Tydraig.Com
A random collection of objects and subject I am interested in… or as my wife
would say obsessed with !!
Amateur Radio
Mag loop
Comparison
The FMW Magnetic loop antenna by M0AJJ compared against the Alex loop by PY1AHD
The first thing I did with the Sark 110 antenna analyser was to see what the FMW loop was like across the bands 10m,12m,15m,17m,20m,30m,40m compared to the Alex Loop and below are the plots taken for each antenna.
After realising the extraordinary properties of the mag loop antennas and trying out an Alex Loop on loan from Ian M0ODD I wanted one for myself, yes I could have built one myself but I stumbled across this little beauty on Ebay. I paid the princely sum of £85 for it.
It is fully collapsible and covers 40m to 10m very comfortably. It even came with the tripod. I have not had chance to take it out up the hills or to the coast yet but that is the plan. The saving I have made on buying this antenna from Ebay has allowed me to buy a new antenna analyser, the Sark110.
The Sark 110
The Alex Loop
The FMW Mag Loop
The FMW Loop The Alex Loop
The obvious thing in the plots is the narrow band width of the Alex loop antenna compared to the FMW Loop, the Alex loop does give the classic VSWR plot expected. I am sure that FMW loop is still a good bet for the money. Time will tell once I get out there with it and see what I can do QRP. I will update this page with the results as soon as possible.