2012-06-18

80' horizontal grass loop antenna: excellent for 60m

K3MT'S Grasswire antenna idea transferred to a 80' (24.38m) horizontal loop?
I am thinking of trying out an 80 foot horizontal loop antenna at near grass-level on field day. Wish I had found some post on the Net of someone else trying it out, but found none. Any suggestions/ feedback welcome!
vy 73 de Marcus KD0JKM


Update 2012-06-22:
I tried it out today, operating SSB as KD0JKM/BP from Saint Louis, MO: 80' wire loop antenna, elevated approximately 8'' (20cm) above ground with some small poles from a DIY store, arranged in a circle, directly connected to my Barrett 2090 transceiver with 30W power. The setup was extremely fast.

Came up with an SWR of 1:1 on 5403.5 kHz USB and 1.3:1 on 5371.5 kHz USB. Thus I called CQ on these 60m frequencies and quickly made nice contact with WM9I and WB9JOX (who are 92 miles and 245 miles away from me), thank you for answering my call and the nice QSO! My signal reportedly ranged from 35 to 48.
I then tried to tune on the HFPack frequencies on 160m, 80m, 40m - but SWR "indefinite".
Was able to tune on the HFPack frequencies on 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m and had an SWR between 1.7:1 to 2.8:1, did call CQ multiple times on each frequencies, but no contact made. Did however hear CW clearly with copy of 57 to 58 and also some SSB, but SSB copy had only an RST of 25.

Did not expect to make any contacts due to my NVIS setup - but will sure try again tomorrow on Field day (of course not on the 12m, 17m, 30m and 60m bands).

Summary: 
A single wire 80' loop antenna at near grass level is a viable antenna set up for 60m SSB contacts.

vy 73 de Marcus KD0JKM


Post Field Day update:
When I tried out the above setup, the only two pedestrians walking around the park where I operated, had to walk straight through my loop antenna setup although I had marked it extremely well with orange markers as a site to avoid, nonetheless - as usual - some people are more attracted to safety markers, than to walk around them in some distance.
Since I was in more crowded locations (with my portable setup) during Field Day, I did not dare put out my loop antenna at grass level, being too afraid that someone would purposefully walk right through, trip and fall. As of yet I am unsure how to deal with this in the future. Post huge warning signs? Hardly. Suggestions welcome.
Thus, I only operated portable mobile with my whip on my manpack. Was fun!
vy 73 de Marcus KD0JKM

2012-06-04

Random...

Operating portable today.

Was on the air for about 2 hours today, calling CQ on the HFPack frequencies, but no answer. What a shame! Was able to log into the MMSN 14300 net without a problem, reportedly with a decent signal. Operating portable with headphones is really nice, no HF hiss in the ears anymore...

vy 73 de KD0JKM