Magnetic Loop Antennas - A guide to remote tuning

Bernard led off on the third shed workshop for 2018 which was on the topic of "Magnetic loop antennas". These antennas are great for getting better signal to noise levels out of typical noisy suburban environments. They are also compact and can be mounted on a boundary fence or building to blend into an urban environment. On transmit they are less sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment (e.g. resonance changes observable on wire antennas with wet weather). Ten members turned out on Sunday 1 July 2018. A summary of his presentation, theory of magnetic loop antennas and instructions for constructing these antennas can be downloaded here: [wpdm_package id='3462']   Bernard can be seen giving a presentation to kick off: Several examples of loop antennas were available for inspection including this multiband loop for 15m through 10m: And a close up of the butterfly tuning capacitor: The feedpoint and feed system: And finally, a mag loop controller box that Bernard has constructed (he has several!): A special price has been worked out for branch members who wish to assemble their own butterfly-style tuning capacitor. This is required if you wish to make a small magnetic loop for receive and transmit.

The November meeting, and "Remits Night" again. However, nobody had any ideas for a remit (thank goodness!). Bernard ZL2BD ran a Powerpoint presentation of recent developments in the project, assisted by Mike ZL1AXG and Ted ZL2TB. Discussion extended to the associated amateur mesh project, with an outline of plans for a high-speed backbone connecting Mt Field, Colonial Knob, Mt Climie and Kaiwharara nodes (off-mesh) and associated peripheral links. There was also an outline of preferred site options for the remote station.

A meeting was held on Thursday 17 November 2016, at the Tawa Community Hall at 7.30pm (thanks to VHF Group for facilitating this), to establish RemoteDX Inc. A total of 19 amateur operators, representing all local clubs, attended and became foundation signatories and members of the new society. There is free membership for the first 12 months. See the RemoteDX website for further information.