Loop on Ground Antenna

Wednesday, 40 degrees, breezy, overcast, rain in the forecast – a good day to put up a new antenna – NOT. But I was not to be deterred by Mother Nature.

Actually, I did not put up a new antenna; I put down a new antenna: a Loop on Ground (LoG) receive-only antenna as described by Matt Roberts, KK5JY: 60 feet of insulated

wire stapled to the earth in a square configuration (15 feet per side).

I had prepared the wire the day before the install, so it only took about two hours to complete the install. The most time-consuming part was running the RG-6 into the radio shack from outdoors.

I was not sure how well the antenna would perform. Due to the holiday, I did not have a lot of time to give the antenna a thorough test, but the initial results were very good. Tuning through the AM band for about 30 minutes Wednesday evening, nearly all the stations I checked were stronger on the LoG antenna than on my other antennas (80-meter dipole, Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical, ICOM AH-7000 discone).

After I digest today’s Thanksgiving feast, I plan to devote a lot more time to kicking the tires of the LoG and I will report my findings here.

Two New “Excellent” Loggings

November 16, 2019, 0333 UTC:
ZNF, 270 kHz, navigational beacon in St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1067 miles ENE

November 17, 2019, 0410 UTC:
CKLQ (photo above), 880 kHz, Brandon, Manitoba, 1401 miles WNW (heard while WCBS in NYC was off the air for antenna maintenance)

Equipment: ICOM IC-R8600 receiver, 80-meter dipole antenna

1984 Miles!

Four new navigational beacon loggings since my previous post including my longest distance navigational beacon logging (1984 miles) so far!

2019-11-09 0410 UTC: ME on 216 kHz in Matane, Quebec, 562 miles NNE

2019-11-15 0438 UTC: MM on 388 kHz in Fort McMurray, Alberta, 1984 miles NW (photo above)

2019-11-15 0443 UTC: NEL on 396 kHz in Lakehurst, NJ, 131 miles SSW

2019-11-15 0452 UTC: PCW on 423 kHz in Port Clinton, Ohio, 513 miles W

Equipment: ICOM IC-R8600 receiver, 80-meter dipole antenna

Ten!

An amazing night!

Ten new navigational beacon loggings between 0342 and 0517 UTC on 8 November:

HKF on 239 kHz transmitting 25 watts from Middletown - Hook Field, Ohio, 621 miles west-southwest

ZLP on 341 kHz transmitting 40 watts from Toronto - Meadowvale, Ontario, Canada, 371 miles west-northwest

AA on 365 kHz transmitting 100 watts from Fargo – Harwood, North Dakota/Minnesota, USA, 1231 miles west-northwest

ZDX on 369 kHz transmitting 1200 watts from St. John's - V.C. Bird, Antigua, 1816 miles south-southeast

CQD on 372 kHz transmitting 50 watts from Erie - Cascade, Pennsylvania, 370 miles west

DL on 379 kHz transmitting 50 watts from Duluth - Pike Lake, Minnesota, 1023 miles northwest

BT on 382 kHz transmitting 25 watts from Burlington, Vermont, 201 miles north

VP on 390 kHz transmitting 500 watts from Kuujjuaq, Quebec, Canada, 1152 miles north

NHK on 400 kHz transmitting 400 watts from Patuxent River, Maryland, 295 miles southwest

ZTO on 403 kHz transmitting 50 watts from Toronto - Woodhill, Ontario, Canada, 373 miles northwest 

Again, my ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and 80-meter dipole antenna were the receptors.

Good DX

The LW and MW bands have been very good lately. Tuesday night, I had two new navigational beacon loggings.

ZSB on 344 kHz transmitting 100 watts from Greater Sudbury, Ontario, 520 miles to the northwest

IN on 353 kHz transmitting 100 watts from International Falls, Minnesota, 1095 miles to the northwest (photo above)

Heard with my ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and 80-meter dipole antenna.