Field Day Antenna Testing for the AG6IF Loop and the MyAntennas 80-10 End Fed UPDATED

Phil N4STC, Dennis WA6QKN and I met Saturday morning at Kinsaul Park in Lynn Haven, Florida to do some antenna tests for Field Day. I had been interested in a one-wavelength 80-meter horizontal loop. I did some modeling with EZNEC. The loop looks like a good prospect for Field Day with 80-meter being NVIS, 40 meters is omnidirectional at 60 degrees elevation and 20 meters has four 30 degree lobes with gain. I obtained an AG6IF 2.5 to 1 balun sold on eBay with the 260 feet of wire required.

A panoramic view of the loop antenna setup

We set up the one wavelength AG6IF 80 meter Loop with a camo pole tripod at the corner feed point and seven 31 foot Jackite fiberglass poles to complete a square with 65 feet on a side. It resonated on 80, 40 and 20 meters. Initially, it dipped above the 40 and 20 meters band and we added twelve feet to the 260 ft supplied wire. That gave us an excellent SWR on the low end of 80 and across 40 and 20 meters. The load on the upper end of 80 meters is more than the Icom 7300 internal tuner can handle. That is no biggie. The loop was very quiet regarding background noise. We made a 20-meter contact with W0LAV in Missouri with an excellent report.

UPDATE: Myron WV0H had modeled this loop and had predicted in an email to me the need to add 13 feet of length. This was spot on. He also says the SWR would be better with a 4 to 1 balun. I will give that a try. Thanks, Myron!




Before I had settled on the loop, I ordered a MyAntennas 80-10 meter Endfed. The antenna is advertised as a no tuner antenna for 80 through 10 including the WARC bands. At the end of the session, we put up the 130 feet long end fed antenna flat and straight at 20 feet. Indeed, it has reasonable SWR on all the bands. I would use a tuner at some spots. There is no significant mismatch on the coax. We checked into the SouthCARs net using the EndFed.

Phil N4STC wiring up the balun.

Dennis and I will be camping at Falling Waters State Park, Friday and Saturday night for the June 23/24 Field Day. We might go with both antennas. We are on track to use the Icom 7300 as the rig. Thanks to Phil and Dennis for their help today. We are looking forward to the big event.

Checkin SWR with the Rig Expert-AA-54

Checking out the antennas on air with the Icom 7300.

Suzy getting some attention.