LF Loop

As promised, here is a photo of the LF loop:

As you can see, it is not the sexiest antenna in the world, and I have to admit to being a bit of a commercial-product-addict in past years. But since becoming a "ham" I have enjoyed tinkering around with homebrew antennas using bits of recycled timber and old radios. There is also the added enjoyment that, when you do receive a nice signal, it is done so on something you have put together by your own hands. Now I'm getting older, I enjoy that feeling!

On the above loop, I heard Paris Orly NDB "ORW" on 402.0khz this morning, my first signal from the French capital.

I have also ordered Edward Noll's book "25 Simple MW and Tropical Band Antennas" as I loved that series of Mr Nol's books as a youngster. So I might try my hand at a tropical band antenna next.

I also quite fancy having a bash at a larger LF loop. My experiments with HF loops have shown me that the size is not at all critical, and I have come down from 1m diamater to barely 40cm diameter with no noticeable loss of received signal. But my instinct tells me a larger LF loop might make all the difference in pulling in these very weak NDB signals from around NW Europe.