SPY)

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ivan Cholakov (NO2CW), who writes:

My 11 year old son Tommy (N1SPY) completed a project where he compared a 1W lightbulb to a .25 W radio beacon that he put together and bet that the radio beacon can be heard around the world. I asked him to document his activities as he went along. The project took a couple of months but is now complete and we stitched together a video of his activities.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Wow–Tommy, you’ve done an amazing job here!

I especially like how you’ve taken time to explain the principles behind the various steps of the process. Brilliant job!

Tommy, your future videos are always welcome here. Keep up the good work and we’d love to hear how many new countries you’ve racked up on your WSPR system!

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