[aprssig] APRS Messenger PSK-63 On The Air Reports -- Magnetic Loop Antenna Now Up

[Stephen H. Smith]

[ 14:30 Pacific Time (02:27 UTC)  Monday 8 Mar]  

I have successfully built, tuned and erected a homebrew magnetic loop 
antenna this afternoon.    I now have this antenna connected to the 
TS-50 that is monitoring 10.149 APRS (Both AX.25 FSK and PSK63).     
This replaces the homebrew vertical dipole made from two 30M mobile 
HamSticks that I have been using up til now.    The HF all-us map 
display on my web server at:

    <http://wa8lmf.dyndns.org:14439>  

is now using the new loop antenna.  

The first thing I noticed is that the natural background hiss and "band 
noise" heard with the new antenna dropped about 1 S-unit compared to the 
dipole.    However, the TV sync hash from a leaking cable TV trunk, and 
AC hum and buzz that I was hearing on the dipole has completely 
disappeared.   I appear to have a far higher signal-to-noise ratio than 
before.    

I expect that the small (1 meter diameter) resonant loop will have far 
better high-angle reception than the vertical dipole.  I should be able 
to hear stations up and down the west coast (i.e. a relatively short 
haul of 400-1000 miles) much better.   

Eagerly awaiting the stations from the midwest and east coast that 
normally start showing up about 16:00 local time.  

Details on this dirt-cheap easy-to-build compact antenna  for 30 meters 
(that could be stealthed in an attic) will follow in a week or so.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

--

Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
EchoLink Node:      WA8LMF  or 14400    [Think bottom of the 2M band]
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Home Page:          http://wa8lmf.net

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