Striving for a better bandwidth

Original shape of coupling loop 
My last couple of posts have been dealing with extending the bandwidth of my MFJ 1788 loop antenna. With the loop the lower the SWR the more bandwidth I  have before I have to retune the loop. Up to this point I have tried moving the antenna ALL over my balcony and the best SWR at that point was at best 1.6 with the loop in the horizontal position. I then gave the loop a go in the vertical position something I had never done before. I was surprised that the loop had a better SWR, I was able to get it down to 1.4 SWR. One last suggestion given to me was to adjust the internal 10 gauge coupling loop. Today I took the section of the cover off that exposed this coupling loop and moulded the loop from it's "0" shape to more like an egg shape. with doing this I was able to lower the SWR do 1.2 to 1.3 depending on the band I was on.
New and improved shape
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Leave a Comment

Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter
News, Opinion, Giveaways & More!

E-mail 
Join over 7,000 subscribers!
We never share your e-mail address.



Also available via RSS feed, Twitter, and Facebook.


Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter

 
We never share your e-mail address.


Do you like to write?
Interesting project to share?
Helpful tips and ideas for other hams?

Submit an article and we will review it for publication on AmateurRadio.com!

Have a ham radio product or service?
Consider advertising on our site.

Are you a reporter covering ham radio?
Find ham radio experts for your story.

How to Set Up a Ham Radio Blog
Get started in less than 15 minutes!


  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor




Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: