MagLoops - Design and operation.

[KX4QC]

Your antenna is entirely unnecessary!
I was told this by a VK contact who claimed to be using only magnetic loop antennas because they were every bit as good as his previous Yagi and Wire types.
Hmm. I like my antennas, and put a lot of effort into making and maintaining them. Could he be right?
Well, I first went to the ARRL Antenna Book -a fine volume, and practically no use to answer this question. I don't have the new translation of "Rothammel's antenna book ISBN: 9783000624278 " (Amazon currently offers it in Russian only!) and it is so big and heavy that RSGB won't send to USA - too heavy! > Maybe it has the answer!
There are lots of them, home-brew and commercial, including pricey but excellent ones by Ciro, or

MFJ-1788.pdf

.
So the best accounts I could find of how they work are these two, by F Dorenberg

80-20m Mag Loop.pdf

and Leigh Turner VK5KLT

The Underestimated Magnetic Loop HF Antenna.pdf

Both of these are very readable and informative, but more than a two-minute summary!

No visit to this subject would be complete without the

LoopAntennas.pdf

The Windy Hill Gang of CATS gave a fine demo of transcontinental QRP using a small HF magloop from the back of a pickup truck. No ground needed, fine clean receive signal and easy tuning of the loop for transmitting.

Do we need tall towers and long wires?