Carpet Loop Antenna part 4

Carpet Loop Antenna part 4: Antenna Construction

Choosing cable

The kind of cable you use depends on where you’re putting it and how much you want to pay for the cable.

If you plan on running it under carpet, then use the 5-conductor rotator cable mentioned in the parts list. This cable can easily withstand being stepped on; more importantly, there are no exposed wires to trip over. It’s also easier to wire than phone cable.

If you’re not running it underfoot, or if you’re cheap, you can use 4-conductor flat phone cable, available just about everywhere. It’s a good choice for running around baseboards, around windows or in attics.

When running the cable around, start at your receiver and go around the room–or the house–and back to the radio. If you’re using the rotator cable, you can make corners by folding the cable at a 45 degree angle, like folding paper.

Wiring the cable to the tuner

You should have two ends of the cable next to the tuner. Strip the ends and put spade lugs on all the wires. With the rotator cable, mark the *silver* conductor.

Next, connect the wire to the tuner using the following diagrams:

FOR 5-CONDUCTOR ROTATOR CABLE FOR 4-CONDUCTOR PHONE CABLE J1 J2 J1 J2 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4_5 6 7 8 9_0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Wire S C C C C S C C C C B Y R G B Y R G colors (4&5 jumpered) (9&10 jumpered) ((S)ilver, (C)opper, (B)lack, (Y)ellow, (R)ed, (G)reen)

Grounding

Run a wire–preferably a large one–from the ground terminal on the tuner (or a mounting screw on the SO239 connector if you’re using one) to a suitable ground such as a cold water pipe; I grounded my tuner with a short length of RG58 coax connected to a baseboard heater via an alligator clip.

Connect the tuner to your receiver; you’re now ready to use it.

Using The Carpet Loop

It’s easier to use than to talk about: Tune your receiver to the desired frequency. Adjust S1 and C1 (or the antenna trimmer on the radio) for strongest signal. For most situations, S2 (Loop/Longwire) can be left closed in the Loop position; you may find that setting S2 to Longwire may work better for mediumwave listening.

Conclusion

The Carpet Loop II is an inexpensive, easily built, high performance antenna that can work in almost all apartments.

Contacting the Author

I can be reached at the following addresses:

Mail: David Moisan
86 Essex St. Apt. #204
Salem, MA 01970-5225

Email:dmoisan@shore.net
WWW: http://www.shore.net/~dmoisan

Let me know how the Carpet Loop works for you!

–Dave