QRP 100W Loop Antenna

I was the lucky winner of a donated 10-40 Meter Alpha Loop with Field Bag antenna at the QRP ARCI Four-Days-In-May Convention.

I have been using the antenna, set up in my shack/office on a tripod these past few weeks. I have been very happy with the performance it is giving me from my Jacksonville FL QTH. So far, I’ve mainly been QSO’ing on 20 meters. With WSPR, yesterday I was heard in Wales, Southhampton England, Belgium, Germany and Austria using approximately 2 watts. With JT65, running 10 watts, I’ve worked all around the country as well as Slovenia, Guatemala and Brazil.

I am using an ICOM IC-756 Pro3 with a Signalink USB interface to my Windows computer. I am running WSPR-X and FLDIGI. I plan on soon trying the antenna on RTTY, PSK31 and CW.

I found the knob very coarse to use to adjust on the Alpha Match Box and have modified it with a Philmore Precision Tuning Vernier knob. This has made tuning a lot easier. I recorded the settings on a card I attach to the antenna so that I do not constantly have to connect my antenna analyzer when switching frequencies.

We are planning to use the Loop antenna on Field Day, probably with a Midnight Design Solutions SDR Cube Transceiver that my friends bought also at the QRP FDIM Convention. Mainly for demo purposes at Field Day, I added a small fluorescent tube with lights up during the transmit cycle (seems to need 10 watts to light).

K2RMA

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