Yesterday was a rare 73℉ November day – perfect weather for antenna work. So I put down a 128-foot Loop on Ground (LoG) antenna to replace the 60-foot LoG that my lawn mower ate during the summer.
Over twice the size of the old LoG, I expected the new LoG to outperform the old LoG and I was not disappointed!
Tuesday evening, I tuned the whole AM band listening to each station I encountered, which I found on almost every channel from 530 to 1710 kHz. I switched between the LoG, an 80-meter dipole and a Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical to compare reception of each station and in nearly all comparisons, the LoG outperformed the 80-meter dipole often by 5, 10 and even 20 dB according to the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver S-meter (the vertical was left in the dust). Worst case – in three comparisons, the LoG was only equal to the 80-meter dipole.
Whereas the old LoG was deaf on longwave, the new LoG outperformed the 80-meter dipole, the antenna I usually use on longwave. I even logged a new navigational beacon with the new LoG: HXO in Oxford/Huntsboro, North Carolina, transmitting 25 watts, 478 miles to the south-southwest.
I am very pleased with the new antenna and will take measures to keep it away from my lawn mower’s blades.
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