[k3] Isotropic Antenna

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[k3] Isotropic Antenna

Elecraft mailing list
I live in a 2nd floor condo and am considering an isotropic antennaa on my balcony for 10/15/20 meters. Anybody have any experience with this type of antenna? 73 de Dave KJ6CBS
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

lstavenhagen
I have decades of experience with trying to operate out of 2nd story or higher apartments. My findings are the biggest difficulties are:
- grounding
- getting the antenna outside.

To sum it up, the interiors of most apartments are essentially RF anechoic chambers. This is due to the structures and wiring which basically form a gigantic Faraday cage around your antenna when it's inside. When it's on the 2nd floor, the problem is compounded by being too far above the ground to get a good ground.

So basically, it's less important what type of antenna you use than it is to merely get it outside. What I've done in the past is just throw a wire out the window into a neighboring tree and just hope the apt. managers don't notice it's there. Even dangling the wire out of the window towards the ground will work better than trying to string something up inside.

What I did was buy a Buddipole and pelican case for my rigs, and do all my operating /p. It's inconvenient at night, of course, but it does get me outside and gives me some exercise.

Otherwise, like I said, priority #1 is just to get whatever it is outside the building. And that usually means a wire and a tuner in the rig....

73,
LS
W5QD
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Bruce Nourish
In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list
Hi David,

I'm a little puzzled by your question, and I suspect others are too. The
isotropic antenna is a theoretical construct which is sometimes used as a
baseline for the comparison of other antennas; it is not possible to build
one. The most primitive antenna that can actually be built is a dipole (but
don't take primitive to mean ineffective!).

Having recently taken up ham radio again, in an urban QTH, I would very
much *not* recommend a dipole for your use case. I wasted a lot of time
trying to get a loaded dipole to work well in my attic. Then I started
reading about small magnetic loop antennas, built one for myself, and never
looked back. I now mercilessly evangelize them to anyone who will listen.

Some reading on mag loops here:
http://www.g4ilo.com/stealth.html
http://www.ahars.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The-Underestimated-Magnetic-Loop-HF-Antenna-version-1.1.pdf

The quickest way to get started with mag loops is probably to pick up one
of these MFJ units:
http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-9232 (QRP)
http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-933 (QRO)

The QRP model includes wire, the QRO doesn't.

Bruce

On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 8:37 PM David Guernsey via Elecraft <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> I live in a 2nd floor condo and am considering an isotropic antennaa on my
> balcony for 10/15/20 meters. Anybody have any experience with this type of
> antenna? 73 de Dave KJ6CBS
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

lstavenhagen
Bruce makes a good point, which I overlooked also. Yes, the isotropic antenna is just an ideal and where the term "dbi" comes from - the gain in DB over the theoretical isotropic 0db-gain antenna.

I too intend to try a mag loop antenna at some point in time, probably the next time I get tired of humping my /p rig around or I get rained on real good hi hi.

73,
LS
W5QD.
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Richard gillingham-2
In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list
Let me be the third to recommend a mag loop.  Not too handy for contesting, VERY high Q.  Therefore has a high 'fiddle factor'.  But nonetheless  very usable.

My $0.02...  73 and gud DX
Gil, W1RG
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Bill-3
In reply to this post by lstavenhagen
MFJ makes a couple of magnetic loops with remote tuners etc. Pricey, but
I have heard a few of them and they were doing OK - even the one on 40
meters.

Bill W2BLC K-Line


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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Dave-7
In reply to this post by Bruce Nourish


 > The
> isotropic antenna is a theoretical construct which is sometimes used as a
> baseline for the comparison of other antennas; it is not possible to build
> one.

Actually you can come pretty close to an isotropic antenna by using
two center fed dipoles arranged at 90 degrees to each other and fed 90
degrees out of phase. Not exactly a isotropic radiator, but pretty
close. IIRC they can either be both horizontal or one horizontal and
the other vertical. I'd have to re-run the models again to be sure.

And I have compared small loops to dipoles. I did not use a loaded
dipole but, like Ron, a non-resonant wire fed with open wire or ladder
line. The non-resonant wire won by a wide margin in the comparisons.

73 de dave
ab9ca/4
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

k6dgw
In reply to this post by Bruce Nourish
On 4/6/2016 1:05 PM, Bruce Nourish wrote:

> I'm a little puzzled by your question, and I suspect others are too. The
> isotropic antenna is a theoretical construct which is sometimes used as a
> baseline for the comparison of other antennas; it is not possible to build
> one. The most primitive antenna that can actually be built is a dipole (but
> don't take primitive to mean ineffective!).

Just a wild guess ... he might have meant "Isotron?"
>
> Then I started
> reading about small magnetic loop antennas, built one for myself, and never
> looked back. I now mercilessly evangelize them to anyone who will listen.

I use an Alexloop with my K2 @ 5W for field operating.  It works better
than the BP I had.  The only reason I sprang for the Alex [somewhat
spendy as they say in OR] was that it was close to what I got for the
BP.  You can homebrew one much cheaper ... but see comments on
efficiency below.

The Alex is very easy to set up, takes me about 5 min, is light [~0.7
kg] and fits in my pack well.  It is also very hi-Q and the BW on 40 m
is barely wide enough for SSB.  It is very touchy to tune on the lower
frequencies.  The radiation resistance, particularly on lower
frequencies is minuscule, in the range of a few tens of milliohms.
Thus, any resistance at all in the loop and cap can lead to very low
efficiencies [e.g. use a butterfly cap to eliminate wiper resistance].

It is a resonant transformer and it is absolutely essential that you
bypass any ATU and tune it exactly to resonance.  Fortunately, the W1
wattmeter and the K2 both display SWR.  Getting it close and then
letting the ATU do the rest results in a fairly expensive dummy load
with a great match.

And a caution -- small magnetic loops can involve some surprisingly high
voltages and circulating currents, even at 5-10 W.  They get into the KV
range at 100 W or more.  Small mag loops are pretty much insensitive to
ground and nearby objects since, unless you are set up in a railroad
yard, the permeability of most things around us and the ground is close
to vacuum permeability.

I sit under mine, I can reach up and tune it.  It has a bi-cardioid
pattern, fairly broad forward lobes in the plane of the loop, and two
sharp nulls orthogonal to the loop plane.  I never really mastered the
BP tuning and, as a short loaded OCF dipole or vertical, its BW was very
narrow too.

Antenna theory and practice are remarkably well defined [and close], and
if someone offers you a "magic" antenna that's small and has the
performance of 4 over 4 over 4 on 20, check and see if he also has
ocean-front property in Colorado Springs for sale. :-)

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2016
- www.cqp.org

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Ian
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Ian
In reply to this post by lstavenhagen
Apartments and condos can be a challenge but not an insurmountable one.  A
balcony helps a lot.  I mount a hamstick for the band du jour on my 5th
floor balcony rail and throw a quarter wave counterpoise over the side.
Neighbors and condo police haven't noticed (or don't care).  Basically a
bent dipole and the ATU makes the rig happy.  155 countries says it works
pretty well.
73, Ian N8IK
s/n 10111


-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
lstavenhagen
Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 16:04
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [k3] Isotropic Antenna

I have decades of experience with trying to operate out of 2nd story or
higher apartments. My findings are the biggest difficulties are:
- grounding
- getting the antenna outside.

To sum it up, the interiors of most apartments are essentially RF anechoic
chambers. This is due to the structures and wiring which basically form a
gigantic Faraday cage around your antenna when it's inside. When it's on the
2nd floor, the problem is compounded by being too far above the ground to
get a good ground.

So basically, it's less important what type of antenna you use than it is to
merely get it outside. What I've done in the past is just throw a wire out
the window into a neighboring tree and just hope the apt. managers don't
notice it's there. Even dangling the wire out of the window towards the
ground will work better than trying to string something up inside.

What I did was buy a Buddipole and pelican case for my rigs, and do all my
operating /p. It's inconvenient at night, of course, but it does get me
outside and gives me some exercise.

Otherwise, like I said, priority #1 is just to get whatever it is outside
the building. And that usually means a wire and a tuner in the rig....

73,
LS
W5QD



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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS
This post was updated on .
In reply to this post by Bruce Nourish
Hi Bruce and others,

I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
https://www.isotronantennas.com/

I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product from Sigi, DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was influenced not by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.
Also the weather changes made bad impact for SWR like snow, rain etc.
Finally in 90's this toy was quite new and like any fashionable piece it was really overpriced.

David,

As you can see the price these days is not so high but I do not believe that something changed in its performances. If you would like to spend time with playing around it (instead of enjoying the on-air operation) then you can build it ownself as there is nothing magic on it. In any case do not waste your money with buying it.

Hope it helps,

73 - Petr, OK1RP


73 - Petr, OK1RP
"Apple & Elecraft freak"
B:http://ok1rp.blogspot.com
MeWe: https://bit.ly/2HGPoDx
MeWe: https://bit.ly/2FmwvDt
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[k3] Isotropic Antenna

Elecraft mailing list
I agree with Peter and share the same experience as Peter.  The antenna works but only in some particular conditions.
Waste my time.  Of course, I can be blamed about not clever enough to use it.
73
Johnny VR2XMC

      寄件人︰ "Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS" <[hidden email]>
 收件人︰ [hidden email]
 傳送日期︰ 2016年04月7日 (週四) 5:41 PM
 主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] [k3] Isotropic Antenna
   
Hi Bruce and others,

I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
https://www.isotronantennas.com/

I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product from Sigi,
DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own
experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the
grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was influenced
by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.
Also the weather changes made bad impact for SWR like snow, rain etc.
Finally in 90's this toy was quite new and like any fashionable piece it was
really overpriced.

David,

As you can see the price these days is not so high but I do not believe that
something changed in its performances. If you would like to spend time with
playing around it (instead of enjoying the on-air operation) then you can
build it ownself as there is nothing magic on it. In any case do not waste
your money with buying it.

Hope it helps,

73 - Petr, OK1RP






-----
http://ok1rp.blogspot.com
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Jim Brown-10
In reply to this post by Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS
This so-called "antenna" is at best dumb, and at worst a rip-off. As
master antenna-designer N6BT wrote some years ago, "everything 'works,'
even a light bulb." He demonstrated this by mounting a a light bulb on a
wooden fencepost, feeding with coax that he had carefully choked so that
the coax could not radiate, and working all continents with it.

As others have noted, antennas like magnetic loops, loaded whips
(HamSticks, etc.), and long wires are the weapons of choice with limited
space and/or requirements of minimal visibility. If the frame of the
building is non-metallic, indoor antennas can work (but can also be
mondo noisy on RX). If the frame is metallic, the antenna must be
outside. The good news is that the building frame will work fine as a
counterpoise (although it may block the antenna in the direction of the
building).  A long wire launched away from the building is best -- small
diameter enameled wire can be hard to see, and works fine as an antenna.

73, Jim K9YC

On Thu,4/7/2016 2:41 AM, Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS wrote:
> I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
> https://www.isotronantennas.com/
>
> I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product from Sigi,
> DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own
> experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the
> grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was influenced
> by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.

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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Elecraft mailing list
I wrote an article for 73 many years ago where I effectively remade the
Isotron antenna with parts from Home Depot.  At the time, a 20 meter
version could be built for about $15.  I tested my version extensively
and for the most part a dipole made with two Hamsticks was quite superior.

They resonate, have good SWR bandwidth and generally radiate 5 watts of
the 100 watts that goes into them. A "magnetic loop" blows it away.  I
sold the sample Isotron I bought at a hamfest for $5. (Bottom line -
they are, as we say in the software business, crapware)

Doug -- K0DXV

On 4/7/2016 5:12 PM, Jim Brown wrote:

> This so-called "antenna" is at best dumb, and at worst a rip-off. As
> master antenna-designer N6BT wrote some years ago, "everything
> 'works,' even a light bulb." He demonstrated this by mounting a a
> light bulb on a wooden fencepost, feeding with coax that he had
> carefully choked so that the coax could not radiate, and working all
> continents with it.
>
> As others have noted, antennas like magnetic loops, loaded whips
> (HamSticks, etc.), and long wires are the weapons of choice with
> limited space and/or requirements of minimal visibility. If the frame
> of the building is non-metallic, indoor antennas can work (but can
> also be mondo noisy on RX). If the frame is metallic, the antenna must
> be outside. The good news is that the building frame will work fine as
> a counterpoise (although it may block the antenna in the direction of
> the building).  A long wire launched away from the building is best --
> small diameter enameled wire can be hard to see, and works fine as an
> antenna.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
> On Thu,4/7/2016 2:41 AM, Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS wrote:
>> I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
>> https://www.isotronantennas.com/
>>
>> I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product from
>> Sigi,
>> DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own
>> experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the
>> grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was
>> influenced
>> by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
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> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Elecraft mailing list
The issue was June 1998.  The article was focused on how to construct
one.  73 (Wayne Green) wasn't interested in all the tables of
performance data.  He also wasn't interested in an excellent interview I
did with Wayne and Eric early on.  In so many words he was pretty clear
that unless Elecraft was going to be a regular advertiser, he wasn't
going to devote space to promoting what was essentially a startup at the
time.  Poor judgement on his part.  I think Wayne Green perfectly
defined the term curmudgeon.

Doug -- K0DXV

On 4/8/2016 10:13 PM, Walter Underwood wrote:

> The archives for 73 Magazine are online, so if you remember when, folks could read the article.
>
> https://archive.org/details/73-magazine <https://archive.org/details/73-magazine>
>
> wunder
> K6WRU
> Walter Underwood
> CM87wj
> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
>
>> On Apr 8, 2016, at 8:05 PM, Doug Person via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> I wrote an article for 73 many years ago where I effectively remade the Isotron antenna with parts from Home Depot.  At the time, a 20 meter version could be built for about $15.  I tested my version extensively and for the most part a dipole made with two Hamsticks was quite superior.
>>
>> They resonate, have good SWR bandwidth and generally radiate 5 watts of the 100 watts that goes into them. A "magnetic loop" blows it away.  I sold the sample Isotron I bought at a hamfest for $5. (Bottom line - they are, as we say in the software business, crapware)
>>
>> Doug -- K0DXV
>>
>> On 4/7/2016 5:12 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>> This so-called "antenna" is at best dumb, and at worst a rip-off. As master antenna-designer N6BT wrote some years ago, "everything 'works,' even a light bulb." He demonstrated this by mounting a a light bulb on a wooden fencepost, feeding with coax that he had carefully choked so that the coax could not radiate, and working all continents with it.
>>>
>>> As others have noted, antennas like magnetic loops, loaded whips (HamSticks, etc.), and long wires are the weapons of choice with limited space and/or requirements of minimal visibility. If the frame of the building is non-metallic, indoor antennas can work (but can also be mondo noisy on RX). If the frame is metallic, the antenna must be outside. The good news is that the building frame will work fine as a counterpoise (although it may block the antenna in the direction of the building).  A long wire launched away from the building is best -- small diameter enameled wire can be hard to see, and works fine as an antenna.
>>>
>>> 73, Jim K9YC
>>>
>>> On Thu,4/7/2016 2:41 AM, Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS wrote:
>>>> I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
>>>> https://www.isotronantennas.com/
>>>>
>>>> I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product from Sigi,
>>>> DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own
>>>> experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the
>>>> grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was influenced
>>>> by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.
>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>> Elecraft mailing list
>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
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>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>>>
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Re: [k3] Isotropic Antenna

Alan Bloom
Years ago, a local ham who was acting as an Isotron distributor brought
the 80 meter version to the club's Field Day.  I discovered I got out a
lot better by unscrewing the shield of the coax connector and just using
the feedline as an antenna.  :=)

Alan N1AL


On 04/09/2016 07:17 AM, Doug Person via Elecraft wrote:
> The issue was June 1998.  The article was focused on how to construct
> one.  73 (Wayne Green) wasn't interested in all the tables of
> performance data.
...

>
> On 4/8/2016 10:13 PM, Walter Underwood wrote:
>> The archives for 73 Magazine are online, so if you remember when,
>> folks could read the article.
>>
>> https://archive.org/details/73-magazine 
>> <https://archive.org/details/73-magazine>
>>
>> wunder
>> K6WRU
>> Walter Underwood
>> CM87wj
>> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
>>
>>> On Apr 8, 2016, at 8:05 PM, Doug Person via Elecraft
>>> <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> ...
>>> They resonate, have good SWR bandwidth and generally radiate 5 watts
>>> of the 100 watts that goes into them. A "magnetic loop" blows it
>>> away.  I sold the sample Isotron I bought at a hamfest for $5.
>>> (Bottom line - they are, as we say in the software business, crapware)
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4/7/2016 5:12 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>>> This so-called "antenna" is at best dumb, and at worst a rip-off.
...
On Thu,4/7/2016 2:41 AM, Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS wrote:

>>>>> I am sure that David talked about an Isotron antennas like this:
>>>>> https://www.isotronantennas.com/
>>>>>
>>>>> I intensively tested/used this antenna in 90's on 40m (product
>>>>> from Sigi,
>>>>> DK9FN) and I have to say it is a nightmare in overall. From my own
>>>>> experiences the performance of this toy was highly dependent to the
>>>>> grounding availability, bandwidth was very small and tunning was
>>>>> influenced
>>>>> by ground only but also by closed objects a lot.
>>>>

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