80 Meter Delta Loop

The 80 meter loop is the antenna I would recommend to any amateur radio operator for the low bands. I have constructed several HF antennas by now, and I am starting to develop some practical knowledge about the topic. I am still in the learning process myself.

What do I like about the 80 meter loop? I like everything about it. The performance is what most hams want to know about. This monster is stellar. I believe the 80 meter loop is quieter than a dipole.

On 80 meters and 40 meters the performance is outstanding. I think that the play on 80M might be a little better than 40M, but this is hard to tell. Both bands have a 1:1 SWR reading and are optimum. So, basically I would argue that this loop will replace a fan dipole that plays 80M and 40M. It will give you just as good as performance with less maintenance problems. I have tried both antennas.

Now to the other bands. I found 20 meters to be very decent. The loop will do 20M, but I would prefer my vertical or a set of beams over the loop. So, 20M is not the best but is very sufficient.

The 80 meter loop really plays well on 17 meters. I was absolutely surprised to hear those German stations popping in and I was hearing them good. I heard stations all over the United States on 17M because propagation on this band was great that day. The 80 meter loop is killer on 17M. I don’t know why that it is, but it is.

As for 10M, 12M, and 15M, the propagation has not cooperated, however, I have heard some distant stations in the United States on 10M and the receive was great. I would assume that transmit and receive would be good on all of these frequencies.

The 80 meter loop is really designed for 80M and 40M. This is where the standard is set. I am really impressed with the signal strength on 80M, and 40M is well above par. Conditions have been average lately so it has to get better as the propagation improves. This will show the true potential of this fine HF antenna.

I cut this loop around 270 feet in length. It doesn’t have to be a perfect cut. I used no balun or anything else for that matter. Just straight wire hanging in the air. I have an inboard tuner and and have no problem tuning on any band. Obviously I didn’t want to try 160 meters, since I already have the 160M dipole hanging in the air.

I formed it into a delta loop, but the loop is forgiving and many shapes will work. I placed the feed point at the top of my tower and the other two points are hung about 20 feet high.

I believe the feed point is critical so I always try to get some height on it. I could be wrong about this, but it is my understanding that the strength of the transmit signal is at the feed point. Is this correct?

I used the aluminum fence wire for this project and it works just as good as copper. I already had a roll of aluminum on hand and the cost of it is cheap. I have started using aluminum because of the price difference. Copper is probably the preferred choice but I am getting somewhat used to the aluminum. Copper with the rubber coating is easier to work with no doubt.

I had seen big signals from hams using loops and the consistency was always there. These same hams recommended the 80M loop and now I would agree with them 100%. This is a fabulous antenna and if I were to build one solid antenna, this would be on the top of the list.